Discourse + pragmatics p2 Flashcards
Coherence
A coherent text is one that can be understood.
Factors contributing to choherence
- Cohesion
- Inference
- Logical ordering
- Formatting
- Consistency + conventions
Inference
Conclusion has been reached on the basis of evidence + reasoning, requires understanding + knowing what is ‘left out’ by speaker/writer (eg. “that’s the phone” “I’m up to my elbows cooking dinner” - relies on inference to create meaning).
Logical ordering
Ensures text is structured both visually + textually in a way that makes sense for the text type (eg. speech beginning with acknowledgment of country, recipe following chronological order, etc).
Formatting
- Headings + subheadings
- Typography
- Bullet-point lists
- Borders + tables
- Images, graphics, + charts
Headings + subheadings
Indicate topic of paragraphs making it easier to follow.
Typography
Typefaces, colours + sizes can draw attention to particular components of text (eg. italics = emphasis, capitals = shouting in informal texts, etc).
Bullet-point lists
Allows info to be condensed into core components so only necessary info is presented.
Bordes + tables
Acts as signposts to relevant info to be quickly accessed (tables separate into more manageable portions + borders give prominence to importance).
Images, graphics, + charts
Summarise content + contribute to understanding.
Consistency + conventions
- Adhere to conventions
- Maintain consistency
Adhere to conventions
Eg. coherent recipe would include a list of ingredients, method, etc.
Maintain consistency
Both structurally + lexically such as use lexical choices from same semantic field or use dominant sentence types (eg. nouns like ‘slice’ + ‘dice’ for recipe with imperatives like ‘cut onions’).
Features of spoken discourse
- Prosodic features
- Openings + closings
- Adjacency pairs
- Overlapping speech
- Discourse particles/markers
- Non-fluency features
Openings + closings
Typical, often repeated phrases that form part of conversation rituals + help give conversations framework + structure.
Hedges/hedging expressions
Reduce the force of what is being said to be able to express uncertainty, modesty, less authority, etc (eg. ‘sort of’, ‘like’, ‘I think’, etc).
Adjacency pairs
Adjacent turns in discourse that relate to each other (eg. question + answer, greeting + response, etc).
Overlapping speech
When people talk over each other (spontaneously or inadvertently/deliberately).
Non-fluency features
Words that occur when ‘speaking on our feet’ or trying to formulate a response.
- Pauses
- Filled pauses/voiced hesitations
Pauses
May occur when breathing, attempting to reach a grammatical boundary, for dramatics, word searching, etc.
Discourse markers/particles
Little fillers we insert into our speech for a particular purpose (eg. ‘well’, ‘omg’, ‘guess what’, etc).
- Hedges/hedging expressions.
Filled pauses/voiced hesitations
Includes false starts (eg. “I, ah, don’t know”), repetition (eg. “I I don’t know”), and repairs (eg. “she… I don’t know”).
Minimal responses (back chanelling)
Sounds + words enabling us to show encouragement + support for other speaker (eg. ‘mmm’, ‘yeah’ as well as laughter, echoing, facial expressions, body language, etc).
Turn taking
- Taking the floor
- Holding the floor
- Passing the floor
Strategies in spoken discourse
- Topic management
- Turn-taking
- Minimal responses (back channelling)
Taking the floor
Signal desire to take floor (eg. ‘now’, ‘right’, etc), interrupt speaker, latch onto end of someone else’s turn, paralinguistic features (eg. catch someone’s eye, audible intake of breath, etc).
Topic management
Strategies we use for controlling the topic of conversation.
- Initiate topics by - discourse particles (eg. “guess what”).
- Change topics by - DP (eg. “anyways”).
- Develop/maintain topics by - minimal responses, use words from same semantic field, echo words, etc.
- Topic loops - if topic gets off track + want to return it.
Holding the floor
Continuing intonation (signals unfinished sentence/more to say), conjunctions (eg. ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘so’), filled pauses (more informal), temporal markers (more formal).
Passing the floor
Formulaic phrases, floor-sharing (generally q+a), interrogative (eg. “what do you think?”), falling/final intonation, discourse particles followed by silence (eg. ‘soooo…?).
