Unit 1: Language and Interaction: Frames, DMs, speech activities

Question 1

What are the characteristics of discourse markers?

Answer 1

1. They are deictic expressions (they work as signals) as they guide the interlocutors’ attention to a common focus of attention.
2. They are cues of contextual conditions of the interlocutor’s identity
3. They are deictic expressions that have a core meaning that doesn’t change, but their interpretation changes every time they are used. 4. They take on unique and situated meaning in each context and contribute to creating the context.
4. DMs have an organizational dimension/a cohesive function: They orient the interlocutor’s attention to the different parts of a text and indicate the relationship between them.
5. They also express modal meaning and social meaning simultaneously
6. They are DISCOURSE DEICTICS (not just text deictics) because, in addition to their cohesive function, they include the interpersonal or social dimension and the modal dimension of deixis. Their function goes beyond the text.
7. They indicate relationships between discourse units at multiple planes of discourse organization.

Question 2

What is deixis? Are all discourse markers deictic? What types of deixis can you mention?

Answer 2

Deixis is a property and it is to do with pointing at someone, at a place or at a moment in time. There are four types of deixis: personal deixis, Spatial deixis, temporal deixis and discourse deixis.
No, not all DMs are deictics.

Question 3

Why are DMs contextualization cues?

Answer 3

Because DMs contribute to the signalling of contextual presuppositions

Question 4

What English discourse markers indicate the initiation of a self-repair?

Answer 4

The initiation of a self-repair can be indicated by the discourse markers “I mean”, “Look”, “Listen” and “Well” acting mainly at the ideational plane of discourse organization.

Question 5

How do self-repairs, on the one hand, and background-repairs, on the other hand, reveal that speakers design their talk taking their audience into consideration?

Answer 5

Self-repairs are SEQUENTIAL UNITS that involve repairing, correcting, or modifying what the speaker has just said. This correction/modification of the previos ideational unit shows that the speaker monitors his/her own speech and analyses if the audience accepts the assertion or not.
In discourse analysis, background repairs, indicate the segment that interrupts the dramatic action. These segments add background information that was not mention in the orientation section. In this repairs, there are DMs that function as brackets (because…anyway) indicating the beginning and the end of a segment (bracketing function).

Question 6

What is the best approach to account for discourse markers: a grammatical one or an interactional one?

Answer 6

Interactional approaches is the best approach as it encompases the cohesive and modal functions explains its relations to the dimension of activity.

Question 7

Discourse markers are “pointers” since they focus our interlocutors’ attention on the basis of a common orientation? What is this property?

Answer 7

The property of deixis

Question 8

Why can’t we say DMs mark?

Answer 8

Because they only function as signals and cues of contextual conditions. If the DMs weren’t present, the meaning of the proportions would still be the same

Question 9

Do DMs have a semantic meaning?

Answer 9

Yes, but it is bleached. Their contribution is pragmatic rather than semantic.

Question 10

Are DMs cohesive?

Answer 10

Yes, they signal relationships bw discourse units at different planes of discourse organization.

Question 11

What is the contribution of DMs to the speech activity?

Answer 11

They can signal a shift in frame and orient/guide the interlocutors’ attention to a common focus of attention. They can signal when a turn begins and ends, they can signal the type of speech act, and they can also signal the ideas that the interlocutors want to express.

Question 12

What is the contribution of discourse markers to social relations?

Answer 12

DMs can evoke a relationship of closeness or distance (soc meaning), as well as symmetrical and asymmetrical relationships (soc relationship). For instance, the DM y’know evokes a relationship of closeness since it signals that the information is assumed to be shared among the interlocutors.

Question 13

What is the contribution of DMs to the text?

Answer 13

Cohesion

Question 14

What is the importance/relevance of DM in the online (ongoing) production of discourse?

Answer 14

The use of discourse markers guides interlocutors, guides interpretations, signals how discourse is organized.
They orient interlocutors’ attention to segments of the text and signal the relationship between them.

Question 15

What segment is typically prefaced by “well” and “look” in mid-turn position?

Answer 15

A dispreferred response.

Question 16

Which discourse marker typically signals that, after a detour, a speaker is going back to a previous content unit/action?

Answer 16

The DM “anyway”, which is resumptive, as it signals that the speaker will resume a previous idea.

Question 17

What do code choice and discourse markers have in common in relation to the speech activity?

