Repetitions: a cross‐cultural study

ABSTRACT: This paper investigates how one feature of conversational style ‐ repetition ‐ is utilized within the system of turn‐taking cross‐culturally, examining and classifying the immediate repetitions utilized at topic and subtopic boundaries of three different types of interactions: NSE‐NSE (native speakers of British English), NSJ‐NSJ (native speakers of Japanese), and NSE‐JSE (Japanese speakers of English). Five interactional functions of repetition are identified: interruption‐oriented, solidarity, silence‐avoidance, hesitation, and reformulation repetitions. It is noted that the frequency of the use of different types of repetition varies across cultures, some being exclusively confined either to English or Japanese interactions. It is argued that the differences in the use of repetitions are closely related to the differences in the turn‐taking mechanism of English and Japanese interactions and also to the socio‐cultural values attached to their use.