Analysing Conversation 1

Question 1

Definition of Conversation NOFSINGER

Answer 1

“everyday talk” in which there are at least two people

“locally managed” -> those having the conversation decide at the time who gets to talk/for how long, in what order

“fully interactive” participants take turns and make substantive contributions

“eligible to take turns”

• a conversation is not strategically planned, it flows naturally

Question 2

Register

Answer 2

MODE
TENOR
DOMAIN

Question 3

MODE (register)

Answer 3

Mode of communication ie. speaking/writing (conversations are spoken but can be transcribed/represented in writing)

Question 4

TENOR (register)

Answer 4

Relationship between participants ie. formal/informal (how well they know each other)

Question 5

DOMAIN (register)

Answer 5

Area of Activity ie. what is the conversation about -> this topic will have specific vocab eg. gardening, cooking, films etc

Question 6

Pragmatics Definition

Answer 6

the study of language in USE beyond word meanings, considers whole utterances in context and its implications

Question 7

Speaker Hearer meanings explanation

Answer 7

the utterance may have similar or different meanings for speaker vs hearer

Question 8

Implicature and Inference

Answer 8

Implicature = additional meaning intended by the speaker over + above what is overtly said

Inference = additional meaning deduced by the listener over + above what is explicitly said

Question 9

Grice’s Co-operative principle (4)

Answer 9

1. Maxim of quality
2. Maxim of Quantity
3. Maxim of Relation
4. Maxim of Manner

Question 10

Definition of Grice’s Co-operative principle

Answer 10

= the fundamental principles of communication
co-operative = speaker + hearer co-operate together to ensure what they say can be understood by the other person

co-operation = following basic rules of communication ->(the speaker-hearer contract)

NB an utterance may follow all the maxims and still be unhelpful or unpleasant -> this is why Maxims not enough to describe all conversation

Question 11

Applicability of Grice’s Maxim’s

Answer 11

All forms of communication can be said to be either following or flouting G’s Ms

Question 12

Infringing the maxims

Answer 12

People may be said to infringe the maxims if they cannot help their behaviour
eg. extreme cases of schizophrenia/drunkness
young children, speakers not fluent/familiar with the language
the speaker unintentionally fails to observe a maxim

Question 13

Adjacency Pairs (Schegloff and Sacks)

Answer 13

= pairs of utterances in which the first part predicts the second part (Schegloff and Sacks)

Question 14

Adjacency pair examples

Answer 14

greeting->greeting
question_> answer
summons->acknowledgement
blame->denial/admission

Question 15

Learning to use adjacency pairs / humour

Answer 15

children have to learn these

unexpected adjacency pairs can be used to humours effect as they take us by surprise