Talk features notes

ELLB 3-Talk in Life and Literature A Comprehensive Guide to the vocabulary needed and how it can be used to gain a top grade ELLB3 is a module that requires a detailed understanding of how conversations work within life, and through this understanding that comments can then be made on how playwrights manipulate language, structure and form to create drama within a play. The following terminology can be used to answer both Question 1- the text based question and Question 2- the unseen question comparing a transcript with an extract from a play, prose or poetry. It is essential that you have a good understanding of all of these terms and that you have practised applying and analysing them to the set text in addition to extracts from poems and novels. Whenever a talk feature is applied, the context of the conversation must be considered. What is an everyday conversation? The term conversation refers to talk that involves more than one participant. The connotations of „everyday conversation‟ may suggest an interaction that is spontaneous, private, equal, perhaps trivial and usually polite. When applying this to the set text the public or private nature of the text should be considered carefully as this will have an impact on the language used. It is important to note that when writing about your set text the person who is speaking in the conversation is referred to as the character or you specifically use the character‟s name. Whereas, when responding to transcripts in Question 2 the person speaking is referred to as the speaker. Never refer to a character when responding to transcripts as this will lose you marks. To gain a top grade you must be clearly and consistently showing the examiner that you understand the differences between talk in life and literature. How do conversations work? Turn-taking Turn-taking is intrinsically linked with power and status and these key terms should feature in any essay that you write. Look carefully at who takes the most turns or speaks for the longest amount of time (holding the floor). You can see just by glancing at the text in front of you who is taking the most turns so this is a concept that should be applied early on in an essay. Don‟t make the mistake of overlooking this merely because it is a more obvious concept. Context should be considered here, as taking the most turns does not necessarily mean that the speaker is in control. Consider an interview situation. The interviewee says the most, yet it is the interviewer that has the status and control. Short monosyllabic responses to lengthy questions may mean that the speaker is withholding information and therefore maintains control of the conversation. Exchanges A sequence of turns is called an EXCHANGE and each turn within this is termed a MOVE Some exchanges take place in two moves or ADJACENCY PAIR e.g. (1) “Hello there!” (utterance) 1

“Hi” (expected response) (2) “Thank you” “You‟re Welcome” Another common exchange or adjacency pair is the question and answer. It is important to examine adjacency pairs as this tells us something about how cooperative a conversation is. If adjacency pairs are broken it can suggest an uncooperative conversation (normally for a particular reason which can be seen through the context). (1) “Did you feel embarrassed when you fell over last night?” (utterance) “Yes it was awful!” (expected response) (2) “Did you feel embarrassed when you fell over last night?” (utterance) “Er…so the weather is nice today isn‟t it?”(non-expected response) In example 1 the adjacency pair shows a cooperative conversation, in which both participants seem comfortable with each other- possibly friends who have a strong relationship. In example 2 the adjacency pair is broken by the use of an interrogative responding to an interrogative. This is not an expected response and shows the underlying embarrassment speaker 2. The interrogative is an attempt to „topic shift‟ (see later notes) and therefore change the subject. Initiating turns In a sequence it is valid to look at who initiates a turn. This may be done as follows: INTERROGATIVE: What did you do last night? DECLARATIVE: It is so cold today. IMPERATIVE: Well, say something. EXCLAMATION: What a fantastic rainbow! It is important when examining these four sentence functions that you look for patterns in the text as well as commenting on how turns are initiated. A speaker in a transcript may use a succession of interrogatives which may reveal how eager they are to find out information from the other participant. Or a series of exclamations may be used to show a particular emotion heightened. The following example is taken from scene 1 of „A Streetcar Named Desire‟ by Tenessee Williams Blanche: You didn‟t dream, but I saw! Saw! Saw! The short exclamations, in a series, shows Blanche‟s mounting anger towards her sister, as she relives her experiences at Belle Reve. Here you would also comment on the vocabulary used. Never write about sentence function without specifically commenting on what they are saying and the significance of this. The repetition of the word „saw‟ suggests to the audience that blanche has been acutely affected by her experiences, creates a divide between the two sisters and reveals Blanche‟s resentment due to her sister‟s abandonment. Allocating turns 2

It is also an interesting and valid exercise to look at the way turns are passed from one to another. This links with power and status and should be examined. This can mean that a conversation is more or less cooperative and differences in gender can be seen here. Back-Channel behaviour A listener can indicate that they want the speaker to continue by uttering sounds or words e.g. yeah, mm or oh…right. The term for this is back-channel behaviour. Continuers: mh, uh, huh – hand speech back to last speaker Acknowledgements; express agreement or understanding of the previous turn (mmm, yeah). Assessments: take account of what has just been said (how awful that‟s wonderful) etc Newsmarkers: mark the utterances as being new information or news (really?) Questions: either (a) create interest by asking for further details or (b) seek to correct some misunderstanding Collaborative completions: finished another‟s utterance Non verbal vocalisations (laughter, sighs, frowns) After examining back-channel behaviour, which will be present in every extract, examine what it is telling you about the speaker or the relationship between the participants in the conversation. Back-channel behaviour is something that should be commented on in every essay. Topic Changes Another factor to consider when looking at turn taking is the fact that conversations often change from one topic to another. Note why this is occurring, as in the earlier example linked to adjacency pairs. It is also interesting to note who establishes the topic of conversation, which is referred to as AGENDA SETTING. This may vary according to situation / context, e.g. interview. When applying this to the literary set text, it tells you a lot about who is in control of the conversation. Representation of phonological features The term idiolect refers to the distinctive features of an individual‟s language use. It is generally much easier to identify a person from their speech than from their writing. Once all traces of pronunciation have gone we are left only with such clues as choice of vocabulary and perhaps some typical sentence structures. Convergence Where a speaker takes on some of the idiolectal aspects of another speaker. This could be replicating accent or repeating particular words. This is a common occurrence and playwright‟s use this for specific dramatic effects. Accent Every speaker has an accent, although this will not be made apparent within the transcripts. However, this may be of interest in your set text (Question 1) or the unseen literary text for 3

