Types of Interruption Interruption and How Interruption is
54 | Language and Interaction:
The type and amount of interruption in the conversation of Indonesian husbands and wives
other two types, the interrupter does not succeed in gaining the floor.
Silent Interruption - No simultaneous talk is involved. The first speakers utterance is
incomplete and the interrupter takes the floor. There are also other types of interruption
which are in common use by researchers from James and Clarke 1993: 241:
Disruptive Interruption
– The interrupter succeeds in taking over the floor and
prevents the speaker finishing their utterance. Non-disruptive
Interruption –
Any interruption which is not a disruptive
interruption. Successful Interruption
– The interrupter succeeds in taking over the floor, it is
irrelevant how the interrupter got the floor. Unsuccessful Interruption
– The interrupter does not succeed in taking over the floor, it is
irrelevant whether or not the interrupter wanted to take over the floor.
Back Channel or Cooperative Overlap - Interjections such as “uhu”, “yes”, “I see”, and
N o n n y B a s a l a m a
| 55 interruptions of the type where the interrupter
interjects with a sentence or opinion, and is interrupted in turn by the interruptee. Neither
of the parties consider this behaviour rude or intrusive.
It is evident that the above general types can be divided into further subtypes. It is
obviously important to precisely describe the type of interruptions used in each analysis of
interruption. James and Clarke 1993 also noted that conversation is jointly produced,
and whether an interruption is successful or unsuccessful will depend on the relationship
between the interrupter and the speaker. It is therefore evident that studies of interruption
should encompass the context of the interruption as well as concentrating on the
type of interruption.