Interruption in age based and gender based conversationsstudy on types, outcomes and functions = nghiên cứu về thể loại, tác động và chức năng của sự ngắt lời trong đàm thoại trên cơ sở về tuổi và giới

VINH UNIVERSITY Department of Foreign Languages == == INTERRUPTION IN Age-BASED AND GENDER-BASED CONVERSATIONS: STUDY ON TYPES, OUTCOMES AND FUNCTIONS NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ THỂ LOẠI, TÁC ĐỘNG

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VINH UNIVERSITY Department of Foreign Languages

== ==

Lª thÞ thïy dung

INTERRUPTION IN Age-BASED AND GENDER-BASED CONVERSATIONS: STUDY ON TYPES, OUTCOMES AND

FUNCTIONS

(NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ THỂ LOẠI, TÁC ĐỘNG VÀ CHỨC NĂNG

CỦA SỰ NGẮT LỜI TRONG ĐÀM THOẠI TRÊN CƠ SỞ VỀ TUỔI VÀ GIỚI)

GRADUATION THESISFIELD: LINGUISTICS

 VINH, 2007 

5

VINH UNIVERSITY Department of Foreign Languages

== ==

INTERRUPTION IN Age-BASED AND GENDER-BASED CONVERSATIONS: STUDY ON TYPES, OUTCOMES AND

FUNCTIONS

(NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ THỂ LOẠI, TÁC ĐỘNG VÀ CHỨC NĂNG

CỦA SỰ NGẮT LỜI TRONG ĐÀM THOẠI TRÊN CƠ SỞ VỀ TUỔI VÀ GIỚI)

By: Lê Thị Thùy Dung – 44B1 Supervisor: Lê Thị Thúy Hà, M.A

 VINH, 2007 

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my close friends for their encouragements as well as belief.

I am very much grateful to my parents, who always bring me the most favorable conditions for the process.

Special thanks to my supporters, especially those who took part in my questionnaires and audiotape recording And to those who put the belief on me and assist me a lot in preparation process as well as their supports during the course of producing this paper.

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Conversational interruption is one phenomenon which does not only underminethe verbal interaction between people, but it also presents something of a paradox tothe researchers studying conversational patterns On the one hand, interruptions are

a class of conversational behaviors that may impede the smooth flow ofinformation On the other hand, social relationships, difference between ages andgenders also influence how interruptions are employed What is more, interruptionsare difficult to define because they possess few characteristics that can beobjectively observed Therefore, the researcher decided to put a case investigation

on behaviors of verbally conversational interruption into service

Firstly, the researcher wished to examine theoretical approaches to interruptions,and to frame several issues in terms of conversational analysis Secondly, theresearcher attempted to answer whether and how interruptions change depending onpeople’s age or gender Finally, this case study hopes to contribute to thecommunicative approach in general; and to conversational interrupting behaviors inparticular

Qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed including the use

of questionnaire, naturalistic audiotape recording, the data of which were lateranalyzed and discussed using procedure of data analyses

The major findings of this study support the notion that English-speaking peopleinterrupt cooperatively In addition, conversational interruptions change due topeople’s age or gender Furthermore, males and females display differences inrelative flexibility when adjusting their communication styles to different partners.The study recommend to put further exploration to unanswered questionsregarding the theme

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table of content

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………. i

ABSTRACT ………. ii

TABLE OF CONTENT ……… iii

ABBREVIATION ……… v

LIST OF TABLES ……… vi

LIST OF FIGURES ………. vii

PART A: INTRODUCTION I Rationales ……… 1

II Aims of the study ……… 2

III Scope of the study ……… 2

IV Methods of the study ……… 3

V Design of the study ……… 4

PART B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1 Theoretical Preliminaries ………. 5

1.1 Communication Theory ……… 5

1.1.1 The Concept of Communication ……… 5

1.1.2 Communication Process and Elements ……… 6

1.1.3 Communication Models ……… 7

1.2 The Study of Speech Acts ……… 9

1.2.1 Foundation of Speech Acts ……… 9

1.2.2 Dialogue Acts ……… 11

1.2.3 Speech Acts in Conversation ……… 12

1.3 Conversation Theory ……… 13

1.3.1 Overview of Conversation Theory and Conversation Analysis …… 13

1.3.2 Turn-taking in Conversation ……… 15

1.3.3 Interruption in Conversation ……… 16

1.3.3.1 Concept of Conversational Interruption ……… 16

1.3.3.2 Conversational Interruption Affected by Politeness Strategies …… 17

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Chapter 2 Types, Outcomes and Functions of Interruption in Age-based and

