Turn-taking Research Articles

Temporal characteristics of child-adult conversations: utterances and turn-taking

Since its inception, conversation analysis has focused on the question of how participants achieve a fast and smooth alignment between two turns. Most research has analyzed adults’ conversations, but much less has been known about child-adult interactions. The aim of this study is to analyze the temporal patterns of children’s utterances and turn-taking (TT). Twenty adult-child conversations (ages 5 and 7) were selected from the GABI database. Articulation rate, duration of interpausal units, pauses, and FTO-value (Floor Transfer Offset) of turn-taking launched by the children were analyzed. Temporal patterns did not differ between the two age groups, but individual differences were found within both groups. TT mostly occurred with a gap, but children were also able to take the floor immediately. TTs after a gap were significantly longer than after overlapping speech. The results provide new information on the communicative competence in childhood, particularly regarding timing patterns and organization of child-adult dialogues.

Error, turn‐taking, and typography

Error, turn‐taking, and typography

Increased Usage of Syntactic Resources in Turn-taking as the Indicators for IC Development

Increased Usage of Syntactic Resources in Turn-taking as the Indicators for IC Development

Contrastive Models for Turn-Taking in English and Japanese

Turn-taking remains an underemphasized aspect of foreign language instruction. As more is understood about this central component of interactional competence, foreign language teachers will need to consider the best ways to teach students how to take turns speaking and managing the floor in the target language. This paper provides a brief outline of turn-taking mechanics as originally defined by Sacks, Schegloff, & Jefferson (1974) before providing contrastive models for turn-taking in English and Japanese. Some recommendations for classroom instruction targeting turn-taking for EFL students in Japan, as well as a call for greater sensitivity to this fundamental aspect of communicative competence, are also provided. 外国語教育において、「話者交替」の重要性はまだ十分に注目されていない。相互行為能力の中心的構成要素である話者交替についての理解が深まるにつれ、外国語教育者は目標言語でどのように交替しながら話し、場の進行をすればいいかを教授するための最善の方法を考える必要が出てくるだろう。本論では、Sacks, Schegloff, & Jefferson (1974) によって定義された話者交替の働きについての概要を説明した後に、英語と日本語での話者交替の対照モデルについて述べる。日本の英語学習者に話者交替を教える際にクラス内で推奨されるいくつかの教授法と、話者交替というコミュニケーション能力の重要な一面に対するより細やかな配慮への必要性についても述べる。

Les moyens stratégiques pour prendre la parole en français et en slovène

Le défi principal de la contribution est d’identifier les moyens stratégiques les plus efficaces lorsque deux locuteurs veulent prendre la parole au même moment. Nous avons examiné les études antérieures sur le français et analysé aux niveaux prosodique, morphosyntaxique et discursif trois conversations orales spontanées en slovène. Les résultats montrent que les locuteurs qui ont gardé leur droit à la parole produisent de nombreuses pauses, répétitions et autocorrections ainsi que des préambules plus longs que les locuteurs qui ont cédé leur droit à la parole.

Conversational Turn-taking of Toddlers with Language Delay

대화차례 주고받기는 대화를 위한 기본적인 기술 중 하나이다. 본 연구는 표현언어 발달지체 영유아의 대화차례 주고받기 특성을 살펴보는 것을 목적으로 하였다. 연구대상은 18-30개월의 표현언어발달지체 영유아 10명과 생활연령을 일치시킨 일반 영유아 10명, 언어연령을 일치시킨 일반 영유아 10명, 총 30명의 영유아였다. 각 영유아의 대화 행동을 수집하기 위하여 양육자와의 놀이 활동을 약 30분정도 녹화하였으며, 이 중 10분의 자료를 발췌하여 분석하였다. 종속변수로 전체 대화차례 주고받기 빈도, 영유아 대화차례 비율과 구어 및 비구어 비율, 영유아의 대화 개시 및 유지(적절, 부적절) 비율, 대화차례 중단(중첩, 무반응) 비율을 측정하였다. 연구 결과 (1) 표현언어발달지체 집단과 언어연령 일치 집단은 대화차례에서 생활연령 일치 집단에 비해서만 유의하게 높은 비구어 비율을 그리고 유의하게 낮은 구어 비율을 보였다. 그러나 대화차례 주고받기 비율과 영유아 대화차례 비율에서는 유의한 차이를 보이지 않았다. (2) 표현 언어발달지체 집단은 생활연령 일치 집단에 비해서만 유의하게 높은 부적절 유지 비율을 보였다. 대화차례 개시와 유지 전체, 적절 유지 비율에서는 집단 간 유의한 차이가 없었다. (3) 표현 언어발달지체 집단은 생활연령 일치 집단에 비해 더 높은 중첩으로 인한 중단 비율을 보였다. 그러나 중단 전체 비율과 무반응으로 인한 중단 비율에서는 유의한 차이가 없었다. 이상의 결과를 토대로 언어발달지체 영유아의 대화 특성에 대해 논의하였다.

