Linguistics - Features of Spontaneous Speech -Test

speech acts

An utterance considered as an action, particularly with regard to its intention, purpose, or effect. Doing things with words/ how people use language to manage social interactions (request, demand, command, clarify, invite, seek confirmation, suggest, order...) (threatening, complimenting, commanding, questioning can all be manipulative)

jargon

Special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand.

Negative politeness

Social behavior in discourse which avoids imposing on others. Sometimes achieved by saying please or acknowledging imposition and then apologising.

Transactional talk

Spoken conversation that targets the content of what is said with a focus on completing a service.

Interactional Talk

Spoken conversation that targets the social aspect rather than the content of the conversation.

Pragmatics

The analysis of the context in which we speak.

Non-fluency features

These include a silent pause, a filled pause, a repetition and a false start.

Discourse particle

"well" e.g. in "Well, I wouldn't say that." or "Well, look who it is!" "y'know" e.g. in "It's not as easy as that, y'know." "like" e.g. in "It can drive some parents, like, nuts." *it serves to indicate the speaker's attitude, or to structure their relationship to other participants in a conversation. Discourse particles are primarily a feature of spoken language; in written language they indicate an informal or jocular tone.

Latching

*Can be indicated with // Occurs when one speaker continues or "latches onto" another speaker's utterance smoothly with barely a pause between them. E.g. Finishing another speaker's sentence * can indicate engagement and cooperation, can show the speakers know each other well (often friends, family, co-workers...)

Collocation

*Many words are habitually used together (collocated). Any habitually linked group of words - a kind of lexical partnership. It occurs in idioms and idiomatic phrases. Examples: oh well heavy rain high temperature scenic view have an experience blonde hair strong wish

Typical adjacency pairs...

- A question followed by an answer - A request followed by a reply, either positive or negative - A greeting or a farewell followed by an appropriate response - A statement followed by a statement of agreement or disagreement - A command followed by obedience or disobedience

Paralinguistic features

- The aspects of spoken communication that do not involve words. (e.g. Body language, gestures, facial expressions, tone and pitch of voice) E.g. Laughing, nodding etc. Elements which add to the meaning of the total discourse. *These may add emphasis or shades of meaning to what people say.

Chaining

- The linking of a series of adjacency pairs to build up a conversation.

Overlap (Simultaneous speech)

- When a speaker begins to talk before the previous has finished, perhaps because of their enthusiasm to join in the discussion or to show support for the speaker. - generally more cooperative and supportive, and less competitive, than an interruption. Interruptions can border on rudeness depending on the context.

Interruption

- When a speaker begins to talk before the previous speaker has finished, in an attempt to take over the conversation and gain control.

Dominance

- When a speaker takes control of the conversation. - This is usually because they are very enthusiastic about something or feel they have authority over someone. It might just be that a person is being interviewed or that a person is telling a story. In these case it would be considered acceptable.

Turn-taking: When analysing turn-taking you should consider issues such as...

- Who dominates the turns and why - How speakers get a turn and gain control of the conversation - Who does not get a turn and why - How speakers prevent others from getting a turn - How speakers indicate that their turn is finished and that they are ready to pass the turn on to another speaker. - What happens when speakers deliberately oppose the expectations we have about turn-taking

Conversation endings

A closing phrase at the end of a conversation: "see you later, bye, nice to see you, come round sometime, see you next week..."

Fillers: There are several reasons you might use fillers when talking...

- You may feel nervous or uncertain of youself - You may not be sure whether what you are saying is right - You may feel worried about offending the person you are talking to - You may want to create time to think about what you say next - You may want to indicate that it is still your turn to talk, even though you have not quite decided what to say - a silent pause could encourage another person to steal your turn. - You may not be articulate enough to express what you want to say and therefore struggle to find the words you need.

Repairs: There are several reasons for using a repair...

- You may simply need to put right a mistake and clarify a description for an audience - You may pick up signals from your audience that what you are saying is too difficult for them to understand or too boring, and so change or shorten what you are saying. - You may realise that what you are about to say may cause offense, and so adapt and amend your language. - You may suddenly think of a better or more interesting way to express yourself and so go back and "cross out" what you have started to say.

