This thesis examines interactional dimensions of the 2008 U.S. presidential debates based on the conversation analytic concepts of sequence organization and turn management. Drawing on the video recordings of the three 2008 presidential debates, I investigate features of turn design and interactional strategies that candidates employ during the debates and compare stylistic differences between John McCain and Barack Obama. I first examine how candidates design their first-turn responses to the moderator’s question in terms of placement of two different actions, answer and attack. Secondly, I focus on design of the second-turn responses and examine how candidates show responsiveness to both the moderator’s question and the opponent’s prior turn by incorporating multiple actions (e.g., attack, defense, and answer) in their second turns. I also examine direct exchanges between McCain and Obama, particularly concerning their strategic use of the record and their interactional practices in claiming turns and managing overlapping talk in confrontation sequences. My analysis shows that some stylistic differences exist between McCain’s and Obama’s turns. I provide detailed description of how Obama makes a systematic transition from answer to attack in his first-turn responses, which is distinguished from McCain’s first turns in which attacks are inserted in his answer as relevant topics are brought up. My analysis of the second-turn responses shows that McCain frequently produces an attack at turn beginning or responds to an attack with a reciprocal attack before producing a defense, while Obama tends to produce a defense first and then move to an attack. Lastly, I discuss how both Obama and McCain manage their turns and use turn-taking techniques to avoid direct references to their own record and shift the focus of the talk to the opponent’s stance on a related issue. / text

The main purpose of this research is to discuss the specificity of the microphone as a gestural tool through which the sequence organization of media two-party interviews is accomplished. The study focuses on the practical communicative problems of microphone operations in a media setting where the parties have alternating turns, and addresses the question of who of the participants speaks next and for how long. It is particularly concerned with investigating what the participating parties can do with the microphone, what it accomplishes, and how it is used as a tool for interaction with an audience. We particularly focus on how microphone moves can make use see how how people orient to emergent content structures in talk, and how microphone performs as a device for confirmation of verbal turns.

En utilisant les méthodes de la linguistique interactionnelle, notamment de la « syntaxe en ligne », et de l’analyse conversationnelle, notre étude s’est focalisée sur les co-constructions syntaxiques en allemand parlé, qui se caractérisent par la co-construction d’une structure syntaxique par plusieurs locuteurs. L’analyse est basée sur un corpus de 199 occurrences issues de conversations quotidiennes et d’interviews informels. Premièrement, une analyse en termes de projection et rétraction a révélée la structuration syntaxique et temporelle de ce phénomène. La syntaxe s’est révélée cruciale comme ressource pour la co-construction d’un énoncé complet, mais les projections au niveau prosodique, sémantique et pragmatique sont également une ressource importante vers laquelle les locuteurs s’orientent. Nous avons également pu montrer comment les différents types de rétractions pouvaient s’expliquer d’une part par la syntaxe de la co-construction, d’autre part par ses fonctions interactionnelles. Deuxièmement, nous nous sommes focalisée sur les caractéristiques actionnelles de la séquence de co-construction. Nous discutons trois manières principales dont le receipt slot est rempli dans notre corpus: les complétions différées (affiliatives et non-affiliatives), l’acquiescement de la complétion et des nouveaux tours de parole du premier locuteur. Enfin, nous avons constaté que la complétion est une stratégie multifonctionnelle du second locuteur qui accomplit souvent une action collaborative mais qui peut également être compétitive.En somme, notre étude a montré que la structure syntaxique et séquentielle d’un phénomène spécifique de l’oral tel que les co-constructions n’est à concevoir que si on l’analyse dans son émergence temporelle. Cela nous emmène à discuter la manière dont la grammaire est exploitée pour construire des actions sociales qui sont pertinentes et reconnaissables pour les participants. / Applying the methods of Conversation Analysis and Interactional Linguistics, especially the methodological framework of Auer`s on-line syntax, this study focused on syntactic co-constructions in spoken German i.e. the production of one syntactic gestalt by two speakers.The study is based on a data set of 199 co-constructed syntactic completions which are taken from audio and video recordings of German everyday conversation and informal interviews. First, we present a syntactic and prosodic analysis of the co-constructed syntactic gestalts. An analysis in terms of projections and retractions revealed the syntactic and temporal organization of the co-constructed units. Syntax turned out to be a crucial resource speakers rely on in order to complete the preliminary speaker’s syntactic gestalt. However, the prosodic, semantic and pragmatic levels are also important for the second speaker to anticipate a possible completion. Furthermore, the study also showed that retractions in the second speaker’s completion can be explained by syntactic constraints and by the interactional function of the completion. Second, the analysis focused on the sequential organization of the co-constructions. We discussed three ways in which the receipt slot, i.e. the sequential position where the first speaker can accept or reject the suggested completion, can be filled: delayed completions (affiliative and non-affiliative), acknowledgment of the completion and a new turn of the first speaker. Finally the interactional functions of the co-constructions were described. The co-construction of one syntactic unit by two speakers is a multifunctional strategy which is often used to show understanding and agreement, but which can also be found in competitive contexts and can be exploited for turn-taking. Our study shows that the syntactic and sequential structure of interactional phenomena like co-constructions can only be analyzed if we consider their temporal emergence. This allows us to make a contribution to the description of how grammar is exploited to build accountable actions.

Argumentation in interaction: The sequential structure of accounts in television debates Abstract This dissertation concentrates on the sequential structure of argumentation in spoken interaction. The point of departure is the concept of argumentation as linguistic action based on accounting for a controversial position with the purpose of convincing listeners of its acceptability or in order to defend it when it is challenged. The dissertation's specific aim is to describe the interactional context of argumentation using material from TV debates. The study utilizes ethnomethodological conversation analysis combined with elements of argumentation theory. The objects of empirical analysis are the types of linguistic action in argumentation interaction (e.g. the call for argumentation or the challenge to a position or argument) and the means of signaling argumentation. The research focuses on the analysis of the sequential organization of the TV debate, including the system of turn-taking, and on describing the sequential contexts of the argumentation in this genre. Attention is devoted to so-called argumentative sequences, i.e. series of mutual argumentative responses (problematizations) by the debate participants. Also examined are other types of linguistic action which initiate argumentation by...