Discourse + pragmatics p2

Question 1

Coherence

Answer 1

A coherent text is one that can be understood.

Question 2

Factors contributing to choherence

Answer 2

• Cohesion
• Inference
• Logical ordering
• Formatting
• Consistency + conventions

Question 3

Inference

Answer 3

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).

Question 4

Logical ordering

Answer 4

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).

Question 5

Formatting

Answer 5

• Headings + subheadings
• Typography
• Bullet-point lists
• Borders + tables
• Images, graphics, + charts

Question 6

Headings + subheadings

Answer 6

Indicate topic of paragraphs making it easier to follow.

Question 7

Typography

Answer 7

Typefaces, colours + sizes can draw attention to particular components of text (eg. italics = emphasis, capitals = shouting in informal texts, etc).

Question 8

Bullet-point lists

Answer 8

Allows info to be condensed into core components so only necessary info is presented.

Question 9

Bordes + tables

Answer 9

Acts as signposts to relevant info to be quickly accessed (tables separate into more manageable portions + borders give prominence to importance).

Question 10

Images, graphics, + charts

Answer 10

Summarise content + contribute to understanding.

Question 11

Consistency + conventions

Answer 11

• Adhere to conventions
• Maintain consistency

Question 12

Adhere to conventions

Answer 12

Eg. coherent recipe would include a list of ingredients, method, etc.

Question 13

Maintain consistency

Answer 13

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’).

Question 14

Features of spoken discourse

Answer 14

• Prosodic features
• Openings + closings
• Adjacency pairs
• Overlapping speech
• Discourse particles/markers
• Non-fluency features

Question 15

Openings + closings

Answer 15

Typical, often repeated phrases that form part of conversation rituals + help give conversations framework + structure.

Question 16

Hedges/hedging expressions

Answer 16

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).

Question 16

Adjacency pairs

Answer 16

Adjacent turns in discourse that relate to each other (eg. question + answer, greeting + response, etc).

Question 16

Overlapping speech

Answer 16

When people talk over each other (spontaneously or inadvertently/deliberately).

Question 16

Non-fluency features

Answer 16

Words that occur when ‘speaking on our feet’ or trying to formulate a response.
- Pauses
- Filled pauses/voiced hesitations

Question 16

Pauses

Answer 16

May occur when breathing, attempting to reach a grammatical boundary, for dramatics, word searching, etc.

Question 16

Discourse markers/particles

Answer 16

Little fillers we insert into our speech for a particular purpose (eg. ‘well’, ‘omg’, ‘guess what’, etc).
- Hedges/hedging expressions.

Question 16

Filled pauses/voiced hesitations

Answer 16

Includes false starts (eg. “I, ah, don’t know”), repetition (eg. “I I don’t know”), and repairs (eg. “she… I don’t know”).

Question 16

Minimal responses (back chanelling)

Answer 16

Sounds + words enabling us to show encouragement + support for other speaker (eg. ‘mmm’, ‘yeah’ as well as laughter, echoing, facial expressions, body language, etc).

Question 16

Turn taking

Answer 16

• Taking the floor
• Holding the floor
• Passing the floor

Question 16

Strategies in spoken discourse

Answer 16

• Topic management
• Turn-taking
• Minimal responses (back channelling)

Question 16

Taking the floor

Answer 16

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).

Question 16

Topic management

Answer 16

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.

Question 16

Holding the floor

Answer 16

Continuing intonation (signals unfinished sentence/more to say), conjunctions (eg. ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘so’), filled pauses (more informal), temporal markers (more formal).

Question 16

Passing the floor

Answer 16

Formulaic phrases, floor-sharing (generally q+a), interrogative (eg. “what do you think?”), falling/final intonation, discourse particles followed by silence (eg. ‘soooo…?).