Introduction to Linguistic 2

CONVERSATION ANALYSIS

*****

An Analysis of Adjacency Pairs in The Conversation from

“The Late Show CBS TV Series” Between The Host
(Stephen Colbert) And The Guest Anne Hathaway

Group 4: Nguyễn Yến Chi

Tô Minh Hoàng

Kiều Hạnh Ngân

Bùi Thị Thảo

Hanoi, 2022

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 A. INTRODUCTION

Adjacency Pairs refer to the automatic patterns found in the structure of discourse.
According to Yule (1996), They are perpetually divided into a first and a second
section composed of dissimilar individuals. The continuous conversation between
different persons, without interruption, demonstrates adjacency pairings. Apart from
their distinct styles, Yule (1996:76) notes that many speakers have their ways of
conversing. Numerous automatic patterns embedded in the conversation structure aid
speakers' social engagement.

Many utterances in conversation follow an irregular pattern. For example, the first
speaker asks the second speaker a question, but the second speaker does not respond
and instead asks the first speaker a question. That pattern of dialogue is known as
adjacency pairs. Numerous patterns of adjacency pairs are employed in ordinary
language.

With the object of making the conversation clearer in ordinary conversation, the
speaker usually employs adjacency pairs. One example is when the first person asks,
“Do you have dinner?” and the second one answers, “Why? Do you want to give me
some dishes?” We can see that the first speaker's question is still unanswered; the
second speaker instead answered the question by giving another question to the first
one. Then, the first speaker answers the question from the second speaker, “Aishh, I
just want to invite you to have dinner with me.” And the second speaker gives a
response, “Sure, let's go!”. It means that the pattern of this conversation is Q1 - Q2 -
A2 - A1.

From the example in the daily conversation above, the data of the research can be
analyzed by qualitative research. The data sources are library and literary data. Its
purpose is to analyze adjacency pairs of the dialogue from “The Late Show CBS TV
Series” Between The Host (Stephen Colbert) And The Guest Anne Hathaway. In this
episode, there are many conversations between two persons that show the patterns of
adjacency pairs. That pattern can be used to learn the meaning of the words that are
uttered, and how the speaker speaks. For example:

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 (1) Stephen : Welcome (=Greeting 1)

(2) Anne : Thank you (=Response for greetings!)

(3) Stephen : Makes a difference, doesn't it? (=Question2)

(4) Anne : Oh, it's nice (=Answer 2 for

Question2)

From the dialogue above, Stephen does the first turn. The first utterance (1) represents
greeting. The second pair (2), represents the greeting of response from (1). Number
(3) represents a question. Number (4) represents Answer from question in (3).
Therefore, the pattern of adjacency pairs is Greeting - Greeting - Question - Answer.

Adjacency Pairs refer to the automatic patterns found in the structure of discourse.
They are perpetually divided into a first and a second section, each of which is
composed of dissimilar speakers (Yule, 1996:77). The continuous discourse between
two individuals, without interruption, demonstrates adjacency pairings. To understand
the patterns of adjacency pairs in conversation and the language function of
utterances, it is required to apply pragmatics theory, as pragmatics is the science that
analyzes conversation analysis. The writer is interested in learning about the structure
of speech used in the “The Late Show CBS TV Series” Between The Host (Stephen
Colbert) And The Guest Anne Hathaway based on the phenomenon.

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 B. UNDERLYING THEORIES

1. Conversation Analysis

Conversation analysis is mainly focusing on talk, as Moerman (1996) stated.

However, human speech and other sounds are only one element when it comes to
interacting with others. It is neither impenetrable nor functionally specific like all
other components. According to Moerman (1996), a word, a wink, or a tone of voice
can all do the same thing in the right circumstances

Hutchby (2008;11) stated that conversation analysis is the study of talk. To express it
in somewhat more sophisticated terms, it is the systematic investigation of the
discussion generated in ordinary settings of human connection: talk-in-interaction.

