Group Discussions: Relationship between elements of the conversation and the subjective evaluation of participants

Abstract

This study aimed to solve the problems that speakers feel in group discussion that take place in learning situation. It examined the relationship between factors such as frequency of speaking out, direction of conversation, and length of silence as well as speakers' evaluations. 3 group discussions were analyzed, and speakers were asked to evaluate the conversations. The results showed that: (1) the frequency of speaking out and the direction of the conversation can be combined to more accurately determine how lively the conversation. (2) the number of times the conversation goes silent roughly takes into account the turn-taking between the speakers and can be used together with other elements such as how much each speaker talks, the direction of the conversation, and more, to aid in predicting the balance of opportunity to speak out.