1. Introduction to Linguistics 6 Spoken Language Prof. Jo Lewkowicz 1

2. The spoken language Read through this short dialogue and decide where it is taking place. 1A: Morning B: Morning 2A: Nice day, again. B: Yep. Gonna be another good one. 3A: What can I get you? B: Coffee, thanks? 4A: Regular or decaf? B: Regular. 5A: Cream and sugar? B: Just a little cream. 6A: Here you go. B: Cheers How do the first 2 exchanges differ from the remaining part of the dialogue? Identify all the ellipses in this dialogue. 2

3. Adjacency pairs What would you expect to be the response to the following utterances: – Hi Jo, how are you? – Would you like some tea? – I’m so sorry – I loved the film we saw last night. – Thanks for a great evening! 3

4. Insertion sequences What lines of this dialogue extract make up the adjacency pair? 1.J: It’s a worry, isn’t it? 2.B: What? 3.J: Your money (yes) organizing your money affairs. 4.B: ‘tis... a big worry. What else is happening in this extract? 4

5. Complex insertion sequence A: Peach Bellini, please. B: Are you twenty-one? A: Why do you want to know? B: We don’t sell alcohol to anyone under twenty-one. A: Do I look as though I’m under twenty-one? B: That’s beside the point. Can I see your ID, please. A: Here. B: Great. Thanks. One Bellini coming up. A: Thanks. 5

6. Negotiation of meaning In real conversation we frequently resort to: – Clarification requests: Do you mean...? Example A: I don’t feel too hot today. B: Sorry, what do you mean by that, exactly? – Confirmation requests: Did you say....? Example A: I saw Philip a couple of weeks ago. B: Philip, really? – Comprehension checks: Do you follow? Example A: You need to fold the masking take along the edge of the cardboard. Know what I mean? B: I think so. 6

7. Conversational analysis Analyse the following conversation extract in terms of adjacency pairs, insertion sequence and negotiation of meaning: 1.S:Could you pick up some little fish? 2.J:Er... What sort of little fish? 3.S:You know, if you’re going to be in Bayswater... 4.J:You mean the little fish biscuits? 5.S:Yea... for Tim 6.J:Sure, if they have some. 7

8. Transactional interaction Operator: Cabcharge –account name? Customer: Macquarie University. Operator: Passenger’s name? Customer: Nunan. Operator: Pick-up address? Customer: 13, Firth Avenue, East Ryde. Operator: Is that a private house or a flat? Customer: Yes. Operator: Going to? Customer: The airport? Operator: How many passengers? Customer: One 8

9. Understanding context How can you interpret the exchange below? A:So. if we go to the party how are we going to get there? B:Well, one of us could drive. C: OK, but who? B:Susie's on antibiotics. 9

10. Summary Spoken language can be broken down into 2 basic functions: transactional /interpersonal Ellipses is a feature of spoken language Much of interpersonal conversation relies on background knowledge and prior information about the participants of the interaction and requires top-down processing (schema theory) Conversations can be broken down into a series of 2-utterance pairing called adjacency pairs Adjacency pairs are frequently interrupted by an insertion sequence Negotiation of meaning is part and parcel of real spoken interaction Negotiation of meaning involves requests for clarification, confirmation checks as well as comprehension checks. Transactional interaction relies less heavily on negotiation of meaning than interpersonal conversation 10

11. Textbook dialogue: What features of real interaction are present / absent in this dialogue? SA: Can I help you? SA: Erm, no, sorry we haven’t got any at the moment. SA: Ah. sorry, no. SA: Sorry we don’t sell crisps. SA: Yes, they’re over there next to the cans of Coke. SA: Is that everything? SA: OK. That’s $2.50 please. C: Yes, please. Have you got any cartons of milk? C: Oh, have you got any cans of Sprite? C: OK. I’d like 4 packets of crisps. C: Well, do you have any bottles of water? C: Great. I’d like 2 bottles of water, please. C: Yes, thanks. C: OK... Oh no! I haven’t got any money! 11

12. Co-construction of meaning Often interlocutors help each other as a dialogue progresses as in the following instance: A:How do I get to Kensington Road? B:Well, you go down Fullarton Road... A:... what down Old Belair and around...? B: Yeah, and then you go straight... A:... past the hospital? B: Yeah, keep going straight, past the racecourse to the roundabout. You know the big roundabout? A: Yeah. B: And Kensington Road’s off to the right. A: What, off the roundabout? B: Yeah. A: Right. 12