Turn taking problems (possible reasons for)

-culture differences -mood of one of the speakers -deviation from phatic talk rituals -dispreferred response (element of surprise) -unable to 'read' signals

Speaker (features to consider when analysing context)

-familiarity -age -gender -status -shared background -cultural knowledge -what are they doing?

The nature of speech

-in real time -face to face (or voice to voice) -constant feedback (allows speaker to moderate) -phatic talk (rituals) -spontaneous, unplanned, unrehearsed -thinking on feet

Ending the turn (signals speakers are ready to end their turn)

-inviting another speaker to speak - discourse markers - tag questions - normal questions

Holding the floor (signals the speaker wants to hold the floor)

-speaking quickly - raising intonation - Discourse markers (first, second, furthermore...)

Open question vs Closed question.

A closed question is a yes/no response question. An open question is more leading and one might expect a more detailed response. Interviewers looking for elaboration might favour open questions.

False start

A non-fluency feature when a speaker realises s/he has made a mistake and attempts to repair the error (often by use of meta language - language which talks about language, for example, "I meant to say" or "I mean to say". When a speaker begins an utterance, then either repeats or reformulates it. *Indicates self-correction and monitoring.

Topic fronting

A noun (or noun phrase or noun clause) is placed at the front before the grammatical subject. Changing the word order (normally subject-verb-object) to 'front' the object, giving it more importance. e.g. "This one I'm keeping; that one I'm taking back" (instead of "I'm keeping this one...")

Idiolect

A person's unique and often distinctive use of language and speech (includes vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation). The speech habits peculiar to a particular person.

Dialect

A regional variety of a language distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation.

Dispreferred response

A response not consistent or not desirable with the first part of a common adjacency pair. e.g. "Nice weather, isn't it?" "No."

Insertion sequence

A sequence of conversation which intervenes between the two parts of the adjacency pair. e.g. "Would you like a coffee?" "Have you got any decaf?" "Yes" "Yes please."

Modality

A strategy which allows us to introduce different options and compromises for negotiation, for example, "perhaps, probably, normally, slightly, maybe" or using modal verbs (may/might/should/could).

Semantics

A study of the meaning of words.

Utterance

A turn by a speaker in a dialogue (spontaneous speech cannot be said to have 'sentences' and spoken turns are often fragments, not complete sentences).

Topic loop

A word or phrase used to bring the conversation back to the original topic. E.g. "Any way", "And so" *Perhaps as a method of resisting topic shifts.

Adverbial phrases

Adverbial phrases such as "really, absolutely, literally, of course, extremely, basically" modify adjectives and convey the speaker's attitudes and values (thereby intensifying their feelings and opinions).

Backchannel(ing)

Agreement to show the listener is paying attention. (e.g. "yeah," "well, it's...," "uh-huh".) The listener responses that can be both verbal and non-verbal in nature. E.g. "Uhuh", "Ah, Yes, "Oh right", "I see" <depending on context.

Hedges

Avoiding coming to the point or saying things directly. Softening or weakening the force by using, for example, "perhaps," "maybe," "sort of," "possibly," "I think". - Words or phrases such as "maybe", "perhaps" or "sort of" used to soften the impact of what is said or to make speech sound more polite. Might be employed intentionally or unintentionally in both spoken and written language since they are crucially important in communication. They help speakers and writers indicate more precisely indicate how Gricean maxims (expectations of quantity, quality, manner, and relevance) are observed in assessments. (e.g. "perhaps you could put" instead of "you could/should put.")

Topic marker

Bringing something which is not the subject to the start of the sentence to emphasise it. Also called Topic Fronting.

Colloquial speech

Can involve idiomatic language, slang, informal language, and/or in-group lexis

Non-standard features

Can show socio-economic class (sociolect) or can be used when a speaker struggles to phrase utterances clearly, for example, incorrect grammar "we was really tired" (lack of agreement between the subject and the verb).

Code switching

Changing from one mode of speech to another as the situation demands, whether from one language to another, one register to another, or from one dialect to another.

Topic shift

Changing the subject of conversation. Conversation is dynamic and spontaneous and topics change frequently. Occurs when one speaker tries to change the topic of conversation, introducing their own agenda. *Indicates power/ dominance/ compliance/ cooperation (other speakers may attempt to resist it).

