According to Liddicoat 2007: 6, conversation analysis is a study which focuses on studying management and structures of conversation in social
communication. In other words, it is a study which examines the organization and structures of social communication. In line with Liddicoat, Molder and Potter
2005: 2 state that conversation analysis is a field of study which is interested in natural conversation as a mean of performing action and communication. It means
that conversation analysis observes everyday life conversation as the focus of the analysis. From those definitions, it can be concluded that conversation analysis is
a study which concerns with the organization and structures of conversation in everyday social activity and interaction.
In addition, conversation analysis does not only focus on the analysis of conversation which is practiced in an informal or a formal setting, but it also
analyzes sequential patterns in conversation. As stated by Deborah 2001: 87 conversation analysis also deals with the arrangement of sequence which can be
observed in the data being analyzed. To support Deborah‟s argument, Lerner
2004: 6 also says that conversation analysis assumes that actions achieved in conversation are managed into series of action. At this point, the series of actions
mean the recurrent patterns of actions. In this sense, the managed actions build the contribution of the participants in the action. Then, the contribution of the
participant in conversation will be called turn taking.
2. Turn Taking
As previously mentioned, conversation generally involves two or more people. Therefore, they normally take turns in particular ways. As stated by
Lerner 2004: 4, most actions performed in conversation are built into speaking turns, known as turn taking. It constructs the way speakers perform their
participation, the place where they participate in the ongoing conversation and when they start to contribute in the conversation.
In turn taking mechanism, only one speaker may talk at a time Deborah, 2001: 89. In other words, when a speaker performs his or her turn, other
participants are generally silent. Liddicoat 2007: 1 also adds that the transition in turns sometimes likely to change with few gaps and little overlap. When gaps and
overlaps occur, the participants probably recognize them as signs that further interactions are being performed.
Furthermore, Sacks in Deborah, 2001: 91 states that there are two primary elements in the model of turn taking. The first element is that the
speakers are conscious that a turn involves one or more turn constructional units TCU. He describes the TCU as grammatical units in the turns, such as words,
phrases, clauses and sentences. In this sense, people employ their understanding of these units to plan the end point of ongoing turn. The end point of TCU is
possibly recognized as transition relevant process or TRP, a location in which the speaker‟s turn takes place.
The second element is turn-allocation mechanism, which is a set of system to distribute the next turn to other participants. It occurs when the current speaker
achieves the TRP in a turn Sacks in Deborah, 2001: 91. Deborah 2001: 91 explains further that turn-allocation mechanism deals with optional situation for
the current speaker to choose the next speaker. Then, this mechanism is also recognized as a technique of selecting the next speaker.
To supports Sacks and Deborah‟s arguments, Liddicoat 2007: 63 also states that there are two techniques in how the next speaker has a turn in
conversation. Those techniques are the recent speaker selects the next speaker or the next speaker can do self-select.
In addition,
Richards and Smith 1983: 141 also added that a speaker may choose the next speaker by himself or herself self-
select by employing an adjacency pair. Bloomer et al. 2005: 61 point out that adjacency pairs are closely related to turn-taking mechanism since adjacency pairs
are connected to the turn taking system by the adjacency pairs rule. They explain that the end of the first part of adjacency pairs is an indication that the recent
speaker needs to stop talking to provide the next speaker a turn as a second part to the same pair.
3. Adjacency Pairs
According to Pridham 2008: 26, adjacency pairs are one of turn taking types which normally come together. They usually happen when a single speaker
produces an utterance which is followed by a response likely by another speaker. In addition, Lerner 2004: 173 defines adjacency pairs as two turns which are
joined together and performed by different speakers. From those definitions, it can be concluded that adjacency pairs are adjacent utterances which consist of two
turns and performed by different speakers. In addition, Liddicoat 2007: 106 states that adjacency pairs consist of
two turns which come orderly. It means that one of the turn always performs first
