Hiroko Tanaka, Turn-taking in Japanese conversation: A study in grammar and interaction. (Pragmatics and Beyond New Series, 56.) Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1999. Pp. xiv, 242. Hb $87.00; Hiroko Furo, Turn-taking in English and Japanese: Projectability in grammar, intonation and semantics. New York: Routledge, 2001. Pp. xvi, 247. Hb $70.00.

Abstract

Both volumes under review cover the same topic, turn-taking in Japanese in comparison with English. While Furo compares Japanese and English data, Tanaka focuses on the analysis of Japanese data, but nonetheless keeps a cross-cultural perspective on turn-taking. Both are dealing with a now flourishing area, the interface of grammar and interaction, based on the model of turn-taking proposed by Sacks, Schegloff & Jefferson 1974 and the work by Ford & Thompson 1996. Through the study of turn-taking, Tanaka aims at exploring the interrelationship of grammar and interaction, and Furo attempts to reveal how aspects of language – grammar, intonation, and semantics – and interaction influence one another, and how they are intertwined in discourse. Both volumes emerged from doctoral dissertations, Tanaka's at Oxford and Furo's at Georgetown University. Despite many similarities, including some of the findings, their approaches and presentations are quite different.