Pre-beginning

Encyclopedia of Terminology for CA and IL: Pre-beginning
Author(s):	Julia Schneerson (University of Basel, Switzerland) (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7244-0804) & Philipp Hänggi (University of Basel, Switzerland) (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8062-2541)
To cite:	Schneerson, Julia, & Hänggi, Philipp. (2023). Pre-beginning. 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 pre-beginning of a turn may refer to elements of a turn-constructional unit (TCU) which project the start of an upcoming turn, without having the properties of recognizable turn beginnings (Schegloff 1996; see also Sacks, et al. 1974, who use the term ‘pre-starts’). In other words, pre-beginning elements do not (yet) launch a TCU, which bears the actual contribution of the turn, and thus occur before turn-initial position (Heritage 2013). Endogenous evidence that this is the case is provided by instances of self-repair where speakers routinely dispense with those elements. Pre-beginning elements can consist of turning the head toward a potential recipient, incipient facial expressions (e.g., smiling), audible preparations for speech (e.g., throat clears, hearable in-breaths), and uh(m) tokens in English—all of these may be used to display to co-participants the imminence of a turn (Schegloff 1996: 92–93).

A pre-beginning may also refer to the sequential environment of the abovementioned elements, mostly occurring at a transition-relevance place (TRP). As Schegloff (1996) exemplifies, when a turn-in-progress is coming to possible completion, the pre-beginning of a next turn may already emerge. This allows a current speaker to anticipate possible self-selection by a next speaker and may occasion changes in the turn-in-progress, e.g., by extending the turn and thus dismissing its previously projected completion. Hence, turn pre-beginnings have important consequences for the temporality of the interactive construction of a TCU-in-progress as well as for the multimodal organization of participation.

Pre-beginning conduct has been shown to involve various multimodal practices that project and prepare for a turn. For example, Goodwin (1980) investigates systematic practices through which participants achieve reciprocal orientation: restarts, pauses and hesitations of various types have been shown to be used by speakers as a method for attracting the gaze of recipients and happen in coordination with specific actions of recipients, thereby demonstrating that mutual gaze in pre-beginning position is fundamental for the unfolding of the interaction (see also Goodwin 1987, on the “thinking face” during a word search). Streeck and Hartge (1992) give an example of the deployment of “turn-transitory gestures” that allow for early turn-interference while avoiding overlap. Another example of pre-beginning conduct is provided by Mondada’s (2007) analysis of the pointing gesture as a method for projecting self-selection. Mondada argues that “pointing makes visible for all participants a pre-beginning, taking the visual floor but not yet the vocal-spoken turn” (2007: 203). Other practices that project and prepare for a turn include, for instance, audible in-breaths (Mortensen 2009), clicks (Ogden 2013), as well as body movement and positioning (Keisanen & Rauniomaa 2012). Such practices in pre-beginning position may attract the attention of potential recipients and thereby establish recipiency.

The pre-beginning position is also an environment in which stance is recurrently displayed, which indicates something about the work that the upcoming turn will be doing. For example, a shrug may exhibit an attitude of disengagement, non-commitment, or distancing (Streeck 2009: 168). Kaukomaa, Peräkylä, and Ruusuvuori (2013) demonstrate that “turn-opening smiles” initiate an emotional transition, involving a positive or humorous emotional stance. In contrast, “turn-opening frowns” anticipate utterances that involve interactional difficulties (Kaukomaa, et al. 2014).

Additional Related Entries:

• Pre-opening
• Opening
• Multimodality
• Sequence organization
• Participation
• F-formation

Cited References:

Goodwin, C. (1980). Restarts, Pauses, and the Achievement of a State of Mutual Gaze at Turn-Beginning. Sociological Inquiry, 50(3­-4), 272–302.

Goodwin, C. (1987). Forgetfulness as an Interactive Resource. Social Psychology Quarterly, 50(2), 115­–130.

Heritage, J. (2013). Turn-initial position and some of its occupants. Journal of Pragmatics, 57, 331–337.

Kaukomaa, T., Peräkylä, A., Ruusuvuori, J. (2013). Turn-opening smiles: Facial expression constructing emotional transition in conversation. Journal of Pragmatics, 55, 21–42.

Kaukomaa, T. Peräkylä, A., Ruusuvuori, J. (2014). Foreshadowing a problem: Turn-opening frowns in conversation. Journal of Pragmatics, 71, 132­–147.

Keisanen, T., & Rauniomaa, M. (2012). The Organization of Participation and Contingency in Prebeginnings of Request Sequences. Research on Language & Social Interaction, 45(4), 323–351.

Mondada L. (2007). Multimodal resources for turn-taking: pointing and the emergence of possible next speakers. Discourse Studies, 9(2), 194-225.

Mortensen, K. (2009) Establishing Recipiency in Pre-Beginning Position in the Second Language Classroom, Discourse Processes, 46(5), 491-515.

Ogden, R. (2013). Clicks and percussives in English conversation. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 43(3), 299-320.

Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A., and Jefferson, G. (1974). A Simplest Systematics for the Organization of Turn-Taking for Conversation. Language 50, 696–735.

Schegloff, E. A. (1996). Turn organization: One intersection of grammar and interaction. In E. Ochs, E. Schegloff, & S. Thompson (Eds.), Interaction and Grammar (pp. 52-133). Cambridge University Press.

Streeck, J., & Hartge, U. (1992) Previews: Gestures at the Transition Place. In P. Auer, & A. Di Luzio (Eds.) The Contextualization of Language (pp. 135–157). John Benjamins.

Streeck, J. (2009). Forward-Gesturing. Discourse Processes, 46, 161–179.

Additional References:

Deppermann, A. (2013). Turn-design at turn-beginnings: Multimodal resources to deal with tasks of turn-construction in German. Journal of Pragmatics, 46, 91–121.

Schegloff, E. A. (1987). Recycled turn beginnings: a precise repair mechanism in conversation's turn-taking organization. In G. Button, & J. Lee (Eds.), Talk and Social Organisation (pp. 70–85). Multilingual Matters.

Schegloff, E. (2002). Beginnings on the telephone. In J. Katz & M. Aakhus (Eds.), Perpetual Contact: Mobile Communication, Private Talk, Public Performance (pp. 284-300). Cambridge University Press.