Caldwell2023
| Caldwell2023 | |
|---|---|
| BibType | ARTICLE |
| Key | Caldwell2023 |
| Author(s) | Marissa Caldwell, Joshua Raclaw |
| Title | ‘I just need a yes or no’: Managing resistant responses in U.S. Senate hearings |
| Editor(s) | |
| Tag(s) | EMCA, Conversation analysis, Resistant responses, US Senate hearings, Metacommentary |
| Publisher | |
| Year | 2023 |
| Language | English |
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| Month | |
| Journal | Discourse Studies |
| Volume | 25 |
| Number | 5 |
| Pages | 618–640 |
| URL | Link |
| DOI | 10.1177/14614456231159026 |
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Abstract
Using conversation analysis, this article examines how questioners manage resistant responses in the context of U.S. Senate hearings. In particular, we examine how questioning Senators use explicit metacommentary – a turn constructional practice in which speakers offer ‘on-record’ comments on the manner in which a prior turn was formulated – to manage a recipient’s resistant responses to polar questions. Within these contexts, metacommentary becomes a resource for highlighting the preference organization of the original question and challenging the adequacy of the recipient’s response. The analysis shows how metacommentary not only serves to guide a question recipient toward producing an adequate response, but additionally works to register the questioning Senator’s stance toward the inadequacy of the response while highlighting this inadequacy for both the co-present audience and viewers of these publicly televised hearings.
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