ADJACENCY PAIRS ANALYSIS OF CONVERSATION BETWEEN

THE HOST AND THE GUEST IN THE LATE LATE SHOW CBS TV
SERIES
Ni Kadek Mega Indriyani1*, Nuriadi2, Muhammad Isnaini3
123
English Education Department, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education,
University of Mataram, Indonesia
*Corresponding Author: megaindr99@[Link]

Abstract: This study is an analysis of adjacency pairs in the conversation between the host
and the guest in The Late Late Show with James Corden. The aims of the research are (1) To
analyze the types of adjacency pairs used in conversation between the host and the guest in
The Late Late Show CBS TV Series, and (2) To analyze the most and least dominant
preference appear in conversation between the host and the guest in The Late Late Show CBS
TV Series. The main data of the research are the video and the script of the conversation
between the host and the guest in the talk show. The data were transcribed into written text
and analyzed using theory of adjacency pairs and preference organization. This research used
descriptive qualitative type in investigating the problem. To collect the data that are needed the
researcher use documentation method. The findings of this research revealed that there are
seven types of adjacency pairs and six of their preference second pair part appeared in the
conversation between the host and the guest. From those seven types of adjacency pairs, there
are 47 adjacency pairs that represent question-answer in which its preference consist of 38
preferred response and 9 dispreferred; 4 adjacency pairs represent Suggestion-
Acceptance/Refusal with 1 preferred and 3 dispreferred response ; 2 adjacency pairs represent
Greeting/Greeting; 2 Offer-Acceptance/refusal with 1 preferred response and 1 dispreferred
response ; 2 Assessment-Agreement/Disagreement with 1 preferred response and 1
dispreferred response; the last two pairs are request-acceptance and invitation-acceptance
which occur only once and consist of only preferred response. From the findings, it stated that
a question-expected (preferred) is the most types which occurred in the conversation analyzed.
However there are two types that occur last: request- acceptance (preferred), and invitation
acceptance (preferred).

Keywords: Adjacency pairs; Conversation analysis; Preference organization; Talk show.

