Multi-Modal Talk Vocab

Question 1

Sociolect

Answer 1

The factors and influences that have caused a particular group of people to speak, and structure their speech, in the way that they do.

Question 2

Discourse

Answer 2

Written or spoken communication or debate; discussion, conversation, talk, dialogue, communication, consultation, verbal exchange.

Question 3

Transcript

Answer 3

Spoken language that has been written down.

Question 4

Accent and dialect

Answer 4

Accent:
How a person’s words sound when they speak.

Dialect:
A variety of speech that incorporates accent and specific words and phrases that are tied to a specific region or area.

Question 5

Phatic talk

Answer 5

Every day small talk, for example, “How are you?”.

Question 6

Turn talking, politeness and feedback

Answer 6

Turn taking:
When speakers swag communicators behave in a way that allows each other to speak in turn.

Politeness:
The things that people do to show that they are listening.

Feedback:
A response to a question or query

Question 7

Interruptions and interventions

Answer 7

Interruptions:
When a speaker is prevented from finishing what they’re saying by another person successfully taking control of the situation

Interventions:
And attempt made by someone to “gain the floor” and take control of the topic of conversation. Often, you will have several people intervening at the same time.

Question 8

Deletion and Ellipses

Answer 8

Deletion:
When a speaker misses out a word.

Ellipses:
When a speaker misses out more than a single world.

Question 9

Context

Answer 9

The situation and environment surrounding the example of speech or discourse.

Question 10

Hesitations, fillers and false starts

Answer 10

Hesitation:
When a person clearly hesitates before speaking. This can be silences and fillers and will usually require some context to be accurately identified.

Filler:
‘Er’, ‘um’, or elongated syllables, for example ‘w-e-ll’. Sometimes phrases such as ‘You know what I mean’, are used as fillers.

False start:
The speaker starts out saying one thing and then stops to rephrase, rethink or clarify what he/she was planning to say. False starts can occur when a speaker realises that what he/she has just said is not correct or doesn’t make sense and so has another try.

Question 11

Nicknames, slang and taboo expressions

Answer 11

Nicknames:
Names that are used in place of a person’s real name. They can be formal (sir) or informal (mate).

Slang:
Non-formal expressions.

Taboo expressions:
Rude, often offensive expressions that are linked to sensitive subject matters.

Question 12

Formality

Answer 12

Writing a speech that is considered to be “correct” is generally classed as being formal. This type of language is associated with power, education and class.

Question 13

Abbreviations and contractions

Answer 13

Abbreviation:
When a word is shortened. Such as “cause” instead of “because”.

Contraction:
When two words are joined together such as “don’t” instead of “do not”.

Question 14

Homonyms

Answer 14

Words that sound the same as others but are spelt differently and have different meanings.

Question 15

Prefixes and suffixes

Answer 15

Prefix:
A word, letter(s) or number placed before another that causes the meaning of the following word to change. For example: re-engage, disbelief, unhappy.

Suffix:
A morphene (grammatical unit placed after a word that causes its meaning to change.

Question 16

Deixis

Answer 16

When referring to an object or place, the audience has to understand the context to make sense of it.

Question 17

Idiolect

Answer 17

The factors and influences that have caused a person to speak, and structure their speech, in the way that they do.