Operational Definition Organization of Writing

2.2 Theoretical Framework

2.2.1 Conversation Analysis

Conversation analysis is early proposed by Sacks, Schegloff and Jefferson 1974. Harold Garfinkel in 1967 developed conversation analysis as an approach which is part of the ethnomethodological tradition. Liddicoat, 2007:2. Conversation analysis concerns on spoken text or conversation. According to Levinson 1983:285 conversation analysis can be defined as a device to investigate the conversation as a language basic form. It focuses on the natural conversation based on the speaker ‟s interpretation result. From the above explanation, conversation analysis focuses on natural conversation of the participants and tries to look how and when the participants talk. It means that conversation analysis is used to explain some turn taking features such as adjacency pair and topic change in the conversational interaction.

2.2.2 Turn Taking

In a learning process, whether it is in formal or non formal classes, a teacher and students interact in a conversation. In the conversation, the participants should respond actively to all signals given verbally or non-verbally. It means that a conversation involves the participants‟ role as the speaker or the receiver. This role may change interchangeably. The speaker may be the receiver or vice versa. It can be formulated as A-B-A-B-A-B. The role exchange as the speaker or the receiver is known as turn taking. Turn taking concerns with continuous exchanges of the participants‟ role Richard et al, 1985:300. A participant who speaks earlier will be the speaker, while a participant who speaks later will be the listener. In line with Richard et al 1985:300, Levinson 1983:296 states that the conversational exchange in conversation is when one person, A, talks, and then stops; and the other person, B, starts talking and stops. The exchange can be formulated as A-B-A- B-A-B. In this case, turn taking system can be categorized in terms of its features, its mechanisms and its strategies. The turn taking consists of various features proposed by Yule 1996:72 namely backchannel, simultaneous turn taking, adjacency pair, topic change, and silence. Turn taking mechanisms declared by Sack et al 1974 can be divided by two elements namely Turn Constructional Unit TCU and Turn Allocation Unit TAU. Turn taking strategies proposed by Strensom 1994: 68-80 can be grouped as taking a turn, holding a turn, and yielding a turn.

2.2.2.1 Turn Taking Feature

Turn taking features can characterize the process of turn taking and can affect the exchange of turns among participants in a conversation. The feature facilitates the conversations to pass smoothly or avoid the flow of talk. Yule 1996:72 shows various features of turn taking namely backchannel, simultaneous turn taking, adjacency pair, silencepause, and topic change.

2.2.2.1.1 Backchannel

Backchannel is a listener ‟s response in a conversation. The listener gives verbal and non-verbal response to the current speaker in order to show herhis understanding or interest Ishida, 2003. This listener‟s response can influence the conversation ‟s turn because it can interest the attention of the speaker. It can show that the listener listens to the current speaker ‟s utterance and she gives attention to the current speaker. During the conversation, the current speaker should know that the listener still follow himher. Commonly, the listener can show herhis attention and interest for the current speaker in some different ways, namely: head nods, smile, gesture, gaze, facial expression or vocal indication of attention like „uh – uh‟, „yeah‟, „mmm‟ Yule, 1996:75. These ways are used by the listener to inform that the message has been delivered. According to Orestrom 1983:107, backchannel consists of five categories. The first category is short utterance. It covers supporting expressing like „mmm‟, „hmmhm‟, „yeah‟, „yes‟,„ok‟, okay, etc, exclamation, and question. The second category is expressing regret. The third category is short question to ask the speaker‟s clarification confirmation. The other category is short restatement to summarize and to conclude the listener‟ understanding. The last category is laughing. One of these categories is shown in the conversation below: Caller : if you use your long distance service a lot then you will Marry: uh-uh