Preferred Responses Produced in Dispreferred Action Formats : An Examination of Cases in which a Subsequent Turn Space is Secured

Abstract

This paper describes preferred responses produced in the format of dispreferred actions. When a preferred response is produced, it is usually produced contiguously with its preceding utterance (i.e. preferred action format). On the other hand, when a dispreferred response is produced, a delay or a gap is usually inserted between the dispreferred response and its preceding utterance so that contiguity is broken (i.e. dispreferred action format). However, there are occasions in which a preferred response is produced in the format of a dispreferred action and vice versa. Such utterances, which are produced in formats differing from the default, may invoke different implications or images. In the present paper, I show that the preferred responses produced in dispreferred action formats not only invoke different implications or images, but also potentially secure a turn space for a subsequent utterance. In the analyses, I demonstrate how this is done.