Abstract
Turn beginnings are the place in conversation where the connection (or otherwise) between a prior and a next turn is displayed. This crucial interactional task is usually fulfilled by turn-initial particles, specifically those known as discourse markers. Although the use of discourse markers by second or foreign language speakers has actually been largely discussed in the previous literature on interlanguage pragmatics, studies that focus on turn-initial discourse markers and that are conducted from a conversation analytical perspective are still scarce. The aim of this paper is therefore twofold. On the one hand, it makes a case for the use of conversation analysis as a research methodology for the study of discourse markers in a second or foreign language. On the other hand, and as a practical elaboration, this paper investigates the use of the discourse markers “y” and “sí” in the turn-initial position by foreign language speakers of Spanish. The results show that both discourse markers are part of an overall concern of signalling continuity and affiliation even in topic shifts and in non-aligned turns.
Highlights
Initially seemingly straightforward, taking turns talking in multi-party conversations constitutes one of the most sophisticated actions that people accomplish when managing social relationships in their daily lives
The rationale behind the decision to choose two very frequent discourse markers (DMs) for this study was to focus on the resources deployed by L2 learners
By providing a detailed description of the interactional work within “y”- and “sí”-prefaced turns, the analysis has illuminated that the L2 learners in this dataset can build coherence over turns with a high level of delicacy and that overtly signalling the fitting of a new turn with the previous talk seems to be a very important interactional task for these learners
Summary
Initially seemingly straightforward, taking turns talking in multi-party conversations constitutes one of the most sophisticated actions that people accomplish when managing social relationships in their daily lives. Considering the amount of conversational work that speakers have to manage, the task of speaking with other people in a second or a foreign language (L2) should not be underestimated. Language learners with not yet fully developed linguistic resources are faced with the task of minutely timing their turns and adapting their contributions to the contingencies of interaction. This task implies listening to and making efforts to understand interlocutors and, at the same time, planning what is going to be said and when and how it will be said in such a way that fits In the Common European Reference Framework (2001), the activity of speaking in interaction is considered, but issues such as how to take a turn remain unspecified or at least not specified with the necessary degree of granularity
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