A Study of Turn Taking in the Chest of a Woman by Efo Kodjo Mawugbe and The Dilemma of a Ghost by Ama Ata Aidoo
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Date
2023-02
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KNUST
Abstract
ABSTRACT
This study employs the qualitative data analysis method to explore how characters in the drama
texts In the Chest of a Woman by Efo Kojo Mawugbe and The Dilemma of a Ghost by Ama Ata
Aidoo take turns. It again investigates how the characters in the drama texts give up the turns
they take and lastly look for what the characters do with the turns they take in the drama texts.
The findings show that on how characters take turns in the two drama texts, the methods used are
speaker selection, self-selection and self-continuation. It is found that certain adjacency pairs are
employed to invite others to take the next turns in the plays. It is seen also that amongst the Nine
(9) adjacency pairs found, question and answer dominant. Issues such as power, age, authority
and social class are portrayed in how questions are asked in the drama texts, In the Chest of a
Woman and The Dilemma of a Ghost. On how turns are yielded in the two drama texts, the
findings revealed that characters gave up their turns via three (3) ways. Some characters left their
turns after asking questions or making requests. Other characters in the two drama texts yielded
their turns after being interrupted by others. Lastly, some characters yielded their turns after
making statements which were marked by periods or exclamation marks. On what characters in
both plays do with the turns they take; it was revealed that characters took their turns to achieve
four (4) functions of language. They include referential, expressive, directive and social. It is
seen from these functions that issues such as power and control are exhibited in how certain turns
are taken.
Description
Thesis Submitted to the Department of English, Faculty of Social Sciences, Kwame
Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in Partial Fulfilment of the
Requirements for the Degree of Master of Philosophy in English (Language)