CONVERSATION and

PREFERENCE
STRUCTURE

8.1 Conversation Analysis

8.2 Pauses, Overlaps, and Backchannels
8.3 Conversational Style
8.4 Adjacency Pairs
8.5 Preference Structure
• Conversation is a kind of language
usage, the form in which we are all
first exposed to language

• All major aspects of pragmatic

organization are connected to usage in conversation:
1. deixis: encoding of temporal, spatial, social,
discourse parameters organized around
2. presupposition: knowledge and
assumptions about the world

3. implicatures: deriving from specific

assumptions about conversational context

4. speech acts: building a conversational matrix

 • For example
A: I have a 14-year-old son.
B: Well, that’s alright.
A: I also have a dog.
B: Oh, I’m sorry.
• What does the conversation about?
discussion with landlord about apartment rental

• no general rules for the sequencing of conversation

structure, but particular phenomena can be described
• the term 'interaction' could apply to a large number
of different social encounters
• typical structure of conversation: I speak - you speak
- I speak - you speak ...
 8.1 Conversation Analysis
• Terminology :
- floor: the right to speak
- turn: having control of the right to speak
- turn-taking: take control of the right to speak
- local management system : set of conventions for
getting, keeping and giving away turns
- transition relevance place (TRP) : possible change-
of-turn point
• speakers having a conversation = taking turns to hold
the floor, speaker may:
- cooperate and share the floor equally
- compete for keeping the floor, preventing others
from getting it
• systems of conversational interaction vary greatly
between social/cultural groups
 8.2 Pauses, Overlaps, Backchannels
Conversations:
• consists of two or more participants
• one participant speaking at any time.
• smooth transitions are valued:
- transitions with a long silence between turns
- transition with overlap (both speakers speaking
at the same time) awkward

Situation: Student and his girlfriend's father during their

first meeting

Mr. Strait : What's your major, Dave?

Dave : English - well I haven't really decided yet.
(3 seconds silence)
Mr. Strait : So - you want to be a teacher?
Dave : No - not really - well not if I can help it.
(2 seconds silence)
Mr. Strait : Wha-//Where do you-- //go ahead
Dave : I mean it's a--oh sorry //I em-

- : short pauses, hesitations

//: beginning of overlap (both speakers attempt to
initiate talk)

• silences are not attributable to either speaker

because each has completed a turn

• no rhythm to transitions (no flow) conveys

sense of distance, absence of familiarity/ease
If one speaker explicitly turns over the floor to another
and the other does not speak, then the silence is
attributable to the second speaker and becomes significant
Jan : Dave, I'm going to the store.
(2 seconds)
Jan: Dave?
(2 seconds)
Jan : Dave - is something wrong?
Dave : What? What's wrong?
Jan : Nevermind.

Other types of overlap (apart from initial type):

- for many (younger): expression of solidarity
or closeness in expressing similar opinions
 Example:
Deb : Did you see him in the video?
Wendy: Yeah - the part on the beach
Deb : Oh my God // he was so sexy
Wendy: // he was just being so cool
Deb : And all the waves // crashing around him!
Wendy: // yeah that was really wild!

- overlap can also communicate competition

Example:
Joe : When they were in // power las-- wait CAN I
FINISH?
Jerry : // that's my point I said --
speaker are competing for the floor
• The point of overlap is treated as
- an interruption and
- the first speaker actually has to make a
comment about procedure
- each potential speaker is expected to wait until
the current speaker reaches a TRP

• markers of TRPs:
- end of a structural unit (phrase/clause)
- pause

• A speaker who wants to keep holding the floor will

avoid providing TRPs,
Example:
I wasn't talking about - um his first book
that was - uh really just like a start and so - uh isn't -
doesn't count really.
• Another floor holding device is to indicate that there
is a larger structure to your turn
a. There are three points I'd like to make -- first ...
b. There's more than one way to do this -- one
example would be ...
c. Didn't you know about Melvin? - Oh, it was last
October ...
d. Did you hear about Cindy's new car? - She got it
in ...

