Part of
Multiactivity in Social Interaction: Beyond multitaskingEdited by Pentti Haddington, Tiina Keisanen, Lorenza Mondada and Maurice Nevile
[Not in series 187] 2014
► pp. 109–134
Edited by Pentti Haddington, Tiina Keisanen, Lorenza Mondada and Maurice Nevile
[Not in series 187] 2014
► pp. 109–134
Suspending action
From simultaneous to consecutive ordering of multiple courses of action
This paper examines the interactional management of multiple on-going activities via the use of ‘suspension’. We discuss one practice used in achieving suspension, an action combination where items such as wait or hang on first identify on-going or emerging multiactivity and are followed by talk that somehow addresses the interactional contingencies involved. We show that suspension turns are indicative of participants’ orientation to incompatibility between multiple courses of action or activities. This may be related to such local contingencies as mobility, temporality and the use of different embodied resources. The database consists of approximately 36 hours of audio- and video-recorded everyday interactions in English and Finnish from a variety of situations. The study employs the methodology of conversation analysis.
References (44)
Arminen I., Auvinen, P., & Palukka, H. (2010). Repairs as the last orderly provided defense of safety in aviation. Journal of Pragmatics, 42, 443–465. 
Balthasar, L., Bruxelles, S., Mondada, L., & Traverso, V. (2007). Variations interactionnnelles et changement catégoriel: l’exemple de ‘attends’ [Interactional variations and categorial change: The example of ‘attends’]. In M. Auzanneau (Ed.), La mise en oeuvre des langues dans l’interaction [Language use in interaction] (pp. 299–320). Paris: L’Harmattan.
Duvallon, O., & Routarinne, S. (2005). Parenthesis as a resource in the grammar of conversation. In A. Hakulinen, & M. Selting (Eds.), Syntax and lexis in conversation: Studies on the use of linguistic resources in talk-in-interaction (pp. 45–74). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Esbjörnsson, M., Juhlin, O., & Weilenmann, A. (2007). Drivers using mobile phones in traffic: An ethnographic study of interactional adaptation. International Journal of Human Computer Interaction, 22(1), 39–60.
Ford, C.A. (2002). Denial and the construction of conversational turns. In J.L. Bybee, & M. Noonan (Eds.), Complex sentences in grammar and discourse: Essays in honor of Sandra A. Thompson (pp. 61–78). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Goodwin, C. (1984). Notes on story structure and the organization of participation. In M. Atkinson, & J. Heritage (Eds.), Structures of social action (pp. 225–246). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
. (2002). Time in action. Current Anthropology, 43(S4), S19–S35.
Goodwin, M.H. (1996). Informings and announcements in their environment: Prosody within a multi-activity work setting. In E. Couper-Kuhlen, & M. Selting (Eds.), Prosody in conversation (pp. 436–461). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Haddington, P. (2005). The linguistic neg+pos pattern and two action combinations as resources for interviewee stance taking in news interviews. In L. Kuure, E. Kärkkäinen, & M. Saarenkunnas (Eds.), Kieli ja sosiaalinen toiminta – Language and Social Action. AFinLA Yearbook (pp. 85–107). Jyväskylä: The Finnish Association of Applied Linguistics AFinLA.
. (2010). Turn-taking for turntaking: Mobility, time, and action in sequential organization of junction negotiations in cars. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 43(4), 372–400.
. (2012). Movement in action: Initiating social navigation in cars. Semiotica,191(1/4), 147–170.
Haddington, P., & Keisanen, T. (2009). Location, mobility and the body as resources in selecting a route. Journal of Pragmatics, 41, 1938–1961.
Haddington, P., & Rauniomaa, M. (2011). Technologies, multitasking, and driving: Attending to and preparing for a mobile phone conversation in a car. Human Communication Research, 37(2), 223–254.
Heath C., & Luff, P. (1992). Collaboration and control: Crisis management and multimedia technology in London Underground line control rooms. Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 1(1-2), 69–94.
Jefferson, G. (1972). Side sequences. In D. Sudnow (Ed.), Studies in social interaction (pp. 294–338). New York: The Free Press.
. (2004). Glossary of transcript symbols with an introduction. In G. Lerner (Ed.), Conversation Analysis: Studies from the first generation (pp. 13–31). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Kenyon, S. (2008). Internet use and time use: The importance of multitasking. Time & Society, 17, 283–318.
LeBaron, C., & Jones, S.E. (2002). Closing up closings: Showing the relevance of the social and material surround to the completion of interaction. Journal of Communication, 52(3), 542–565.
Local, J. (2004). Getting back to prior talk: and-uh(m) as a back-connecting device in British and American English. In E. Couper-Kuhlen, & C.E. Ford (Eds.), Sound patterns in interaction: Cross-linguistic studies from conversation (pp. 377–400). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Mazeland, H., & Huiskes, M. (2001). Dutch ‘but’ as a sequential conjunction: Its use as a resumption marker. In M. Selting, & E. Couper-Kuhlen (Eds.), Studies in interactional linguistics (pp. 141–169). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Mondada, L. (2009). The methodical organization of talking and eating: Assessments in dinner conversations. Food Quality and Preference, 20, 558–571.
