Spanish and American turn-taking styles and the misinterpretation of each in cross-cultural conversations

Research on turn taking in English indicates that there are rules that Americans follow when organizing their conversations. Following these rules, consciously or subconsciously, helps ensure a good conversation because the rules are based on what Americans consider polite, cooperative and efficient. Research on turn taking in other languages, and even in different dialects of English, indicates that the organization of conversation is sometimes different. I have found that the turn-taking styles of some native Spanish speakers is different from that of American speakers of English, and that those differences can cause both groups to misinterpret the other's intentions. The data consist of four one-hour segments of dinner conversation involving four bilingual Spanish women, and four American women. I examined the turn-taking styles of the participants, paying special attention to overlap and use of backchannel. Then I conducted playback interviews with each of the participants and administered questionnaires to six other non-participant informants in order to determine what assumptions underlie the different turn-taking styles.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Teaching English as a Second Language

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

1992

Author dc:creator

• Berry, Anne Genevieve

• Teaching English as Second Language
• Turn-taking Styles
• Cross-cultural Conversations
• English Conversations
• Communication Rules
• Cooperative Communication
• Bilingual Spanish Women
• Playback Interviews
• Assumptions Underlying Turn-taking

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright owned by the author.

Language dc:language

eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125868

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/125868