Do we X, Should/Shall we X, Let’s X

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 339-361
Author(s):  
Robin Sokol
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
American English ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Collaborative Interactions ◽  
Do So

Abstract This article studies the formats Do we X, Should/Shall we X, and Let’s X in order to deepen our understanding of face-to-face collaborative interactions at the computer. We use 6 hours of data of university students collaborating in British and American English, and our methodology is Conversation Analysis. We demonstrate that the participants display and orient to the immediacy/remoteness of the task, as well as their entitlement to carry out the proposed task, when they put forward a proposed action. To do so, they use specific formats, specific verbs, and display specific tasks depending on their needs, emerging from the unfolding of the collaboration. We argue that collaboration is not only a matter of organising the accomplishment of a set of tasks, but also of displaying what kind of task is being proposed, and to what extent the speaker is entitled to the proposed task.

scholarly journals OH + OKAY in informing sequences: On fuzzy boundaries in a particle combination

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 816-836
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Couper-Kuhlen
Keyword(s):  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
American English ◽  
Interactional Linguistics ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Third ◽  
Weak Boundaries ◽  
Compound Particle

Abstract This study explores fuzzy boundaries, or weak cesuras, in the particle combination OH + OKAY as used in informing sequences in ordinary English talk-in-interaction. The focus is on the third position in such sequences, where OH + OKAY responds to information that has been solicited by the speaker in a prior turn. Based on a collection of approximately 45 instances of OH + OKAY in recent American English telephone and face-to-face interactions, this study adopts the methodology of Conversation Analysis and Interactional Linguistics to examine the prosody and phonetics of OH + OKAY as a feature of turn design. It asks: (i) when does the speaker use a combination of OH and OKAY in the third position rather than a simple OH or OKAY? and (ii) to what extent does the prosodic–phonetic delivery of OH + OKAY contribute to an interpretation of what the turn is doing? The study finds that (i) OH + OKAY is used when responding to a solicited informing that not only supplies information but also accomplishes another action with consequences for the recipient and (ii) if OH + OKAY is delivered with a strong cesura between its parts, its actions are distributed in separate turn-constructional units, creating a multi-unit turn that proposes sequence closure. If the cesura in OH + OKAY is weak, the component parts are fused into a compound particle that can preface more talk by the same speaker. Weak boundaries between OH and OKAY can be exploited by participants for the purposes of turn construction and epistemic positioning.

Conversation and Culture

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simeon Floyd
Keyword(s):  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Sequential Analysis ◽  
Contemporary Literature ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽  
Language Studies ◽  
Speech Communities

Conversation analysis is a method for the systematic study of interaction in terms of a sequential turn-taking system. Research in conversation analysis has traditionally focused on speakers of English, and it is still unclear to what extent the system observed in that research applies to conversation more generally around the world. However, as this method is now being applied to conversation in a broader range of languages, it is increasingly possible to address questions about the nature of interactional diversity across different speech communities. The approach of pragmatic typology first applies sequential analysis to conversation from different speech communities and then compares interactional patterns in ways analogous to how traditional linguistic typology compares morphosyntax. This article discusses contemporary literature in pragmatic typology, including single-language studies and multilanguage comparisons reflecting both qualitative and quantitative methods. This research finds that microanalysis of face-to-face interaction can identify both universal trends and culture-specific interactional tendencies. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Anthropology, Volume 50 is October 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

The Norm Orientation of English in the Caribbean

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-40
Author(s):  
Dagmar Deuber ◽  
Stephanie Hackert ◽  
Eva Canan Hänsel ◽  
Alexander Laube ◽  
Mahyar Hejrani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
American English ◽  
Media Exposure ◽  
Quantitative Investigation ◽  
British English ◽  
Mass Tourism ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Newspaper Writing ◽  
British Colonies ◽  
Do So

This study examines newspaper writing from ten Caribbean countries as a window on the norm orientation of English in the region. English in the former British colonies of the Caribbean has been assumed to be especially prone to postcolonial linguistic Americanization, on account of not just recent global phenomena such as mass tourism and media exposure but also long-standing personal and sociocultural links. We present a quantitative investigation of variable features comparing our Caribbean results not just to American and British reference corpora but also to newspaper collections from India and Nigeria as representatives of non-Caribbean New Englishes. The amount of American features employed varies by type of feature and country. In all Caribbean corpora, they are more prevalent in the lexicon than in spelling. With regard to grammar, an orientation toward a singular norm cannot be deduced from the data. While Caribbean journalists do partake in worldwide American-led changes such as colloquialization, as evident in the occurrence of contractions or the tendency to prefer that over which, the frequencies with which they do so align neither with American English nor with British English but often resemble those found in the Indian and Nigerian corpora. Contemporary Caribbean newspaper writing, thus, neither follows traditional British norms, nor is it characterized by massive linguistic Americanization; rather, there appears to be a certain conservatism common to New Englishes generally. We discuss these results in light of new considerations on normativity in English in the 21st century.

