Interruption as Power Ploy in Women’s Conversation

This study evaluates the concept of power in women’s conversation. It also investigates how power is practised among Iranian women’s speech through interruptions. A group of educated upper middle class Iranian women was chosen due to their ability to communicate effectively in English. The group’s speech was audio recorded and then transcribed using a modified version of Gail Jefferson’s (1978) transcription convention. The conversation recorded was analyzed based on the turns and the interruptions that women made and also the way that they exerted power through their use of interruptions. It also attempts to demonstrate the extent to which Iranian women use power and how they manage their turns in face-to-face interaction. The findings of this study indicate that the participants constantly interrupt each other to voice their ideas. They have the tendency to vie for the floor and jockey for turns in their quest to dominate the conversation and in turn prove that they are more powerful than the others. This study suggests that the female participants tend to dominate the conversation in order to demonstrate the power and control that they possess over their peers.