CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Background to the Study

As far as human relationship is concerned, conversation is an essential tool that promotes interaction among human beings. Only in monologues, where only one person speaks throughout, is the concept of conversation discarded and this is mainly a feature of drama. Fundamental to dialogues and multilogues (conversation involving more than two persons), however, is Turn-Taking. Turn-Taking in a conversation ensures discipline in who speaks, at what point, and for how long. It is like a sharing device, an ‗economy‘ operating over a scarce resource (Levinson, 1983:297). It is also a crucial mechanism in human-system interaction in which the interlocutors yield and take turns, guided by Turn-Taking cues (Duncan & Fiske, 1977).

In discussing Turn-Taking, therefore, a mechanism guided by a set of rules can be identified (Sacks, Schegloff and Jefferson, 1978). This mechanism includes a local management system which will indicate a Transition Relevance Place (TRP), Turn Construction Units and regulations by signals and Allocation Systems. In all, silence is abhorred, so much so that even when there is silence, it is still interpreted as an action. Although Turn-Taking is regarded as a prerequisite to every organized conversation, every culture has its unique Turn-Taking qualities.

Similar to a typical conversation in any human language, the Yorùbá conversation possesses the unique rules that ensure the free flow of conversation between individuals

(Fakoya, 2006). These governing rules must be adhered to strictly to guarantee that a particular message is transmitted effectively from the speaker to the listener. Where such rules are broken, the conversation process is said to be unsuccessful. Turn-Taking, as earlier stated, is an expedient rule that makes conversation a productive experience. It basically stipulates that each speaker must at least wait for his own turn before speaking. The speaker thus taking on the role of a listener immediately his turn expires and vice versa. 

The distinction of Turn-Taking in a Yorùbá conversation is argued to exist in some conversational rules that have been greatly influenced by a people‘s culture and tradition. So much so that a second language speaker of the Yorùbá language can easily be separated if he has not incorporated these principles of Yorùbá Turn-Taking. This research work in totality seeks to explore Turn-Taking in Yorùbá conversations with a special focus on Yorùbá interactions as they appear on Mìnìjọ̀jọ̀, a Yorùbá interactive programme on Africa Independent Television (Nigeria)

In this introductory chapter, a background to the study is provided. This chapter includes write-ups on the electronic media in Nigeria with special emphasis on Africa Independent Television (AIT) and the case study, Mìnìjọ̀jọ̀. The chapter, as well, accommodates the Statement of the Research Problem, Research Questions, Aim and

Objectives of the Study, Justification for the Study, Significance of the Study and the Scope and Delimitations.

1.1Statement of the Research Problem

A conversation occurs when there are linguistic interchanges between two or more partners (Mey, 2001:13). Unfortunately, conversations do not just happen. They require careful thoughts and considerations by would-be interlocutors as any attempt to rush into any conversation may cause a lot of friction and disaffection between the parties. As conversations differ, so do the roles they play in each speech community. In other words what is considered acceptable in a particular speech community may be regarded as offensive in another. Even when speech communities belong to the same geographical location, these differences in conversation norms still abound. Little wonder Besnier (1994) notes that:

Research in language in its social context has long recognised that individuals, social groups and speech communities produce different amount of conversation and that different amount of talks are normatively associated with different contexts.

As characteristic of most languages, the Yorùbá language also possesses its own unique features which reflect on the conversation and invariably, the different contexts in which the language is employed. Unfortunately, these unique features have been the subject of many suppositions. Some of these suppositions include but are not limited to:

-       the notoriety of the Yorùbá people in offering greetings for every occasion (Adjacency

Pairs);

-       the absolute necessity of exchanging pleasantries before making requests (Adjacency Pairs);

-       the exalted position of an older interlocutor in any conversation (Interruptions, Overlaps, Repairs, TCU); and 

-       the social stigma usually attached to a third party whose opinion is not requested

(Interruptions etc).

It becomes, therefore, necessary to examine and verify the authenticity of these speculations in order to present an unbiased conclusion about the Yorùbá people, their conversations and ultimately, the manner with which they take turns especially from a media perspective since the crux of this research is to view how Yorùbá Turn-Taking plays out in a media setting.

1.2 Research Questions

Based on the issues presented in the previous section, answers will be sought to the following questions:

1.     How relevant is the application of Turn-Taking rules to the success of any conversation?

2.     Which conversation features are unique to the Yorùbá Turn-Taking process?

3.     Does Yorùbá Turn-Taking in an electronic media setting present special principles that are absent from other settings?

4.     What informs possible conversational behaviours among Yorùbá

interlocutors?

1.3Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of this study is to analyze Yorùbá Turn-Taking in a television studio environment with a view of determining its nature, pattern and structure. In general terms, this work is an adventure into Conversation Analysis which is an area that studies the way people organize and structure their conversations, with conversations themselves seen as encounters involving the ‗deliberate‘ participation of the speakers socially (Cheepen and Monaghan, 1990).

