The Form and Function of Next-Turn Repetition in English Conversation

Abstract

As an attempt to characterize an aspect of the interaction between conversation and grammar, this research deals with forms and functions of repetition in English conversation. Viewing repetition as a mechanism to which participants engaged in conversation must display orientation, this research investigates repetition in terms of an economy system that accomplishes social actions as part of our everyday conducts in talk-in-interaction. After a critical review of previous research on repetition, this research investigates structural and interactional contexts of next-speaker repetition in terms of second-position and third-position repetition. The examination of instances of 'exact' and partial repetition in the present data shows that third-position repetition is found in the following two contexts: (i) when the second turn functions as a next-turn repair initiation and the repair solution is realized in the third turn in the form of partial or whole repetition of the prior utterance, and (ii) when the source turn is interrupted by or overlapped with the second turn, and the source turn is repeated in the third turn. The examination also shows that the social actions that second-position repetition performs are: (i) initiating repair in the next turn, (ii) seeking confirmation or clarification, (iii) displaying speaker's stance or attitudes such as surprise or incredulity, (iv) providing confirmation or 'registering receipt' (Schegloff 1997), (v) showing that the speaker is of the same opinion or is in agreement with the previous speaker, and (vi) expanding current speaker's turn by repeating the previous utterance, often providing additional information. These findings show that the practices of repeating can be viewed as accomplishments of social actions in talk-in-interaction.