B. Discussion
1. The Types of Interruption in Mixed-Sex Conversations in
Gossip Girl TV Series
All of the types of interruption occur in mixed-sex conversations in Gossip Girl TV series. Those types are simple interruption, overlap interruption, butting-in
interruption, and silent interruption. Each of the types is described with some examples below.
a. Simple Interruption
A Simple interruption occurs when an interrupter comes to interrupt a speaker’s turn of speaking which makes the speaker cannot finish her or his
utterances. This type of interruption occurs 19 times 30. An example of a simple interruption is described as follows.
Lily: What he said is that you could come home, not that you should. Eric: But, mom, I thought
Lily: I dont wanna argue about this. I need time to think.
1500:06:17-00:06:23 In the example above, a simple interruption occurs in the conversation
between Lily and Eric. The conversation happens when Eric wants to leave the rehabilitation place, but his mother does not give the permission. In that conversation,
Eric tries to defend his argument by saying, “But mom, I thought.” However, Eric
gets interrupted by Lily. The interruption makes Eric unable to finish his utterance. In this case, Lily interrupts Eric because she wants to win the conversation over Eric.
The interruption occurs when Eric says, “I thought” and immediately Lily comes to
grab Eric’s floor before Eric finishes his argument. In that interruption, Eric wants to
show his rejection towards Lily’s order. However, Lily stops Eric’s rejection by immediately says, “I dont wanna argue about this”.
The conversation is considered as a simple interruption because Lily cuts Eric’s turn of speaking which makes Eric unable to finish his utterance. In the
example, Lily succeeds in grabbing Eric’s floor by simultaneously talking when Eric is still talking. A simple interruption also occurs in another example below.
Serena : Uh, will you excuse me? I, uh Im gonna go to the restroom to
freshen up a little. Dan
: Yeah, of course, of course. I think the bathrooms are
Serena : Uh
, dont worry. I’ll find them. 3500:11:42-00:11:49
The conversation above occurs between Serena and Dan when they are having a date in a French restaurant. Dan is being busy to explain the restaurant to Serena.
He plans to amaze Serena by arranging a romantic date in an expensive French restaurant. However, Serena feels uncomfortable dating in that place because she
knows that Dan spends a lot of money on it. Therefore, Serena makes an excuse for going to the restroom to leave Dan for a while.
In that conversation, the interruption occurs when Dan tries to explain the restroom to Serena and he
says, “I think the bathrooms are”. However, Serena wants to stop Dan from talking and she
immediately performs interruption by saying, “Uh, dont worry. I’ll find them”. The interruption is considered as a simple interruption
because Dan suddenly stops talking and he cannot finish his explanation. In other
words, Serena comes to grab Dan’s floor when Dan is talking. The interruption makes Dan unable to finish his utterance.
A Simple interruption also occurs in the conversation between Dan and Vannesa as shown below.
Vannesa : Here. I wasnt sure what it was till I got it home and saw it
on the computer, but Dan
: Okay, thats Chuck.
561200:13:48-00:13:53
The conversation above occurs when Vannesa shows a video to Dan. The video is about an evidence of swimming pool incident which shows the suspect of the
incident. In the video, Chuck is the suspect of the incident. He tries to hide the swimming pool key which is the prominent evidence of the incident. In that
conversation, Vannesa wants to point out that Chuck may be the suspect of the incident, but she fails finishing her utterance.
Dan cuts Vannesa’s turn of speaking because he knows the person in the video.
In this case, the type of interruption is regarded as a simple interruption because Dan
cuts Vannesa’s turn of speaking. This interruption makes Vannesa unable to finish her explanation completely.
b. Overlap Interruption
Overlap is the most frequent type of interruption which occurs 33 times 50. This type becomes the most prominent because both men and women want to
voice their opinion at the same time. This type occurs when an interrupter grabs the recent speaker’s turn of speaking, but the interruptee finishes his or her utterances
although the interrupter comes to grab the floor. An example below shows the occurrence of an overlap.
Eleanor : I had no idea you were bringing a date. How delightful. Lily
: Oh, this is Rufus Humphrey. Rufus
: Oh, its not a date.
20600:18:53-00:18:59 In that scene, Lily comes to Eleanor’s party with Rufus as her partner. Eleanor
thinks that Rufus is Lily’s new dating partner. As a matter of fact, Lily and Rufus are
only friends. Then, Rufus and Lily perform an overlap to clarify their relationship. In Lily’s turn, she wants to introduce her friend named Rufus Humphrey. At the same
time, Rufus tries to explain that they are not dating in his turn. However, their explanation comes at the same time which causes an overlap.
An overlap, in this case, occurs when Lily and Rufus are trying to clarify the misunderstanding at the same time. At that time, Lily is the one who should take the
turn, but Rufus immediately grabs Lily’s floor at the same time. This occurrence of
interruption is regarded as an overlap because Lily and Rufus talk at the same time and grab one ano
ther’s turn of speaking. Another example of an overlap is also shown as follows.
Dan : Will you excuse me? I just saw the last person I ever expected to
see. Serena
: Yeah. How can I say no to that? Dan
: Im sorry.
22600:29:54-00:29:58
The conversation above occurs between Dan and Serena. Dan unexpectedly meets Vannesa when he is dating with Serena at a party. Vannesa, who has a feeling
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