Turn-taking
Turn-taking is the system that governs who speaks when in conversation. The foundational model was proposed by Sacks, Schegloff, and Jefferson (1974) in "A Simplest Systematics for the Organization of Turn-Taking for Conversation," the most cited paper in Language.
The SSJ Model
Sacks, Schegloff, and Jefferson described the turn-taking system as locally managed, party-administered, and interactionally controlled. It operates through two components:
Turn-Constructional Units (TCUs)
A turn is built from one or more TCUs — units of talk that could constitute a complete turn. A TCU can be:
- A sentence ("I went to the shop yesterday")
- A clause ("because it was raining")
- A phrase ("next Tuesday")
- A single word ("Yeah")
The end of a TCU is a transition-relevance place (TRP) — the point where speaker change becomes possible.
Turn-Allocation Rules
At each TRP, an ordered set of rules applies:
- Current speaker selects next — through gaze, address term, or question directed to a specific person
- Self-selection — if current speaker does not select, any participant may take the next turn (first starter gets the floor)
- Current speaker continues — if no one self-selects, the current speaker may continue
These rules cycle at each new TRP, producing the characteristic pattern of conversation: overwhelmingly one speaker at a time, with minimal gaps and minimal overlap.
Key Phenomena
| Phenomenon | Description |
|---|---|
| Overlap | Two speakers talking simultaneously — usually brief and quickly resolved. Not the same as interruption. |
| Gap | Silence between turns. Extended gaps are interactionally significant (e.g., foreshadowing a dispreferred response). |
| Interruption | A speaker begins before the current speaker reaches a TRP — a violation of the turn-taking system. |
| Backchannel | Minimal responses (mm-hm, yeah, right) that signal listenership without claiming a full turn. |
| Hold | Devices that signal more talk is coming (and, so, well) — preventing turn transfer at a potential TRP. |
Cross-Cultural Variation
Turn-taking norms vary across cultures and affect L2 communication:
- Overlap tolerance — some cultures (e.g., Mediterranean, Latin American) tolerate more simultaneous speech; others (e.g., Japanese, Finnish) prefer longer pauses between turns
- Silence duration — what counts as an uncomfortable gap varies dramatically
- Interruption norms — power, gender, and cultural expectations shape who can interrupt whom
- Backchannel frequency — Japanese speakers produce frequent backchannel signals (un, hai); English speakers produce fewer
L2 Difficulties
Turn-taking is a major area of L2 difficulty:
- Learners may not recognise TRPs in fluent speech, missing opportunities to contribute
- Processing delays cause learners to self-select too late
- Lack of turn-holding devices means learners lose the floor mid-utterance
- Inappropriate interruption or silence patterns create pragmatic awkwardness
- Backchannel signals differ across languages — absence can be misread as disinterest
Teaching Implications
- Teach turn-entry signals explicitly: Well..., Actually..., Can I just say...
- Practise turn-holding strategies: The thing is..., What I mean is..., and also...
- Use authentic conversation recordings to identify TRPs, overlap, and gaps
- Discussion and debate activities develop turn-taking skills under communicative pressure
- Repair and Communication Strategies are closely linked — learners need both to manage real-time conversation