a/b technical information about coming structure

c/d preludes to storytelling

suspend regular exchange of turn process,

speaker allowed to have extended turn
• speakers expect their conversational partners to
indicate that they are listening
- nodding, smiling, other facial
expressions, gestures
- vocal indications are called backchannel
signals
• Example:
Caller : If you use your long distance service a lot
then you'll …
Mary : // uh-huh
Caller : be interested in the discount I'm talking about
because …
Mary : // yeah
Caller : it can only save you money to switch to a
cheaper service
Mary : // mmm
• The presence of backchannel signals provide:
- feedback to speaker that the message
is being received,
- indicate that the listener is following
and not objecting
• the absence of backchannels
- is interpreted as significant (in telephone
conversations).
- interpreted as a way of withholding agreement.
( in face-to-face conversations)
 8.3 Conversational Style
• There are individual and cultural differences in
conversational style/turn taking:
1. high involvement style
- participation in a conversation is very active
- speaking rate will be relatively fast,
- with almost no pausing between turns, and
- with some overlap or competition between turns
2. high considerateness style
- slower rate,
- expect longer pauses between turns,
- do not overlap, and
- avoid interruption or completion of other's turn
• style clashes lead a conversation to be one-sided
- the faster speaker may think the slower one
doesn't have much to say, is shy, boring or stupid
- the slower speaker may view the faster one as
noisy, pushy, domineering, selfish and tiresome

• features of conversational style are often

interpreted as personality traits
 8.4 Adjacency Pairs
• Almost automatic patterns in the structure of
conversation, e.g., in greetings and good-byes
Anna: Hello! Bill: Hi!
Anna: How are you? Bill: Fine.
Anna: See ya! Bill: Bye!
• These automatic sequences are called adjacency pairs

• They always consist of a first and second part

produced by different speakers.

• The utterance of the first part immediately creates

an expectation of the utterance of a second
part of the pair.
• Failure to produce the second part will be treated as a
significant and hence meaningful.
A lot of internal variation is possible:

• Example: opening sequences of a conversation

First Part Second Part
A: What's up? B: Nothin' much
A: How's it goin'? B: Jus' hangin' in there
A: How are things? B: The usual
A: How ya doin' B: Can't complain
• Example: question - answer sequence
A: What time is it? B: About eight-thirty

• Example: thanking - response sequence

A: Thanks. B: You're welcome

• Example: request - accept sequence

Insertion sequences can intervene between adjacency pairs
• Form Q1 - Q2 - A2 - A1 (one adjacency pair within
another)

• Mix of different sequences possible

• also with temporary interactional exit

• Opening Sections (Summons-Answer Sequences)
First utterance is a summons, the second utterance an
answer to the summons, establishing an open channel for
talk (three part structure).

In telephone conversations the ringing of the telephone

acts as the summons. Additional potential problems are
identification/recognition
• Speakers tend to use a signatured prosody/voice
quality in identity turns
• After the opening sequence the caller announces the
reason for the call (first topic slot)

Closing Sections
• The closure of any topic after the first one makes the
introduction of a closing section imminent
(some phone calls have an expectable overall organization
that admits just one topic (‘monotopical’))
- closings placed in such a way that no party is forced
to exit while still having compelling things to say
- hasty or slow terminations carry unwelcome inferences
about the relationships between the speakers
• Often closings reference back to aspects of the opening
section, include summaries, or ask about the recipient’s
state of health
 8.5 Preference Structure
• adjacency pairs represent social actions, and not all
social actions are equal when they occur as second parts
of some pairs, e.g., a first part request expects an
acceptance
• acceptance is structurally more likely than refusal
• Structural likelihood is called preference

• Preference structure divides second parts into preferred

and dispreferred social acts
• Silence is also always a dispreferred response, often
leading to a revision of the first part. (Non-response
communicates that the speaker is not in a position
to provide the preferred response)

• Silence is risky as it may give the impression of non-

participation in the conversational structure

• Speakers often signal that they are

producing the marked, dispreferred structure
assessment

invitation
How to do a dispreferred second part.

• dispreferreds take more time/language/effort

• more language creates more distance between first and
second part
• preferred represents closeness and quick connection
• participants try to avoid creating contexts for
dispreferreds e.g., by using pre-sequences