In the book "Conversation Analysis" which was written by Hutchby (2008), Hutchby
wrote that individuals express in their sequentially "next" turns an understanding of
what the "prior" turn was about during a conversation or other bout of
talk-in-interaction. That understanding may or may not be what the preceding speaker
intended; either way, it is something that is demonstrated in the sequence's next turn.
Hutchby and Wooffitt also portray the understanding as a next-turn proof procedure. It
is the essential tool used in Conversation Analysis to ensure that analyses show the
orderly properties of talk as oriented to the accomplishment of the people involved,
not just how the analyst believes things should be.

2. Adjacency Pairs

Schegeloff and Sack in (Levinson, 1983) explained that adjacency pairs are a
sequence of two utterances that are (i) adjacent, (ii) produced by difference speakers,
(iii) ordered as a first part and second part, (iv) typed, so that a particular first part
requires as a specific second, for example, offers to require acceptance and rejections,
greetings require greetings, and so on.

Adjacency pairs seem to be a key element of conversational structure as Levinson

(1983) stated in his book - it has been proposed that they represent the fundamental
unit. He also wrote that however, as we shall see, there are several other types of

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sophisticated sequential structures that operate in conversation, and the constraints
that exist between such pairs cannot be well modeled by formation rules similar to
syntactic rules.

According to Paltridge (2000:91-99), there are eleven kinds of adjacency pairs

2.1. Requesting - Agreement

Requesting is the act of asking someone to do something, and the response might be
either acceptance or refusal of the request.

e.g.: A: Would you mind turning off the radio?

B: Of course.

2.2. Assessment - agreement

Assessment can take the form of an opinion seeker or a commenter, which means that
you are requesting another's opinion or agreement. It is answered with agreement or
by providing an opinion.

e.g.: A: What do you think about that car?

B: The car is so luxurious.

2.3. Question - answer

Questions can take the shape of information requests, clarification requests, and so on.
It's about posing a question to someone. It is addressed through the provision of
information, clarification, and so forth.

e.g.: A: How old are you?

B: 10 years old.

2.4. Compliment - acceptance

Compliment is a way of congratulating someone else for something they've done well
or accomplished. It's taken as a compliment.

e.g.: A: What lovely shoes?

B: Oh, thanks.

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2.5. Greeting - greeting

The manner in which you greet and salute someone.

e.g.: A: Hi!

B: Hello!

2.6. Leave taking adjacency pair

The utterances spoken with the intention of bringing an end to the conversation.

e.g.: A: See you.

B: See you

2.7. Complaint - apology

Complaints are words used to express dissatisfaction with a situation. Complaints

should be addressed by apologizing for any inconvenience caused.

e.g.: A: This dish is too bland.

B: I‘m sorry, sir. I’ll give you another one.

2.8. Warning - acknowledgment

Warnings are words or phrases used to alert someone to an issue or a potential danger.
Acknowledgement, on the other hand, is the expression of agreement with the
warning.

e.g.: A: Be careful with that guy.

B: Sure, thanks.

2.9. Blame - denial

Blame is utterances that express that someone is responsible for the mistake. A
denial is a claim that something is untrue.

e.g.: A: You lose the car, don‘t you?

B: No. I don‘t.

2.10. Threat - counter-threat, etc

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Threats are words or actions that suggest a desire to hurt someone. Counter-threat
statements, on the other hand, are those that express the defeat of a threat.

e.g.: A: You have to put down your guns or we will have to use violence.

B: No, I won‘t

2.11. Offer - Acceptance

“Offer” refers to utterances that give something to someone, which could be in the
form of commodities or services. “Acceptance” is a response that indicates the offer
has been accepted.

e.g.: A: Here is your money.

B: Thanks a lot.

However, these types of conversational customs vary by culture. Simply because

someone can begin and conclude a conversation in their native language does not
guarantee that they will be able to do so in a second language and culture.

3. Insertion Sequence

In the book of Levinson (1983), he defines insertion sequence as the ones in which
one question and answer pair or a notification of temporary interactional exit and its
acceptance are embedded with another.

In the following exchange, the Question-Answer which separates the parts of the
Request-Acceptance pair are insertion sequences:

A: I wanted to order some more paint. (Request)

B: Yes, how many tubes would you like, sir? (Question)

A: I need five. (Answer)

B: Here you go. (Acceptance)

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 C. RESEARCH METHOD

This study employs a descriptive qualitative research methodology. The technique

focuses on conversation or utterances, with the film script serving as the research
object.