INTRODUCTION
Communication is the act of how people send and receive information to each other
using spoken language that is understood by all members of society. According to
Fatmawati., et all (2020) communication is the base of human relationships. It can be done in
various forms, one of which is verbal communication or conversation. When communicating
verbally, sounds are combined to form words, phrases, sentences, and texts that convey the
desired messages (Yusra, et all. 2020). People use conversation to exchange information by
interacting with one another. According to Paltridge (2006:107), conversation is the main
means by which people come together, exchange information, negotiate, and maintain social
relationships. It means that conversational interaction is a social interaction activity in which
two or more people talk to transfer an idea or information from a speaker to a listener.
Conversation may be important in society, and people need a partner to carry it out.
Conversation refers to an activity in which two or more people converse with each
other exclusively for the purpose of socializing with others. According to Levinson (1983:
284), conversation is a familiar predominant talk in which all participants freely alternate
speaking. Making conversation serves several purposes, including connecting people to a
large number of friends, providing information to others, trading with others, and harming
others. Conversation is usually preceded by some sort of preparation. An utterance made by
one speaker must be followed by another utterance made by another speaker (the addressee).
As a result, a proper conversational organization or structure will be established.
Conversation can be found in a variety of settings, such as a talk show, an interview, or
another television show.
The Conversations uttered by speakers can generate automatic patterns containing
exchanges of one turn each by two speakers, which are referred to as adjacency pairs.
Adjacency pairs is a type of conversation analysis unit that consists of two speakers who have
a conversation in which the first speaker asks a question and the second speaker responds.
Adjacency pairs, according to Levinson (1983: 303), are the simplest way to maintain the
direction of the conversation, which is a technique for selecting the next speaker. According
to Yule (1996:76), in addition to different styles, many speakers have their own ways of
conversing. Many automatic patterns in conversation assist speakers in carrying out their
social interactions. However, as noted in Midgley (2006), in order to establish that two
dialogue acts of utterances are related as an adjacency pair, it is necessary to determine
whether the first utterance of the pair is associated with a significantly higher probability of
the second utterance occurring. The number of adjacency pairs will vary depending on the
situation, goals, and participants in the conversation (Aropy, Sahuddin & Lestari, 2022)
According to Yule (1996: 79), the preference identifies a potential response made by
the second speaker in response to the first speaker's utterance”. The preference organization
occurs when a speaker stops speaking and allows another speaker to speak or respond. A
suggestion, for example, can be followed by acceptance (the preferred second pair part) or
refusal (the disprefered second pair part), so the second pair part can accept or reject a
statement made by the first pair. It means that when people talk about adjacency pairs,
another aspect emerges, namely preference organization. There are two types of preference
organization: preferred and dispreferred act. The preferred is the next act or acceptance that is
structurally expected. The dispreferred, on the other hand, is the structurally unexpected next
act or refusal. This indicates that in adjacency pairs, a response is both the preferred and the
dispreferred second pair part.
Watching a talk show is one way to learn about adjacency pairs and their preference
organization. This study intends to investigate adjacency pairs of conversation between the
host and the guest on one of the most well-known talk shows in the United States, The Late
