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Article published In:
The Joint Production of Conversational Turns
Edited by K.K. Luke and Mei Fang
[Chinese Language and Discourse 12:1] 2021
► pp. 84–108

Collaborative construction of turn constructional units in responsive positions of question-answer sequences in Mandarin conversation

| University of Alberta
| University of Washington

This paper explores the features and interactional functions of collaboratively constructed TCUs (CCTs) in responsive positions of question-answer sequences in Mandarin daily conversations. Adopting the methodologies of Conversation Analysis, Interactional Linguistics and Multimodal Analysis, the study explores the sequential features of the CCTs and bodily-visual resources co-occurring with the CCTs, such as gaze orientations and gestures. Two categories have been identified based on the participants’ roles in the question-answer sequences. First, the answerer initiates the response to the question, and the questioner collaboratively completes the response. The analysis shows that the questioners are not conveying the action of answering the question but assuming the answer to the question. Second, one answerer initiates the response to the question, and another one collaboratively completes the response. The data demonstrates that this type of CCTs usually involves the two question-recipients with more or less equal epistemic access to the referent.

Keywords: Conversation Analysis, Interactional Linguistics, Multimodal Analysis, Mandarin conversation, collaboratively constructed turn constructional units, question-answer sequences
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Collaborative construction of TCUs
    • 2.2Questions-answer sequences
  • 3.Data and methodology
  • 4.Findings
    • 4.1The questioner collaboratively completes the SPP
    • 4.2Two recipients collaboratively construct the SPP
  • 5.Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 16 July 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/cld.00038.son
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