Analysis Of Turn-taking Strategies Used In American TV Talk Shows

TV talk show is a kind of conversation program which appears as a form of communication. Since turn is the core of conversation, one of the most important tasks is to reveal how people realize turn-taking in the process of conversations. TV talk show originally emerges in America and develops into one of main American TV programs. Based on the Sacks et al’s classification of turn-taking strategies, this thesis intends to make a comparative study of turn-taking strategies used in the two famous American TV talk shows, that is,8episodes of Oprah Winfrey Show and8episodes of Ellen DeGeneres Show by adopting qualitative and quantitative methods.Through the means of quantitative and qualitative analysis, the study finds that there are really some similarities and differences between the two American TV talk shows. The similarities lie in:firstly, turn-taking strategies used in the two programs are similar and the percentage of application of turn-claiming by the hosts and the guests is fewer. In the process of yielding turns, the hosts, Oprah and Ellen often use turn-yielding strategies more frequently than the guests while in the process of holding turns, the guests employ turn-holding strategies more frequently than the hosts. In the process of claiming turns, the guests use less turn-claiming strategies than that of the hosts. As both of the two programs are American TV talk shows, there is slight difference between the two programs. And the focus of the study is on the similarities. What’s more, this paper also tries to explain these similarities and differences.The significance lies in that by using the theory of turn-taking strategies, the thesis does a research on the American TV talk shows. And this paper does not only enrich the theory of turn-taking strategies, but also makes an exploration of American TV talk shows and masters more skills in conversation.