late Show with James Corden. This CBS talk show, hosted by James Corden, is the famous
talk show in the United States which debuted in America in 2014. James Corden is an actor,
singer, comedian, producer, writer and also a TV host. There are many guest stars who
invited by this talk show. In this research the researcher attended three sessions of The Late
Late Show with James Corden with three different guests.
 The researcher is interested in analyzing conversations on The Late Late Show with
James Corden because the researcher wants to understand the process of conversation on the
talk show. Understanding adjacency pairs in communication is critical because they are a
fundamental aspect of how people structure their conversations, coordinate their actions with
others, and establish social relationships.”By paying attention to the rules and conventions of
adjacency pairs, people can communicate more effectively and build positive social
connections with others.”According to the explanation above, the researcher conducted a
linguistic study on a talk show which is focused on adjacency pairs and the preference
organization entitled Adjacency Pairs Analysis of Conversation Between The Host And The
Guest In The Late Late Show CBS TV Series.”

RESEARCH METHODS
This research employs a descriptive qualitative method as the research design. A
descriptive qualitative method examines non-numerical data from social phenomena
Cresswell (2009). Qualitative has close relationship with words, phrases, and sentences. It is
used to analyze various types of data, including interviews, focus group, observation, and
document. As a result, the data for this study were transcribed utterances in a social
phenomenon as reflected in talk show. Whereas the primary data source for this research
were three episodes of The Late Late Show with James Corden with three different guests
taken from the YouTube channel of The Late Late Show. The secondary source of data in this
research was the transcript of three video talk shows “The Late Late Show with James
Corden” which will be taken from [Link].
To collect the data that are needed the researcher used documentation method with
non-participatory technique because the researcher did not involve on the conversation in the
talk show. There were some steps in collecting the data: First, the researcher downloaded the
video and the transcript, second is read the script. In this step the researcher read the
transcript while watching the videos to match and check the transcript. The last one is note
taking. The data in term of utterances were collected from the conversation in the talk show
by doing take some notes. The data from this study was analyzed using an analytical
descriptive method. To answer the problem statement, there were two technique of analyze
data. First is to answer the types of adjacency pairs the researcher used the theory of
adjacency pairs proposed by Yule (1996). Second to answer dominant preference
organization, the researcher used theory proposed by May (2004). In analyzing the data, the
writer took several steps: (1) Identifying the utterances which indicate adjacency pairs and its
preference which were found in the talk show: (2) Classifying the types of adjacency pairs
and its preference which were found in the transcript. (3) Displaying the data. The data in
this research was displayed in the form of table. (4) Describing the types of adjacency pairs
and the preference organization contained in the talk show. (5) And finally, taking the point
from the whole discussion to get the conclusion.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Findings
The writer discovers seven different types of adjacency pairs in the excerpt and six of
the seven types of adjacency pairs were classified into the preference structure. In this study,
to analyze the types of adjacency pairs the writer used the theory which was proposed by
Yule (1996:76). The classification of the preference second pair part proposed by Mey
(2004:152) was used to analyze the preference organization in this study. The results are
shown in Table 1.
Table 1 The Existence of Adjacency Pairs Types And Preference Organization

