The Construction of Turns and the Body
| Panel: | P41 - Units of Talk-in-Interaction |
| Author: | Li, Xiaoting |
| Abstract: | |
| The notion of “unit” of conversation has been the focus of inquiry among conversation analysts and linguists. Setting out from the question of how turns are produced and interpreted, this paper explores the role of body movements in the construction of TCUs and projection of possible TRPs. Ample research exists on the role of syntax, prosody (Selting, 2000), and pragmatic activities in turn construction and projection. However, a very important resource in face-to-face interaction, i.e. the body, has not been systematically explored. This research connects the study of talk with the study of behavioral organization (Kendon, 1990), and develops the practices of body movements in turn construction (Ford, Fox, & Thompson, 1996). Adopting the methodology of CA, Context Analysis (Kendon, 1990), and IL, 4-hour everyday Mandarin Chinese conversations were analyzed. It is found that there are certain configurations of body movements corresponding to units of conversation. Specifically, body movements at TCUs that do not end in TRPs differ from those that do. Firstly, there is a recurrent configuration of body movements “projection-stroke-retraction” that may project possible TRPs, meaning, there is a forward movement of the head and torso, and/or a hand stroke at the possible last prominent syllable, and then a backward, downward and to the side movement of the head and torso, and/or hand retraction to the rest position at the end of the turn. Secondly, for the TCUs that do not end in TRPs, no obvious patterning of body movements has been found. Whether these configurations of body movements are culturally specific is still subject to further investigation. |
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