Question-response continuity is an important topic in conversation research. From the perspective of Interactional Linguistics, this paper investigates the phenomenon of topic changes following questions in Chinese conversation. Based on the observation of nearly 38 hours of conversational data, topic changes following questions are found to be situated in the middle of a three-part sequence. After a question, they implement a response action, while the initiating action simultaneously performed serves as the action vehicle for the response. When functioning as responsive actions, two core interactional functions emerge in talk-in-interaction: implicit negation and evasive answering, which also constitute the principal types of this conversational phenomenon. When functioning as initiating actions, they share the interactional functions of launching a new topic and sequence and eliciting evaluative responses. In addition, the evasive-answer type also exhibits more specific interactional functions, such as triggering conversational repair and compressing the conversational process. The interactional factors, such as redirecting the trajectory of epistemic negotiation, reverse regulation of social distance, reducing interaction engagement, and mitigating the disaffiliative stance, interact with each other, shaping this unique phenomenon in conversational interaction.
Key words
Interactional Linguistics /
question-response interaction /
topic change /
interactional function /
influencing factors
{{custom_sec.title}}
{{custom_sec.title}}
{{custom_sec.content}}
References
曹繼陽、李泉。2019。漢語口語語篇銜接手段與銜接成分——基於經典情景喜劇《我愛我家》的研究。語言文字應用 2。142。Jiyang Cao & Quan Li. 2019. Hanyu kouyu yupian xianjie shouduan yu xianjie chengfen: Jiyu jingdian qingjing xiju Wo Ai Wo Jia de yanjiu. Yuyan Wenzi Yingyong 2. 142.
方梅、李先銀、謝心陽。2018。互動語言學與互動視角的漢語研究。語言教學與研究 3。1–16。Mei Fang, Xianyin Li & Xinyang Xie. 2018. Hudong yuyanxue yu hudong shijiao de Hanyu yanjiu. Yuyan Jiaoxue yu Yanjiu 3. 1–16.
方梅、謝心陽。2021。漢語對話中問句的解讀——以反問句和陳述式問句為例。漢語學報 1。20–32。Mei Fang & Xinyang Xie. 2021. Hanyu duihua zhong wenju de jiedu: Yi fanwenju he chenshushi wenju weili. Hanyu Xuebao 1. 20–32.
何春燕。2002。語用否定的類型及使用動機。解放軍外國語學院學報 3。20–24, 53。Chunyan He. 2002. Yuyong fouding de leixing ji shiyong dongji. Jiefangjun Waiguoyu Xueyuan Xuebao 3. 20–24, 53.
侯國金。2007。語用象似論。語言教學與研究 2。64–71。Guojin Hou. 2007. Yuyong xiangsilun. Yuyan Jiaoxue yu Yanjiu 2. 64–71.
林崇德、楊治良、黃希庭（主編）。2003。心理學大辭典。上海：上海教育出版社。Chongde Lin, Zhiliang Yang & Xiting Huang et al. (eds.). 2003. Xinlixe Da Cidian. Shanghai: Shanghai Jiaoyu Chubanshe.
呂明臣。1989。漢語答句的意義。見湖北省社會科學聯合會、語言學信息交流中心（編），語法求索，292–304。武漢：華中師範大學出版社。Mingchen Lü. 1989. Hanyu daju de yiyi. In Hubeishen Shehui Kexue Lianhehui & Yuyanxue Xinxi Jiaoliu Zhongxin (eds.), Yufa Qiusuo, 292–304. Wuhan: Huazhong Shifan Daxue Chubanshe.
呂明臣。2000。現代漢語應對句的功能。漢語學習 6。25–28。Mingchen Lü. 2000. Xiandai Hanyu yingduiju de gongneng. Hanyu Xuexi 6. 25–28.
孫佳瑩、陳振宇。2021。“同盟”範疇研究成果與問題。語言研究集刊（第二十七輯）。63–84, 453–454。Jiaying Sun & Zhenyu Chen. 2021. “Tongmeng” fanchou yanjiu chengguo yu wenti. Yuyan Yanjiu Jikan, di’ershiqi ji. 63–84, 453–454.
孫雁雁。2011。漢語口語問答句銜接語模式研究。北京：世界圖書出版公司。Yanyan Sun. 2011. Hanyu Kouyu Wendaju Xianjieyu Moshi Yanjiu. Beijing: Shijie Tushu Chuban Gongsi.
