Spoken language Flashcards
What are adjacency pairs? Provide an example
- Conversational turn taking that is dependent on each other
- “How are you?” - “Fine, thanks!”
What is back channelling? Provide an example
- Words/phrases/non-verbal (paralinguistic) utterances used by a listener to show they understand
- “I see”, “uh huh”
What is a colloquialism? Provide an example
- Non standard/slang forms which may show where a speaker is from
- “brolly” = umbrella
What is collocation? Provide an example
- A familiar grouping of words which work better than others
- e.g “fast food” vs “quick food”
What is deixis? Provide an example
- Context-bound words in an utterance
- “this”, “that”, “here”
What are discourse markers? Provide an example
- Verbal signposting
- e.g “next”, “firstly”
What is ellipsis? Provide an example
- The omission of words in speech
- “___ You going to the shops?” “___ Might be” (Are + I are missing)
What is elision? Provide an example
- The slurring of sounds/syllables
- “gonna” = going to
What is emphasis? Provide an example
- When prosodic features are used to make part of an utterance stand out
- e.g Volume, pitch, tone, etc
What is a false start?
- When a speakers begins an utterance and then stops to reformulate/repeat
What other 2 names are false starts also known as?
- Self-correction
- Repairs
What are the three reasons for fillers? Provide an example
- Inserted in speech to allow time to think/create a pause/hold a turn in convo
- “er”, “um”, “ah”
What are fillers also known as?
Voiced pauses
What is hedging? Provide an example
- Words/phrases which soften/weaken an utterance
- e.g “Perhaps”, “maybe”, “sort of”
What is overlapping/ an interruption?
When one speaker begins to speak before another has finished
What do pauses imply?
- Thinking time or emphasis
What are the 3 reasons for repetition?
- Emphasis
- Clarification
- A listener not hearing/responding
What is a tag question? Provide an example
- A declarative sentence turned into a question
- “It’s a bit hot in here, isn’t it?”
What are the two types of spoken language?
Monologue and dialogue
What is a monologue? Provide an example
- A single speaker addressing one or more listeners
- e.g speeches/lectures
What is a dialogue? Provide an example
- Two or more people who are both speakers and listeners in a conversation
- e.g Meetings, debates, interviews, informal convos
What are the 7 influences on spoken language?
- Regional origin
- Socio-economic status (social class)
- Occupation
- Gender
- Ethnic identity
- Age
- Groups affiliated (e.g gangs)
What are the 4 contexts behind spoken language?
- Audience
- Setting
- Topic
- Purpose
What is an example of an audience for context behind spoken language?
Different status/power ranks, causing convergence/divergence
Provide an example of a setting which may change how spoken language is used
Social gathering, formal meeting
Why is a topic important as to how a conversation flows? Provide an example
- Particular topics can cause jargon/specialist lexis
- A conversation surrounding politics may concern specialist lexis such as “left-wing”
What does purpose relate to in context for spoken language?
- The functions of speech
What are the 5 functions of spoken language?
- Referential
- Expressive
- Transactional
- Interactional
- Phatic
What is Referential speech? Provide an example
- Provides information
- e.g “The train leaves at 12:30”
What is Expressive speech? Provide an example
- Conveys feelings
- e.g “I’m so excited for tomorrow!”
What is Transactional speech?
- The main emphasis is on getting a job done
- e.g A motorist asking a passerby for directions
What is Interactional speech? Provide an example
- The main emphasis is on the social relationship of speakers
- e.g Two friends who haven’t seen each other for a long time having a long chat
What is Phatic talk and what’s the point of it?
- Small talk
- Helps to establish/maintain social relationships
What are the 4 main types of grammar in spoken lang?
- Non-standard grammar
- Interrupted constructions
- Disjointed constructions
- Incomplete constructions
What is non-standard grammar?
Informality of speech
What is an interrupted construction? Provide an example
- AKA repairs; one construction is abandoned for another
- e.g “I think you could have - should have told me”
What is a disjointed construction also known as? Provide an example
- AKA false starts
- “He knows about cars - how to fix them”
What is an incomplete construction also known as? Provide an example
- AKA ellipsis
- “Seen Tom recently?” = missing “Have you…”
What was Austin’s theory?
- Speech acts
What are the 3 speech acts that Austen curated?
- Locution
- Illocution
- Perlocution
What is Locution? Provide an example
- The words that a speaker actually says
- e.g “It’s a bit hot in here!”
What is Illocution? Provide an example
- The actual meaning/intention of the utterance
- e.g If a speaker says that it is hot, the speaker wants someone to open the window
What is Perlocution? Provide an example
- The way the hearer interprets the speaker
- e.g If a speaker says that it is hot, the speaker wants someone to open the window, but the hearer may open a window, or just agree/disagree with the locution
What are the 5 other spoken language theorists that overlap other topics (occupation, gender, etc)?
- Goffman = Face theory
- Brown and Levinson = Face theory pt.2
- Grice = Conversational maxims
- Giles = CAT (Communication Accommodation Theory)
- Lakoff = Women’s language features