Gender-based Conversations ……….…. 19

2.1 Types, Outcomes and Functions of Interruption ……… 19

2.2 Data Analysis and Discussion ……… 23

2.2.1 Interruption Frequencies ……….… 23

2.2.2 Interruption Differences by Genders ……….… 27

2.2.3 Interruption Differences by Age ……… 29

Chapter 3 Major Findings and Some Suggested Expressions for Interrupting Politely ……… 32

3.1 Findings ……… … 32

3.1.1 Evaluation of Interruption ……… 32

3.1.2 Acceptability of Conversational Interruption ……… 23

3.1.3 Acceptability by Function ……… 33

3.2 Some Suggested Expressions for Interrupting Politely ……… 34

PART C: CONCLUSION I General Conclusion ……… 36

II Limitations ……… 36

III Suggestion for Further Studies ……… 37

RERFERENCES ……… 38

APPENDICES ………. 41

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LIST OF TABLES

1 Result of Questionnaire

2 Total of Interruption Types, Outcomes and Functions out of 260 Interruptions

3 Total of Each Group’s Interruption

4 Means of Estimated and Actual Interruption by Questionnaire Participants

5 Total Interruption Types of Each Group

6 Total Interruption Outcomes of Each Group

7 Total Interruption Functions of Each Group

8 Number Interruption Types Recorded from 10 Tapes

9 Number Interruption Outcomes Recorded from 10 Tapes

10 Number Interruption Functions Recorded from 10 Tapes

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LIST OF FIGURES

1 Communication Process

2 Linear model of communication by Shanon and Weave

3 Circular model of communication by F de Saussure

4 Conversation act types in the Traum and Hinkelman (1992) scheme

5 Interruption types, outcomes and functions

6 Mean Number of Actual and Estimated Interruptions During a 15-minute

Conversation in Four Groups

7 Mean Percentage of Interruption Types for Total Population

8 Mean Percentage of Interruption Functions for Total Population

9 Mean Percentage of Interruption Outcomes for Total Population

10 Total Interruptions in Cross-sex Groups

11 Total Interruptions by Each Group

12 Percentage of Each Group’s Interruptions

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PART A: INTRODUCTION

VI Rationales

In the course of conversations, people frequently interrupt each other This phenomenonpresents something of a paradox to the researchers studying conversational patterns On theone hand, when asked how they feel about being interrupted, untrustworthy evidencesuggests that adult speakers try not to interrupt others, and that they apologize to theirconversational partners when they interrupt On the other hand, despite this perspective oninterruptions, people do interrupt frequently, more times perhaps than they are willing toadmit

Furthermore, interruptions are a class of conversational behaviors that may violate taking and impede the smooth flow of information Social relationships, differencebetween ages and genders also influence how turns are allocated and used What is more,interruptions are difficult to define because they possess few characteristics that can beobjectively observed; rather, their occurrence, definition, and acceptability appear to besocially constructed by both participants and observers

turn-Generally, interruptions appear to play a role in the relationship between one’s age, gender,and conversational status, in terms of how frequently one interrupts, and with whichconversational partner In view of the higher status generally conferred by age in thissociety, one would expect older people to exercise interruption rights in their conversationswith younger people Wiens, Saslow, and Matarazzo (1966) estimated that one fifth of allutterances are interruptions of one kind or another Factors contributing to this variability,such as quantity of talk, rate of speech, and type of conversation, have never been carefullyexamined Meanwhile, everyday conversation is one of the most frequent interactions inwhich information is exchanged in an immense amount and in vast kinds; and interruption

is undeniably one component of that system

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VII Aims of the study

The purpose of this paper, firstly, is to examine theoretical approaches to interruptions, and

to frame several issues in terms of conversational analysis

Secondly, the study is conducted as an attempt to explore the discrepancies in theconceptions of conversational interruption between ages and genders

