Abstract:
This study presents a conversation analysis of auction talk. Turn-taking
practices used in auction talk, a form of institutional talk, are a modification
of those used in everyday conversation. The sequential patterning of the
discourse suggests that one way to conceive context in terms of turn-type
pre-allocation. The bidding sequence consists of three chained actions:
the bid, bid register, and call for new bids. The bid, a nonverbal turn
construction unit, is a first pair part that initiates the sequence. The
sale, a terminal move, occurs when no more bids are offered from the floor.
The sale is analyzed as a conversational closing that is systematically
delayed. It is hoped that this analysis will generate discussion regarding
the utility of conceiving turn-type pre-allocation as an application of
the very complex notion of context. Due to space constraints, the reader
is assumed to be familiar with the terminology and methods of CA. Typically,
several examples are provided in support of each claim. Again for reasons,
of space, these are kept to a minimum. The complete transcript is availabel
upon request.
In: Proceedings of the International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Modeling and Using Context (CONTEXT-97), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, February 4-6, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Ed., pp. 100-106.
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