ABSTRACT

In conversation people may disagree, they may squabble, they may argue, they may even shout, and yet for the most part, their conversations display a remarkably orderly structure. Two broad types of model have been proposed to account for turn-taking in conversation. One type is a rule-based model. This was developed by the ethnomethodologists Sacks et al. A different type of model is one based around the concept of specific signals in conversation. This was originally developed by Kendon and later modified by Duncan and Beattie. In conversation, according to Sacks et al., the basic rules for turntaking are that if the current speaker has selected the next speaker then the selected participant has the right and is obliged to take the next turn to speak. The search for those specific signals which may operate in conversation to regulate turn-taking has tended to occur within Psychology.