A Study on Strategies of Turn-taking in the Oprah Winfrey Show

【Abstract】This study investigates the turn-taking phenomenon in the Oprah Winfrey Show. Its aim is to testify whether turn-taking model proposed by Sacks， Schegloff & Jefferson （1974） can be applied to the TV talk shows. Sections of conversations between Oprah Winfrey Show and Michael Jackson in one program of the talk show are transcribed and analyzed in detail. The results indicate that the turn-taking models proposed by Sacks et al. （1974） can be applied in the Oprah Winfrey Show.

【Key words】Oprah Winfrey Show; turn-taking; turn-taking strategies

【作者簡介】胡艾敏（1986-），女，四川南充人，川北医学院外国语言文化系助教，硕士，研究方向：语用学与认知语言学研究。

1. Introduction

The Oprah Winfrey Show （OWS）， aired from 1986 to 2011， has remained the highest-ranked talk show in America. Due to its influence in American society and its nature of naturally occurring data， it will be of great help to analyze the turn-taking features of the talk show with the turn-taking theory proposed by Sacks et al. （1974）. As one of the main theories in the Conversation Analysis， the turn-taking theory is composed of three parts： turn-construction component; turn-taking rules; and turn-allocation mechanism， which in turn comprise smaller parts which will be illustrated in the thesis. This paper intends to analyze one program of Oprah Winfrey Show in which Michael Jackson is the guest. It also intends to check whether the turn-taking model can be applied to the talk shows such as OWS.

2. Data collection

The  sixty-minute video is downloaded from the internet and transcribed with the common conversation analysis system. Michael talks about his private life in this program. The reason of selecting it is due to its popularity among the audience.

3. Data analysis

3.1 Turn- construction component

Turn-construction components are the basic units composed of a turn. They can be words as in T4 example （1）， phrases in T3 in example （1）， clauses in example （2）， and sentences in T1 in example （1）.

（1）T1O： Were your scared of him？

T2M： Very frightened. Theres been time when he came to see me and I would get sick. I started to （）.

T3O： As a child or as an adult？

T4M： Both.

（2）T1M： Theres a lot of sadness （1.0） （of） my past life. Adolescence （1.0）， my father， and all of those things （0.2） just made me very very sad.

T2O： So he will tease you， make fun of you？

3.2 Turn-allocation mechanism

3.2.1 Selecting others as the next speaker

When allocating a turn to the next speaker， one way is for the current speaker to select the next speaker. For example：

（5）T1O： So when you start to look at a piece of work or look at a piece    of music， are you already thinking about how you are going to？

T2M： Sometimes. Yes， its very true.

In this video， its always Oprah who selects Michael as the next speaker， which is due to Oprahs role as a hostess.

Self-selection

Speakers may also self-select a turn as in T2 and T3 where Oprah and Michael self-select to speak respectively.

（6） T1M： ... Please dont get mad at me. （2.0）

T2O： Well， I mean， I suppose that everybody has to take responsibility for what theyve done in life， and （1.0） your father is one of those people （.） who also have to take the responsibility.

T3M： I do love him， and I am forgiving.

Turn-control strategies

3.3.1 Turn-yielding

3.3.1.1 Nomination

The current speaker may nominate the next speaker. In this way， the topic is determined by the current speaker. E.g.：

（7） T1M： So please people stop believing [these horrifying story].

T2O： [Ok， Michael]， lets go to…

T2 by Oprah is nomination. In this video， this strategy is seldom used which may be due to the number of guests- only Michael and a friend who stays for a few minutes. So， its needless for Oprah or Michael to nominate each other.

3.3.1.2 Self-selection with or without limited topic

Most of the time， the current speaker will request or question other participants with or without a particular topic without nominating the next speaker：

（8） T1O： All right， just recently there was a story and I know one of your attorneys held a news conference. Its a story about （.） you wanting a little white boy play you in a Pepsi commercial.

T2M： Oh， thats stupid…

（9） T1O： Did he ever beat you？

T2M： Yes.

T3O： He did.

