The Forms And Functions Of Extended Pre-sequence As Reflected In Larry King Live

Though a linguistic phenomenon always occurring in all forms of conversation,pre-sequence has so far received inadequate academic attention. Analysts from Sacksto the present day direct their eyes on daily conversations as sources of their data,which share features that the speakers have a simple and direct purpose. Thissimplicity is reflected in conversation structures: the utterances are usually short,routinized, and their purposes can be fulfilled through a few turns of exchanges.However, in many cases people do not talk that way. Their conversations mayinvolve monologues or hundreds of turns, in order to realize an institutional goal or anextremely face-threatening request. Under these circumstances, based on the researchframeworks of previous analysts, this thesis proposes the concept of "extendedpre-sequence (EPS)" to accommodate complex conversation structures and otherparalinguistic factors facilitating the conversation.From June 12 to July 12, 2005, I recorded for one consecutive month Larry KingLive, a famous American talk show. Through examining the parts of conversationsbefore the host raises an important question in the light of motivation and the FaceTheory, this thesis has the following major findings: a strong link exists between thelength of EPS and the guest's public image;EPS plays a dynamic role in thesatisfaction of the guest's psychological precondition;and the host and the guest oftencollaborate in an EPS to maintain mutual face.Moreover, through vertical tree diagrams this thesis illustrates the overallstructure of an EPS and the relation between adjacency pairs. Based on the study, aseries of methodology is suggested for the analysis of EPS structures in talk shows.Though still crude, the method can serve as basis for further research on this subject.EPS, though usually serves as the commencement of a long conversation, isnevertheless among its most brilliant parts. I hope this study would be able to sheduseful lights on the understanding of the construction of involved conversations.