Third turn repair

Encyclopedia of Terminology for CA and IL: Third turn repair
Author(s):	Irina Mostovaia (University of Hamburg, Germany) (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1381-050X) & Martin Pfeiffer (University of Potsdam, Germany) (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5175-3657)
To cite:	Arano, Yusuke. (2023). Third position. In Alexandra Gubina, Elliott M. Hoey & Chase Wesley Raymond (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Terminology for Conversation Analysis and Interactional Linguistics. International Society for Conversation Analysis (ISCA). DOI: []

A third turn repair is a self-initiated self-repair that sequentially occurs neither within the same turn-constructional unit (TCU) as the trouble source nor in the transition-relevance place (TRP) after the trouble-source TCU but after the “intervening talk” (Schegloff 1997: 36) by the recipient of the trouble source (cf. Schegloff 1992, 1997; see also Liddicoat 2007: 203-206). In other words, the speaker produces a trouble source, which mostly occurs in turn-final position of the trouble-source turn, but deals with it only after next turn (cf. Schegloff 1992, 1997; see also Liddicoat 2007: 203-206). Thus, Schegloff (1997: 31-32) refers to third turn repairs – as well as to third position repairs – as repairs after next turn. In cases of third turn repair, the recipient provides after the trouble-source turn a sequentially appropriate next turn that, in contrast to third position repair, does not display a misunderstanding. The recipient’s intervening turn often takes the form of a brief response like a continuer (mhm) or a change-of-state token (e.g., oh, Heritage 1984). However, it can also be a “sequentially implicated response to a preceding sequence initiation” (Schegloff 1997: 33), like the response to the preceding story preface in line 2 of the following extract from Schegloff (1997):

[Super-seedy: SP] (Schegloff 1997: 34)

01  Lou: -> I read a very interesting story today.
02  Mom:    Uhm what's that.
03  Lou: => W'll not today, maybe yesterday, aw who knows
04       => when hu-it's called Dragon Stew 

The repair initiation as well as the repair proper provided by the producer of the trouble source (Louise) in third turn (line 03) are not sequentially designed to be treated as a response to Mom’s turn (line 02) but deal with her own trouble-source turn (line 01). This is why Schegloff (1997: 35) argues that third turn repairs (at least those that deal with the trouble source occurring at the terminal position of a TCU) can actually be seen as transition space repairs that have accidently been displaced from the transition-relevance place to the third turn due to the recipient’s intervening talk. Both third turn repair and transition space repair deal with a trouble source located in a speaker’s already completed TCU. Furthermore, Schegloff (1997) notes that they are similar regarding the repair operations employed (see also Kitzinger 2013: 247).

Additional Related Entries:

• Adjacency pair
• Overall structural organization
• Sequence organization
• Third position repair
• Transition Relevance Place (TRP)
• Turn-taking

Cited References:

Heritage, J. (1984). A change-of-state token and aspects of its sequential placement. In J. M. Atkinson, & J. Heritage (Eds.), Structures of Social Action (pp. 299–345). Cambridge University Press.

Kitzinger, C. (2013). Repair. In J. Sidnell, & T. Stivers (Eds.), The Handbook of Conversation Analysis (pp. 229–256). Wiley-Blackwell.

Liddicoat, A. J. (2007). An Introduction to Conversation Analysis. Continuum.

Schegloff, E. A. (1992). Repair after next turn: The last structurally provided defense of intersubjectivity in conversation. The American Journal of Sociology, 97(5), 1295–1345.

Schegloff, E. A. (1997). Third turn repair. In G. R Guy, C. Feagin, D. Schiffrin, & J. Baugh (Eds.), Toward a Social Science of Language: Papers in Honor of William Labov (pp. 31–40). John Benjamins.

Additional References:

Birkner, K., Auer, P., Bauer, A., & Kotthoff, H. (2020). Einführung in die Konversationsanalyse. De Gruyter.

Bolden, G.B., Mandelbaum, J., & Wilkinson, S. (2012). Pursuing a Response by Repairing an Indexical Reference. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 45(2), 137–155.

Egbert, M. (2009). Der Reparatur-Mechanismus in deutschen Gesprächen. Verlag für Gesprächsforschung.

Lerner, G. H., & Kitzinger, C. (2019). Well-Prefacing in the Organization of Self-Initiated Repair. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 52(1), 1–19.

Schegloff, E.A., Jefferson, G., & Sacks, H. (1977). The preference for self-correction in the organization of repair in conversation. Language, 53(2), 361–382.

Stukenbrock, A. (2013). Sprachliche Interaktion. In P. Auer (Ed.), Sprachwissenschaft. Grammatik – Interaktion – Kognition (pp. 217–260). Metzler.