A Discoursal Study of Turn Taking in Political Interviews

Abstract

A political interview or any type of conversation is a collaborative effort between all speakers involved. That is, participants, take turns, and the control of a conversation is negotiated by the parties involved. According to Richards (1980: 424), it is governed by turn-taking conventions that determine who talks, when, and for how long. For a successful collaboration to ensue, it is important for speakers to know how and when to take, hold onto, and relinquish their turns in conversation. This study highlights turn-taking as a strategy in Trump's speech. The study tries to show the importance of turn-taking use in political discourse and how it is dominated. The results of the study revealed that there are three strategies of turn-taking: taking the turn, holding the turn and yielding the turn, which Trump used them. Also, the study found that on some occasions, politicians make use of gestures and facial expressions to employ as turn-taking strategies.