ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on how the tempo differences between residents and staff manifest themselves in the small print of the interactional give and take. In their seminal paper on turn-taking, Sacks et al. identify various conditions that commonly involve temporary overlaps of two concurrent turns. In an attempt to capture the problem in a more precise way, Schegloff has distinguished between overlaps and interruptions. In her study on resident-staff communication in a German care facility, Sachweh identifies a specific type of overlap that she classifies as a threat to a resident's face. Irrespective of length and complexity, all multiple sayings in the 'brake' category are intended to prevent or halt a resident's action. The examples subsequently discussed suggest that when an overlap results from the simultaneous delivery of a resident's 'overdue' second pair part and a care worker's new first pair part or sequence closing third, this can be taken as a reliable indication of the participants' differing tempo preferences.
