TURN-TAKING IN COMMUNICATION

The communication is a dynamic process that begins with the conceptualizing of ideas by the sender who then transmits the message through a channel to the receiver, who in turn gives the feedback in the form of some message or signal within the given time frame.

Turn taking is a humanly invented system that provides the underlying framework for conversation; they are the basic unit of conversation.  For conversation to be organized, the principle of who talks, and who talks next, has been established. In a conversation, only one person is expected to talk at a time, and silence is not expected to be part of conversation. Even though, interrupting others in conversation in some cultures are acceptable, it is highly frown upon in a turn taking rule in a conversation.

The rules of turn-taking are designed to help conversation take place smoothly; one person talks at a time, no interruption, no ignoring, no overlapping, and no silence. Number of turns in a conversation cannot be predicted; but they can be selective, or open. They are distributed within the conversation by giving opportunities to participants to speak. However, the transition between one speaker and the next must be as smooth as possible without a break. 

There are different ways of indicating that a turn is changing: selecting the next speaker by name, or raising a hand, questions, Intonation thus a drop in pitch, or in loudness, and gestures. The most important device for indicating turn-taking is through a change in eye contact. For much of the time during a conversation, the eyes of the speaker and the listener do not meet. When speakers are coming to the end of a turn, they might look up more frequently, finishing with a steady gaze. This is a sign to the listener that the turn is finishing and that he or she can then come in.

RULES OF TURN-TAKING

The rules of turn-taking are designed to help conversation take place smoothly. Interruptions, butting in, ignoring and overlapping during conversation are violations of the turn-taking rule. Good manners are the only key to a successful and smooth conversation. Those that have good manners dutifully and patiently wait for their turn, and will not ignore anybody. However, responses such as mmmm, yeah, ok and laughs are minimal responses; they are not interruptions, but are rather devices to show the listener is listening, and they urge the speaker to speak on. They are most especially important in telephone conversations where the speaker cannot see the listener and hence rely on verbal cues to tell whether the listener is paying attention.

ADZOE PRISCILLA 

TAMAKLOE CLIFFORD