The research focuses on the adjacency pairs in “The Late Show CBS TV Series”
Between The Host (Stephen Colbert) And The Guest Anne Hathaway manuscript and
their context in the film.

The data for this study come from dialogues including directive utterances and
adjacency pairs that were discovered in the data source, which is the manuscripts for
the “The Late Show CBS TV Series” Between The Host (Stephen Colbert) And The
Guest Anne Hathaway

The data analysis notion is to determine how the first speaker's interaction with the
second speaker resulted in the patterns of adjacency pairs that the language functions
describe, and then to determine the patterns of adjacency pairs in the “The Late Show
CBS TV Series” Between The Host (Stephen Colbert) And The Guest, Anne
Hathaway.

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 D. FINDINGS

After analyzing the data, the findings of the study are divided into two subchapters, as
follow: (1) the formulation of adjacency pairs in the conversation, that can answer
the first question that is, the formulations of adjacency pairs that are used in a script
conversation between the host and the guest in The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
and Anne Hathaway, and (2) the type of insertion inside the adjacency pairs that can
answer the second question, that is, what types of insertion are there in the adjacency
pairs found in conversation between the host and the guest. The findings are as follow:

1. The formulation of adjacency pairs:

After analyzing the script conversation using the theory of conversation analysis (CA)
and adjacency pairs analysis, the distribution table that shows kinds of the pattern of
adjacency pairs can be seen as follow:

Table 1. Formulation of Adjacency Pairs

No. Type of patterns Frequency of

occurrence

1 Greeting - Acceptance 1

2 Question - Answer 6

3 Demand-Answer 2

4 Greeting - Greeting 1

5 Summons & Question - Answer 1

6 Information - Assessment 4

7 Information - Surprising 1

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 8 Question - Confirmation 6

9 Information - Question 1

10 Assessment - Agreement 6

11 Assessment - Disagreement 2

12 Information - Agreement 4

TOTAL 35

Based on the table above, we find 3 types of adjacency pairs based on Paltridge
(2000:91-99). Besides, we also figure out 9 other types of adjacency pairs based on
the actual context. But, it can be seen that the question answer is the most common
type of pattern that is found in conversation on talk shows; question- answer happens
eight times in conversation. It proves that the activity of question answer is almost
often to be used by the host in discussion with the guest in the talk show. The second
type of pattern that happens more than once are Question - Confirmation, and
Assessment - Agreement.

2. Type of insertion inside the adjacency pairs:

After analyzing the script conversation using the theory of conversation analysis (CA)
and insertion sequence analysis, the distribution table that shows patterns of insertion
can be seen as follow:

Table 2. Type of insertion inside the adjacency pairs

No. Pattern of adjacency pairs Type of insertion within Frequency of

adjacency pairs occurrence

1 Question - Confirmation Question - Confirmation 1

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In this conversation, we just found 1 insertion sequence. However, it somehow proves
that in each topic of conversation, to get information from the guest, there will always
be a different insertion depending on the context of the conversation.

REFERENCE LIST

Cutting, J. (2002). Pragmatics and Discourse: A Resource Book for Students.

New York: Routledge.

Hatch, E. (1994). Discourse and Language Education. Los Angeles: Cambridge

University Press.

Levinson, S. C. (2007). The Handbook of Pragmatics. Netherlands: Blackwell

Publisher.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. (March 16, 2022). How Anne Hathaway
Time Traveled With Her "We Crashed" Co-Star Jared Leto [Video]. YouTube.
Retrieved on March 28, 2022 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u6zR4rIF5Y.

Schiffrin, D. (2001). The Handbook of Discourse Analysis. USA: Blackwell

Publisher.

Yule, G. (1996). Pragmatics. New York: Oxford University Press.

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 APPENDIX

Below is the transcript of the conversation that we use to analyze adjacency pairs of
the dialogue from “The Late Show CBS TV Series” Between The Host (Stephen
Colbert) And The Guest Anne Hathaway.

1. Dialogue 1

Stephen: Welcome back. (1)- Greeting

Anne: Thank you (2)- Acceptance. Sorry, this is my first live audience.

