Conversational Structure

Conversation Analysis (CA):
A Qualitative Approach to
Language Use

Dr. Phalangchok Wanphet

Conversation Analysis (CA)

Conversation Analysis 2

Why is it talk that we analyze?

3 Conversation Analysis

It is a method that explores
systematically how people talk,
verbally and nonverbally.


Discussion : Do you know …….?
1. if we move our hands slightly before or after we
actually talk?

2. how to begin and end a conversation?

3. what you say immediately after greeting and
immediately before saying „goodbye‟?

Conversation Analysis 5

4. how a speaker signals “nonverbally” and “verbally”
when she wants to withdraw from the talk?

5. when the next speaker knows when is her turn to
talk?

6. how to hold the floor as a current speaker?

7. how to compete for the floor to be a next speaker?


7. how a current speaker selects a next speaker?

8. what eye gaze has to do with re-start and pause in
talk?

9. how you as a current speaker signal the listener that
you will tell a long story or your turn will be long?


10. how you as a current speaker prepare the audience
for the punch line when telling a story?

11. how a speaker chooses specific listeners to
maintain eye contact with?

12. whom the word “you” refers to in multiparty talk?

13. how laughter is used to invite other people to
laugh?


The above were interactional issues, among
others, that CA researchers investigated. Some
issues remain under investigation.


Topics to be covered today

1. Introduction to Conversation Analysis (CA)
1. Turn-Taking System
2. Sequence Organization
3. Repair
4. Turn Design

2. Applying CA in Everyday Interaction


Conversation Analysis
1. Turn-Taking System
a. Gaps, Silence, Overlaps, and Interruption
b. Turn Allocation


Turn-Taking for Conversation

1. Speaker-change recurs, or at least occurs.
2. One party talks at a time.
3. Turn order is not fixed, but varies.
4. Turn size is not fixed, but varies.
5. Length of conversation is not specified in advance.


6. What parties say is not specified in advance.
7. Relative distribution of turns is not specified in
advance.
8. Number of parties can vary.
9. Talk can be continuous or discontinuous.
10. Turn-allocation techniques are obviously used.


Silence and Gaps
Harry: Didjih speak tuh Mary today?
(0.2)
Harry: Did jih speak tuh Mary?
Joy: Oh, yea:h I saw her at lunch.

This is called gap.


As compared to

H: You‟ll come abou:t (.) eight. Right?=
N: =Yea::h, =
H: =Okay.
(0.2)
N: Anything else to report.

This is called silence.


Overlaps and Interruption

When we talk, the ideal is “once one finishes her turn,
the next person immediately starts”.

Ex.
Emma: G‟morning Dottie=
Dottie: =u-hHow‟r YOU:.=
Emma: =FI:NE


Overlaps
Penny: O:kay. I‟ll see yuh.
Mary: A::l? right Dear,
Penny: Bye bye,
Mary: Bye bye,


It can be a problematic when

Joy: that w‟z r:eally a:weful b‟d in thuh end we sorta
had a good t i:me
Carol: yeh= th a‟ w‟z like what=
Harry: i-
Carol: =happen‟ tuh usx when we wen‟ up the coas‟
we had.


Mike: I know who‟d guy is.=
Vic: = He‟s ba::d.
James : [You know the gu:y?

X: Is that whi we use to do those dividers
Y: Yeah.
(0.9)
Y: And she said it took- they didn‟t do- (.)
X: Well
Y: very good proof reading or anything

Turn Allocation (Next-speaker selection)
Fixed order of turn allocation

1. A current speaker has the right to choose a next
speaker.
2. If that doesn‟t happen, the recipients have the right to
select themselves to talk next.
3. If 1 and 2 do not occur, the current speaker may or
may not continue to talk.


Added to the list (Turn taking)

11. Occurrences of more than one speaker at a time
are common, but brief.
12. Transitions with no gap and no overlap are
common.



2. Sequence Organization
a. Adjacency Pairs
I. First Pair Part (question, greeting)
II. Second Pair Part (answer, greeting)

Can you think of any other types of
adjacency pairs?

b. Insertion Sequence


Extracts

A: How did you get here this morning?
B: By bus.

S: Do you want a ride?
T: Yes, sure.

X: Hi.
Y: Hi, how are you?
X: Great.


Ex 1

A: Have you seen Jim? (Question 1)
B: Was he in today? (Question 2)
A: Yeah. (Answer 2)
B: No, I didn‟t see him. (Answer 1)


Ex 2

A: Are you coming tonight? (Q1)
B: Can I bring a guest? (Q2)
A: Male or female? (Q3)
B: What difference does that make? (Q4)
A: An issue of balance. (A4)
B: Female (A3)
A: Sure. (A2)
B: I‟ll be there. (A1)



3. Repair (vs. Correction)
a. How does turn-taking lead to repair?
b. Types of Repair
c. Positions of Repair


What do we want to know about repair?

