Simultaneous talk—from the perspective of floor management of English and Japanese speakers

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This paper reports on a comparative study of the use of simultaneous talk or ‘sync talk’ by Japanese and English speakers. The analysis is based on a concept of floor derived in part from Edelsky [Language in Society, 10, 383–421 (1981)], but adapted and developed for the purposes of the present study. Analysis of tape‐recorded and videotaped conversations among Japanese speakers (speaking Japanese) and among American speakers (speaking English) shows that, while both groups use sync talk, it is used with much greater frequency by the Japanese speakers. This can be shown by quantitative analysis. Furthermore, in addition to verbal simultaneous talk, Japanese speakers were found to engage in more nonverbal interactive behavior during conversation than their American counterparts. The final section of this paper discusses the implications of these findings for cross‐cultural communication and language learning.