Implication

Concerns implications the listener can make from utterances without actually being told. It includes presupposition. Example: I tried to send an email to the director. (Implies that for some reason I was unsuccessful.)

Tag question

Consists of two parts: a statement and a shortened yes/no question that refers to it and asks if the first statement is true. "It's sunny today, isn't it?" A declarative statement or an imperative is turned into a question by adding an interrogative fragment (the "tag").

Communicative Competence/Incompetence

our knowledge of the appropriate use of language in a variety of social genres - we acquire it through experience eg: if we are competent, we would not use the word 'sweetie' during a job interview

Face saving

Effort to prevent the occurrence of events that may elicit vulnerability or damage ones self image

Presupposition

speech that is not spoken, but nevertheless, understood by the speaker. Example: The Headquarters of the American Orchid Society of America is located in Delray Beach, Florida. (The sentence presupposes that there is an American Orchid Society.)

Turn-taking

Following a simple set of rules through signals that the speaker wishes to yield or take the turn. The pattern of spontaneous interactive speech in which participants cooperate or compete for the roles of listener/speaker.

specialised language

technical language concerned with a particular subject, culture or profession; it is not usually used in everyday speech.

Positive politeness

Social behavior in discourse which expresses positive attitudes to other people. Can take the form of thanking, paying compliments, showing agreement, using terms of address that increase the hearer's sense of importance, using terms of familiarity that imply a close friendship, even if there isn't one.

Phatic talk

Ice-breakers or polite chitchat at the beginning of a conversation. "Nice weather we're having, isn't it?" or "How are you?" Words spoken to establish social context and express friendly intentions towards another person, rather than to convey significant information. (e.g. "Hello", "How are you?", "Nice day today", "Good morning" etc.)

Purposes of conversation

Interactional (social purpose) Transactional (aims to complete a transaction) Expressive (to express emotions) Referential (to give information)

Backtracking

Interruption of a sequence of an utterance to include information that could/should have been included ealier. *Indicates the speaker monitors what they say, levels of correction and/or clarification.

Cooperative signal

Signals that show: cooperation, and permission to continue with the agenda. E.g. "ok"; "go on", "yes", "mmm"

Minimal responses

Might denote an unenthusiastic attitude, nervousness etc. E.g. "Uh", "Yeah, okay", "Mmm" etc.

Divergence

Refer to Gile's Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT). The language used by speakers becomes less similar.

Convergence

Refer to Gile's Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT). The language used by speakers becomes more similar. *Perhaps on account of one speaker to become more agreeable.

Recycling

Repetition of a word or phrase often due to thinking time or hesitation or nrevousness. E.g. "I don't...I don't know" If repetition is done deliberately, it is for impact in planned or represented speech.

Fixed expressions

Routine phrases such as "as a matter of fact, in my opinion, as far as I can see, to be honest".

Context (internal)

The context within a conversation. The way speakers adjust what they are saying according to what is being said (perhaps to comply with Grice's Maxims or Leech's Politeness Principles)

Contraction

The elision of two words, for example, 'don't' instead of 'do not'.

Elision

The exclusion of a sound, syllable or word to make something easier to say. The slurring or gliding of words (gonna, wanna). Omission of a sound between two words (usually a vowel and the end of one word or the beginning of the next). (Spontaneous speech or casual modes of other speech) E.g. contractions like "can't" or "isn't".

Prosodic features

The features of speech including rhythm, stress and intonation, elements that can't be seen through vocabulary and grammar. These can show the mood of the speaker. The vocal aspects of speech (volume, stress, intonation) that help to convey meaning. E.g. Jonathan visited "Miriam". (Suggests that Jonathan visited Miriam, and no one else.) Jonathan "visited" Miriam. (Suggests Jonathan visited Miriam, but did not call, email, or text her." "you REALLY are getting on my nerves now, GET IT?" <Tag Q

Repairing

The monitoring and correcting of what a speaker says, often using phrases to acknowledge a mistake, for example, "I mean, I should have said, no, that's wrong, I wanted to say..." - A self-correction in spontaneous speech (e.g. "An we had some Jewson's bags (.) on the wa (1.0) not on the wall next t (.) behind the wall)

Ellipsis

The omission of a certain element of a text (if easily recognisable to the reader/listener).~ The omission part of a sentence (a word or phrase). "Hope you get well soon" is an example as the pronoun "I" has been left out. ~ This is often exists due to the fast-paced and informal nature of spontaneous speech . (Enthusiasm about feelings/ideas?) ~ It can denote sociolect ("Can I go toilet?") ~ can also be represented by three dots (...) to indicate the missing part of a sentence.