Answer 17

Code choice and DMs can index shifts in frame. For instance, shifting from English to Spanish to talk about gossip during an English lesson at school can signal a change from the frame lesson to the frame gossip. In the same way, the DM ‘well’ can also signal a shift from the frame break to the frame lesson when a teacher says ‘Well, the break is over. Let’s start the class.’

Question 18

What is a frame? How can interactants signal a shift in frame?

Answer 18

It is a cognitive process in which social actors perceive/understand different experiences to be organized, depending on that perception, they act accordingly.++

Question 19

What makes discourse markers useful in situated discourse?

Answer 19

As they are deictic expressions, they can signal cues of contextual conditions and guide the interlocutors on the basis of common orientation.

Question 20

How are speech events and conversational exchange related?

Answer 20

CE: smaller unit of analysis (questions-answer)
SE: social occasion/happening (NOT act), larger unit (lesson)
reflect + reinforces → two way relationship.
There is a two-way relationship between CONVERSATIONAL EXCHANGES and SPEECH EVENTS since the characteristics of a CE, such as norms and rules of interaction and the setting, are conditioned by the SP and at the same time, SP restrics the possibilities for exchanges. This means that certain exchanges might occur in certain SP.

Question 21

Typically, on what plane of discourse organization do “I mean” and “y’know?” mainly function? How do they differ?

Answer 21

They mainly function on the ideational plane as they signal the relationship between propositions. “I mean” usually prefaces a self-repair while “y’know” usually signals shared knowledge.

Question 22

What makes presuppositions interesting about control on interaction?

Answer 22

Presuppositions in language are implicit assumptions or background beliefs that speakers assume their audience shares for communication to be successful. In the context of interaction, presuppositions play a crucial role in shaping and controlling the flow of conversation. For instance, if an attorney in a court room asks ‘where did you last hit your wife?’ he is presupposing that the husband had hit the wife somewhere.

Question 23

Does a change of frame always involve/entail a change of footing?

Answer 23

Yes, it does. Puede haber change in footing sin change in frame, pero si el frame cambia, el footing tmb.
Chicos, nos tomamos una pausa - ¿Luis qué hiciste anoche? Change in footing (addresser-addressee) and frame (lesson-break)
Guys have you any questions ¿Luis que es un DM? Change in footing (addresser to addressee) but not frame (lesson)

Question 24

Can discourses naturalize things? What is naturalized in the discourse of business and education?

Answer 24

Yes. A hegemonic discourse can create meanings and realities that we take for granted, making certain things seem inevitable or even invisible because they appear natural, that is they are naturalized. For example, when it comes to trends, some people might reject them, others might accept them as just how things are, while some may rush to be at the forefront of the trend.

Question 25

What are the factors that account for code choice?

Answer 25

1. proficiency
2. classroom rules (puedo ir al baño)
3. addressee (the way we speak/the proportion of standard and standard forms is influenced by the addressee → peerness among students)
   → If the teacher says: ‘Hello’ in EN, students will answer in EN as well.

Question 26

What is the relationship between the three levels? CE - SE - LE (lang. Economy, value)

Answer 26

There is a two-way relationship between SE and CE since the characteristics of a SE such as norms of interaction and setting influence what happens at the micro-level (CE). At the same time, the routines of a CE can have an impact on the norms of interactions typical of a SE. value: depends on the society (spanish higher value than guarani in Arg) isn’t static. The value of English makes schools teach English, so the speech event “lesson” is delivered in English as a result of language economy. English becomes the automatic/natural choice in CE, even if it is not the time of the day to speak English, as it is socially significant and valued.

Question 27

Is the aim of bilingual education achieved?

Answer 27

No, because language economy influences the relative value that is given to the second language in that institution. Carranza proposes that other conditions should be proposed so that both languages can be used across addressees and across frames. In this way, a balance is achieved between both languages so that both can be valued and the cultural capital is also valued.

Question 28

Are these trends global or globalized?

Answer 28

GLOBALIZED. Because there are social agents and institutions that impose these trends.

Question 29

What is reflexivity?

Answer 29

It is one of the trends analyzed by Carranza. the use of knowledge about social sciences (language, sociology, psychology…) for social control. i.e to control interaction (to manipulate other’s behavior). Such knowledge is obtained through research in psychology, anthropology, science and communication studies.

Question 30

What are the main resources of reflexivity?

