Abstract

TURN-TAKING AND GENDER DOMINANCE ISSUE

Amani M. Hussein

Volume: 10 Issue: 2 2020

Abstract:

When interlocutors are engaged in a talk with no conventionalized order, they indulge themselves in a conversation which means non-interrupted and non-simultaneous activity. This activity is called turn-taking which means the manner in which orderly conversation takes place.Though not all cultures' turn systems are the same, Celce-Murcia and Olshtain (2000) point out that there are often important cultural and sub-cultural differences in the way discourse communities do turn-taking. According to Pennebaker, J. W. (2007:27-33), male interlocutors consistently interrupt females and lean to dominate conversations, regardless of community, and women's role in turn taking is frequently ignored, to a certain extent, in conversations. The aim of the present paper is to show that females have more curiosity to take turn in conversations than men do, and they break the rule of turn- taking, because, very often, they speak simultaneously. By adopting Have's (1999) strategies of turn-taking, two tables have been provided. The first one is to show the frequencies of violations committed by men and women during the course of conversation. The second one is dedicated to show the frequencies of violations of Have's strategies by men and women. By analyzing six different episodes in which men and women have engaged in speech, the paper has concluded that women are more dominant in conversations for different reasons mainly because they do not wait for their turns.

DOI: http://doi.org/10.37648/ijrssh.v10i02.015

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