13. Grice’s cooperative maxims When interacting people cooperate with each other and in so doing help discourse to proceed The cooperative principle formulated by Grice in 1975 accounts for how people interpret discourse The 4 maxims of the cooperative principle are: – Be brief – Be true – Be relevant – Be clear If the speaker breaks any one of these maxims, then misunderstanding is likely to occur. 13

14. Indirectness in conversation We do not always say exactly what we mean when we speak – we may express our intention indirectly Compare: Please pass me the salt & I like my chips with lots of salt Degree / strength of indirectness may vary, we may hedge what we say to varying degrees: Could you give me a little wine please? Would you mind passing me the wine bottle? That’s an interesting looking bottle. Hmm, my glass appears to be empty again. This cheese would go with a little of that wine. Is that the delicious Chilean Cabernet you were talking about? 14

15. Degrees of indirectness Degree of indirectness will be governed by: – Relative power of the speaker over the hearer – Social distance between the speaker and hearer – Degree to which X is rated an imposition in culture Y – Relative rights and obligations between speaker and hearer 15

16. Risk of indirectness Indirectness may be costly in that an indirect utterance takes longer to say and longer to process. Compare: Pass me that hammer. I wonder whether you would mind passing me that hammer Indirectness may be risky as it may be intentionally or unintentionally misunderstood. Directness may be face threatening and indirectness face saving 16

17. Speech acts Speech acts are a description of utterances in terms of what they are doing functionally. There are 3 dimensions to a speech act: – Its locutionary aspect: the propositional meaning of an utterance – Its illocutionary force: the function the speaker intends to perform making the utterance – Its perlocutionary effect: the effect that an utterance has on a listener, or the interpretation that the listener places on the utterance 17

18. Dimensions of speech acts illustrated What is the locutionary aspect, the illocutionary force and the perlocutionary effect of A’s utterance in each of the examples below? Example 1 A: It’s 1:20! B: I know, I’m sorry the traffic was awful. Example 2 A: It’s 1:20! B: Is it really? Example 3 A: This cheese would go well with a little of that wine. B: Here you are. Shall I pour some for you? Example 4 A: This cheese would go well with a little of that wine. B: I agree, French reds tend to complement French cheese better than any other wines. 18

19. Types of speech acts Certain utterances are performative – they are not meant to convey information, but to perform an act Example: I now pronounce you man and wife There is no truth value in the above utterance. John Searle, building on John Austin’s original work on speech acts, identified 5 basic speech act types: – Directives – Commissives – Representatives – Declaratives (Performatives) – Expressives 19

20. Taxonomy of speech acts Directives: – speaker wants hearer to do something – speaker may ask, challenge, command, insist, request as in the following examples: Tidy your room! Gran is coming this evening so it would be nice if you could show her your room. – directives may be more or less direct / indirect Commissives: – speaker is committed to varying degrees to some action or refusing to act – commissives include guarantees, pledges, promises, vows as in the following examples: Don’t worry! I’ll be there on time I swear I didn’t do that. – vary in directness and strength Representatives: – speaker is committed to a varying degree to the truth of a proposition – representatives may affirm, conclude, deny, report, express a belief as in the following examples: I finished my homework before switching on the television I think that man is right. – representative can be evaluated for their truth value – representatives may vary in terms of how hedged they are 20

21. Taxonomy of speech acts (cont.) Declaratives: – speaker alters the external status or condition of an object or situation solely by making the utterance – Examples include: I resign I baptize you You’re fired Class dismissed – Speaker must be empowered to make the declaration. Expressives: – speaker expresses an attitude about a state of affairs, – include likes and dislikes, statements of joy and disappointment, compliments as in the following examples: Thanks for a wonderful meal! I don’t really like fish. Congratulations on your success! 21

22. Match the speech act type with the utterance Speech act types: directive, commissive, representative, performative, expressive: 1.What a terrific party! 2.I want to apologise for my behaviour last night. 3.The coffee pot is empty. 4.Don’t worry, I’ll be there by ten. 5.I went to the movies on Saturday. 6.Pass me the matches. 7.I’m really proud of your success! 8.War is hereby declared. 9.Darwin’s theory is at least partially correct. 10.I’ll pay you back tomorrow. 22