The following are the objectives of this study:

1.  analyse the relevance of Turn-Taking to the overall success of any conversation;

2.  present the unique features of Yorùbá Turn-Taking;

3.  identify distinct Yorùbá Turn-Taking principles found in an electronic media setting; and

4.  studysome conversation behaviours of Yorùbá interlocutors.

1.4Justification for the Study

In Conversation Analysis, the complexity of a conversation is studied. Conversation analysis (or CA), therefore, delves into 

…how is it that we, as language users make sense of what we read in texts, understand what speakers mean despite what they say, recognize connected as opposed to jumbled or incoherent discourse and successfully take part in that complex activity called conversation (Yule 1996:139)

To simply assume that the concept of conversation as it is viewed in one language should apply to all other languages of the world will translate to not seeing the world beyond the geography of a tiny village. As interesting as the field of CA is, it is quite unfortunate that studies carried out are not done universally. Studies in conversation are usually limited to individual languages. Coulthard (1977), for example, was basically a Birmingham affair with little or no influence and reflections on the conversation conventions of this part of the world. Gumperz (1982) based his research on the American-Indians of the North-West Coast. Even Saville Troike (1982) who extended the scope of his work to some discourse practices in Nigeria did so scantily. In

Wardhaugh (1985)‘s attempt to broaden his area of study, his sources were from Toronto. 

 Specifically, in a second language learning environment, there is a tendency for learners to overlook a people‘s language as a reflection of their culture. Learners oftentimes are prone to learning a language outside the context of the culture. This study will assist in ensuring a smooth language learning experience for second language learners of the Yorùbá language who may not realize that the rubrics of the Yorùbá conversation transcends mere lexical, phrasal, clausal or sentential structures.

A study into Yorùbá conversation will help to boost the growth and appreciation of indigenous languages among the younger generation who in the face of modernity are gradually losing their lingual heritage to foreign colonial languages. In this area, this work will provide practical and typical means, through which Yorùbá speakers commence conversation, sustain it and bid farewell to fellow interlocutor(s). Hitherto, this study will not only expose young people to the Yorùbá language but also to the local dialects of the language which are at the verge of total extinction.

Another justification can be perceived in terms of the focus of this work. While it may be easier to focus on individual dialects of the Yorùbá language, this research work will focus on the Yorùbá language in totality. No doubt, this will help strengthen the mutual intelligibility that exists between these dialects. The case study (Mìnìjọ̀jọ̀) actually accommodates all the dialects of the Yorùbá language, thereby, acting as the perfect avenue to achieving this goal.

1.5 Significance of the Study

The Yorùbá conversation is supposedly a reflection of the people‘s worldview and culture. This is to say that the manner with which the Yorùbá people employ their language is greatly influenced by their beliefs, perceptions and ideologies (Ajayi & Balogun, 2014). As stated earlier, the effect of these factors on the eventual usage of the language are sometimes not presented in the right perspective. This study is therefore significant in that it seeks to eliminate the misinterpretation and misunderstanding that may arise with the Yorùbá conversation especially in connection with the way the people exchange turns. 

Another important significance which this study bears is that Yorùbá Turn-Taking which is often neglected in most academic (teaching) curriculum is, at least, granted prominence. First language speakers and second language learners can hitherto begin to find theoretical basis for why and how Yorùbá interlocutors engage certain principles of Turn-Taking which are exclusive to the language. It is further hoped that this study will spur other researchers to dabble into the field of Conversation Analysis with a special bias for Nigerian languages.

1.6 Scope and Delimitation of the Study

This study deals primarily with Turn-Taking in Yorùbá conversations. It ventures into how the Yorùbá speakers make use of their language and what principles influence the way they engage their language. The setting, however, will be limited to a media environment where several Yorùbá language speakers meet to interact in their various dialects. Some of these dialects are Ijesa, Ekiti, Oyo, Egba, Ijebu among others. These dialects are used on Mìnìjọ̀jọ̀ by the members of the audience to express their views on topical issues. This style is employed on the programme as opposed to the use of only the standardized Yorùbá version on other Yorùbá programmes. 

Users of the Yorùbá language have been said to be over 100 million (Drewal et al, 1989). While majority of the Yorùbá people can be found in the south-west of Nigeria, remnants of this tribe can be found in Cuba, Brazil, Togo and Benin Republic. In

Nigeria, 37% of the population is Yorùbá people. They occupy Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti and some parts of Kwara and Kogi states. Altogether, they are as many as seventeen dialects in Yorùbá language. As a whole, this research is a journey into Conversation Analysis (CA) as an area of language study. It will also focus on CA‘s historical sketch and tenets.

The scope of this work is restricted to 10 randomly selected recorded editions of Mìnìjọ̀jọ̀ (Mìnìjọ̀jọ̀ is a Yorùbá discussion programme that airs on Africa Independent Television on Sundays between 1pm and 2pm). The 10 editions include 88 conversations between the presenters of the programme and the members of the audience. The basis for selecting this number is to ensure that this study is limited to a manageable and reasonable size. Another reason for selecting this number is to ensure that a superfluous conclusion is not arrived at since it is hoped that whatever conclusions drawn from the study will present an unprejudiced acuity of Turn-Taking in Yorùbá conversation.

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