. (2011). The organization of concurrent courses of action in surgical demonstrations. In J. Streeck, C. Goodwin, & C. LeBaron (Eds.), Embodied interaction: Language and body in the material world (pp. 207–226). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
. (2012). Talking and driving: Multiactivity in the car. Semiotica,191(1/4), 225–258.
Nevile, M. (2004). Beyond the black box: Talk-in-interaction in the airline cockpit. Aldershot: Ashgate.
. (2007). Action in time: Ensuring timeliness for collaborative work in the airline cockpit. Language in Society, 36(2), 233–257.
. (2012). Interaction as distraction in driving: A body of evidence. Semiotica,191(1/4), 169–196.
Nevile, M., & Haddington, P. (2010). In-car distractions and their impact on driving activities. Canberra: Australian Government, Department of Infrastructure and Transport. Retrieved Feb 28, 2014from [URL].
Rauniomaa, M. (2008). Recovery through repetition. Returning to prior talk and taking a stance in American-English and Finnish conversations. Acta Universitatis Ouluensis Humaniora B 85. Oulu: University of Oulu.
Rauniomaa, M., & Keisanen, T. (2012). Two multimodal formats for responding to requests. Journal of Pragmatics, 44(6–7), 829–842.
Sacks, H. (1992). Lectures on conversation [1964–1972]. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers.
Salvucci, D.D., & Taatgen, N.A. (2011). The multitasking mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Schegloff, E.A. (1968). Sequencing in conversational openings. American Anthropologist, 70(6), 1075–1095.
. (1972). Notes on a conversational practice: Formulating place. In D. Sudnow (Ed.), Studies in social interaction (pp. 75–119). New York: The Free Press.
. (2000). When ‘others’ initiate repair. Applied Linguistics, 21(2), 205–243.
. (2007). Sequence organization in interaction: A primer in conversation analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Schegloff, E.A., Jefferson, G., & Sacks, H. (1977). The preference for self-correction in the organization of repair in conversation. Language, 53(2), 361–382.
Sidnell, J. (2007). ‘Look’-prefaced turns in first and second position: Launching, interceding and redirecting action. Discourse Studies, 9(3), 387–408.
Stephens, K.K., Cho, J.K., & Ballard, D.I. (2012). Simultaneity, sequentiality, and speed: Organizational messages about multiple-task completion. Human Communication Research, 38(1), 23–47.
Stivers, T. (2004). ‘No no no’ and other types of multiple sayings in social interaction. Human Communication Research, 30(2), 260–293.
Stivers, T., & Rossano, F. (2010). Mobilizing response. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 43(1), 3–31.
Streeck, J., Goodwin, C., & LeBaron, C. (2011). Embodied interaction in the material world. An introduction. In J. Streeck, C. Goodwin, & C. LeBaron (Eds.), Embodied interaction: Language and body in the material world (pp. 1–28). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Suchman, L. (1997). Centers of coordination: A case and some themes. In L.B. Resnick, R. Säljö, C. Pontecorvo, & B. Burge (Eds.), Discourse, tools and reasoning: Essays on situated cognition (pp. 41–62). Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Wong, J. (2000). Repetition in conversation: A look at “first and second sayings”. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 33(4), 407–424.
Yang, F., Heeman, P., & Kun, A. (2011). An investigation of interruptions and resumptions in multi-tasking dialogues. Computational Linguistics, 37(1), 75–104.
Cited by (13)
Cited by 13 other publications
Hoffmann, Sabine & Giolo Fele
2024. Dealing with missing participants in the opening phases of a videoconference. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA) 34:3 ► pp. 393 ff. 
Rautiainen, Iira & Tuire Oittinen
2024. Negotiating epistemic asymmetries during crisis management exercises: Pre-emptive and corrective practices. Intercultural Pragmatics 21:2 ► pp. 193 ff.
Avgustis, Iuliia & Florence Oloff
2023. Getting (Others) Involved with Smartphones: Participation in Showing Sequences in Multiparty Settings. In Complexity of Interaction, ► pp. 297 ff.
Rautiainen, Iira, Pentti Haddington & Antti Kamunen
2023. Nudging Questions as Devices for Prompting Courses of Action and Negotiating Deontic (A)symmetry in UN Military Observer Training. In Complexity of Interaction, ► pp. 217 ff.
Satti, Ignacio
Vatanen, Anna & Pentti Haddington
2023. Multiactivity in adult-child interaction: accounts resolving conflicting courses of action in request sequences. Text & Talk 43:2 ► pp. 263 ff.
Helisten, Marika
2019. Disjunctively Positioned Problem-Noticings in Managing Multiactivity. Research on Language and Social Interaction 52:4 ► pp. 318 ff.
Kamunen, Antti
2019. How to Disengage: Suspension, Body Torque, and Repair. Research on Language and Social Interaction 52:4 ► pp. 406 ff.
Hoey, Elliott M.
2015. Lapses: How People Arrive at, and Deal With, Discontinuities in Talk. Research on Language and Social Interaction 48:4 ► pp. 430 ff.
Hoey, Elliott M.
2020. When Conversation Lapses,
Hoey, Elliott M.
2022. Self-authorizing action: Onlet me Xin English social interaction. Language in Society 51:1 ► pp. 95 ff.
Rauniomaa, Mirka & Trine Heinemann
[no author supplied]
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 30 september 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.