Conversation in World Englishes
Turn-Taking and Cultural Variation in Southeast Asian and Caribbean English

An exploration of conversation in World Englishes, focusing on turn-taking and cultural variation in Southeast Asian and Caribbean English.

Theresa Neumaier (Author)

9781108838023, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 6 April 2023

280 pages
23.6 x 15.8 x 2.3 cm, 0.58 kg

Turn-taking is a fascinating feature of conversational interaction, due to its systematic and ordered nature. However, research has so far focused mainly on American and British conversations, with other varieties of English receiving much less attention. This pioneering book addresses this gap by exploring turn-taking patterns and cultural variation in Southeast Asian and Caribbean English. Bringing together research from the fields of Conversation Analysis and World Englishes for the first time, Neumaier conducts an empirical study based on authentic audio data of interactions in these global varieties of English, and demonstrates that conversational strategies differ between speaker groups with different cultural backgrounds. Shedding new light on the impact of cultural and sociolinguistic factors on conversational patterns, it is essential reading for advanced students and scholars interested in language, variation, and social interaction, as well as those working in the fields of Conversation Analysis, Interactional Linguistics, and World Englishes.

List of abbreviations
1. Introduction
2. Investigating talk-in-interaction in culture
3. Codifying patterns of interaction
4. Turn allocation in Southeast Asian and Caribbean English conversations: forms, contexts and frequences
5. Turn-claiming and turn-holding resources in Southeast Asian and Caribbean English conversations
6. Turn-claiming and turn-holding: strategy clusters
7. Cooperation or fights for the floor?
8. Conclusion and outlook.

Subject Areas: Translation & interpretation [CFP], Language acquisition [CFDC], Sociolinguistics [CFB], Linguistics [CF]