Additionally, it is aimed at spotlighting the differences between ages and genders inbehaviors and attitudes towards their conversational partner

Finally, this case study hopes to contribute to the communicative approach in general; and

to conversational interrupting behaviors in particular

VIII Scope of the study

Specifically, the study purports to address the following research questions:

The first question was whether and how interruptions change depending on people’s age orgender

The second question was how people judge conversational interruptions when questionedabout their perceptions of their own conversational behavior with another person

The study is not a social investigation; rather, it is a case research Hence, the researcheronly has the desire to specify the effects of age and gender, which are independentvariables, on the number and types of interruptions recorded during unrehearsedconversations between dyads inside the domain of linguistics

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Since all languages, regardless locations and epochs, have some characters in common.The study spotted the light on English language as an explicit instance to discuss.

IX Methods of the study

In order to find the answers to the above-mentioned questions, both quantitative andqualitative methods were employed in the forms of these following methods:

- Participants

As previously mentioned, the paper is implemented as a case study rather thangeneralization The subjects of the research hence are limited to the following groups: Theyounger group (25 men and 25 women) was composed primarily of undergraduatestudents who were taking 45th and 46th courses in Foreign Languages Department at VinhUniversity and who were in senior year at Phan Boi Chau gifted secondary school Theolder group consisted of 25 men and 25 women recruited from College staff, stateemployees, community business people, and students’ parents The mean age of theyounger group was 19.8 years; of the older group was 47.3 years No one had less than ahigh school education

- Data Collection

The study is conducted with the design of participant surveys, the researcher decided toemploy questionnaires and naturalistic audiotape recordings as data collection instrument.This study employs a retrospective questionnaire of which the guiding questions wereoriented by research questions As for audiotape recording, in order to have the factualfigure, ten conversations were recorded directly and casually to represent same age, mixedage, same gender, and mixed gender combinations, with two individuals in a conversation.This mode formed 10 groups, which respectively were YM1-YM1 (Group 1), YF2-YF2(Group 2), YM3-YF3 (Group 3), OM4-OM4 (Group 4), OF5-OF5 (Group 5), OM6-OF6(Group 6), YM7-OM7 (Group 7), YF8-OF8 (Group 8), YM9-OF9 (Group 9), OM10-YF10(Group 10)

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- Analysis of Variance

In general, the purpose of ANOVA in this thesis is to examine for significantdiscrepancies between different groups of ages and genders By measuring and analyzingcharacters of each group and evaluating them as a whole, the research drew a quantitativeand qualitative comparison between different groups of cases or observations

X Design of the study

The researcher divided the paper in to three main parts Beginning with an introductionabout the components contained in the study, the aims, the scope, the methodology, and thedesign of the paper are presented

The second main part was Development, in which, chapter 1 explained the theoretical

preliminaries which showed understandings about the theme Chapter 2- Types, Outcomes and Functions of Interruption analyzed collected data and presented major remarks on the

current discussed issues Chapter 3 was set up in attempt to contribute some expressions inverbal interaction

The rest of the paper served the conclusion and recommendation for further studies based onthe theme

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1 THEORETICAL PRELIMINARIES

1.1 Communication Theory

1.1.1 The Concept of Communication

Person-to-person communication is the exchange of information, ideas, and feelingsamong people Communication takes place when we transmit a message from oneperson to another or to a group of people

Fiske (1990) pointed out that: ‘Communication is one of those human activities that

everyone recognizes but few can define satisfactorily’ And the most relevant definition

of communication for present purposes is ‘social interaction through messages’ (Fiske,

1990, p.2) Scollon and Scollon (2001) refer to Gregory Bateson’s notion ofmetamessages:

The anthropologist Gregory Bateson (1972) pointed out some years ago that every communication must simultaneously communicate two messages: the basic massage and the metamessage The idea of the basic metamessage we are familiar with The metamessage is a second message, encoded and superimposed upon the basic, which indicates how we want someone to take the basic message (p.77)

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This passage illustrates that communication is not a simple mechanical matter ofpassing information from one person to another but, rather, is a complex, multilevelevent

Therefore, communication is the complex process of interaction in transmittinginformation Communicating is to understand information and what the information arebeing conveyed by others Communication can take on many forms including gestures,facial expressions, signs, vocalizations (including pitch and tone), in addition to speechand written communication In turn, a smiling, nodding face indicates that the listener isinterested in what we are saying and encourages us to continue

