The Information Exchange Sequences in Unacquainted Participant's First Conversations (A Case Study of Kurdish Speakers)

Following Svennevig’s (1999) model and framework in conversation analysis, this paper aims at examining the most common conversational sequences applied by unacquainted participants. To achieve this purpose, recorded conversations between six unacquainted Kurdish speakers are analyzed. The aforementioned speakers, are newcomers of a mountain climbing club in Bane County who have tried to elicit their interlocutors’ personal and social information or represent their own information while communicating. According to the results, at least two different types of conversational sequences can be recognized in these conversations: direct type and indirect type. The direct type consists of at least three turns: the first speaker’s question, the addressee’s response to this question and the first speaker’s reaction to this response. The indirect type consists of a set of temporary breaks in the conversation process. These temporary breaks -called side sequences- are provided by the participants to examine, repair or display their background knowledge about the ongoing topic.