nclusion of their statement. Another device used to retain the speaking turn is to begin a statement which is not completed, but left hanging in the air, encouraging the listener to give up their speaking turn. A connective world (such as "but" or "and") may be used to attempt to retain the speaking turn. The use of filling terms like "um" or "ah" is a typical strategy in preventing the listener from taking their rightful turn at the expected juncture. At times, speakers who are possessive of their turn may use a combination of these tactics in order to assert their right to hold the floor in the conversation. Not all of these strategies are equally annoying, but most are equally destructive to the open and equitable communication of meaning. In order to explain the phenomenon of internally coherent turns in a conversation, it is necessary to separate the various verbal speech acts into three basic types of speech acts - assertion (declarative), question (interrogative) and orders or requests (imperativ
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