Spoken Language Techniques Flashcards
Accelerando?
A term used to describe speech that is getting faster (marked accel on transcripts)
Accommodation?
A term used to describe the changes people make to their speech, prosodic (relating to the rhythm/ sound of speech) features and gestures in order to emphasise or minimise the differences between them
Adjacency pair?
A sequence of two connected utterances by different speakers one after another. This may take the forms: question/answer complaint/explanation or remedy(correcting something) statement/affirmation command/action etc
Assimilation?
The ways in which the sounds of one word can change the sounds of neighbouring words in connected speech
Back channeling?
Interactive features such as minimal responses (e.g mm, yeah, ahh) that demonstrate a participants is listening and paralinguistic (non verbal) features that show affirmation, but which do not disrupt the speakers turn
Comment clause?
A commonly occurring clause in speech which adds remark to another clause e.g I mean, I think
Convergence?
A process in which two speakers adapt their language and pronunciation to reduce the differences between them
Discourse markers?
Words or phrases that stand outside the clause and act as fillers, topic changers or hedges e.g well, right, y’know, I mean, basically
Divergence?
A process by which two speakers adapt their language and pronunciation to increase the differences between them
Elision?
The omission of sounds in connected speech
Emphatic stress?
Stress placed upon syllables or words in spoken discourse
False start?
An utterance that is started, left incomplete, and then restarted again with a different grammatical structure
Filled pause?
A voiced hesitation in spoken language
Filler?
Words with no semantic value, which are inserted into speech either from habit or to give a participant thinking time as they search for a word e.g er,um,ah
Hedging?
The use of migrating words or sounds to lessen the impact of an utterance e.g I think, I’m not an expert but, somewhat, it’s possible that
Hesitation?
The repetition of the initial sound of a letter
Implicature?
A term used to describe what a hearer infers from an utterance
Interactive?
Distinctive non-verbal utterances that affirm (e.g mm, yes) show agreement (e.g laughter) or add reinforcement (e.g echo utterances)
Interruption?
The ending of one speaker’s turn by the intervention of another speaker, which may be a non-cooperative challenge, or may be the result of multiple participants with equal status in a conversation
Intonation?
The quality or tone of voice in speech, which can stay level, rise or fall
Latch-on
A smooth link between different speakers in a spoken exchange
Liaison
A process that changes the pronunciation of words at boundaries marked by /r/
Monitoring features?
Expressions which allow a speaker to check that the hearer is still listening, has understood ect e.g would you believe
Normal non-fluency
Commonly occurring features of spoken language such as hesitations and false starts which breakup the flow of speech
Overlap?
Participants speak at the same time, but the dominant speaker’s turn is not ended- this can mark positive feedback where one speaker provides backchannel affirmation or support; the misjudgement of the end of a turn; or an additional point or comment on what is being said
Paralinguistics?
The study of non-verbal communication e.g vocal effects (laughing, sighing) gesture, posture and facial expressions
Pauses?
Micro pause: A minimal break in spoken language
Timed paused: in seconds in brackets at the end of speech
Phatic speech?
Words, phrases and clauses that have a social function e.g good morning, lovely day thanks
Phonetics?
The study of spoken sounds and the way in which they are produced
Phonology?
The study of sounds in a particular language and the ways in which they are combined to create meaning
Pitch?
The level of a sound, which can be lowered or raised
Prosodic features?
The use of pitch, volume, pace and rhythm to draw attention to key features of spoken language
Rallentando?
A term that is used to describe speech that is getting slower (marked rall on transcripts)
Self-correction?
A speaker’s repair to an utterance e.g Steve. Sir Stephen
Spontaneity markers?
Distinctive features of spoken language that mark speech as spontaneous and unscripted, including comment clauses, fillers, hesitations ect
Turn-taking?
The organisation of participants in a spoken interaction, where the turns may be equal or where one speaker may be dominant
Utterance?
A grammatical structure made up of one or more clauses, often preceded by a micro pause and followed by another pause or a change of speaker in spoken language
Unintentional repetition?
The accidental repetition of a monosyllabic word in spoken language