Types of Adjacency pairs Preference Organizatin

N First Pair Parts Second Pair Part Response Occurrence
o
1 Question Expected Answer Preferred 36
Unexpected Answer Dispreferred 11
2 Suggestion Acceptance Preferred 1
Refusal Dispreferred 3
3 Greeting Greeting - 2
4 Offer Acceptance Preferred 1
Refusal Dispreferred 1
5 Assessment Agreement Preferred 1
Disagreement Disprferred 1
6 Request Acceptance Preferred 1
7 Invitation Acceptance Preferred 1
Total 59

Based on the table above there were fifty-nine data of seven types of adjacency pairs
which appeared in conversation between the host and the guest in the talk show. Question-
answer appeared forty-seven times from fifty-nine data, it commonly utter by the host and the
guests in The late Late Show With James Corden. Question pairs occurred 47 times. In its
preference, this pair had two responses. The preferred response was the expected response,
and the dispreferred response was the unexpected response. As shown in table 1 the
preference response of this pair consist of 36 preferred response and 11 dispreferred. The
second pair that was mostly used was Suggestion In this data being analyzed suggestion pairs
occurred 4 times and consist of 1 preferred and 3 dispreferred response. As shown in table 1
when a suggestion is responded to with an acceptance it is a preferred response whereas a
suggestion followed by a refusal is called a dispreferred response. The table also presented
there were 2 pairs of greeting-greeting appear in the talk show. In the conversation being
analyzed, there was one pairs of greeting initiated by the host and one was initiated by the
guest. The next pair that occurred in the conversation between the host and the guest in the
talk show was offer, this pair occurred only 2 times with one preferred response and one
another was dipreferred response. It was the same with assessment-agreement and
disagreement. This pair also occurred 2 times with one response was preferred. The last two
responses were request-acceptance and invitation-acceptance which consisted only preferred
response.
Discussion
The discussion consists of seven types of adjacency pairs, with the order determined
by the number that appears the most frequently. Here are some examples of data that have
been presented and discussed.
1. Question – Expected/Unexpected answer
Question is a type of adjacency pairs proposed by Yule (1996:76) which is appear the
most in conversations between the hosts and the guests in The Late Late Show With James
Corden . The preference of this pair was preferred and dispreferred response. Here are
some examples of these pairs' responses.
Excerpt 13
Host: =Do you regret them?
Dakota: I regret some of them(0.5) because they are just(.) silly now.
(Preferred second part)
(Source: 3.45’-3.46’, V1)
Excerpt 24
Dakota: I don't know(.) We should find out(.) Did you want to get one?
Host: No, I couldn't get one (.) not with my stomach, that would be a terrible,
that is what I always thought. (Dispreferred second pair part)
(Source:5.45’-5.53’, V1)
Expert 13 showed a preferred response of question pairs in data being analyzed.
Dakota's response, "I regret some of them because they are just silly now," is a preferred
response because it directly answers the host's question by acknowledging that there are
tattoos that Dakota regrets. Additionally, Dakota's response provides further information
about why they regret some of their past actions, which can prompt further conversation.
However, excerpts 24 showed the question pairs' dispreferred responses. It shown a
dispreferred response of adjacency pairs. It demonstrated that the Host answer to the
question indicates a hedge of negative response, which is one of the preferred
characterizations, as indicated by the word "No."
2. Suggestion-Acceptance/Refusal
Suggestion pairs were the second most common in the conversation. These pairs
were given 1 preferred response in the form of acceptance and three dispreferred responses
in the form of refusal. The excerpts below show how preference structure emerged during
the conversation analysis.
Excerpt 25
Host: There was always a group of girls(.) and one girl had gone a bit septic,
a green bit around here(.) and, Janine maybe you should take it out. It hurts
too much,,, ouh::, don't touch it..
Dakota: (Nodding head) For Janine. Gosh, that intense. (Preferred second
pair part)
(Source: 6.20’-6.40’, V1)
Excerpt 29
Dakota: =You could pull an eyebrow.
Host: Now:: way (Dispreferred second pair part).
(Source: 7.12’-7.13’, V1)
Excerpt 25 showed that the host said that many women get infections due to doing Belly
button piercings. Then the host suggested to her friend to take it off and the guest response
 indicates acceptance. It indicates preferred response. However, in excerpt 29 the guest
refused suggestions from the host. It was indicate a dispreferred response of second pair
part. In this case the guest give a suggestion to the host to do eyebrow piercing and the
host refused by saying no way. The symbol also indicates that the second speaker was
emphasizing by lengthening the sound to refuse the suggestion.
3. Greeting-Greeting
There were two greeting pairs found in the conversation between host and the guest in
data. The following pairs are the example of greeting-greeting found in the data.
Excerpt 48
Host : Hi Ge::ena
Geena: Hi ↑
(Source: 0.00’-0.22’, V3)
In the conversation between the host and the guest in the talk show, there were two
greeting pairs which existed. It was when the guest first appear in the stage. It can be seen
in the excerpt showed where the host greets guest. The host greets the guest by saying hi
and the guest greets him back Hi.
4. Offer-Acceptance/Refusal
The data showed that there were two offer pairs found and they were in Excerpt 43
and 45.“ One was accepted, and one was refused. It meant that the presence of preference
second pair part in this pair provided one preferred and one dispreferred.
Excerpt 42
Dan: Oh, all sorts of weird things. I just, yeah(.) I used to play guitar, now I
play a bit more, more(.) piano and stuff.(.) Ya::aa I don't know what form
that would take. Should I do it?
Host: Yes. (Preferred second pair part)
(Source 3.53’-3.54’, V2)
Excerpt 44
Host: You can sing a little bit of that song and I will tell you why shall.
Dan: Really↑, it was the first time I heard(.) of Noel Coward(.) It was monty
python sing(.) brilliant album and I think track four on there(.) .......
(Dispreferred second pair part)
(Source 4.09’-5.05’, V2)