1.1.2 Communication Process and Elements

It is argued that communication patterns contain various speech or communicative acts.Consider the simple example:

 Mary (talked on the phone): I won’t go to work today; this treatment keeps medizzy and my doctor says I should probably be reduced to part time

 Boss: Mary, this is the third day you’ve missed and your appointments keepbacking up; we have to cover for you and this is messing all of us up

In this example, Mary has a simple message to convey - she won’t go to work todaybecause of dizziness Her boss, however, was really being pressured by Mary’scontinued absences, and her late calls In this case the boss heard hostilely from Maryand he took no notice of her reason Mary may not have meant this, but this is what theboss heard

Communications is so difficult because at each step in the process there major potentialfor error By the time a message gets from a sender to a receiver there are four basicplaces where transmission errors and potential errors may occur Also, in anycommunication at least some of the ‘meaning’ lost in simple transmission of a messagefrom the sender to the receiver Let us take a look at the figure below as an illustration

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Message

sent

message received

decode

(some error

likely)

encoded by receiver

(some error

Figure 1.1 Communication Process

Stages and elements in communication process can be described as follows:

a) The Message: A message is the component that conveys information Words

alone do not establish the full meaning of the message Nonverbal communications maygive clues that the receiver can use to comprehend verbal messages

b) Sender and Sender’s Process: The sender is the source of communication The

sender starts the communication process by transmitting information to the receiver.Encoding the message, whether written or oral, is a process that requires four separatesteps The first step is to formulate the message, putting thoughts into words Thesecond step consists of passing the message through psychological or internalcommunication channels

c) Receiver and Receiver’s Process: The receiver is the element in the

communication process that interprets the meaning of the message The receiver alsogoes through an internal set of processes related to external messages Upon obtainingthe message, the receiver decodes it through the following steps: receive, decode, filter,and interpret Receiving takes place when the receiver first perceives the message, either

by sight or hearing During this process, the receiver filters the information throughtheir own psychological channels such as existing knowledge, attitude, beliefs,prejudices, and perceptions In general, successful communication occurs only when the

receiver successfully interprets the message as the sender intended

The sender and receiver’s processes will later be illustrated by the linear model ofcommunication (Shannon and Weaver, 1949:7)

d) Transmission Medium: The transmission medium is the pathway by which the

message flows It is the vehicle that carries the message from the sender to the receiver,and back The medium can be electronic, written, verbal, or nonverbal

e) Feedback: Feedback is one of the communication elements that confirms the

message has been received and understood

1.1.3 Communication Models

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There have been numbers of communication model suggested, however, we only wish

to present two prominent ones among such proposals

a Linear model: Shannon & Weaver (1949)

It is argued that one of the simplest and best-known communication models is thatarising from Shanon and Weaver’s (1949) classical text This model is called LinearModel

Figure 1.2 Linear model of communication by Shanon and Weaver

General characteristic feature of this model is the distinction between the mental and thephysiological / technical processes in communication

In the illustration, signal indicates physical element and sign indicates mental one Themessage is said to be a sequence of symbols or signs, therefore this sequence standsbetween source and transmitter, receiver and destination Physical signals aretransformed into signs by a cognitive process The communications channel is regarded

as physical or technical

b Circular model of communication: Ferdinand de Saussure (1990: 177)

This model can be illustrated by the cycle:

Figure 1.3 Circular model of communication by F de Saussure

This cycle presents that information flow in two directions which are connected together

by channels and tasks

To conclude, in order to explain why and how communication takes place, models ofthe flow of communication are often created These models can serve to explain existingcommunication pathways, and also to recommend communication strategies.Communication clearly involves a set of interacting processes, in which the sender isthe one who is sending the message out; the channel is the way the message is beingsent; and the receiver is supposed to receive and use the message

1.2 The Study of Speech Acts

The study on speech act theory originated in the field of philosophy of language Speechact theory was developed in the aim to give account for the functional meaning of anutterance as not all statements reflect the classical truth-conditional semantics forspeaker’s intention In this section we will describe an overview of the developmentfrom Austin’s (1975) work, which was primarily concerned with the meaning ofseparate utterances in context, to applied dialogue act theory

1.2.1 Foundation of Speech Acts

Austin’s 1955 Harvard lectures, first published in 1962, is the traditional starting point

of speech act theory Ideas from speech act theory as formulated by Austin (1975) andSearle (1969) were used as a basis, and were further developed to capture phenomena inverbal communication J L Austin (1975) claimed that many utterances are equivalent

to actions When someone says: ‘There he comes again’ or ‘Long time no see!’, the

utterance creates a new social or psychological reality

A speech act is a complex unit In his famous work, “How to do Things with Words,” J.