1. When and where is the problem solved?
2. Who does what during the practice of repair?
3. Is the repair successful?



4. Turn Design
a. Preference Organization
I. Preferred Action (affiliative)
II. Dispreferred Action (disaffiliative)
b. Turn Shape

Examples


Conclusion

- The importance of talk
- How do we talk?
- How is mutual
understanding is established
and reestablished?
- Other things we do when
we talk


Conclusion

2. Turn-Taking in talk is a
manner of politeness and
polite manner. Ideally, we
wait for the completion of
whatever a current speaker
is saying before offering
our own contribution.
Turn-taking a
characteristic of polite
conversation.

CA as a Research Method
1. Nature of Conversation Analysis
2. Conversation Analytic (CA) Method
2.1 Data
2.2 Collecting Data
2.3 Transcribing Data
3 Methodological Concerns
3.1 Advantages of Ordinary Talk
3.2 Exclusion of Contexts
3.3 Emphasis on Qualification
3.4 Strengthening CA Findings and Claims

1: Nature of CA
• Qualitative
• Emic perspective
• Naturalism

CA Method

• It employs
basic
observational
techniques.

2. Conversation Analytic (CA) Method
2.1 Data
2.1.1 What kind of data used in CA studies?
2.1.2 Importance of mundane talk?
2.1.3 Ordinary talk vs. Experimentation
2.2 Collecting data
2.2.1 Recording devices
2.2.2 Tips and considerations
2.3 Transcribing data

2.1 Data

2.1.1 What kind of data
is used in CA studies?

– Talk between peers
or acquaintances
– Family talk
– Casual gatherings

2.1 Data
• CA researchers focuses on describing the
organizational structure of mundane, ordinary
conversation.

2.1.2 Importance of everyday
conversational interaction

Why casual talk?
• It is the fundamental
domain of interaction.
• It leads to non-
conversational domains.

• It is the predominant form of
human interaction in the real
world.
• It is the primary medium to
which a child is exposed.

2.1.3 Ordinary talk vs.
invented or imagined talk

• The former is richer.
• The latter is demanding.
• The latter is not as valid as events in the real world.
• Invented data not apt resource for CA inquiry
includes experimental situations and role-plays.

2.2 Collecting data

Recording devices
• Tape recorders
• Video recorders

2.2.2 Tips and considerations

• Make it as much natural as possible
• Degree of researcher involvement in the talk should
be very minimal.
• How is a recording device is set-up?
• NO questionnaires or interviews needed
• Think about characteristics of everyday talk

2.3 Transcribing Data

• Features of everyday interaction: verbal and
nonverbal codes, and their properties.

• Useful conventions in transcribing
conversational interaction:

Conventions
1. Turn and intonational units: intonation contour

S: That is interesting,
I mean,
th- that you should pair the word aesthetics,
… with advertising.
J: Yeah.

2. Truncated word

R: He doesn‟t have any --
… He doesn‟t know what’s going on here.

3. Pseudonym or Capital Letters

JEFF: That‟s all it does.
It doesn‟t [even] reach a conclusion
SARAH: [mhm],
JEFF: The conclusion is up to you.

4. Speech overlap

B: Nobody wants [to leave].
A: [They don‟t] move [[out]]
S: [[Berkeley]] jst keeps [3bigger]3 and [4bigger4].
B: [3Yeah3],
[4Yeah4]

5. Question mark (yes/no question)

J: …Should we waste him?
or should we stop him,
and … then waste him.

6. Fall (),Raise (/), and Level (_)

D: You know, _
call them on the phone, /
and uh, _
… take a lunch, /

7. Word lengthening

K: …^Gregg‟s never had a a ^co=ld,
or the ^flu=,

8. Pause
1. Long (0.7 seconds of longer)
(…) followed by the length of pause.

E: …This.. is a type of person,
…(0.9) that… (0.7) is like …(1.0) a hermit

2. Medium (0.3-0.6 seconds)
(only three dots … with no length)

9. Short (0.2 second or less)
Only two dots (..) with no length.

10. Audible Inhalation (H) and Exhalation (Hx)

B: …(4.3) (Hx) …Kids in the city miss so much.

11. Laughter

Use @ to represent each syllable of laughter,
or just write (LAUGH).
If it is too long, indicate the length, e.g.,

ALL: @ (12.7)

12. Laughter and talk

N: and they stepped out in the road,
and not only did they have uniforms on,
but they <@ also had guns @>

13. Comment

N: and they’re,
…you know,
… ((DOG BARKS EXCITEDLY))

14. Uncertain hearing

G: …Well,
I [don’t] normally sound like Lucille Ball.
K: [<X That’s X>]

(what is put in the parenthesis represents the
transcriber’s best guess)
If you are not sure, use X if you hear one
syllable, (XX for two syllables).

15. Duration

A: …(1.0)(H)(0.9)A=nd

R: u=m(0.7),

16. Code switching

A: So we don‟t really know if it was the <L2car L2>

Or

C: That thing <L2TH car L2TH> was so fast

3 Methodological Concerns

3.1 Exclusion of contexts (ethnographic and cultural
accounts of participants)
3.2 Emphasis on Qualification
3.3 Strengthening CA Findings and Claims

Conversational Structure

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