Navigating Conversation Closures: Techniques and Challenges

Closings

Closing conversations • Closing a conversation poses an interactional problem: • Participants need to disengage from talk in a way which does not make the relationship between participants vulnerable • Participants need to ensure that everything which needed to be dealt has been. • Participants need to disengage from the turn-taking system.

Terminal sequences • An exchange of farewell tokens (good-bye) is a terminal sequence for conversation. • Farewell tokens are an adjacency pair: the FPP proposes the end of the conversation and the SPP accepts this.

Terminal sequences • Terminal sequences cannot be used at any point in talk to close a conversation. • It is important when closing a conversation to determine if all potential mentionables have been mentioned. • Terminal sequences can only be used after this has been done.

Pre-closing sequences • Terminal sequences are regularly preceded in conversation by talk which is designed to verify if all relevant mentionables have been mentioned. • This talk involves a short turn such as okay, alright or right with falling intonation.

Pre-closing sequences • Pre-closings • meet the requirements of the turn taking system – speaker change occurs • do not advance topical talk and pass up an opportunity to do further talk or to introduce some new matter • provide for the possibility that closing could now be done.

Pre-closing sequences • Pre-closings provide do not always lead to closing. • The SPP may be a pre-closing component or a new topic. • A pre-closing SPP passes up an opportunity to introduce new talk and leads to closing • Introducing new mentionables blocks closing 1. pre-closing FPP 2. pre-closing FPP pre-closing SPP topic talk SPP  terminal sequence continued conversation

Closing implicative environments • Pre-closings are placed at the analysable end of a topic: closing down a topic provides for the possibility that there is nothing further to be said. • Some conversational actions appear regularly as last topics in a conversation and lead to closing as a relevant future activity. These actions can be considered closing implicative environments. • Closing implicative environment refers to sets of actions after which closing may be a relevant next activity but it do not imply that closure will necessarily happen.

Closing implicative environments • Common closing implicative environments include: • Announcing closure

Closing implicative environments • Common closing implicative environments include: • Arrangements

Closing implicative environments • Common closing implicative environments include: • Formulating summaries

Closing implicative environments • Common closing implicative environments include: • Appreciations

Closing implicative environment • Common closing implicative environments include: • Sequence-closing sequences

Closing implicative environment • Common closing implicative environments include: • Back references

Moving out of closing • Not all closings succeed in bringing a conversation to completion. • Closings have to be negotiated between participants. • Where one participant proposes closure but another proceeds to further talk, they move out of closing.

Moving out of closing • In moving out of closing a turn is found in a slot which could normally be occupied by a closing-related component: this cancels the trajectory of the closing. • When participants move out of a closing, they cancel the relevance of the closing which had previously been proposed • Anew closing sequence must be initiated to close the conversation after moving out.

Moving out of closing • Moving out of closing may take two forms • Minimal: where a participant moves out to a closing implicative action and closing can be quickly re-established • Drastic: where participants move out to talk that is not closing implicative and closing cannot be quickly re-established

Locations for moving out of closing • Conversation may move out of closing at any point in the closing: • After the first pre-closing component

Locations for moving out of closing • Conversation may move out of closing at any point in the closing: • After the second pre-closing component

Locations for moving out of closing • Conversation may move out of closing at any point in the closing: • After the first terminal component

Locations for moving out of closing • Conversation may move out of closing at any point in the closing: • After the second terminal component

Typical sequences found in moving out • Arrangements (minimal moving out)

Typical sequences found in moving out • Back references (minimal or drastic depending on the reference)

Typical sequences found in moving out • Topic initial elicitors (minimal or drastic depending on the response).

Typical sequences found in moving out • In conversation objects (may be drastic)

Typical sequences found in moving out • Solicitudes (usually minimal)

Typical sequences found in moving out • Appreciations (minimal)

Navigating Conversation Closures: Techniques and Challenges