L Austin outlined his theory of speech acts and the concept of performative language,

in which to say something is to do something Austin offered an analysis of the concept

of speech acts, which distinguishes between three aspects of a speech act: locutionary,

illocutionary and perlocutionary acts as follows:

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a) Locutionary acts are simply the speech acts that have taken place

b) Illocutionary acts are the real actions which are performed by the utterance, where

saying equals doing, as in betting, promising one's faith, welcoming and warning

c) Perlocutionary acts are the effects of the utterance on the listener, who accepts

the bet or pledge of marriage, is welcomed or warned

Searle extended and refined Austin’s work on speech acts, working specifically with theaspect of illocutionary acts His rules were formulated on basis of four features in aspeech act: propositional content, preparatory conditions, sincerity conditions andessential conditions

Some linguists have attempted to classify illocutionary acts into a number of categories

or types David Crystal, quoting J.R Searle, gives five such categories: representatives,

directives, commissives, expressives and declarations:

a) Commissives: here the speaker commits himself/ herself to a future course of

action, with verbs such as: guarantee, pledge, promise, swear, vow, undertake, warrant

b) Directives: here the speaker tries to make the hearer do something, with such

words as: ask, request, beg, invite, command, dare, challenge, insist

c) Declaratives: the speaker alters the external status or condition of an object or

situation, solely by making the utterance: I now pronounce you man and wife, Isentence you to be hanged by the neck until you be dead, I name this ship

d) Expressives: the speaker expresses an attitude to or about a state of affairs, using

such verbs as: apologize, appreciate, congratulate, deplore, detest, regret, thank,welcome

e) Representatives: here the speaker asserts a proposition to be true, using such verbs

as: affirm, believe, conclude, deny, report

That is, when we speak we are doing one or more of the following: commiserating,directing, declaring, expressing or asserting

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Speech acts was also closer defined in a formal logic framework, such as by Searle andVanderveken and Searle, J (1985) This approach, illocutionary logic, evaluatesmeaning both in terms of truth conditions and success conditions

Speech act theory and its critiques are often articulated using imagined examples, inwhich the speaker’s meaning can be expressed in various modes For instance, thespeech act which implies ‘cold weather’ can be performed as following:

On the whole, speech act theory has become more operational and feasible during theintegration of speech acts, that sets up a foundation for this paper to deal with complexaspects of verbal interaction, e.g in dialogue.

1.2.2 Dialogue Acts

In terms of semantic and pragmatic content, there are different types of speech acts inplenty Practical use of speech act theories, for instance in dialogue systems, havegiven both apparent and deeper understanding of verbal communication In comparingrecent dialogue systems with early speech act theory, we can also get an impression ofwhat is needed in a communication model In this section we will give account forsome findings that have proved importance in dialogue modeling

The term dialogue act was introduced by Bunt (1994) Bunt stressed the view of thedialogue acts as functions that update the dialogue context He distinguished betweenseveral types of context:

a) The linguistic context – the surrounding utterances.

b) The semantic context – the underlying task and domain.

c) The physical context – the location of the participants and the interaction in

time and space

d) The social context – the type of situation and roles the participants play with

respect to each other, including rights and obligations

e) The cognitive context – the mental states of the participants.

