Conversation analysis

Nishaant Choksi
IIT Gandhinagar
• Organized stretches of talk (utterances) are called conversation

• Purpose of conversation analysis is to look at how conversations are

constructed, how meaning and context are inter-related, and how
the conversations are organized among the participants

• Conversations are generally structured around three phases:

Openings, Turn-taking, and Closing (incl. pre-closing)
Openings

• Openings are how conversations are started

• Often they are started with greetings: Hello, how are you, good morning,
etc.

• Greetings can be formal, informal or casual (in Hindi, Namaste, Kaise ho,
kyaa haal hai etc.)

• Instead of greetings they can be calls or vocatives: Hey!

 Closings
• Closings are divided into two phases: pre-closing and closing

• Pre-closing
ex. Well it’s been nice talking to you…
Good to meet you….
Say hi to your mother for me…..
Theek hai
• Closing
See you, bye bye, Fir Milenge, etc.
Turn-taking

• The rest of the conversation is organized around what is called in

conversation analysis turn

• Usually conversations take place when one speaker is talking and

other speakers are listening. The speaker who is talking is called in
conversation analysis, occupying the floor.

• After the speaker is done and gives up the floor to another

participant then it is called “turn-taking”
• Teacher: Hey, nice to see you after the break. How was the IGNITE
festival?

• Student: It was awesome!

• This is an example of turn-taking. Turn one is the teacher’s while turn

2 is the student’s.

• Turn Assign: When speaker assigns a turn to another speaker.

Usually done through a pointed question. Also requests, complaints,
invitations can assign turns as well.
• Teacher one: Hey Ravi, How was the Ignite Festival?

• Student one: It was awesome.

• Student two: (looks at student one) You didn’t even go!

• Teacher one-Turn Assign (to whom? To S1)

• S1—Turn accept (accepting a turn from Teacher)
• S2—Turn grab –(taking the floor unassigned)
• Teacher: Hey Ravi, how was the Ignite Festival?

• Student 1: It was awesome

• Student 2: You didn’t even go?

• Student 1: Best Ignite ever!

• One aspect of Turn-Taking is “sequencing”

• Turns can stretch over different segments of talk, they don’t

necessarily have to be sequential

• For instance in that conversation, Speaker 1 retained the floor (did

not give it up) by continuing to talk about the topic

• Turn-taking is topic-based not just someone saying something, and

meaning and turn-transition is based on response
• Teacher: Ravi, how was the Ignite Festival?

• Student 1: It was awesome!

• Student 2: You didn’t even go.

• Student 1: Yes I did, I was with Shilpa.

• Student 2: Oh, I didn’t see you there.

• Teacher: Ok today we will study conversation analysis.
• By the way how was the Ignite Festival?

• Turn-taking can also take place with one participant if the topic is
shifted. In this excerpt, teacher starts a topic, but then changes. The
teacher takes a new turn and then releases the turn.
• Teacher: Ok today we will study conversation Turn Release
analysis. By the way how was the IGNITE
festival?

• Student one: It was awesome. OVERLAP

[TURN ACCEPT]
• Student two: Worst IGNITE I have ever seen!

• Teacher one: Ok, seems like mixed reaction.

• Overlap is common in multi-party speech

• Sometimes it can result in turn-transition, sometimes when not

• When overlap results in turn-transition it is what we typically call in

everyday language ‘interruption’
 Turn Release
• Teacher: How was the Ignite Festival?

• Student one: It was really good, I went with

Turn Accept
• Student two: Were you even there?
Turn grab/Turn
assign
• Student one: Yes, I went with Shilpa
Turn accept
Transcription

• To record conversation we use the method of transcription

• Sometimes we will record speech, intonation, and gesture if that is

relevant to the organization of the talk
• A: What do you think about the proposal? (gaze at Turn assign
B)

• B: Um… (back-channel)
Turn accept
Turn grab/Turn
• C: It will not work
release
• B: Yeah but I still think it’s good, you (gaze at A,
high tone) Turn assign

• A: Yeah, let’s try and see (gaze at C) Turn accept/Turn

assign
• C: Ok, let’s see
Turn accept/Turn
assign
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMrlt4mVNFk