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Chapter 4 An Analysis of Turn-taking in English Top Talkin the Framework of Relevance Theory

4.1 Analysis in Terms of Contextual Effect
In the study of two aspects of turn-taking, the thesis mainly focuses on thecharacteristics of turn-taking from the macroscopic view. It tends to find the specialway of turn-takings in English top talk in the superficial perspective. In the followingpart, aiming to find out how relevance is realized and how people take turns to talksmoothly, the author would further study turn-taking from the microscopic view.When the word “relevance” is mentioned, it seems that many factors could beinvolved. The influence of linguistic knowledge would affect the realization ofturn-taking in communication; subject matters would also play a very important rolein a successful conversation; acquaintance of interlocutors should also be paid moreattention. In the analysis of thesis, it refers to the conversational relevance whichrefers to the concrete expression of relevance and the logic relationship it reflects inlanguage communication. A respond turn in a conversation should be a conscious response to the requirement of conversation raised by the stimulate turn and to thecontext it in. The following analysis will be carried out in two parts: semanticrelevance and pragmatic relevance.

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Conclusion

Turn-taking, as one of the phenomena in top talk, plays an important role in theprocess of communication. The study of turn-taking would be of great significance.Different from the previous studies, the thesis tries to find out the characteristics ofturn-taking. What’s more, the realization of relevance and the reason people take turnsto talk smoothly are also explored. Based on relevance theory, the major findings ofthe thesis include: In a successful conversation, the motive to show some information, feelingsand attitude keeps people taking their turns to talk with each other. The essence ofturn-taking is a process of ostensive-inferential communication. Whether the turns arerelevant or not decides the development of the conversation. People are always tryingto be semantic relevant or pragmatic relevant. It is the role of relevance that makespeople feel what the speaker says meaningful to them.
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