Colledge - Spoken Language Features

Question 1

Accent

Answer 1

The way in which words are pronounced. Accent can vary according to the region or social class of a speaker

Question 2

Adjacency pairs

Answer 2

Parallel expressions used across the boundaries of individual speaking turns. They are usually ritualistic and formulaic socially.
(e.g. “How are you?” / “Fine thanks.”)

Question 3

Back - channel

Answer 3

Words, phrases and non -verbal utterances (e.g. ‘I see’ , ‘oh’ , ‘uh huh’ , ‘really’) used by a listener to give feedback to a speaker that the message is being followed and understood

Question 4

Contraction

Answer 4

A reduced form often marked by an apostrophe in writing (e.g. can’t = cannot; she’ll = she will)

Question 5

Deixis / Deictics

Answer 5

Words such as ‘this’ , ‘that’ , ‘here’ , ‘there’ which refer backwards or forwards or outside a text - a sort of verbal pointing. Very much a context dependent feature of talk

Question 6

Dialect

Answer 6

The distinctive grammar and vocabulary which is associated with a regional or social use of language

Question 7

Discourse marker

Answer 7

Words and phrases which are used to signal the relationship and connections between utterances and to signpost that what is said can be followed by the listener or reader (e.g. “First “ , “on the other hand” , “now” , “what’s more” , “so anyway” etc)

Question 8

Elision

Answer 8

The omission or slurring (eliding) of one or more sounds or syllables (e.g. gonna = going to ; wannabe = want to be ; wassup = what is up)

Question 9

Ellipsis

Answer 9

The omission of part of a grammatical structure. For example in the dialogue : “You going to the party? / “Might be.” the verb ‘are’ and the pronoun ‘I’ are missed out. The resulting ellipsis conveys a more casual and informal tone

Question 10

False start

Answer 10

This is when the speaker begins an utterance , then stops and either repeats or reformulates it. Sometimes called self-correction

Question 11

Filler

Answer 11

Items which do not carry conventional meaning but which are inserted in speech to allow time to think, to create a pause or to hold a turn in conversation.
(e.g. ‘er’ , ‘um’ , ‘ah’ .) Also called a voiced pause

Question 12

Grice’s Maxims

Answer 12

Grice proposed four basic conversational ‘rules’ (maxims) as criteria for successful conversation: Quantity - don’t say too much or too little.
Relevance - Keep on topic and to the point.
Manner - speak in a clear, coherent and orderly way.
Quality - be truthful.

Question 13

Hedging

Answer 13

buffering the point being made, e.g. ‘maybe’ ‘might’

Question 14

Colloquialisms

Answer 14

a word or phrase that is not formal and is usually used in ordinary or familiar conversation

Question 15

Turn Taking

Answer 15

people taking turns to speak in a conversation

Question 16

High Frequency Lexis

Answer 16

lexis that is used commonly, e.g. ‘can’, ‘like’, ‘good’, ‘nice’

Question 17

Low Frequency Lexis

Answer 17

lexis that is not used commonly, e.g. ‘psychic’ , ‘gigantic’ , ‘extraordinary’