Turn-Taking in Social Interaction

Whether it is waiting in line at the supermarket, merging onto the freeway, or saying hello to a neighbour, taking turns is one of the most fundamental aspects of social organization. It is through the taking of turns with one another that we are able to produce and understand the myriad actions that reflect, constitute, and sustain social life. This text is the first book-length monograph to offer a comprehensive overview of turn-taking organization in naturally occurring social interaction-including how turns-at-talk are constructed and how they are allocated amongst participants. We synthesize and illustrate findings from a wide array of languages and cultures, drawing attention to both universal and language-specific phenomena, with several video fragments available on the Cambridge University Press companion website. In addition, throughout the text, we point to a range of underexplored phenomena, outlining new projects that can be undertaken by readers.