Conversation analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Conversation analysis - Essay Example Its method revolves around the observation of human dialogue in natural conversational settings and it analyses how the various forms of conversational interaction work together in different settings. It is concerned with the analysis of casual rather than formal conversation and takes into account such factors as ‘turn taking’ and ‘holding the floor’. This essay will discuss how participants in a conversation manage their interaction primarily using these techniques, but it will also explore how other techniques are employed in conjunction with these in order show the complexities of human conversational interaction. Conversational interaction is a highly complex semantic process of exchanging meaning. It is not merely a back and forth discourse, but rather an attempt to make sense of the world around us and communicate these observations and feelings to each other. These exchanges can be highly pragmatic in nature, such as communicating with the fish monger how much cod is required or asking the way to the station, or they can be more general and less specifically focused, taking the form of talking without a highly specific communication goal in mind. As Eggins & Slade (2004: p.6) comment, sometimes ‘we talk merely for the sake of talking itself. An example of this is when we get together with friends†¦over dinner and just â€Å"have a chat†. It is to these informal interactions that the label casual conversation is usually applied.’ It is on these type of semantic exchanges that this essay will therefore focus. General discourse with no specific goal of communication is what is meant by casual communication. A commonly occurring structure in casual conversation is ‘turn taking’. In this sort of conversation each of the participants will speak in turn in order to communicate their reactions and opinions, or to add new information or change the direction