English Key Terms

Question 1

What is an accent?

Answer 1

The way words are pronounced, varies based on region or social class.

Question 2

What are adjacency pairs?

Answer 2

Parallel expressions used across boundaries of individual speaking turns. Formulaic. E.g how are you? - Fine thanks.

Question 3

What is a back channel?

Answer 3

Non verbal words/utterances used by a listener to show there understanding of the conversation. ( e.g. i see , oh )

Question 4

What are dietics ?

Answer 4

Words like ‘this’ , ‘that’ which that refer back or forwards or outside a text - verbal pointing. Context dependant.

Question 5

What is dialect?

Answer 5

Distinctive grammar/vocabulary associated with a region/social use of language.

Question 6

What is a discourse marker?

Answer 6

Used to signal the relationship between utterances and to signpost that what is said can be followed by the listener/reader. (E.g. first , on the other hand)

Question 7

What is ellision?

Answer 7

Slurring of one or more sounds/syllables. (E.g. gonna = going to)

Question 8

What is an ellipsis?

Answer 8

Not saying a part of grammatical structure to show a more casual tone/conversation. (E.g. You going to the party?/ Might be. - the pronouns ‘I’ and ‘are’ have been missed out)

Question 9

What is a false start?

Answer 9

Speaker begins to talk but then restarts either repeats or reformulantes what they were gonna say.

Question 10

What are Grices maxims?

Answer 10

Four basic conversational ‘rules’ (maxims)
1- quantity (dont say too much/little)
2- relevance (keep to the point)
3- manner (clear,coherent and orderly)
4- quality (be truthful)

Question 11

What’s a hedge?

Answer 11

Words that soften/weaken the force of something that’s said. (E.g perhaps, maybe)

Question 12

What is idiolecte?

Answer 12

An individually distinctive style of speaking.

Question 13

What are non-fluency features?

Answer 13

Typical characteristics of spoken language that interrupt the flow of talk. (E.g. false starts, fillers)

Question 14

What are paralinguistic faetures?

Answer 14

Body language - use of gestures,facial expressions etc to add further meaning to the speakers words.

Question 15

What is phatic talk?

Answer 15

Conversation that has no other purpose than to establish/maintain personal relationships. Small talk. (E.g. ‘cold isn’t it?’/ ‘freezing’ )

Question 16

What are pragmatics?

Answer 16

Discourse analysis that focuses on structure and contexts/purposes of people talking to eachother.

Question 17

What are prosodic features?

Answer 17

Stress, rhythm, pitch, tempo, intonation. How things are said.

Question 18

What are repairs?

Answer 18

An alteration suggested/made by a speaker, the adresse or audience in order to correct or clarify a previous conversational contribution.

Question 19

What is a sociolect?

Answer 19

Social dialect used by a particular group such as working class or upper class speech.

Question 20

What is transactional talk?

Answer 20

Language used to get things done or to transmit content or information. (Used when exchanging goods)

Question 21

What is turn Taking?

Answer 21

A single person speaks, within a typical,orderly arrangement where the speakers have minimal overlap and gap between them. Principle unit of description in conversational structure.

Question 22

What’s an utterance?

Answer 22

A complete unit of talk bound by the speakers silence.

Question 23

What is vague language?

Answer 23

Statements that sound imprecise and unassertive. (E.g. and so on, or whatever )

Question 24

What is a polypototon?

Answer 24

A figure of speech that involves the repetition of words derived from the same root. (E.g. ‘blood’ and ‘bleed’)

Question 25

What is syntactic parallelism?

Answer 25

Usage of the same verb form in each clause. (E.g. mastering the art of baking, she’s mastered the art of presentation)