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ATCS (lec07) Conversation |
Introduction
The organisation of conversation: turn-taking
Meaning in conversation and the construction of topic
Variation in conversational behaviour
How easy is it to have a conversation?
Factors which influence conversational interaction: e.g. context, participants, topic of discussion.
The rules which govern conversational behaviour: characteristics of the art of conversation: e.g. who may speak, when, and on what topic.
Sacks Schegloff and Jefferson (1974):
No gaps, no overlaps.
How do we know when we can take a speaking turn? What clues do we use to identify when the current speaker will finish?
Transition Relevance Places and their identification in the flow of conversation.
Sacks, Schegloff and Jefferson's three rules of conversational turn-taking:
Rule 1. Current speaker selects next
Rule 2. Self-selection
Rule 3. Current speaker continues
Some such speech is crucial to conversation. Schegloff (1980) argues that assent terms (otherwise known as minimal responses or back channel speech) are a necessary prerequisite to successful conversation.
Other 'out of turn speech' may be perceived as signalling a breakdown in conversational flow: e.g. interruptions. When do we feel that we have been interrupted? The relationship between interruption and topic of conversation
How do we construct meaning in conversation and how do we know that we agree on the topics and themes of interaction?
The Co-operative Principle and Grice's Maxims of Conversation
The Co-operative Principle:
Make your contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.
How this principle relates to coherence in social discourse and to the construction and organisation of topic: e.g. topic coherence, topic drift, topic conflict.
Maxim of Quantity: make your contribution as informative as required.
Maxim of Quality: do not say what you believe to be false or that for which you lack adequate evidence.
Maxim of Manner: avoid obscurity of expression and ambiguity; be brief and orderly.
Maxim of Relation: be relevant (see Sperber and Wilson's theory of Relevance)
Criticism of Sacks, Schegloff and Jefferson's theory of conversational organisation as culture and language specific.
No Gaps, No Overlaps: cultural and social differences
Patterns of silence in various cultures and societies: e.g. Basso's (1972) analysis of silence amongst the Navaho people; perceptions of silence in the Quaker community.
Deborah Tannen's (1989) analysis of the 'high intensity style' of the New York Jewish community.
Jennifer Coates' (1996) research on male-female differences in overlapping speech : the competitive style of men, and the co-operative style of women.
1. Course textbook:
Green, D. et al Cognitive Science. Chapters 8 and 9.
2. Other text books:
Downes, W. (1984) Language and Society. London: Fontana. Ch.8.
Wardaugh, R.(1985) How Conversation Works. Oxford: Blackwell.
3. Cited Sources (selected):
Coates, J. (1996) Women Talk. Oxford: Blackwell
Grice, P. (1975) 'Logic and Conversation'. In P. Cole and J. Morgan (eds.), Syntax and Semantics, Vol 3: Speech Acts (pp. 225-42). New York: Academic Press.
Sacks, H. Schegloff, E. and Jefferson, G. (1974) 'A simplest systematics for the organisation of turn-taking in conversation'. Language 50, 1974, 696-735.
Sperber and Wilson (1986) Relevance: Communication and Cognition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Tannen, D. (1989) Talking Voices: Repetition, Dialogue and Imagery in Conversational Discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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