Each of these contexts has both local and global aspects In addition, Bunt (1994)made a difference between task-oriented acts and dialogue control acts All acts affectthe linguistic and cognitive context, but the task-oriented acts also change the semanticcontext, while dialogue control acts affect the social or physical context Thisapproach stresses the fact that a dialogue is not an independent phenomenon whichsuddenly appears from the nothing, rather a dialogue is an action which is always

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The dialogue acts are in general differing from Austin’s speech acts The maindifference is that the different levels of dialogue has become important and aredescribed in later approaches A distinction between dialogue management and thetask itself was also made

1.2.3 Speech Acts in Conversation

According to Traum (1999) Litman and Allen (1992), conversations work to includeconnected dialogues rather than just single pairs of utterances They also organized thedialogue in a hierarchical structure

In introducing connected conversation, the need to give account for the interactionbetween agents becomes noticeable Cohen and Levesque built on their previous work

in the field of logic for speech acts, and they extend their work to a theory of jointintention and multi-agent action (Cohen and Levesque, 1991) In the work on jointintentions, which stresses the interactive and social aspect of communication, theystate that conversation participants have a joint intention for a plan to be performed

In this tradition, the conversation exchange is described as consisting of conversationmoves, conversation games and conversation transactions The move is the smallestunit while the transaction is the largest unit

Since the traditional speech acts were insufficient for controlling the conversationflow, new levels were introduced These include levels for turn-taking, repair,reference/ information and attention (Traum, 1999)

Traum and Hinkelman (1992) suggested a scheme comprising these new speech acts

This scheme has four levels of acts: turn-taking acts, to coordinate who is speaking,

grounding acts to coordinate the flow of mutual understanding, the traditional core speech acts and finally argumentation acts to handle higher-level coherence In the

follows, different types of acts are shown

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Discourse Level Act Type Sample Acts

Sub Utterance Unit Turn-taking take-turn, keep-turn

release-turn, assign-turnUtterance Unit Grounding Initiate, Continue, Ask,

Repair, CancelDiscourse Unit Core Speech

Acts Inform, Check, Evaluate,Suggest, Request,

Accept, RejectMultiple Discourse

Unit

Argumentation Elaborate, Summarize,

Clarify, Q&A, Convince,Find-Plan

Figure 1.4 Conversation act types in the Traum and Hinkelman (1992) scheme

Traum and Hinkelman (1992) stressed that the distinction between the types are levels

of language description but not ranks They further describe the distinction as beingmore like between that of phonology and syntax level rather than between a word and

a phrase rank; therefore there is no grammar which will build up a grounding act as anordered collection of turn-taking acts

We have seen how the initial approach with speech acts as single units, have come to

be integrated in a wider description for communication, containing a more structureddescription to the conversation participants plans This means that speech acts are notany more direct building blocks for conversation, defined on basis of the state of tasksand the speaker’s communicative intention, but rather parts of a conversation plan

1.3 Conversation Theory

1.3.1 Overview of Conversation Theory and Conversation Analysis

Conversation Theory is a theory of interaction The Conversation Theory developed

by Gordon Pask originated from a cybernetics framework and attempts to study inboth living organisms and machines Conversation Theory describes interactionbetween two or more cognitive systems, such as between a teacher and a student or

APPENDICES

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through conversations about a topic which serve to make knowledge clear.Conversations can be conducted at a number of different levels:

 Natural language (discussion in general)

 Object languages (for discussing one topic)

 Metalanguages (for talking about learning/language)

Before getting too involved in the very intricacies of conversation, we should have aconsideration on Conversation Analysis which is a set of methods and a certainanalyses for studying person-to-person interaction, often associated with the names ofits founder, Harvey Sacks, and his co-workers, Gail Jefferson and Emanuel

Conversation Analysis (CA) researchers have demonstrated sequential analysis ofinteraction that participants display systematic orientation to features of the talk andthat this systematicity provides a basis for interactive categories (Sacks, Schegloff, andJefferson, 1974) Their main concern has been to explain the competencies socialparticipants draw upon in producing, understanding and co-coordinating interactionalbehavior

The actions which are embedded in conversation take place in sequences Theseactions occupy particular positions within sequences and their sequential position is acrucial determinant which dealt with by participants in conversation The organization

of everyday talk is proceeded on a negotiated turn-by-turn basis One consequence ofthis organization is that any next turn provides an opportunity for its producer todisplay an idea

The success of a conversation depends upon the various speakers’ approach to theinteraction Paul Grice proposes that in ordinary conversation, speakers and hearers

share a cooperative principle way, in which people try to make conversations work.

