Chapter published in:

Time in Embodied Interaction: Synchronicity and sequentiality of multimodal resources
Edited by Arnulf Deppermann and Jürgen Streeck
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 293] 2018
► pp. 97–122

Chapter 3. The temporal organization of conversation while mucking out a sheep stable

Leelo Keevallik

Based on talk-oriented activities, there seems to be a consensus that turn-taking is organized to minimize gaps between turns. This study looks at a conversational sequence that evolved in a multi-party setting during a joint cleaning of a sheep stable, and analyzes how nextness is accomplished in an unproblematic manner after extensive silences. It argues that due to the non-cognitive but physically straining nature of the activity in a confined space, chatting is almost constant but response relevance is reduced. It discusses the moral orders of talk and work in this multiactivity setting, where urgency is not an issue, and suggests that data collection for sequence analysis be more attentive to the systematic differences between talk-oriented and other settings.

Keywords: lapses, silence, sequencing in conversation, Estonian, response relevance

Published online: 13 September 2018
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.293.03kee

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Cited by other publications

Deppermann, Arnulf & Jürgen Streeck

2018. In Time in Embodied Interaction [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, 293], ► pp. 1 ff.

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