Turn beginnings in interaction: An introduction

This special issue collects four articles on turn-initial elements found in three different languages, English, Estonian, and Korean, followed by a response from John Heritage. The goal of the issue is to contribute to an on-going discussion on turn beginnings as a significant locus for interactional work, by looking at their use across typologically different languages and examining how different languages provide their speakers with similar and/or dissimilar resources for designing turn beginnings. We begin this introduction by reiterating the importance that turn-beginning plays in constructing turns and describing the various types of turn-beginning elements examined as well as their positioning in sequences of talk. We also turn to previous literature on turn beginnings and critically examine the directions that such research has taken as well as the contribution this issue hopes to make to any future direction. In summarizing what we currently understand about turn-initial elements, from both previous research as well as the four articles collected for this issue, we conclude the introduction by reemphasizing the importance that turn beginnings play as a locus for establishing and building projection and directionality in talk-in-interaction.