Pragmatic Functions of Verbal Turn Signals Used by Indonesian Speakers in English Conversation

 

 

Andi Qashas Rahman

Arifin M. Bahri

 

 

Human communicative interaction is conducted in many different kinds of speech events such as seminar, debate, talk show, interview and conversation. The latter, conversation, seems to be the most common form of oral communication. In conversation, there are many different kinds of features that can specifically be highlighted such as politeness strategy, openings, closings, conversational sequencing, cooperative principles, and turn-taking mechanism. Turn-taking mechanism deals with the way how a conversation should be organized with rules and conventions which are nonnative. In a conversation, the participants should, for example, signal to each other so that one turn has come to an end and another should begin. The signals the participants use may be verbal or non-verbal ones. This paper draws attention to pragmatic functions the verbal signals (such as oh, but, okay, well, yeah, and yes) may convey in the face of their occurrence as turn taking signals.

 

 

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Rahman, A. Q., & Bahri, A. M. (2005, April). Pragmatic functions of verbal turn signals used by Indonesian speakers in English conversation. Paper presented at the RELC International Seminar, Singapore.

 

 

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