Gestik som turorganiserende resurse

En moderators brug af gestik i udvælgelsen og etableringen af næstetaler

Abstract

This article investigates how gesture shapes the organization of turn-taking in political debates. Using a Conversation Analytic (CA) approach, the study explores how a moderator employs bodily conduct to manage speaker selection, where nonverbal resources are preferable to verbal resources. The analysis is based on excerpts from the program ‘Debatten’ and focuses on how embodied resources, such as pointing and Kendon’s Open Hand Supine gestures, are used as turn allocation techniques. Furthermore, two gesture forms have been identified within the same course of action: the lift gesture, which functions as a preparatory pre-beginning, projecting the forthcoming action and the ending of the current turn; and the outstretched arm gesture, which functions as an actual pre-beginning that finally projects speaker changes at the next transition-relevant place. Findings show that these gestures are strategically implemented at specific sequential positions to project, confirm, and maintain speaker selection in institutional debate formats. They serve as central mechanisms for distributing turns, making the turn allocation process transparent and predictable to participants. By highlighting how embodied action structures turn-taking, the article thus contributes to broader understandings of interactional organization in public debate formats.