The Australian Dictionary of Invisible Culture for Teachers
keeping a conversation going
attitude: some people can think like this (see more)
When I am talking to someone for some time, it is good if I think like this:
When this person is saying some things to me, I can’t say things to this person at the same time.
I can say something a very short time after this.
When I say something, it is good if I say something about the same thing.
Note
This entry describes the broad rules for having a conversation. In this entry, there is no mention of the 'small things' one can say during a turn, such as 'uh-huh' 'mmm' or 'yeah' (backchanelling). See related entries. This entry only states that it is good to say something about the same thing, which does not necessarily mean that it is bad to say something else. Of course, topic changes happen all the time in conversations and are normal and expected."When Bill and Adrian are talking, if Bill is talking about golf, it is good if Adrian also says something about golf. It can be bad if Adrian says something about something else (such as politics)."
"If Georgina and Tony are talking about movies, but Tony wants to talk about his children, it can be good if he can say something about both somethings. It can be something like 'I took my children to see a movie on the weekend. They really loved it.'"
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