Social Psychology of Language Flashcards
how are conversations characterised?
an orderly exchange of turns
what situations may affect turn-taking
- information conversations (not prearranged -> chats between friends)
- interviews (Q-R pattern, typical expectation that Qs come from the employer) [can be information or formal]
- ceremonies and rituals (speaking prearranged -> strict terms/rules arranged prior to the event)
Walker (1982) focused on information 1-to-1 conversations, what did they find?
- finely-timed changeover between speakers
- transition pauses were less than 200 milliseconds
competition of speaking turns was projectable
what is a transitional pause?
the pause time between one individual finishing their sentence/speak and another individual speaking
how do we know speech is projectable?
A set of signals someone gives off shows that they are coming to the end of their speaking turn
Duncan & Fiske (1972, 1985) identified six different signals / turn-yielding cues which display someone is coming to the end of their speaking term. What are they?
- rise/fall in pitch at end of clause
- drawl on final syllable
- termination of hand gestures
- stereotyped expressions, e.g., âyou knowâ
- drop in loudness
- completion of a grammatical clause
how value are these cues?
studies suggesting that the display of cues is strongly associated with a finally tuned timed change over between speakers
* the more cues displayed, the smoother the speaker switch / transitional
what does a hang gesture suggest?
attempt-suppressing signal
* hand up to supress and inject to take over the conversation
De Ruiter, Mitterer and Enfield (2006) studied different environments to test whether participants could accurately predict the end of a speakers turn, what did they find?
- Original Audio Recording: Participants were accurate
- Intonation of OAR synthesised to produce flat pitch (words and syntax were intact): Participants were still accurate and even able to detect the end of a turn when there was no rise or fall in intonation
- Speech content filtered (intonation unchanged but words cannot be heard): Performance deteriorates significantly
- overall content and syntax of speech are far more important than intonation
What is an interruption?
simultaneous speech (typically)
* silent interruptions occur without simultaneous speech i.e. stops to think mid-sentence (clearly not finished from content) but the other takes over
Is all simultaneous speech interruptive?
No, some listener responses can be termed âback-channelsâ such as âyeahâ, âuh huhâ and can be an important conversational element
Roger, Bull & Smith (1988) looked at the typology of interruptions, finding two main dimensions of interruptions
- simple or complex
- successful or unsuccessful
what is a successful interruption?
interrupter prevents the speaker from finishing their sentence
what can happen with excessive interruption?
conversational breakdown
* not all interruptions are problematic though -> can perhaps exhibit enthusiasm
Beliefs among doctors suggest patients spend too long talking if not interrupted by the doctor, Manz and Al-Roubaie (2008) studied Interruptions in medical consultations. Summarise what was found..
- non-supportive interruptions were used significant more by doctors than patients
- patients were significantly less likely to succeed in their interruptions compared to doctors
- patients failed significantly more in successful interruptions with senior doctors than student doctors [senior doctors more likely to ignore interruption cues)
- interviews take longer if the doctor interrupts more
What is manterrupting?
unnecessary interruption of a woman by a man
* can result in frustration due to being ignored, silenced or sidelined in personal or professional conversation (Och, 2020)
Och (2020) studied forms of resistance against women in the German Bundestag making can assessment of interruption (by gender), what did they find?
(Manterruption was understood as âany interruption that does not substantially add to the debateâ including personal insults)
- women were 17.7% more likely to interrupt than men -> women interrupted men more often than vice versa
- manterruptions were not systematic or frequent enough to be considered resistance against women -> interruptions were more regarding political opposition than gender
what is the definition of equivocation?
the use of ambiguous language to conceal the truth or to avoid committing oneself
what are some definitions of equivocation as suggested by researchers?
- âthe gentle art of saying nothing by saying somethingâ (Watzlawick et al., 1967)
- ââŚnonstraightforward communication; it appears ambiguous, contradictory, tangential, obscure or even evasiveâ (Bavelas et al., 1990)
- âintentional use of imprecise languageâ (Hamilton & Mineo, 1998)
- âcalculated ambivalenceâ (Wodak et al., 2009) - something thatâs quite strategic
What are the two main aspects of equivocation?
- situational theory of communicative conflict (STCC)
- multidimensional (4 dimensions)
What is the situational theory of communicative conflict?