Answer 30

grammatical resources/linguistic features like question tags (almost automatic agreement), presuppositions (taken for granted in advance), inclusive we (addressee-involving mechanism), polarity questions (strictly limit the response option), etc, and interactional mechanism (fronted thanking, interjections or backchanelling behaviour, interrumptions, turn-allocation, and topic control.)

Question 31

What is commodification?

Answer 31

another trend analyzed by carranza. Carranza says that teachers accept these trends uncritically (i.e. testing international exams and giving sts tricks to pass and not to study).
*Rejecting vs resisting the trend: These trends should be resisted. Appropriating, adapting the trend for the local contexts. Uncritical acceptance → critically accepting the trend (appropriating the trend and accepting the trend)

Question 32

Should these trends be resisted?

Answer 32

No, it is impossible to resist English. They should be accepted and appropriated by adopting them in local contexts.

Question 33

How and why is the knowledge about the effects of strategic use of discourse systematically applied by local and transnational organizations and institutions?

Answer 33

How: through grammatical resources and interactional mechanisms.
Why: the aim is that the call center representative has control over the direction of the interaction.
Regarding grammatical resources, the inclusive we has been applied as an involving mechanism since it has the effect of involving the addressee in the decisions made by the salesperson.
As for turns, the business representative can resort to interrupting the client to avoid long turns on the part of the addressee.
Regarding the interactional mechanisms, the business representative can front the thanking sequence to have a possible effect on the interlocutor since thanking usually comes at the end of the interaction.

Question 34

What is cultural commodity?

Answer 34

Commodity: The accumulation of goods that gives people the possibility of accessing other commodities and social prestige.
Cultural commodity: culture is treated as a marketable item, something that can be bought, sold and exchanged within individuals of a society.
Work of art like those of Jeff Koons’ or Banksy are examples of cultural commodities.

Question 35

What are the effects of the engineering of discourse on social identities/relations?

Answer 35

The engineering of discourse is a way of talking to customers, in which linguistic resources and interactional mechanisms are applied for the benefit of bigger corporations, transnational companies and institutions. Linguists and advertising companies use expert knowledge to persuade the customer to accept their services with the effect of maximizing the profit of a company.

A speaker induces another to accept and agree with your offer, so you become a customer who was persuaded.

Question 36

What does the inventory (ecology) of genres reveal about soc at a given time in history?

Answer 36

piropo/Escraches: no es lo mismo hoy que en la época de la dictadura

Question 37

What accounts for the engineering of discourse?

Answer 37

It can be accounted for by the concept of reflexivity, which has to do with the strategic use of knowledge to modify or influence some aspects of society to one’s advantage.

Question 38

What is the construction of the identity for the students and for the institution?

Answer 38

clients - business transactors. Students are seen as clients. Carranza criticizes this web page because you are like a client as if you were in a private university.

Question 39

How can interactants signal a shift in frame?

Answer 39

By raising their voice or clapping their hands (non-linguistic resources) or by making use of DMs and shifting code.(Linguistic resources)

Question 40

What are the special functions of DMs?

Answer 40

Turn assignment, turn taking and turn construction
Floor holding
Self-repairs, background repairs and other types of repairs
preference organization
Transition signals
FRAMING CAPABILITIES: Some DMs in combination with some prosodic features can signal the establishment of a frame or a shift in frame. (alright or okay at the beginning of a lesson signaling closure)

Question 41

Where can we find DMs?

Answer 41

They are typical of non-institutional discourse of a conversational kind. HOWEVER, they can be found in other speech events like LESSONS, SOCIOLINGUISTICS INTERVIEWS, MEDICAL INTERVIEWS and also in COURTROOM DISCOURSE.

Question 42

What is a closing argument?

Answer 42

a type of genre that the trial lawyer produces to realise relevant and expected moves corresponding to a section in the development of a trial as an event.

Question 43

What is heterogeneity?

Answer 43

It is a property of texts and it means to say that different discourses/styles/registers coexist in the text.
In closing arguments, Carranza detects the coexistence of the discourse of the law and the discourse of the lifeworld.

Question 44

What is a bracketing self-repair?

Answer 44

It is a type of self-repair that in the course of argumentation, allows for the incorporation of counter-evidence or a potential objection to the position that is being defended. Therefore, the speaker anticipates a possible refutation or counter-argument. (Bueno… pero)