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.

scholarly journals The grammar of proposals for joint activities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra A Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
American English ◽  
Joint Activity ◽  
Interactional Linguistics ◽  
Joint Activities ◽  
Institutional Talk ◽  
The Social ◽  
Linguistic Patterns ◽  
English Speaking

Abstract The action of proposing has been studied from various perspectives in research on talk-in-interaction, both in mundane as well as in institutional talk. Aiming to exemplify Interactional Linguistics as a drawing together of insights from Linguistics and Conversation Analysis, we explore the grammar of proposals and the stances displayed by participants in making proposals in the context of joint activities, where a future or hypothetical activity is being put forth as something the speaker and recipient(s) might do together. Close examination of interactions among American English-speaking adults reveals four recurrent grammatical formats for issuing proposals: Let’s, Why don’t we, Modal Declaratives, and Modal Interrogatives. We argue that these four formats for doing proposing within a joint activity are used in socially distinct environments, contributing to a growing understanding of the fit between entrenched linguistic patterns and the social work they have evolved to do.

Some interactional uses of syntactically incomplete turns in Mandarin conversation

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoting Li
Keyword(s):  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Visual Features ◽  
Interactional Linguistics ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Multimodal Analysis ◽  
Mandarin Conversation

In everyday conversation, sometimes a speaker may not complete his/her turn, and the recipients do not treat it as problematic. This paper investigates this type of syntactically incomplete turns (henceforth, SITs) in Mandarin conversation. Specifically, this study examines how SITs are used and constructed through multimodal resources in Mandarin face-to-face conversation. Adopting the methodology of conversation analysis, interactional linguistics, and multimodal analysis, the present study examines 8 hours of everyday Mandarin face-to-face conversation. It shows that the SITs are situated in particular sequential environments and triggered by local contingencies. For example, they are used to accomplish socially and interactionally inappropriate actions and display sensitivity to the recipients’ disengagement from the ongoing talk and the current participation framework. Also, despite the syntactic incompleteness of the SITs, the prosodic and bodily-visual features involved in their production usually indicate possible turn completion.

Managing a suspended course of action

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 306-334
Author(s):  
Xiaoyun Wang
Keyword(s):  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Interactional Linguistics ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Multimodal Analysis ◽  
Course Of Action ◽  
Interactional Functions ◽  
Mandarin Conversation

Abstract This study explores interactional functions of the connective suoyi ‘so’ and its particular role in organizing talk and activity in Mandarin conversation. Adopting the methodologies of conversation analysis, multimodal analysis, and interactional linguistics, this study examines 14 hours of naturalistic face-to-face Mandarin conversation. An examination of the data shows that in addition to marking results and conclusions, suoyi is also used to preface an utterance as a tying device to manage suspensions, where progressivity of a course of action is halted. Specifically, suoyi-prefaced utterances can be used to return to a pre-prior course of action at the possible completion of a side sequence or frame. When performing the function of return, suoyi-prefaced utterances facilitate the development of the main course of action. This study contributes to our understanding of the interactional uses of linking adverbials from a cross-linguistic perspective.

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.

Māori Research(er) in Three Poems

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Jacquie Kidd
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Bell Hooks ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Third ◽  
Ruth Behar ◽  
Seeking Help

These three poems re-present the findings from a research project that took place in 2013 (Kidd et al. 2018, Kidd et al. 2014). The research explored what health literacy meant for Māori patients and whānau when they accessed palliative care. Through face-to-face interviews and focus groups we engaged with 81 people including patients, whānau, bereaved loved ones, support workers and health professionals. The poems are composite, written to bring some of our themes to life. The first poem is titled Aue. This is a Māori lament that aligns to English words such as ‘oh no’, or ‘arrgh’, or ‘awww’. Each stanza of the poem re-presents some of the stories we heard throughout the research. The second poem is called Tikanga. This is a Māori concept that encompasses customs, traditions and protocols. There are tikanga rituals and processes that guide all aspects of life, death, and relationships. This poem was inspired by an elderly man who explained that he would avoid seeking help from a hospice because ‘they leave tikanga at the door at those places’. His choice was to bear his pain bravely, with pride, within his cultural identity. The third poem is called ‘People Like Me’. This is an autoethnographical reflection of what I experienced as a researcher which draws on the work of scholars such as bell hooks (1984), Laurel Richardson (1997) and Ruth Behar (1996). These and many other authors encourage researchers to use frustration and anger to inform our writing; to use our tears to fuel our need to publish our research.