王傑立。2017。「情報の縄張り理論」に関する一考察。保定：河北大學碩士學位論文。Jieli Wang. 2017. “Jōhō no nawabari riron” ni kansuru ikkōsatsu. Baoding: Hebei Daxue Shuoshi xuewei lunwen.
文虹月、孫道功。2025。語用資源主導下問句後話題轉換的多模態互動研究。現代外語 2。159–171。Hongyue Wen & Daogong Sun. 2025. Yuyong ziyuan zhudao xia wenju hou huati zhuanhuan de duomotai hudong yanjiu. Xiandai Waiyu 2. 159–171.
謝心陽。2021。問與答：形式和功能的不對稱。北京：社會科學文獻出版社。Xinyang Xie. 2021. Wen yu Da: Xingshi he Gongneng de Bu Duicheng. Beijing: Shehui Keuxue Wenxian Chubanshe.
姚雙雲、田咪。2020。自然會話中“是吧”的互動功能及其認識狀態。語言教學與研究 6。47–59。Shuangyun Yao & Mi Tian. 2020. Ziran huihua zhong “shiba” de hudong gongneng ji qi renshi zhuangtai. Yuyan Jiaoxue yu Yanjiu 6. 47–59.
Cegala, Donald J., Grant T. Savage, Claire C. Brunner & Anne B. Conrad. 1982. An elaboration of the meaning of interaction involvement: Toward the development of a theoretical concept. Communication Monographs 49(4). 229–248.
Couper-Kuhlen, Elizabeth & Margret Selting. 2018. Interactional linguistics: Studying language in social interaction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Du Bois, John W. 2007. The stance triangle. In Robert Englebretson (ed.), Stancetaking in discourse: Subjectivity, evaluation, interaction, 139–182. Amsterdam & Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Goodwin, Charles. 1981. Conversational organization: Interaction between speakers and hearers. New York: Academic Press.
Heritage, John. 2012a. Epistemics in action: Action formation and territories of knowledge. Research on Language and Social Interaction 45(1). 1–29.
Heritage, John. 2012b. The epistemic engine: Sequence organization and territories of knowledge. Research on Language and Social Interaction 45(1). 30–52.
Jefferson, Gail. 1984. On stepwise transition from talk about a trouble to inappropriately next-positioned matters. In J. Maxwell Atkinson & John Heritage (eds.), Structures of social action: Studies in conversation analysis, 191–222. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lee, Seung-Hee. 2013. Response design in conversation. In Jack Sidnell & Tanya Stivers (eds.), The handbook of conversation analysis, 415–432. Oxford: Blackwell.
Maynard, Douglas W. 1980. Placement of topic changes in conversation. Semiotica 30(3–4). 263–290.
Rossi, Giovanni. 2014. When do people not use language to make requests? In Paul Drew & Elizabeth Couper-Kuhlen (eds.), Requesting in social interaction, 303–334. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Sacks, Harvey. 1974. An analysis of the course of a joke’s telling in conversation. In Richard Bauman and Joel Sherzer (eds.), Explorations in the ethnography of speaking, 337–353. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Schegloff, Emanuel A. 1996. Turn organization: One intersection of grammar and interaction. In Elinor Ochs, Emanuel A. Schegloff & Sandra A. Thompson (eds.), Interaction and grammar, 52–133. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Schegloff, Emanuel. A. 1997. Practices and actions: Boundary cases of other-initiated repair. Discourse Processes 23(3). 499–545.
Schegloff, Emanuel. A. 2007. Sequence organization in interaction: A primer in conversation analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Selting, Margret, Peter Auer, Dagmar Barth-Weingarten et al. 2009. Gesprächsanalytisches Transkriptionssystem 2 (GAT-2). Gesprächsforschung 10. 353–402.
Steensig, Jakob & Paul Drew. 2008. Introduction: Questioning and affiliation/disaffiliation in interaction. Discourse Studies 10(1). 5–15.
Stivers, Tanya. 2008. Stance, alignment, and affiliation during storytelling: When nodding is a token of affiliation. Research on Language and Social Interaction 41(1). 31–57.
Stivers, Tanya. 2013. Sequence organization. In Jack Sidnell & Tanya Stivers (eds.), The handbook of conversation analysis, 191–209. Oxford: Blackwell.
Villaume, William A., Jennifer Jackson & Tracy Goldsmith Schouten. 1989. Issue-event extensions and interaction involvement: Text-based and meaning-based discourse strategies. Human Communication Research 15(3). 407–427.
PDF(1122 KB)
