Half-time seminar: Qiang Xia, PhD student at the Department of Linguistics, Stockholm University

Abstract

Conversational turn-taking is a highly coordinated social activity, characterized by short gaps and minimal overlaps. However, our understandings of turn-taking are mainly based on face-to-face interactions. The increasing use of mediated conversations raises fundamental questions about the temporal organization of turns. In remote settings, transmission delay and reduced access to turn-projection cues (e.g., gaze direction) can be disruptive for interactional timing. Crucially, speakers do not share the same perceptual timeline due to signal latency, complicating the interpretation of turn-taking activities, for instance, taking silences for cognitive pauses or technical problems.

In this talk, I will present findings from three studies focusing on how speakers adapt their turn-taking behaviors under condition of signal delay:

• Study 1 compares conversational interactivity in face-to-face and Zoom-mediated interactions using multiple quantitative indicators (e.g., turn-taking frequency, articulation rate, overlap frequency).
• Study 2 analyzes speaker-transition pattern across these two modalities, testing how medium and conversational topic modulate sequence organization.
• Study 3 employs a controlled experimental paradigm manipulating three levels of signal delay (500, 1000 and 1500 ms) in real-time conversation to determine if and how increasing delay affects turn-taking timing and coordination. Speakers’ diverged perspectives and subjective assessment of the conversations will be discussed.

Together, these studies provide empirical evidence of how speakers recalibrate temporal expectations in technologically mediated interaction, offering a broader understanding of how conversation is coordinated in digital environments.

The seminar is held in English.

On Qiang Xia