A CONVERSATION ANALYSIS OF INTERRUPTION IN SHERLOCK SEASON 3 TV SERIES

Abstract

This research aims toidentify the types and functions of interruption in Sherlock Season 3 TV series. To answer the objectives of the research, the researcher used conversation analysis approach. The research employed a descriptive-qualitative method using textual analysis. The main source of the data was the video of Sherlock Season 3 series. The data were utterances containing interruption produced by the characters. The trustworthiness of the data was achieved through conducting triangulation via investigators. The findings of the research show that there are three types of interruption employed by the characters, i.e. simple interruption, overlap interruption, and silent interruption. Simple interruption emerges as the most dominant type of interruption while silent interruption is least employed by the characters. Three functions of interruption which consist of cooperative, intrusive, and neutral interruption appear in the data. Cooperative interruption consists of agreement, assistance, and request for clarification, while intrusive interruption is divided into disagreement, floor-taking, topic change, and tangentialization. Disagreement is the most dominant function of interruption while agreement, assistance, request for clarification and tangentialization are the least dominant functions in the series. From the analysis, it can be concluded that simple interruption is the most dominant type since the characters tend to discontinue their utterance and relinquish the floor after being interrupted. Based on the findings, it can also be concluded that the interruption in the series is highly intrusive rather than cooperative. Disagreement is the most frequently employed function since the characters are more inclined to express their disagreement immediately instead of showing support by expressing agreement or assistance to other participants’ speech. 

Keywords: Conversation Analysis, Interruption, Sherlock Season 3