Conversation Analysis of Oprah's CBS Interview with B.

Opening Sequence and Adjacency Pairs

The first adjacency pair of the opening sequence has B. saying in a deliberate tone, "Speaking of spending money." This new speech unit, initiated by B. in line 1, does not introduce a new topic but signals movement to a new conversational unit through reference to a prior sequence in which the notion of spending money is mentioned. O. indicates acknowledgement and understanding by saying "ye:a:h" in line 2 before B. can say "I hear there's a story there." B.'s pause allows O. to insert this marker ("ye:a:h"), which is enthusiastic and eager. As a result of B.'s deliberately slow speech and pause, B. avoids overlap. O.'s marker does not interrupt B.'s speech, although B.'s sentence is not finished until after O.'s interjection. This is an example of the participants' orderly co-creation of the turn beginning. O.'s responsive marker reflects back to B. that his speech is an intelligible shift and may function to encourage B.'s continuation.

He does so with line 3's "I hear there's a story there." B. could have used a question, but instead selects a declarative statement, which nominates O. as the new speaker in the turn-taking sequence. This initial adjacency pair is a pre-sequence to the true opening of the conversational unit.

Turn Beginnings and Repair Mechanisms

Schegloff shows how turn beginnings are structurally important because "they project a 'shape' for the turn" (1987: 74). That is, they are critical for the recipient's expectations and are structurally significant for setting up what follows. When O. says, "It's my favorite spending money story," it allows B. to know that his implied question has been received correctly. O. says it quickly on the heels of B.'s statement. They seem in mutual agreement that B. wants O. to tell a story, but it is not yet clear whether O. will fulfill this expectation. O.'s following hesitation causes B. to add "ab[out" (line 4). This single word is an intentional prompt for O. to continue the interaction, but it misfires — his word is swallowed up in overlap with O.'s repetition of "it's my fa:::::vorite spending money story."

O.'s repetition may be a case of repair. Schegloff says that "the recycle begins at precisely the point at which the 'new' turn emerges into the clear" (1987: 75). He believes such repairs through repetition are common in turn beginnings due to overlap. Since there is no overlap here, the repetition is more likely a restart. Goodwin concludes about restarts: "In short, rather than providing evidence for the defective performance of speakers in actual conversation, restarts may provide some demonstration of the orientation of speakers to producing sentences that are attended to appropriately by their recipients" (1981: 59). It operates in this case by securing B.'s listening. Here it is not overlap but the pause between B.'s speech that creates the ambiguity, which O. resolves through the repetition. The repeated phrase moves beyond pre-sequence to the start of the new conversational sequence.

Story-Telling Structure and Preface

The next adjacency pair, which begins with O. saying "And may I preface this by saying" (line 6), may be seen as part of the structure of a story-telling interaction. Studying the sequences organized in the context of story-telling interaction, Schenkein has shown them to have a story preface in which a teller projects a forthcoming story, a next turn in which a co-participant aligns himself as a story recipient, a next in which the teller produces the story (a series of segments in which the teller's talk can alternate with the recipient's), and a next in which the story recipient talks by reference to the story (1978: 219).

Thus, in story-telling interactions, sentences are often inserted prior to the story itself to let the hearer know that the speaker will take a number of utterances to complete it. This gives the speaker the right to retain the floor without interruption. Structurally, it has consequences for the story's reception, such as increased silence during the story on the part of the recipient and extended monologue on the speaker's part — both of which occur in this conversation. In its own right, this form of interaction can be understood as a coherent conversational unit. With her preface material, O. stages the context for her story and completes its projection as an extended narrative.

O. deems the information in the preface relevant to the story's comprehension. Her expression of doubt that the story would happen "ta::day" functions to preempt a possible criticism and shows that she is aware of the unlikely nature of the story given changed economic circumstances ("before the bottom fell out").

Latching, Solidarity, and Co-Participation

"But Tyler had come to my house," says O. in line 6. Here we have the proper beginning of O.'s projected story. Immediately O. returns to further background information: "this is when he was letting me see the films." Then there is a noticeable pause before O. adds, "ahead of time." This pause does not lead to an interruption or a change in turn-taking; B. remains quiet, signaling that he has adopted the position of hearer. There is no overlap or pause between O.'s saying "Now he doesn't care about my opinion" and B.'s chuckling statement in line 7 that "he's moved on." B. has self-selected to insert this statement into the interaction, finishing O.'s thought and elaborating on it with his own words in a way that is near-repetitive and occurs without gaps — that is, through latching.

This can be seen as a turn-taking mechanism that allows for completion and may be linked with Bloch's formulation that interlocutors develop "specific routines and patterns of action through talk that form a joint action strategy" (2005: 39). In addition, B. smiles and sweeps his hand as he speaks. This gesture and the phrase show solidarity with the teller in terms of comprehension. Tannen has shown that latching of utterances "are devices by which some speakers show solidarity, enthusiasm, and interest in others' talk" (2005: 98). B.'s response can be seen not as a distant or deferential stance, but as an interested ratification of O.'s statement. B. reflects O.'s saying back to her in different but similar words, and the humor maintains cooperation between the interlocutors, as can be seen in O.'s repetition of B.'s phrase ("He's moved on").

B.'s brief comment reinforces O.'s continuation, letting her understand that he is listening and engaged. O. accepts this structure and movement. Her repetition of B.'s words is a co-ratification of interactional cooperation. This adjacency pair further indicates the second stage of story-telling structure, in which a co-participant aligns himself as a recipient. B. had already aligned himself implicitly, but his speech at this turn makes that alignment explicit. Saying "He's moved on" does not challenge O.'s speech but advances it.