On the place of linguistic resources in the organization of talk-in-interaction: A co-investigation of English and Japanese grammatical practices

doi:10.1016/S0378-2166(98)00051-4

Journal of Pragmatics

Volume 31, Issue 1, January 1999, Pages 49-75

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(98)00051-4 Get rights and content

Abstract

This report presents a method for examining grammar as a participants' resource for conduct in interaction. By situating the analysis of grammar in the interactional context of turn-construction and action sequence organization we are able to establish a technical basis for comparing elements of grammatical organization across languages and cultures. By focusing on the co-construction of single turn-constructional units, we are able to describe participants' treatment of sentences-in-progress in terms of a sequentially informed syntax. Through the co-investigation of languages with dissimilar grammatical practices we are able to isolate and describe the use of language-specific structures as constitutive elements of turn-construction.

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In addition, the way the end of this enactment is retrospectively marked projects the enacted SPP syntactically; the end of the enactment is followed by the prospective link -tara “when” in yut tara, which grammatically projects a forthcoming main clause in the here-and-now. Thus, Eri's turn-in-progress projects the consequence of the event as the next action (Lerner and Takagi, 1999). A final particle na (which corresponds with ne in so-called standard Japanese) is then placed after the -tara.
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Sacks et al. (1974) observed that turn transitions occur at discrete grammatical points that happen to fall at the completion of syntactic units such as words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. This observation has been corroborated in research on languages other than English (e.g., Lerner and Takagi, 1999; Tanaka, 1999; Thompson and Couper-Kuhlen, 2005). Clauses, in particular, are viewed as interactionally warranted units due to their provision of the critical component (i.e., a predicate) although clause construction is acknowledged to differ between languages (Thompson and Couper-Kuhlen, 2005).
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^☆: We would like to thank Junko Mori and Makoto Hayashi for contributing to our understanding of Japanese language use and Manny Schegloff, Sandy Thompson and Pamela Downing for their comments. Thanks also go to Ryoko Suzuki, Akira Suzuki, Junko Mori and Makoto Hayash for making available to us some of the Japanese conversations used in our analysis. This paper was first delivered at the Symposium on Conversation, Linguistic Society of America, Summer Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico, July 1995.

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ArticleOn the place of linguistic resources in the organization of talk-in-interaction: A co-investigation of English and Japanese grammatical practices☆

Abstract

Keeping your footing: Completion in three-part sequences

Journal of Pragmatics

No gap, lots of overlap: Turn-taking patterns in the talk of women friends

The conversational duet

The interactive achievement of a sentence: Joint productions in therapeutic discourse

Discourse Processes

Practices in the construction of turns: The ‘TCU’ revisited

Pragmatics

A case of precision timing in ordinary conversation: Overlapped tag-positioned address terms in closing sequences

Semiotica

Notes on some orderlinesses of overlap onset

Tilburg papers in language and literature

The structure of the Japanese language

On the syntax of sentences-in-progress

Language in Society

Assisted storytelling: Deploying shared knowledge as a practical matter

Qualitative Sociology

Collectivities in action: Establishing the relevance of conjoined participation in conversation

Text

Article
On the place of linguistic resources in the organization of talk-in-interaction: A co-investigation of English and Japanese grammatical practices☆