Third turn position in British election phone-in conversations

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-351
Author(s):  
Anisa Pinatih
Keyword(s):  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Direct Interaction ◽  
General Election ◽  
Substantive Content ◽  
The Third ◽  
Question And Answer ◽  
Questions And Answers

AbstractAn election radio phone-in program is designed for questions and answers, thus providing a context for direct interaction where lay-participants can engage with politicians’ responses. The current study aims at examining the third position that follows a question-answer sequence in a phone-in conversation, when radio hosts and/or callers evaluate politicians’ answers. Previous research has shown that radio hosts may offer a comeback to the caller, terminate the call, or ask their own question; and that a caller may come back on their own initiative. The aim of this article is to discover if there are patterns that underlie this diversity in the third position in radio phone-in conversations. The data consist of 4 hours and 20 minutes of transcribed conversations from election phone-ins from the Leading Britain’s Conversation (LBC) radiobroadcast prior to the 2015 general election. Using Conversation Analysis, this study looks at the sequential context and the substantive content of utterances to examine if the design and the content of the question and answer have bearing on the third position. The findings show that hosts either offered a comeback to callers or terminated the call right away when the politician’s answer was non-evasive and lacking opposition; that hosts or callers pursued an answer when evasion and opposition were apparent, and that callers pursued only when they showed oppositional stance taking in the questioning position.

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.

Restrictiveness, exclusivity, adversativity, and mirativity

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Fang Wang ◽  
Mei-Chi Tsai ◽  
Wayne Schams ◽  
Chi-Ming Yang
Keyword(s):  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Spoken Discourse ◽  
Interactional Linguistics ◽  
English Only ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Turn Taking

Mandarin Chinese zhishi (similar to English ‘only’), comprised of the adverb zhi and the copula shi, can act as an adverb (ADV) or a discourse marker (DM). This study analyzes the role of zhishi in spoken discourse, based on the methodological and theoretical principles of interactional linguistics and conversation analysis. The corpus used in this study consists of three sets of data: 1) naturally-occurring daily conversations; 2) radio/TV interviews; and 3) TV panel discussions on current political affairs. As a whole, this study reveals that the notions of restrictiveness, exclusivity, and adversativity are closely associated with ADV zhishi and DM zhishi. In addition, the present data show that since zhishi is often used to express a ‘less than expected’ feeling, it can be used to indicate mirativity (i.e. language indicating that an utterance conveys the speaker’s surprise). The data also show that the distribution of zhishi as an adverb or discourse marker depends on turn taking systems and speech situations in spoken discourse. Specifically, the ADV zhishi tends to occur in radio/TV interviews and TV panel news discussions, while the DM zhishi occurs more often in casual conversations.

scholarly journals “Filantropia” or “Non Profit”? Translating Texts on Nonprofits from English into Italian

2009 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabrina Fusari
Keyword(s):  
American English ◽  
Nonprofit Sector ◽  
Third Sector ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Third Sector ◽  
Problems Of Translation

Abstract This paper describes the problems that arise in the translation of texts on – and by – the nonprofit sector from English (especially American English) into Italian. First of all, we focus on the main problems of translation, deriving from the disparity between the third sector in Italy and in the US. Secondly, we present a corpus-based project aimed at monitoring the differences between nonprofit discourse (especially fundraising letters) in Italy and the US. Lastly, we show a number of practical examples to illustrate how this type of corpus can meet the needs of translators and draw some conclusions on the importance of using monitor (i.e., continuously updated) corpora to produce successful translations in specialised fields where there are sizeable differences between source and the target cultures.

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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