Article published in:
Multiactivity in Social Interaction: Beyond multitasking
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

| University of Oulu
| University of Oulu
| University of Oulu
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.
Published online: 04 September 2014
https://doi.org/10.1075/z.187.04kei
References
ArminenI., Auvinen, P., & Palukka, H.
(2010) Repairs as the last orderly provided defense of safety in aviation. Journal of Pragmatics, 42, 443–465. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
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.Google Scholar
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. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
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. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
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. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
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.Google Scholar
(2002) Time in action. Current Anthropology, 43(S4), S19–S35. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
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. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
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.Google Scholar
(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. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2012) Movement in action: Initiating social navigation in cars. Semiotica,191(1/4), 147–170.Google Scholar
Haddington, P., & Keisanen, T.
(2009) Location, mobility and the body as resources in selecting a route. Journal of Pragmatics, 41, 1938–1961. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
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. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
HeathC., & 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. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Jefferson, G.
(1972) Side sequences. In D. Sudnow (Ed.), Studies in social interaction (pp. 294–338). New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
(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. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Kenyon, S.
(2008) Internet use and time use: The importance of multitasking. Time & Society, 17, 283–318. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
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. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
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. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
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. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Mondada, L.
(2009) The methodical organization of talking and eating: Assessments in dinner conversations. Food Quality and Preference, 20, 558–571. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(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.Google Scholar
(2012) Talking and driving: Multiactivity in the car. Semiotica,191(1/4), 225–258.Google Scholar
Nevile, M.
(2004) Beyond the black box: Talk-in-interaction in the airline cockpit. Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar
(2007) Action in time: Ensuring timeliness for collaborative work in the airline cockpit. Language in Society, 36(2), 233–257. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2012) Interaction as distraction in driving: A body of evidence. Semiotica,191(1/4), 169–196.Google Scholar
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 http://​www​.infrastructure​.gov​.au​/roads​/safety​/publications​/2010​/incar​_distractions​_att​_10​.aspx.Google Scholar
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.Google Scholar
Rauniomaa, M., & Keisanen, T.
(2012) Two multimodal formats for responding to requests. Journal of Pragmatics, 44(6–7), 829–842. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Sacks, H.
(1992) Lectures on conversation [1964–1972]. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers.Google Scholar
Salvucci, D.D., & Taatgen, N.A.
(2011) The multitasking mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Schegloff, E.A.
(1968) Sequencing in conversational openings. American Anthropologist, 70(6), 1075–1095. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(1972) Notes on a conversational practice: Formulating place. In D. Sudnow (Ed.), Studies in social interaction (pp. 75–119). New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
(2000) When ‘others’ initiate repair. Applied Linguistics, 21(2), 205–243. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2007) Sequence organization in interaction: A primer in conversation analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
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. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Sidnell, J.
(2007) ‘Look’-prefaced turns in first and second position: Launching, interceding and redirecting action. Discourse Studies, 9(3), 387–408. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
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. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Stivers, T.
(2004) ‘No no no’ and other types of multiple sayings in social interaction. Human Communication Research, 30(2), 260–293. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Stivers, T., & Rossano, F.
(2010) Mobilizing response. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 43(1), 3–31. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
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.Google Scholar
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. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Wong, J.
(2000) Repetition in conversation: A look at “first and second sayings”. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 33(4), 407–424. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Yang, F., Heeman, P., & Kun, A.
(2011) An investigation of interruptions and resumptions in multi-tasking dialogues. Computational Linguistics, 37(1), 75–104. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 7 other publications

No author info given
2021.  In OKAY across Languages [Studies in Language and Social Interaction, 34], Crossref logo
Helisten, Marika
2019. Disjunctively Positioned Problem-Noticings in Managing Multiactivity. Research on Language and Social Interaction 52:4 ► pp. 318 ff. Crossref logo
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. Crossref logo
Hoey, Elliott M.
2020. Self-authorizing action: On let me X in English social interaction. Language in Society ► pp. 1 ff. Crossref logo
Kamunen, Antti
2019. How to Disengage: Suspension, Body Torque, and Repair. Research on Language and Social Interaction 52:4 ► pp. 406 ff. Crossref logo
Rauniomaa, Mirka & Trine Heinemann
2014.  In Interacting with Objects, ► pp. 145 ff. Crossref logo
Vatanen, Anna & Pentti Haddington
2021. Multiactivity in adult-child interaction: accounts resolving conflicting courses of action in request sequences. Text & Talk 0:0 Crossref logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 19 november 2021. 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.