Turn-taking In TV Multi-participant Talk Show

Founded in the1970s, Conversation Analysis, as a workable method used for researchingconversation or a sub-field of language study, has developed for almost40years. Manyresearchers have probed into language structures and sequences in different discourses basedon variant theories. As a prominent feature of conversational structure, turn and turn-takinghave already become the most important issue. In recent years, the study of this topic has beenshifted from institutional discourse to semi-institutional discourse, namely, the various typesof talk shows. Most researches in this field focus on conversations between two rather thanmore interlocutors in TV talk shows. Through observations, we find multi-participant TV talkshow embodies discursive features which are similar to those of ordinary conversation, andalso bears the nature of institutional discourse. With the dual characteristic, the research onthis media discourse is of great value. Therefore, this thesis will study the turn-taking systemwhich exists in TV multi-participant talk show, in order to reveal the characteristics ofturn-taking in this kind of TV talk show. The present study may enrich the content of thetheory about the turn-taking system in TV multi-participant talk show; it can provide a newperspective to interpret the process of the conversations in TV talk show, and a trenchantargument to explain how people can carry on a conversation smoothly.The subject of the present study is a large, open, interactive, and parent-child show. Theparticular arrangement for the programme prompts the conversation among multiple people,which belongs to multi-participant TV talk show. This thesis will carry on a case study of thisprogramme with the mixed method combining theoretical study and empirical study. Theresult shows that the simple systematics of turn-taking based on the ordinary conversation bySacks et al. is not fit for the multi-participant talk show on TV, and needs to be modified tointerpret conversational structure and sequence in this special discourse. Through analyzingthe transcripts of this programme, this thesis lists the turn-allocation rules of themulti-participant conversation in TV talk show, and finds out the reasons why the four partieswhich are the host, the guests, the delegations and the protagonists select different turn-control strategies for their turns from the two perspectives of the institutional power andthe principle of goal.This thesis is composed of five chapters. Chapter1is an introduction; Chapter2is areview of previous research results; Chapter3introduces the theoretical framework; Chapter4analyses the data in detail within the theoretical framework and Chapter5is the conclusionpart.