Purpose – This paper is concerned with the use of overlap as a conversational strategy. Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to investigate overlap types and the locations at which they occur in Dispute an Iranian live TV program. Design/methodology/approach – The two hour Iranian live TV program Dispute was video-taped. Ten minutes of this program was chosen randomly. The distinctive feature of this program was that it occurred naturally and was broadcasted on November 28, 2014. The minutes/seconds in which the technique, overlap, occurred were noted for detailed analysis. Finally, the selected excerpts were transcribed based on Jefferson’s (1983) transcription conventions. These transcriptions which include showing the overlaps, pauses, immediate turn taking, etc. are shown in both Farsi and English versions of the data based on Jefferson. The transcribed data, were analyzed for determining instances of overlaps and their function. Findings – The analysis found four functions for overlap as floor-taking, objection, confirming, and continuing. The last two functions, confirming and continuing, are somewhat similar. This similarity may be due to their similar roles in saving face (i.e. both of them are Face Saving Acts). What the present analysis shows, is that “continuing” function has some degrees of “confirming” first. Another understanding is drawn from the confirmatory function of overlap and its close relation with backchannel functions. Backchannels are functions in which listeners send signals of agreement (also confirming) and enthusiasm in what is being said by the speaker. Research limitations/implications – One difficulty was the transcription of overlapped utterances, because in some cases, more than two persons talked simultaneously and it needed to be listened so many times with concentrated and focussed attention. Practical implications – The implications concern three areas of research: communicating with other cultures, media studies, and jou
