Non-response
| Encyclopedia of Terminology for CA and IL: Non-response | |
|---|---|
| Author(s): | Rein Ove Sikveland (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway) (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6322-5800) |
| To cite: | Sikveland, Rein Ove. (2023). Non-response. 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 non-response is the absence of a response, in a post-first sequential environment where a responsive action is relevant. As a social action, a non-response fails to embody or favor the further accomplishment of the first action (see, e.g., Schegloff 2007). A response may be interactionally marked as absent in subsequent turns with a pursuit for response or initiation of repair.
A non-response can be found in lines 2 and 4 of the following extract from Atkinson & Drew (1979):
[BR:CM] (Atkinson & Drew 1979: 52) 01 A: Is there something bothering you or not? 02 -> (1.0) 03 A: Yes or no 04 -> (1.5) 05 A: Eh? 06 B: No
In the example above the non-response is marked by the absence of a verbal response in lines 2 and 4. Speaker A attributes the absence of a response to speaker B, holding them to account for not responding (so far) with a pursuit for response (Pomerantz 1984), first in line 3 (“Yes or no”), then in line 5 (“Eh?”). A non-response is typically treated as problematic and indicative of dispreferred responses such as rejection, disagreement or refusal (Clayman 2002). A non-response is one of the features associated with noncontiguity in conversation, allowing recipients to anticipate nonalignment and disagreement (see Sacks 1987, on the association between contiguity and agreement).
In Stivers and Enfield’s (2010) coding scheme for question-response sequences in conversation, a non-response encompasses, in addition to behaviours that do nothing to respond to the question, actions where the recipient direct their attention to another competing activity, or where they initiate a wholly unrelated sequence. Extended and/or repeated non-responses may be found in settings where:
- a speaker deals with many recipients, such as classrooms (Gardner 2015) or large social gatherings (Good & Beach 2005).
- a recipient’s (in)ability to respond may be ascribed to a speech and language disorder (Wilkinson 2019), their developmental age (Walker 2017), or a medical or psychiatric condition (Bergmann 2016).
- a recipient displays strong resistance and unwillingness to engaging in a conversation, for example in crisis negotiations (Sikveland 2019).
As per definition of response, post-first actions such as silence or the initiation of repair may be considered as non-response as they are not specific to a particular type of first action (see Thompson, et al. 2015).
Additional Related Entries:
Cited References:
Bergmann, J. R. (2016). Making mental disorders visible: proto-morality as diagnostic resource in psychiatric exploration. In M. O’Reilly & J. N. Lester (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Adult Mental Health (pp. 247-268). Palgrave-Macmillan.
Clayman, S. E. (2002). Sequence and solidarity. In E. J. Lawler & S. R. Thye (Eds.), Advances in Group Processes: Group Cohesion, Trust and Solidarity (pp. 229–253). Elsevier Science.
Good, J. S., & Beach, W. A. (2005). Opening up gift-openings: Birthday parties as situated activity systems. Text, 25(5), 565-593.
Gardner, R. (2015). Summons turns: The business of securing a turn in busy classrooms. In C. J. Jenks & P. Seedhouse (Eds.), International Perspectives on ELT Classroom Interaction (pp. 28-48). Palgrave-Macmillan.
Pomerantz, A. (1984). Pursuing a response. In J. M. Atkinson & J. Heritage (Eds.), Structures of Social Action (pp. 152–164). Cambridge University Press.
Sacks, H. (1987). On the preferences for agreement and contiguity in sequences in conversation. In G. Button & J. R. E. Lee (Eds.), Talk and Social Organization (pp. 54-69). Multilingual Matters.
Schegloff, E. A. (2007). Sequence Organization in Interaction: A Primer in Conversation Analysis (Vol. 1). Cambridge University Press.
Sikveland, R. O. (2019). Failed summons: Phonetic features of persistence and intensification in crisis negotiation. Journal of Pragmatics, 150, 167-179.
Stivers, T., & Enfield, N. J. (2010). A coding scheme for question–response sequences in conversation. Journal of Pragmatics, 42(10), 2620-2626.
Thompson, S. A., Fox, B. A., & Couper-Kuhlen, E. (2015). Grammar in Everyday Talk: Building Responsive Actions. Cambridge University Press.
Walker, G. (2017). Young children's use of laughter as a means of responding to questions. Journal of Pragmatics, 112, 20-32.
Wilkinson, R. (2019). Atypical interaction: Conversation analysis and communicative impairments. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 52(3), 281-299.
Additional References:
Hoey, E. M. (2020). When Conversation Lapses: The Public Accountability of Silent Copresence. Oxford University Press.