The construct of perceived L2 speaking proficiency in a paired testing format

The main aim of the research was to investigate the construct validity of L2 speaking proficiency in a paired testing format. 100 secondary school students and university students were recruited for the study (m=24, f=76), with a mean age of M=18.67. The par-ticipants were tested in pairs (compare-and-contrast task) by two independent raters on four trait categories: accuracy (A), fluency (F), word choice (WC) and turn taking (TT), on a pre-specified 6-point scale. The inter-rater reliability was computed using two approaches (Pearson’s Product Moment correlation and Cronbach’s alpha), and they both indicated the ratings were reliable. The average scores on the scale and subscales also showed high values of Cronbach’s alpha, which confirmed the reliability of the measurement instruments as well. In order to examine the construct of the participants’ speaking performance, we performed exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The final model, with very good fit indices, confirmed the initial hypothesis: the construct of L2 oral proficiency is comprised of all four assumed trait factors; however, the strength of correlations rather suggests that there are two facets of the said construct (linguistic: A, F, WC and sociolinguistic: TT).

Study on Turn-Taking Intervention of Children

Study on Turn-Taking Intervention of Children

Modeling Turn-Taking Rhythms with Oscillators

Modeling Turn-Taking Rhythms with Oscillators

The Machinery of Turn-taking in L2 Instructed Talk-in-interaction

The Machinery of Turn-taking in L2 Instructed Talk-in-interaction

The Relationship between Turn-Taking and VocabularyAcquisition in Infants Aged 10 to 24 Months

The Relationship between Turn-Taking and VocabularyAcquisition in Infants Aged 10 to 24 Months

Humanistics Language Teaching, Facilitation, and Classroom Conversation

Despite the fact that teachers of foreign languages often talk about ‘conversation classes’, the provision of conversation and instruction is often considered to be mutually exclusive (Seedhouse 1996). However, this paper proposes that humanistic language teaching (HLT) is one way of resolving this paradox. A language instructor has two sources of authority: institutional and linguistic. A facilitator, using humanistic teaching techniques, gives up institutional authority and so ‘frees up’ the classroom turn-taking system so that the strict initiation-response-feedback (IRF) pattern of most teaching is transformed into a conversational pattern where any participant is potentially a next speaker. Consequently, a conversation can take place in a class. On the other hand, linguistic authority is still exercised in the form of side-sequences which allow the facilitator to provide minimally invasive feedback without affecting the overall orientation to conversational rules of turn-taking. Keywords : facilitation, humanistic language teaching, identity, conversation, initiation-response-feedback

Turn-taking in Egyptian Arabic: Spontaneous speech vs. drama dialogue

This article investigates turn-taking (TT) in Egyptian Arabic spontaneous speech (SS) and drama dialogue (DD). Although SS and DD both involve speech exchange, they differ in the organization of talk between two parties due to the prespecification of DD in contrast to SS. Audio-recorded samples were chosen where the age, role-relationship, occupation and social class of the participants of each of the discourse types were similar to those of the other. The SS sample was obtained clandestinely to ensure spontaneity. Both samples were analysed against a model built from the literature on TT in English SS. Differences between both speech-exchange systems were divided into differences in frequency and differences in absolute occurrence. Differences of frequency include the absence of competition between parties, which leads to minimal overlap and interruption, hesitation and silence in DD due to its economy and concentration. The average length of a turn in SS is shorter than in DD. Differences of absolute occurrence, on the other hand, include audience backchannel, monologue and choral talk. SS and DD also differ in the rendering of simultaneous sets of conversation. All in all, DD imitates SS in some respects but differs in others to maintain its economy and tidiness or to serve a dramatic purpose.