On excerpt 42 Dan (the Guest) made an offer by asking "Should I do it?" in reference to
playing music, and the host responded with acceptance by saying "Yes.". When the first
pair part is accepted, it is known as preferred response. However Excerpt 44 showed, the
offer is initiated by the host, who asked Dan to sing a little bit of a song and he will tell
why CBS won't allow him to sing that song. Dan responded the offering by saying that
why CBS won't allow him to sing that song. This indicates that the guest refused the host's
offering. It is known as dispreferred response.
5. Assessment- Agreement/Disagreement
In total there were two assessment pairs found in the data. However in the data, these
pairs were given one preferred response in the form of agreement and one dispreferred
responses in the form of disagreement.
 Excerpt 10
Host: I think that is fiend(.), I think 11 is fiend (.), I think any more than
8 is a fiend.
Dakota: =I disagree. Not in 202. That is conservative. (Dispreferred second
pair part)
(Source: 3.24’-3.30’, V1)

Excerpt 46
Host: I love her. So(.) what was she like with yo::u(.) on set?
Dan: She is gorgeous(.) and yeah, I mean I was lucky enough.......
(Preferred second pair part)
(Source: 6.01’-6.34’, V2)
The following excerpt 10 showed that the host gave an assessment of a particular
situation by stating their opinion that 11 is fiend. However, the guest disagrees with the
host's assessment which is indicates as a dispreferred response by saying "I disagree. Not
in 2021. That is conservative." This is the disagreement part of the adjacency pair.
According to Paltridge (2000), assessment can be transformed into opinion seek, which is
asking someone’s opinion. Following excerpt 46 showed when the Host asked the guess
opinion about Judi Dench which is his partner on set. The guest responds with an answer
providing his opinion about the actress by saying "She is gorgeous" and sharing his
experience of working with her. This assessment response is indicated as the preferred
response.
6. Request-Acceptance
This pair appeared only once in the conversation. The response of this pair was
acceptance, indicating that its preference response is preferred.
Excerpt 16
Dakota: =Can we see it.
Host: Yeah (0.5), it’s down here (.) it is on my leg there, can you see that?
(Preferred second pair part)
(Source: 4.03’-4.09’, V1)
Excerpt 16 showed that the guest initiated the conversation by making a request to the
host by saying “can we see it” and the host responded it by directly showing where exactly
his tattoo was. That indicated that the request was accepted, which is preferred by Mey
(2004).
7. Invitation-Acceptance
The invitation pairs appeared only once in the data examined. It responded with an
acceptance, indicating that the response was preferred. These pair can be seen in this
following excerpt:
Excerpt 1
Host : Now let's meet our first guest tonight↑ she's a talented actress you
know from the 50 shades of grey movies and so much more. Bad science, the
Elroy Allen, and so:: much more. The incredible DAKOTA JHONSON↑ is
here↑ tonight. Look at this dress::. How are you↑?
 Dakota : (Come onto the stage) Hi↑ (Preferred second pair part)
(Source: 0.00’-0.22’, V1)
Excerpt 1 showed an example of invitation pairs with a preferred response. In excerpt
1, the host invited the guest to the stage, and the guest obliged by approaching the stage
and greeting the host.

CONCLUSION
The analysis found that there were seven types of adjacency pairs out of thirteen
which existed in the conversation analyzed: question-answer, suggestion-acceptance/refusal,
greeting-greeting, offer-acceptance/refusal, assessment-agreement/ disagreement, request-
acceptance, and invitation-acceptance.
From the findings, it stated that the preference organization existed in six types of
adjacency pairs in which question-expected (preferred) was the most types which occurred in
the conversation analyzed. However there were two types that occurred the last: request-
acceptance (preferred), and invitation acceptance (preferred). The analysis of talk show
conversations revealed that speakers engaged in question-answer exchanges with expected or
preferred responses more frequently. This means that when the host or guests asked
questions, the speaker tended to give answers that were expected or desired in the context of
the conversation. However, the analysis revealed that requests and invitations, as well as the
preferred responses, occurred less on the talk show conversations. Direct requests or
invitations requiring a specific preferred response were less likely to be made or extended by
the speakers. This suggests that the format of a talk show may prioritize question-answer over
other types of interactions. In this format, the questions are crucial for the host to elicit
responses and gather information from the guest.

REFERENCES
Aropi, P., Sahuddin, & Lestari, Y. B. (2022). An Analysis Of Adjacency Pairs In Speaking
Class At CEC Kampoeng Pare Mataram. Journal of English Education Forum
(JEEF), 2(1), 12-21.
Creswell, J. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods
approaches (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Fatmawati, N., Amin, M & Nawawi, N. (2020). Communication Science Studies – Spoken
Discourse Analysis Verbal Rhetoric and Leadership Style: A Comparative Study of
Tun Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad and Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak.
10.2991/assehr.k.200827.069.
Levinson, S. (1983). Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Mey, J.L. (2004). Pragmatics an Introduction Second [Link]: Black Well
Publishing
Midgley (2006). Globalization, Capitalism and Sosial Welfare: A Sosial Development
Perspective. Canadian sosial work, special issue: sosial work and globalization,
2(1): 13-28
Paltridge, B. (2006). Discourse Analysis: An Introduction. New York: Continuum
Pomerantz.
Paltridge, B. (2000) Making Sense of Discourse Analysis. Queensland: antidopedean
Educational Enterprises
Yule, George. (1996). Pragmatics. New York: Oxford University press.
Yusra, K., Nuriadi, N. Amrullah, A., Lestari Y.B. (2020). Structure and Features of
Politically-Invested Hoaxes. Atlantis press.