Holding the floor

The person speaking is said to be doing this.

saving face

The process of attempting to maintain a positive self-image in a relational situation.

Sociolect

The variety of language that is typically used by the members of a particular social group. A variety of language associated with a social or socioeconomic class.

Adjacency pair definition

Two points in conversation which carry a logical connection (e.g. a greeting or a question and answer). A pattern of speech in which one utterance is followed by an appropriate linked (preferred) response. (e.g. "How are you today?" → "I'm fine thank you")

delexical verbs

Verbs often used in speech which have little meaning when used on their own. e.g. have, do, take, make ...

Clashing

When two people start to speak at the same time. One must stop while the other continues. Status and context are important here.

Context (external)

Who is speaking? Where are they? When is it? (time) What is the subject? Why are they speaking? These details affect the way people behave linguistically.

Fillers

Words and expressions that have little meaning but are inserted into everyday speech. (e.g. "you know," "like".) They give the speaker time to think, they can act as hedges and they can act as a way to involve the listener. These are a type of discourse marker.- Sounds such as "erm", "um" and "er", which speakers use to fill pauses in speech. Some speakers also use expressions such as "y'know" and "like" as verbal fillers. (e.g. "erm, erm") the speaker might be introducing a new topic, searching for a word, thinking about what to say, doesn't want to give up their turn. - These "fill" some of the inevitable pauses which occur in spontaneous speech.

Monitoring talk

Words or phrases Used to check or comment on what is being said. E.g. "Do you see what I mean?, "You know"... *Purpose: The purpose depends on the context. The speaker might be checking the listener has understood or is listening; might be inviting listeners to agree; might be fishing for comments; might be reviewing a conversation;. might be used to involve the listener or to check that the person is in agreement. It could be a form of insecurity on the part of the speaker (checking the listener's reaction) but it might not be. A teacher might do this to check the class is listening/following.

Deixis

Words which locate the conversation in a particular space, time or context (this, that, these, those, over here, one of these, yesterday...).

core vocabulary

___ those few hundred words that constitute the vast majority of our communication

Interjection

a word that show surprise or strong feeling or agreement. Can stand along (Help!) or be used within a sentence (Oh no, I forgot my wallet!) or (Yes,...)

preferred response

in conversation analysis, these responses coordinate with the expected response to an adjacency pair e.g. "Nice weather, isn't it?" "Yes, lovely."

Deletion

in rapid speech, we sometimes delete entire phonemes eg: Wednesday is pronounced /wensday/ (This accounts for many of the odd spellings found in English and difficulties in learning how to spell.)

Discourse marker (In a speech or conversation.)

the particles "oh", "well", "now", "then", "you know", and "I mean", "actually", "basically", "like", "okay", and the connectives "so", "because", "and", "but", and "or" Often come from different word classes, such as adverbs ("well") or prepositional phrases ("in fact"). A word, sound, or phrase, which does not have a strong independent meaning and does not change the message of the statement associated with it (e.g. "you know, well, i mean, anyway, right".) They can be used to link statements, to compare/contrast statements, to open/close/continue a topic or they can be regarded as lazy or careless speech.

Clipping

the shortening of a longer word, often reducing it to one syllable. Many examples are very informal or slang. Ex: Maths, which is a clipped form of mathematics; 'bro' from brother; 'dis' from disrespect.; 'uni' from university; 'cos' from because.

lexis

the vocabulary of a language, as opposed to its grammar.

Giles' Communication Accommodation Theory

when someone changes the way they speak when talking to someone. If they make their speech more similar to that of the person they are talking to, it is known as "convergence" this could involve simplfying their language, or adopting an accent closer to the other person's. If they make their speech less similar, it is "divergence" they could, e.g. exaggerating a regional accent or use more slang to make themselves harder to understand.