Extended concurrent speech andguānxìmanagement in Mandarin

Abstract

AbstractMost previous research on turn-taking mechanisms has not centered on extended concurrent speech for floor taking or topic switching, although brief overlaps have been discussed (e. g. Schegloff [2000, Overlapping talk and organization of turn-taking for conversation,Language in Society29, 1–63]). This study departs from conversation analysis (CA) perspectives and attempts to uncover extended concurrent speech as a strategy forguānxì(relationship) management employed by non-familial equal-status Mandarin speakers in everyday practice in a southeastern city of mainland China. Spontaneous mundane conversations were analyzed and interpreted by means of a discursive-interactional approach, inclusive of interactional sociolinguistics. The participants were found to co-construct extended concurrent speech to maintain or enhanceguānxìwithout any manifestations of negative evaluation. The study suggests the importance of situating research in local and large contexts, including the participants’ relational history, occupation, age, sex and social distance, and the necessity to examine extended concurrent speech, floor taking and topic switching in different varieties of Chinese. The findings can promote our understanding of intercultural communication that involves native Chinese speakers.