The principle can be explained by four basic rules or maxims David Crystal calls

them conversational maxims They are also sometimes named Grice's or Gricean

maxims They are the maxims of quality, quantity, relevance and manner.

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 Quality: speakers should be truthful and convictive.

 Quantity: a contribution should be appropriately informative for the

conversation to proceed

 Relevance: speakers’ utterances should relate clearly to the purpose of the

conversation

 Manner: speakers’ utterances should be perspicuous: clear, orderly and brief.

Very often, people communicate particular non-literal meanings by appearing toviolate these maxims For example:

 A: Do you have any hobbies?

B: I like flying to the moon (Violation of the maxim of relevance)

 A: Tell me something about yourself

B: I am a teacher My mother died last year My name is Steven I grew up in New York (Violation of the maxim of quantity)

However, we should consider the utterances which are indirect speech acts, such as:

 A: Get me a cup of tea

B: I’m not your servant

 A: Is the boss in?

B: The light is on in his office.

Actually, Grice does not prescribe the use of such maxims nor does he suggest that weuse them artificially to construct conversations But it is supposed that they are usefulfor analyzing and interpreting conversation, and may reveal purposes of which either

as speaker or listener were not previously aware

Theories of Conversation build an important resource not only for conversationalparticipants themselves but also for analysts trying to make sense of how talk isfunctioning They thus have important methodological implications for all studies ofspoken language in that they provide an interactionally-grounded approach to studyand analysis

1.3.2 Turn-taking in Conversation

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CA provides a pattern of temporal turn-taking which offers cues for determining who

is going to speak and who is going to listen during conversation in which turn-takingmaximizes the flow and sequencing of communicative messages

According to Sacks, Schegloff, and Jefferson (1974), turn-taking role reducessimultaneous speech to a manageable minimum Simultaneous speech may interferewith a smooth flow of talk, preventing participants not only from processing themessage speedily but also from maintaining topic coherence and the others’ attention

Sacks, et al (1974) referred to conversations as speech exchange systems, in whichturn-taking forms a basic organizational structure which allows speakers to claim turnsand then to capitulate them They emphasize that turn-taking is the core mechanism ofconversation

Sacks, et al pointed out that turns typically have a three-part structure: prior turn,

occupancy turn, and succeeding turn Generally, since people interchangeably occupy

the roles of speaker and listener, they must observe and comply with a system of taking that is systematic rather than randomly In order to have one’s turn, the speakermust observe not only the speaking and listening rules, but the allocation rules whichpermit orderly sequencing Sacks, et al also claimed that turn-taking insures thatparticipants pay attention to conversations, not so much because of interest andpoliteness, but because of utter self-interest in having a turn at talk

turn-A further claim is that the turn-taking model is a ‘local management system’ but

‘interactionally managed.’ By this way, Sacks, et al mean that turn-taking is managed

on a turn-by-turn basis Each existing turn develops the constraints for a next turn-sizeand turn-order Also, turn-taking is interactional in the sense that speakers themselvesdetermine whether the turn will be long or short, the placement of transition points,and whether to accept or pass up a turn at talk

1.3.3 Interruption in Conversation

1.3.3.1 Concept of Conversational Interruption

46

West and Zimmerman (1977) distinguish between interruptions and other instances ofsimultaneous speech by noting that overlapping often relates to possible completion inspeakers’ utterances These overlaps are often ruin the turn-taking system.Interruptions by their definition, however, actually interfere with the internal structure

of speakers’ utterances These deep incursions are not only violate turn-taking rules,but they may also disorder the organization of the succeeding turn as well as affectconversational topic development West and Zimmerman suggested that interruptionsare used by adult males and by parents in general to dominate conversations

A distinction between the terms overlap and interruption was also made by Sacks, et

al and they demonstrated that speakers and listeners struggle for the next speakingturn and sometimes encroach on each others’ rights

Duncan (1973) hypothesized that the changing of speaker and listener depends on aseries of visual and auditory cues which are displayed by the speaker at the end of aspeaking turn The cues, which may be displayed singly or together, are: intonation,lengthening of the final syllable or on the stressed syllable of a phonemic clause,gestures, sociocentric sequences, and syntax

Hence, in this case, interruption can be defined as an act of delaying or interrupting thesmooth continuity of a conversation

