1. Lesson Plan for Turn-taking process:
Teacher’s Name: Saba Ashraf
Age Level of Class: 17 to years 18
Size of Class: 40 students
Date of Presentation: 1/13/15
Estimated Time of Lesson: 15 minute
Teaching Point: To teach about Turn-taking process
Pre-assessment activity: Students will be asked to answer the following questions before
starting a lecture.
 What is a conversation?
 What is conversational analysis?
Relationship to Current Unit : Turn-taking is central to conversational process
Material: text book, handouts, white board and audio-visual aids.
Criterion Level: Students will be able to understand 80% of the lesson in class through
Question-Answer activities.
Objectives:
1) Students will be able to define turn-taking
2) Students will be able to recognize adjacency pairs.
3) Students will learn about different types of sequences in conversation.

2. Procedures
Step1:Preparation (pre-assessment activity/Brain Storming)
• Talk makes things happen, and the conversation analyst has something to say about how.
• CA is now a settled discipline, developed since the pioneering work in the sixties by the
sociologist Harvey Sacks
• CA looks at the methods used by speakers to structure conversation efficiently.
Step2: Presentation
• Introducing Topic
Turn taking:
The concept of turn taking is central to Conversation Analysis। Turn taking organizes the
distribution and the flow of speech between the two participants of interaction thereby keeping
speech continuous। Turn-taking has been described as a process in which one participant talks,
then stops and gives the floor to another participant who starts talking, so we obtain a
distribution of talk across two participants। The time gap between one person stopping and the
other starting being just a few fractions of a second, yet the co-ordination is achieved with some
rapidity and turns are appropriated in orderly fashion. The description of this mechanism has
been the objective of many linguists. Sacks, Schegloff, and Jefferson are considered to be the
pioneers in this area who propose the turn-taking mechanism in their seminal review "The
Systematics of turn-taking in conversation". They examine a variety of recorded, natural
conversations. They conclude that the turn-taking seems a basic form of organization for
conversation.
The significance of this approach for the language learner is considerable. Turn-taking
mechanisms, the way in which speakers hold or pass the floor, vary between cultures and
between languages. Overlap in a given situation is more or less tolerated in some societies than
in others.
Efficient turn-taking also involves factors which are not linguistic. Eye contact is one strong
means of signaling, and in British culture (in very general terms) it can often be observed that
speakers look away during their turn and then look their interlocutor in the eye at the end. Body
position and movement also play and important part. Intonation and volume contribute to turn-
taking too. The relative status of the speakers, or the role which one of them is playing, are also
important. In formal situations roles can clearly give people special rights, but even in
conversation – where according to our definition unequal power is suspended – it is unlikely that

3. knowledge of participants´ social status will be wholly forgotten. Students fall silent when the
professor speaks – in the bar as well as in the seminar.
Turn types:
Adjacency pairs
An adjacency pair is a unit of conversation that contains an exchange of one turn each by two
speakers. The turns are functionally related to each other in such a fashion that the first turn
requires a certain type or range of types of second turn.
E.g.:
– A greeting–greeting pair
– A question–answer pair
Functions of adjacency pairs
• Adjacency pairs are used for starting and closing a conversation
• Adjacency pairs are used for moves in conversations
• First utterance in adjacency pair
has the function of selecting next speaker
• Adjacency pairs are used for remedial exchanges
Components in adjacency pairs can be used to build longer sequences
Adjacency pairs
• Question – answer
• Greeting – greeting
• Offer – acceptance
• Request – acceptance
• Complaint - excuse
Adjacency pairs:
One speaker’s utterance makes a particular kind of response likely.
A.P. are pairs of utterances that usually occur together.
The most often used adjacency pairs. of the conversation analysed is question-answer.
In our culture, a question is generally followed by an answer and is therefore a convenient way to
introduce a new topic and to ensure a response.

4. Breaking adjacency pairs
• If you break an adjacency pair (e.g. not answering a question, answering “hello” with
“goodbye” you are causing “trouble” in the conversation which needs to be repaired.
“Preference” organization
Preferredand dispreferred responses
• A preferred response is acceptance and is usually short, without hesitation or elaboration
A dispreferred response is refusal and is usually performed hesitantly and elaborately. A
dispreferred is usually marked by a slight pause or by a prefacr like ‘Well’ ‘you see’or by an
explanation or justification of the response.
Insertion sequences
• These are sequences which are inserted inside adjacency pairs
• The topic of the insertion is usually related to the first part of the adjacency pair
For example:
• Turn 1 Shall I wear the blue shoes?
• Turn 2 You’ve got the black ones
• Turn 3 They’re not comfortable
• Turn 4 Yeah, they’re the best then, wear

5. • the blue ones
Example:
• A: May I please speak to Rodney?
• B: May I ask who’s calling?
• A: Alan.
• B: Just a minute. I’ll get him.
Example:
• A: Gimme a beer.
• B: How old are you?
• A: 21
• B: Okay. Coming up.
The topic of an insertion sequence is intimately related to that of the main sequence in which it
occurs. Sometimes, however, speakers simply switch from one topic to another unrelated one,
and then back again. In this latter case the insertion is known as a side sequence.
Pre-sequence
• Sometimes, an adjacencypair is inserted before another (related)
adjacencypair, in order to
Setthe stage E.g. Pre-announcement
A: Did you hear the news?
B: No, what?
A : I’m engaged!
B: WOW!
Protectthe speaker E.g. Pre- invitation
A: Are you busy tomorrow night?
B: No, no plans.

6. A: Shall we go to the movies?
B: Sure!
Repair
• Repair is needed when the turn taking rules are failing to operate
• Simultaneous speech often needs repair when two people are speaking at once
Silence needs repair because no one is talking.
Self-repair:
Other-repair:
Step 3: Practice:
Look at the following exchanges and discuss how they appear to flout the normal expectations of
adjacency pairs.
Can you imagine contexts which would explain these?
1. A: Hello
B: Goodbye
2. A: Did you go out with John last night?
B: Why are you asking?
A: Why do you think?
3. A: What do you think of this?
B: Gosh is that the time? I must go!

7. 4. A: You tea’s on the table
B: (6)
A: Did you hear what I said?
B: (4)
A: Answer me, will you?
Short Answer Question:
Define adjacency pair.
Define turn-taking.
Name some non-linguistic patterns used for turn taking.
True/False
 The concept of turn taking is central to Conversation Analysis.
 Turn-taking mechanisms, the way in which speakers hold or pass the floor, does not vary
between cultures and between languages.
 The topic of the insertion is usually related to the first part of the adjacency pair
Step 4: Production
 98% preview the lesson fully.
 70% discuss with group members happily.
 90% listen carefully and 75% have the answers. 50% are willing to answer the questions.
Test of the whole lesson will be taken and grading of the students will be done on the basis of
this test
Answer key:
True/ False
1.T 2.F 3.T
Homework task:
 Write down any five example of turn taking process.
 Find out any song or poem in which turn-taking is used.
 Make some adjacency pairs.
 Why repair is necessary in turn-taking process.