The moral construction of worry about radiation exposure: Emotion, knowledge, and tests

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 635-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aug Nishizaka
Keyword(s):  
Radiation Exposure ◽  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Internal Exposure ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Communication Tool ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Video Recordings ◽  
Moral Construction ◽  
Fukushima Disaster ◽  
Do So

In the analysis of video recordings of the interactions between a doctor and the examinees following internal radiation exposure tests at a hospital in Fukushima Prefecture, I explore how the participants address one of the most serious consequences of the Fukushima disaster, that is, their concerns about radioactive materials. To do so, this study employs conversation analysis. The doctor’s presentation of the test results provides the examinees with a place to express relief and also makes relevant the justification work related to the expression of relief. In conclusion, I consider how the internal exposure tests also function as a communication tool in the context in which residents from affected areas face potential difficulties in expressing their worry about radiation.

scholarly journals The Reality and Trends of Knowledge Sharing among the Students of Mardin University of Turkey: واقع واتجاهات التشارك بالمعرفة بين طلاب جامعة ماردين التركية

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daoud Suleiman Mohammed - Omar Mohamed Darra
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Search Process ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Value Of Knowledge ◽  
Teaching Language ◽  
Descriptive Approach ◽  
The University

   The research aimed to identify the reality and attitude of Mardin university students about knowledge sharing, in addition to identifying channels which students preferred it to sharing knowledge, the motivations that guide students to share knowledge, and the main obstacles that impede the process of sharing knowledge. The research focused on colleges that adopt Arabic as a basic teaching language, the analytical descriptive approach was adopted in this research, a questionnaire was designed based on previous studies to measure the attitudes of students about the process of sharing knowledge, And distributed to (235) students. The results showed that the most important sources of students to obtain their information are course teachers with an average of 3.95. But overall the search process was low, and the aim of most students from knowledge sharing was to clarify and discuss the exam issues by (3.78). The references which course teachers are provided them were the most widely used tools by (3.72), It turns out that students tend to share their knowledge face-to-face by (4.14), but about the attitudes of university students, most of them were aware the value of knowledge and their sharing it, and they considered that helps to improve the process of education by (4.16), and most of them encourage knowledge sharing and consider it good by(4.36). The study also presented a set of recommendations that would contribute to improving the process of sharing knowledge among students in the university institution.

scholarly journals Embodied Uses of Electronic Bilingual Dictionaries

2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Hauser
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
University Students ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Experimental Research ◽  
Small Body ◽  
Bilingual Dictionaries ◽  
Dictionary Use

Electronic bilingual dictionaries are widely used among university students in East Asia. There is a small body of research, based on questionnaires or experiments or both, on their use and effectiveness, but with one exception, research has not been focussed on the details of actual dictionary use. Drawing on conversation analysis, the current study presents analyses of students’ embodied use of electronic dictionaries during second language English discussions. It is shown that (a) the layout of items on the screen is a resource for recognition, (b) there is an orientation to dictionary ownership, (c) the configuration of objects and bodies is consequential for how dictionaries are used, (d) manipulation of a dictionary can be interactionally significant, and (e) there is not a strong normative element to how dictionaries should be consulted. It is argued that dictionaries are used to accomplish a variety of objectives unlikely to be revealed through questionnaire or experimental research. 電子辞書は、東アジアの大学生の間に広く普及している。これまで、アンケートや実験の結果に基づいた電子辞書の効果と使用状況についての報告はいくつかあるが、実際の辞書使用を詳細に分析した研究はほとんど見られない。本論文は、第二言語としての英語ディスカッションに見られる学生の電子辞書の具現化された使い方を、会話分析を使って詳細に示す。分析では、以下の点について提示する：（a）電子辞書画面上に表示される画像・文字が認識のリソースになること、（b）辞書の所有権に対する意識が見られること、（c）辞書使用に関して、物と身体の配置が重要であること、（d）辞書の操作が相互行為的な意味を持つ可能性があること、（e）辞書の使用について、それほど強い規範的な志向性がみられないこと。これらの分析に基づいて、アンケートや実験に基づく従来の研究では観察されなかった多様な目的の辞書使用の実態を論じる。

Tennant's Struggle with a “Desperate Task”

1942 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-208
Author(s):  
Graham Frisbee
Keyword(s):  
William James ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Do So

In his essay, “On God and the Absolute,” F. H. Bradley declares that the “assertor of an imperfect God is, whether he knows it or not, face to face with a desperate task or a forlorn alternative. He must try to show (how I cannot tell) that the entire rest of the Universe, outside his limited God, is known to be still weaker and more limited. Or he must appeal to us to follow our Leader blindly and, for all we know, to a common and overwhelming defeat.” The appeal of the second course, even when it is set forth in the spirited and heroic manner of William James, cannot survive a full realization of what is involved in such a prospect. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that most of the more sober-minded theologians who hold the idea of a limited God attempt to do so in the first form suggested by Bradley. F. R. Tennant belongs to this group. And it is his attempt to accomplish the “desperate task” that we propose to examine.

Building consensus on user participation in social work: A conversation analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-40
Author(s):  
Terry TF Leung ◽  
Barry CL Lam
Keyword(s):  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Service Management ◽  
Panel Discussion ◽  
User Participation ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Welfare Service ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Communicative Ethics ◽  
The Face ◽  
Set Up

Summary In order to understand how mutual understanding was achieved in discursive interactions between the welfare service users and service practitioners, conversation analysis was conducted in four discussion panels set up for building consensus on the appropriate structure for user participation in service management. Conversations in eight panel discussion meetings were audio-taped for analysing the talks-in-interaction therein. Drawing on the conversation analysis, the article uncovers the dynamics of consensus building among participants from different epistemic communities. Findings The study identifies the extent of divergence in views among stakeholders, which could have been obscured by the pressure to acquiesce in platform of face-to-face coordination. In the contest for truth between the welfare service users and service practitioners, personal experience has not been accepted as legitimate resource for supporting truth claims. Having limited argument resources on issues of service management, the welfare service users perceived argumentation in panel discussion a threatening venture that they chose to avoid. Avoidance was also a strategy that panel participants employed to maintain mundane interactions in the face of looming dissents. The article argues that the Habermasian communicative ethics are not panacea to the problem of coordination between the welfare service users and service practitioners. An agonistic model of democracy is called for to shift the objective of communication from gauging consensus to encouraging articulation of disagreements in the intricate user participation project. Application The article provides a new direction for developing the user participation imperative to address necessary pluralities among stakeholders of welfare services.

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