TY - BOOK

T1 - Understanding ‘stuckness’

T2 - Descriptions and interpretations of how EFL speakers and a native speaker co-manage talk-in-interaction

AU - Nakamura, Ian

PY - 2006

Y1 - 2006

N2 - Taking turns in keeping the talk going is a co-managed accomplishment. When the talkdoes not flow, the moment is noticeable and accountable. I am proposing the use of a newterm, ‘stuckness’, as an organizational concept which describes certain moments in NSNNStalk when participants temporarily lose a shared orientation as to who will take thenext turn and what to say. Two related concepts are also introduced: Flow is thesequential moment where the talk proceeds smoothly to the next turn. Getting unstuckdemonstrates the interactional work done by participants to address any uncertainties.The talk examined belongs to a hybrid genre which has elements of both ordinaryconversation and institutional talk. The data come from a series of talks between threeJapanese EFL students and me over a span of ten years. The collection of recorded talksincludes over 30 sessions of dyadic talk ranging in length from 20 to 60 minutes persession. Three rules were followed: (1) English is the language of use. (2) Each sessionwould last for a certain length of time. (3) The NNS would tell the NS about dailyactivities and special events.By tracing how one turn leads into another, three basic questions emerged: (1) When doestalk flow in dyadic talk? (2) When do participants get stuck? (3) How do participants getunstuck? The findings highlight participants’ resourcefulness in using topic shift,storytelling, repair, and formulation to maintain the flow of talk. The contribution of thisthesis may ultimately rest in encouraging people (e.g., researchers, teachers, students, andin fact anyone who is engaged in extended talk in any situation) to take a closer look atwhat participants are able to do (regardless of being a NS or a NNS) to keep theconversation going despite occasional mistiming.

AB - Taking turns in keeping the talk going is a co-managed accomplishment. When the talkdoes not flow, the moment is noticeable and accountable. I am proposing the use of a newterm, ‘stuckness’, as an organizational concept which describes certain moments in NSNNStalk when participants temporarily lose a shared orientation as to who will take thenext turn and what to say. Two related concepts are also introduced: Flow is thesequential moment where the talk proceeds smoothly to the next turn. Getting unstuckdemonstrates the interactional work done by participants to address any uncertainties.The talk examined belongs to a hybrid genre which has elements of both ordinaryconversation and institutional talk. The data come from a series of talks between threeJapanese EFL students and me over a span of ten years. The collection of recorded talksincludes over 30 sessions of dyadic talk ranging in length from 20 to 60 minutes persession. Three rules were followed: (1) English is the language of use. (2) Each sessionwould last for a certain length of time. (3) The NNS would tell the NS about dailyactivities and special events.By tracing how one turn leads into another, three basic questions emerged: (1) When doestalk flow in dyadic talk? (2) When do participants get stuck? (3) How do participants getunstuck? The findings highlight participants’ resourcefulness in using topic shift,storytelling, repair, and formulation to maintain the flow of talk. The contribution of thisthesis may ultimately rest in encouraging people (e.g., researchers, teachers, students, andin fact anyone who is engaged in extended talk in any situation) to take a closer look atwhat participants are able to do (regardless of being a NS or a NNS) to keep theconversation going despite occasional mistiming.

M3 - Doctoral Thesis

PB - Lancaster University

CY - Lancaster

ER -