TURN-TAKING

AND
INTERRUPTING
PLAN:
1. What is turn-taking?
2. What are the types of turn-taking?
3. What is interrupting?
4. What to do when you are interrupted?
TURN-TAKING
Turn-taking is the part of the conversation structure in
which one person listens while the other person speaks. As
the conversation progresses, the roles of the listener and the
speaker move back and forth, which creates a circle of
discussion.
Turn-taking is important when it comes to effectively
participating and interacting with others. Turn-taking allows
active listening and productive discussion.
TYPES OF TURN-TAKING
1. Adjacency pairs
2. Intonation
3. Gesture
4. Gaze direction
An adjacency pair is when each of the two speakers has one turn at a time. It is a
sequence of two related utterances by two different speakers - the second turn is a
response to the first.
Adjacency pairs are usually in the form of question-answer:
EVELYN: Did you like your coffee?
MAYA: Yes, it was very nice, thank you.
• Adjacency pairs can also come in other forms:
• Compliment thanks
• Accusation - admission / denial
• Request - acceptance / refusal
• Intonation can be a clear indicator that a turn is changing. If a speaker
shows a drop in pitch or in volume, that is often a sign that they are
about to stop speaking and that it's time for the next speaker to take over.
• Gestures can serve as non-vocal signs that the current
speaker is ready to allow another person to have their
turn to speak. The most common gesture that indicates
turn-taking is a gesture that expresses inquiry, such as a
hand wave.
Gaze direction
Have you noticed that usually while people are talking, their eyes are
cast downwards for the majority of the time? And in most cases,
when people are listening to someone else, their eyes are cast upward.
That is why it is often the case that, during a conversation, the eyes of
the speaker and the listener don't meet. You can tell that a speaker is
reaching a transition-relevant point when they start to look up more
frequently and they usually finish talking with a steady gaze. The next
speaker can read this as a sign to start talking.
INTERRUPTION
Interruption occurs when the current speaker has not yet finished talking but a
listener cuts in and forcefully selects themselves as the next speaker.
MAYA: And then my uncle told me to calm down, and so I said to him ...
AMIR: Don't you just hate it when they say that! Have I told you about the time when
..
Interruption, as shown in the above example, doesn't allow for the turn-
taking to take place as Amir has not allowed Maya to complete her
turn. By definition, turn-taking is when one person speaks and the other
listens, and the roles are exchanged back and forth without
interruption. Bearing this in mind, it is evident that Maya disrupted this
dynamic.
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU ARE
INTERRUPTED
• Just as you will sometimes need to interrupt, you will sometimes be
interrupted. If you are the speaker, it is up to you to determine how
to proceed. Decide whether you want to reject or allow an
interruption and then respond accordingly.
• Please let me finish.
• Can I continue?
• Would you please let me finish?
INTERRESTING FACT:
The longest word in English:

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

It consists of 45 letters.
THANK YOU FOR WATCHING!