Conversing through overlaps: Information status and simultaneous talk in Cuban Spanish

Abstract

Simultaneous speech and turn-taking patterns vary considerably across cultures. Research on varieties of Spanish has confirmed that frequent, lengthy overlaps within and between turns are common. In this paper it is suggested that when speakers engage in simultaneous talk, they observe Grice's Cooperative Principle by adjusting their utterances so that the informativeness of their contribution is minimized in overlap. This paper approaches the linguistic composition of overlaps by examining the information status and grammatical function of noun phrases within and outside of overlaps. The statistical findings indicate a tendency to avoid delivering new information in overlap, which suggests that speakers are indeed cooperating with their interlocutors by minimizing utterance informativeness during overlap.

“But I Learn More Bad Grammars When I Write to My Classmates”: Acquiring Academic Literacies in a Multicultural Writing Class

“…In addition to different class norms, the students followed different communication styles, which varied from culture to culture (Alfaraz, 2009). While they adhered to their own norms correspondingly, they evidently had different notions about how much participation in group discussions was "necessary" or appropriate.…”

Building Solidarity through Interruption in Face-to-Face Interaction amongst Iranian Men

“…In certain studies, interruptions and power relations correlate (Zimmerman & West, 1975;Zhao & Gantz, 2003;Minxia, 2010;Rodrigo, 2010). However, some studies have found that overlap, which is a type of interruption, can demonstrate cooperation in an interaction (Alfaraz, 2009;Jariah Mohd. Jan & Mohajer, 2012) rather than an expression of power.…”

“…Jan & Mohajer, 2012) rather than an expression of power. Alfaraz (2009) explained that interactants cooperate with each other via overlaps in an effort to minimize the introduction of new information. In other words, the speakers overlap with the intention of supporting each other rather than to be informative.…”