The Use of Co-Constructions in Russian TV and Radio Political Interviews (On the Example of Vladimir Pozner and Alexey Venediktov)

Abstract

The present study investigates the use of co-constructions (or sentences-in-progress) in Russian TV and radio political interviews. The author analyzed ten political interviews conducted by Russian journalists Vladimir Pozner (TV interviews) and Alexey Venediktov (radio interviews). The analysis demonstrated the following results. Co-constructions in political interviews serve several distinct purposes. They are used (1) to obtain necessary information, (2) to correct facts provided by interviewees, (3) to ask questions, (4) to establish contact with interviewees and maintain it during the interview, (5) to express agreement and affiliation, (6) to express disagreement and negative assessment, (7) to supply a forgotten word or string of words. The use of co-constructions is influenced by personalities of conversational participants. The results of the analysis showed that the frequency of occurrence of co-constructions on TV and radio interviews is the same. The study follows the analytical framework based on conversation analysis. Keywords: conversation analysis, co-construction, joint construction, sentence-in-progress, compound turn-constructional unit, radio interview, TV interview.