1.3.3.2 Conversational Interruption in the Light of Politeness Strategies

There have been numbers of theoretical and experiential studies on politeness whichheavily debated notions in pragmatic and sociolinguistic research In most of thestudies, the politeness has been conceptualized especially as strategic conflict-avoidance or as strategic construction of co-operative social interaction To the extent

of this thesis, we refer to definition of politeness in Richards (1985: 281) as ‘the

attempt to establish, maintain, and save face during conversation’ That is,

conversational interruption is also a concept which lays inside the affected range ofpoliteness strategies

APPENDICES

 male vs female (in a male-centered community)

 female vs male (in a male-centered community)

 male vs male (in a female-centered community)

 female vs male (in a female-centered community)

 male vs female (in an equal community)

 female vs male (in an equal community)

 male vs male (in a male-centered community)

 female vs female (in a male-centered community)

 male vs male (in a female-centered community)

 female vs female (in a female-centered community)

 male vs male (in an equal community)

 female vs female (in an equal community)

c) power of social status: higher, same, lower

d) power of qualifications: higher, same, lower

e) power of economic status: richer, same, poorer

f) power of physical strength: stronger, same, weaker

In this study, we choose the two first subjects to set in our investigation of how based and gender-based conversations affect the aspects of interruption

age-To summarize, the importance of turn-taking as a central mechanism in conversationleads to a consideration of how the major conversational models view the organization

of talk During that interaction process, interruptions occur and embrace numbers ofmatters, on which we set up this case study to attain a profound interpretation andoffer a hospitable contribution

48

CHAPTER 2 TYPES, OUTCOMES AND FUNCTIONS OF INTERRUPTION

IN AGE-BASED AND GENDER-BASED CONVERSATIONS

2.3 Types, Outcomes and Functions of Interruption

One of the indispensable methods carried out during our investigation is audiotaperecording After collecting 10 tapes from different candidates, each 15-minute audiotape

OUTCOMES:

Retain Turn Resolve interruption Cede Turn

Continue Utterance Both Complete Utterance

FUNCTIONS:

Cooperative:

Express AgreementAdd information Request Information

Neutral:

Timing Error

Control:

APPENDICES

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======================

was transcribed as specifically as possible, by methodically listening and note-taking.Based on the content and the flow of the recorded conversations, interruptions werecategorized in the transcripts and counted According to Geoffrey W Beattie (1981) andafter working out turn-takings in collected conversations, interruptions have beencategorized in three coding categories: types, outcome, and function

Before getting involved in particular analyses, let us consider the notions and examples ofthe above terms as a base for further evaluation

2.3.1 Types

Simultaneous Initial Speech (SIS): Both speakers begin their utterances at the same time.

This interruption type is always coded as a timing error (TE) Since there is no currentspeaker, both speakers receive recognition for this type

E.g I said

Why do you

Backchannel (BC): An interruption that consists of one or two-word phrases

(occasionally longer) by non-current speaker, such as ‘um,’ ‘uh-huh,’ etc to show thesupport or agreement Normally the outcome code for a backchannel is Retain Turn (RT).Backchannel comments are occasionally informational

E.g Last Sunday, I was going to the seaside

Uh-huh

Overlap (OV): An interruption that occurs two or fewer syllables away from a

grammatical completion point of the speaker’s utterance A grammatical completionpoint can be signaled by terminal intonation, pitch fall, and/or idea unit completed E.g : How do you feel today?

A little better.

50

Deep interruption (DI): Occurs more than two syllables away from a grammatical

completion point

E.g.: How do you feel about our seminar today?

I couldn’t even raise my voice.

Silent Interruption (SI): An interruption which does not involve simultaneous speech It

occurs when the current speaker’s utterance is incomplete, and the turn has not yet beencapitulated In order to qualify, the silent interruption must occur less than one secondafter current speaker’s last word

E.g.: Because I think

In my opinion we should reconsider this matter.

Interrupt backchannel (IBC): The current speaker interrupts a backchannel comment,

probably to retain the turn

E.g.: I was chased yeah, until I got home.

Uh-huh

2.3.2 Outcomes

Retain Turn (RT): This outcome usually occurs after a backchannel comment The

current speaker retains the turn

E.g.: I tend to agree with your statement