Stephen: Make a difference, doesn't it? (3)- Assessment

Anne: Oh, it's nice. It's really nice. (4)- Agreement

Stephen: Welcome back to that, too.

Anne: Hey, how are you.

Stephen: Nice to see you. (5)- Greeting

Anne: Nice to see you. (6)- Greeting

Stephen: It's been three years since we talked to each other. It's been a busy,
strange ride these last three years. But you had wonderful news in those three years.
Tell the people what you worked on. (7)- Demand

Anne: A baby.(8)- Answer. I have two now. (9)- Information

Stephen: Excellent. (10)- Assessment

Anne: And, actually, the last time I was here I was secretly pregnant. (11)-
Information

Stephen: Wow (12)- Surprising. Secretly from you, too, or secretly from the rest
of us. (13)- Question

Anne: Secret from me, and unfortunately secret from my stylist, which is why I
split my pants. (14)- Answer

Stephen: You split your pants the last time you were here? (15)- Question

Anne: I split my pants. (16)- Answer

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Stephen: Did I know it? (17)- Question

Anne: Yes, I mentioned it. (18)- Answer

Stephen: You did it, OK.

Anne: My poor stylist did not know what was going on. It was the second thing
I split that day. I split my pants on the way here. And then I split my zipper on the way
to the premiere in L.A. (19)- Information

Stephen: That's one of the first signs. (20)- Assessment. You don't need the little
test. (21)-Assessment

Anne: No, no, no. Oh, dear-oh! stay put. (22)-Agreement

Adjacency pairs: (1)-(2); (3)-(4); (5)-(6); (7)-(8); (9)-(10); (11)-(12); (13)-(14);

(15)-(16); (17)-(18); (19)-(20); (21)-(22).

2. Dialogue 2

Stephen: Your new practical is “We crashed,” when we'll get to it in just a
moment. But “we crashed” just premiered at south by southwest, which I've always
wanted to go to. I always wanted to go to Austin. We were supposed to bring a project
down there a week after covid shut down. (1)- Information

Anne: Let it out! (2)- Agreement. Come on! Let it out, Austin.

Stephen: Had you spent much time there before? (3)-Question. I want to hit the
food trucks. I want to hit the barbecue.

Anne: I had never been there before. (4)- Answer. The food is amazing, and we
were really - every minute we weren't promoting, we were eating. So the first night we
went to Justine's, which is a great french restaurant. The second one was Nick's de
tacarria, and we stopped by Da doui. And, oh my god. Sorry, guys, the biscuit. It was a
world-class biscuit. It was the best donut I had ever had, ever. And next, the entire
meal was phenomenal and the dessert was a chief kiss. I love desserts.

Stephen: Are you a good dessert order? (5)- Question

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Anne: No, I'm great. (6)- Answer

Stephen: You're a great dessert order? (7)- Question

Anne: I am not an innately confident person, so please understand how

significant it is when I say I crush ordering dessert. (8)- Confirmation

Stephen: Give me a sec. give me a for instance.

Anne: Okay, so you know how they say you have to put in 10,000 hours to get
great at something. (9)-Information

Stephen: Yeah, to master at something (10) Agreement

Anne: I have blown past that. I have put in so many hours at dessert. and
recently, I was at a dinner party - which in and of itself was pretty cool, given
everything that's happened in the last few years - and I was sitting there next to this
woman. You know when your friend vibrates with someone, it's a new person. I don't
know, we were just having a great time talking. And she turned to me as the desserts
were brought out and it was a piece of cake with gelato on top and set in a sauce. and
she looked at it and said, “Do you think it's caramel or apple?” and I stared at it, and I
said “pear.” I was right.

Stephen: It was a pear sauce? (11)-Question

Anne: It was a pear sauce. (12)-Confirmation

Adjacency pairs: (1)-(2); (3)-(4); (5)-(6); (7)-(8); (9)-(10); (11)-(12).

