Dialogue in and between Different Cultures - International ...

The Practice of Repeating in English as a Lingua Franca 7
The final example comes from a conversation between K (Cambodian) and D
(Indonesian) regarding an assignment they have to write and the problems that K
is having in writing this assignment.
(5) [T1/SB/C7-K(CAM):D(IND)/16-18]
01 D: and maybe it’s …(0.9) it’s good idea if you: …(2.1) consultated
02 with the Sarimah and as:k about your: topic maybe she have eh she
03 has a:: a good …(1.3) guide to make your:
04 K: → and I will [meet her:] I will meet her and discuss this with her.
05 D: [proposal]
06 K: oh huh Danny I: I need her help huhhuhuhhuh
In this extract, D suggests to K that he meets with the lecturer concerned to
discuss his problem. K’s agreement to do so in line 4 however overlaps with the
tail end of D’s suggestion (line 5). K’s repetition of his agreement immediately
following the overlapped talk seems to suggest that K is orientating to the
overlapped talk as possibly impairing D’s hearing and understanding of his prior
utterance. The repetition thus provides D with a re-hearing of that utterance.
3.2 Repeat after ‘Open’ Class Repair Initiator
When faced with the problem of hearing or understanding a prior turn, the
participants in the study frequently elicited a repetition of that turn, using what
Drew (1997) refers to as ‘open class repair initiators’. This category of repair
initiators includes forms such as ‘huh’, ‘sorry’ and ‘pardon’, all produced with a
rising intonation. Drew defines an open class repair initiator as an object that
signals that the speaker “has some difficulty with the other’s prior turn, but
without locating specifically where or what that difficulty is” (1997:71). In this
sense, these initiators “leave open” the nature of the problem that the participant is
having with the prior turn (ibid:72), hence obliging the co-participant to decide on
the next course of action, namely whether to provide a repetition or a clarification
of the trouble source turn. Only instances of the former however will be examined
in this paper.
The participants of the study frequently produced a repetition of the prior turn
in response to the use of an open class repair initiator by the recipient. As in the
case of repetition after overlap, this practice was consistently employed by the
participants regardless of their lingua-cultural background, as the examples below
illustrate:
(6) [T14/SB/C3-K(CAM):M(BUR)/286-298]
01 K: what I want to [add is erm
02 M: [yeah yeah
03 K: I think we need to add a: …(1.2) let- let’s say …(1.2) a socially
04 responsible company.
05 M: → sorry?