Oprah yields her turn to Michael by raising a particular topic in Tl in example（8）. Michael then successfully self-selects as the next speaker. In example （9） Oprah yields her turn to Michael in T3. Oprah yields her turn when she finds that Michael is unwilling to talk about his being abused by his father.

3.3.2 Turn-holding

Sometimes， participants hold their turns with the following strategies.

3.3.2.1 Using utterance incompletor

A speaker can adopt some words such as “and， but” Sacks et al. referred to as utterance incompletor. These conjunctions enable the speaker to hint to continue his or her turn.

（10） T1M： Thats so crazy. I mean， one of the tabloid thing （1.0） thats completely made up.

T2O： Ok， but theres…

T2 contains the utterance imcompletor “but”. In this talk show， both Oprah and Michael employ lots of utterance imcompletors to hold their turns.

3.3.2.2 Using incompletion marker

Incompletion marker foretells the hearers that there are at least several things the speaker intends to say.

（11）T1M …They are completely false.

T2O： There are so many…but theres so many. I didnt want to （.） forget them. First of all， I…

Oprah uses the incompletion marker –first of all– to indicate that she has several things to speak in example（11）.

3.3.2.3 Using hesitation fillers

If a speaker is unwilling to yield a turn and hasnt decided what to say， the hesitation fillers such as “UM”， “you know” are ways out.

（12）TO： I just want to （1.0） let the world know that， um， when we agreed to do this interview， um， you said…

Oprah used two “um” to hold her turn. the hesitations fillers are employed frequently by Oprah and Michael in this talk show，.

3.3.3 Turn-claiming

Jefferson （1973） proposed three strategies for the listeners who want to take the floor to speak when the speaker hasnt finished a turn： interruption， insertion， and overlapping.

3.3.3.1 Interruption

Listeners may interrupt the current speaker to claim the conversational floor：

（13）T1M： …Those are very sad sad years for me， [and]

T2O： [Why] so sad？ Because on stage we see your performing. You get your （Grammies）. Why so sad？

Oprah interrupted Michael in T2. In this talk show， Its Oprah the hostess who largely interrupts the guest. Though Sacks （1992， p. 50） regards interruption as not proper. We found that its because Oprah shows her engagement and involvement in the conversation and her tact in grabbing the chance to probe deep of Michaels personality that she interrupts Michael.

3.3.3.2 Insertion

Different from interruption， insertion occurs when the current speaker finished a turn. This strategy is illustrated by the following example：

（14）T1O： … I cannot find oxygen chamber anywhere in the house.

T2M： Thats so crazy， I mean， one of the tabloid thing （1.0） thats completely made up.

3.3.3.3 Overlap

Bennett （1981） suggested that overlap occurs when two people speak at the same time. Sometimes， the speakers may utter the same words at TRP. E.g.：

（15）T1 O：... Just want to make [that right].

T2 M： [Very true].

In this example， Michaels reply overlaps with the last words of T1 made by Oprah.

4. Conclusion

The study analyzes the conversation between Oprah and Michael Jackson in the OWS with the turn-taking theory proposed by Sacks et al. （1974）， we find that the turn-taking mechanism can be applied to talk shows such as the OWS. There are some features of this talk show. First， the hostess tends to interrupt more often than the guest. One possible reason is that the role of the hostess is to explore deeper of a topic or change a topic， etc. Secondly， instead of being impolite， we find that interruption in this video is polite since it manifests the hostesss involvement and her tact to let the guest talk more. Secondly， the device nomination is seldom used by both the guest and the hostess. This is probably due to the number of people engaging in the show.

This study focuses on one talk show with the turn-taking theory as its theoretical basis. Future studies are also needed to compare the western and eastern， successful and unsuccessful talk shows to better guide peoples daily interactions. Also， the function of interruption as a polite phenomenon and impolite phenomenon is an interesting topic deserving more attention.

References：

[1]Bennet， J.. Linguistic Behavior[M]. London： Cambridge University Press，1981.

[2]Jefferson， G.. A case of precision timing in ordinary conversation： Overlapped tag-positioned address terms in closing sequences[J]. Semiotica，1973，9（1）：47-96.

[3]Sacks， H.. Lectures on Conversation[J]. vol. 2. Edited by Jefferson， G，1992.