3. Dialogue 3

Stephen: You start as Rebekah Neumann, the wife of the cofounder of “Wework.”
And explain to the people who perhaps did not use “Wework”, what “Wework” was,
because some people may not know. (1)-Demand

Anne: I didn't know. (2)-Answer. I didn't know anything about “Wework” until
they sent the pilot to me. And “Wework” was a shared coworking space that at a
certain point tried to transition into becoming a tech company, at which point it had -

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it was a successful shared coworking space. And when it tried to pivot into tech it was
infused with $4.4billion of cash. (3) Information

Stephen: $4.4 billion? (4)-Question

Anne: Billion dollars. (5)-Confirmation

Stephen: That's long green. (6)-Assessment

Anne: Which then raised its valuation to 47 billion $ (7)- Information

Stephen: Who values? (8)-Question. The market values it 47 billion $?

(9)-Question

Anne: 47 billion $. (10)-Confirmation. And on the evening of its I.P.O. going

public, the C.E.O Adam Neumann was ousted and the shares plummeted to $8 billion.

Stephen: Still a lot of money, but that's a big loss. (11)-Assessment

Anne: It was a big loss. (12)-Agreement

Stephen: And that's the crash. (13)-Assessment

Anne: And that's the crash. (14) Agreement

Stephen: What role did Rebekah play in this? (15)-Question

Anne: Well, I think you could say that none of it would have happened without
her. I don't think Adam would have been able to channel his energy into a career and
into a vision without her. So I think you could say she was one of the cofounders of
“Wework” (16)-Answer

Stephen: We have a clip here. Can you tell me what's going on here?
(17)-Question

Anne: So, our story follows the Neumanns over 10 years, and this is, like
around year 10, where Rebekah, who lives in a very nice apartment, is speaking to a
contractor about how her kitchen is claustrophobic. (18)-Answer

Adjacency pairs: (1)-(2); (3)-(6); (7)-(8); (9)-(10); (11)-(12); (13)-(14); (15)-(16);

(17)-(18).

Insertion sequence: (4)-(5).

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4. Dialogue 4

Stephen: Now that - for the people who don't know Adam Neumann there, is
played by Jared Leto. (1) Information

Anne: Yes. (2)-Agreement

Stephen: And I understand you hadn't met him out of character until fairly
recently, until… (3)-Summons & Question

Anne: This weekend. (4)-Answer

Stephen: This weekend? (5)-Question

Anne: This weekend at south bay. (6)-Confirmation

Stephen: So there was no point where he was out of character when you were
around him. (7)-Assessment

Anne: No, I mean, we zoomed before we started, but I kind of think he was
palagucci. (8)-Disagreement. It's a little, a little….

Stephen: Did it sound like a Gepetto? (9)-Assessment

Anne: He was not doing an accent. (10)-Disagreement. But once I saw - when
I saw the look in the eyes, that was that. It was actually pretty funny, because, you
know, I really respect Jared's process, and I had a wonderful time working with
whoever that was. And we really created the most beautiful connection between us.
And I always wanted to be really respectful, but the day the “House of Gucci” trailer
came out, I mean- I had to do something. I couldn't just let it be.

Stephen: You were shooting when it came out? (11)-Question

Anne: It was shooting when we came out (12)-Confirmation. We were

working together for three or four months. (13)-Information

Stephen: That's a long time to be with somebody who is never out of character.
(14)-Assessment. I've never worked with somebody that I've never met before.

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Anne: We shot for six so that was only the midway point. “The house of
Gucci” trailer came out and we shot a really intense scene all day. and at the very end
he will call me Rivka and I will call him motech. and that’s how we got around the
name thing. and he was like, okay, okay, have a good night, good night.” and I said,
Motech, just one more thing.” and he was like, “eah.” I said “Father, son, house of
Gucci.” Because you have to. (15)-Assessment

Stephen: Sure, of course. (16)-Agreement

Anne: Because you have to. And I thought maybe I didn't know what would
happen because he's so intense in his commitment to his process. but I swear to god,
he splits into three. And it was like a whole crash. It was like over here was Jared, he
was palagucci, and here was adam neumann. I don't think he did this, but in my
memory he was like waaaah. And then he came back in. And I was just like oh, dear.
And he was like, “Wow. I think I just time traveled.”

Stephen: We have to take a quick break, but stick around. When we come back,
I'll ask Anne how she gets into character. It's going to be good.

Adjacency pairs: (1)-(2); (3)-(4); (5)-(6); (7)-(8); (9)-(10); (11)-(12); (13)-(14);

(15)-(16)

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