Equivocation occurs in response to communicative conflict:
* All possible responses to a question may have negative consequences (undesirable)
* A response is still expected
* Equivocation a result of the communicative situation (you answer with an equivale response, everyday conversation tools)
What is Multidimensional and the four dimensions?
There are four ways in which a response may be equivocal:
1. Sender â speakerâs own opinion?
2. Content â clarity? (how clear is this personâs response, more unclear, more difficult it is in this typical dimension)
3. Receiver â addressed to the other person in the situation?
4. Context â direct answer to the question? (what)
In Bavelas et al., (1990) study, Participants were presented with a conflictual situation. What three kinds of equivocal responses were found?
Responses to communicative conflict was rated significantly more equivocal
- Subtle changes in response
- Deferred replies (say something like âlets meet over coffee and weâll talk about it afterwardsâ)
- Hints (âwell you could do with a little more prepâ -an unelicit hint)
What is a criticism of Equivocation Theory?
The role of face & face management
* âfaceâ is not easy to define: prestige, honour or reputation -> itâs others thinking well about you
Bello & Edwards (2005) -> poor presentation in a public speaking class protects both their own face and the face of others
Bull et al. (1996) -> Communicative conflict in political interviews are created by threats to face
What are consequences of equivocation?
Itâs as important as the causes
i.e. analysis of interview with Princess Diana (Bull, 1997):
* Strategic advantages of implicit replies to questions; cf. non-replies (i.e. âwell you couldnât prepare for thisâ, no replies to the actual question but strong implication to the actual statement - got message across but couldnât be viewed as being petty/in trouble for giving a direct answer)
* Both regarded as forms of equivocation in the original theory
If Equivocation is seen as a form of communicative skill, is it deliberately deceitful?
- âEquivocation is not the deliberately deceitful âdirty old manâ of communication. It is subtle, often commendable and highly understandableâ (Bavelas et al., 1990)
What is Communication Accommodation Theory?
- Based on similarity-attraction theory (Byrne, 1969) - simple vary that we tend to like/have preference for people who are more like us
- Reducing dissimilarities â may lead to a more favourable evaluation (make ourselves sound similar to others so we are more liked, more favourable eval)
- CAT evolved out of an earlier theory â Speech Accommodation Theory (SAT)
SAT is initially concerned with accent, affecting how people are perceived, what is an accent?
- refers to pronunciation and part of dialect
what is a dialect?
distinct manner of speech that differs in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar (that fits with our location/environment etc. we change our dialect dependent on our environment)
A meta-analysis of 20 studies comparing standard & non-standard accents by Fuertes et al. (2012) found..
Standard accents were rated significantly higher on all 3 dimensions: Status, Solidarity and Dynamism (likeness)
Giles (1973) suggests that our accents can change, in either of two directions. What are these directions?
Divergence: making our accent less similar (dissimilar to the person youâre interacting with)
Convergence: making our accent more similar (similar to the person youâre interacting with)
Convergence may take two directions, given that accents vary in social prestige. What are these directions?
- upwards (talking more posh)
- downwards (talking less posh/reverting more towards your original accent)
Willemyn et al. (1997) studied Australian job interviews (4 males, 4 females) interviewers who were divided equally either having a broad or cultivated accent. What did they find?
- Applicantsâ accents sig. broader with broader accent interviewers (convergence)
- They disagreed that their accents had become broader
- Women disagreed sig. more than men
Bourhis & Giles looked at Welsh students studying Welsh in a language laboratory. Students were either integrative (learning to become more familiar with their heritage) or instrumental (learning for job prospects) learners. They listened to questions in English from an English-accented speaker who challenged their reasons for studying welsh i.e. âWhy are you studying a dying language with a dismal future?â. What did they find in response to accents?
- Instrumental language learners â softened Welsh accents (convergence)
- Integrative learners broadened their Welsh accents (i.e., accent divergence)
- Three participants also introduced Welsh words and phrases when talking to the english accent speaker (content divergence)
It is suggested that over-accommodating can possibly be seen as ingratiating or patronising and thereâs an optimal level of convergence. Giles & Smith (1979) -> Canadian man describes education system to teachers from England; accommodates in 3 ways:
Speech rate (145 words per minute to only 100 words per minute), content and pronunciation. What did they find>
- Most favourable when he converged on speech rate and either content or pronunciation
- Less favourable when he converged on all 3 dimensions
What is an example of communication that can be over-accommodating?
Elderly people
What is a solution to over-accomodating communication?
Having an equal level of accommodation and language