Question 2. The following example is taken from scene 1 of „A Streetcar Named Desire‟ by Tenessee Williams. Stella: Look‟n see honey. Williams uses elision to recreate the informal Southern accent of Stella. This is of particular interest as it is only at times within the play that she shows traces of her accent, unlike her husband Stanley. Theoretical links One of the most obvious and relatively straightforward to apply is Grice‟s Maxims. This should be commented on in every essay in order to gain the higher marks. Grice‟s Maxims Grice claims that his maxims can account for the way that meanings are created and conveyed in conversations between two people. This does not mean that speakers always abide by the maxims and it is when these maxims are not adhered to that interesting comments can be made. When Maxims are not adhered to it is known as „flouting the maxims‟ The “maxims of conversation” devised by philosopher Paul Grice are based on what he calls the principles of co-operation. Quantity Give the right amount of information Make your contribution as informative as is appropriate Do not make you contribution more informative that is appropriate Quality Try to make your contribution one that is true Do not say what you believe to be false Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence Relevance Be relevant Manner Be clear Avoid obscurity of expression Avoid ambiguity Be brief Be orderly 4

Please note- manner is often written about inaccurately by pupils linking it to the participant having „bad manners‟. This must be avoided as using terminology incorrectly will lose you marks. For example, a speaker or a character could say far too much and would therefore be flouting the maxim of quantity, or a character could say something that is known by the audience to be a lie, and then they would be flouting the maxim of quality. Dramatic Dialogue If Grice‟s framework helps to explain how meanings are constructed in everyday conversation then it can also help us to interpret dramatic dialogue. For dialogue to be dramatic we expect it to reveal conflict and tension, rather than co-operation. Constructed dialogue often implies rather than states, explicitly relying on the audience‟s knowledge of characters, plot etc. Politeness principles The need to be polite accounts for various strategies in conversation Leech proposed the tact maxim or approbation maxim which states “minimum dispraise of other, maximum praise of other” This means that if we need to say something bad about the other person we should choose an indirect way of saying it. If somebody has had a new haircut and it does not suit them the conversation could go like this: (1) “Do you like my hair?” “I think that it would look even better if it were a lighter colour.” (2) “Do you like my hair?” “The colour looks dreadful on you!” Conversation one adheres to Leech‟s tact maxim and therefore would hurt the feelings less of the speaker. Whereas, Conversation 2 flouts the tact maxim and is too direct. This would therefore tell us something about the speaker and his/ her attitude towards the other participant. The Concept of “Face” Brown and Levinson developed a framework around the concept of FACE which refers to our public self image. There are two aspects to this concept positive face which refers to our need to be liked and accepted and negative face which refers to our right not to be imposed on. Politeness involves showing awareness of the other‟s “FACE” needs. This suggests that speakers use positive politeness strategies with friends to emphasize solidarity such as: Shared dialect Informal lexis Informal grammar More direct requests. 5

When writing about the concept of face in an essay, you can refer to a speaker or character as „displaying face threatening behaviour‟. This is a useful phrase that can be applied and one that is relatively simple to remember. Negative Politeness Strategies that emphasize when there is a social distance between speakers so more indirect requests and a more formal lexis and grammar are used. Robin Lakoff suggested an alternative for a politeness principle with three maxims Don‟t impose (Principle of Distance) Give options (Principle of Deference) Be friendly (Principle of Camaraderie) Lexical features of conversation The choice of these lexical features can determine the relationship between participants in a conversation through Modes of address Technical words (jargon) Taboo words Slang Any other relevant features Modes of Address Modes of address indicate something about the relationship between the speakers and also social context. e.g. “Mrs O‟Connor” “Our Bert” “Honey” “Hot stuff” Modes of address should be referred to in every essay. In your set text modes of address are very important. How one character refers to another will change and these changes are the most important thing to look out for. Showing the examiner that you have an awareness of character development or the differing emotions of characters at different parts of the play are essential for a top grade. You know that you would never analyse an extract line by line, so modes of addresses should be grouped and then comments made. Do not write about modes of address every time you come across another one. This should be focused on in one section of your essay to give you time to look at other talk features. Taboo Language Swearing has different effects from offence to amusing and friendly. Age, gender and social class are important factors here. Consider carefully how the expletive has been used within the conversation. Tag Questions 6

Questions that are tagged on to the end of a declarative. A feature of everyday conversation that is replicated in literature. (1) The weather is great, isn‟t it? Hedge A stalling technique to make an utterance more tentative. Sometimes used to give the speaker more time to think, when they are unsure of a reaction to an utterance, to make a statement less direct or to soften in some way. A technique used by salesmen! (1) Well, it could be done. (2) Could you possibly buy this magazine for me? (3) Maybe you could try this out. Look out for these in your set text and the spoken transcripts of Question 2. Anacoluthon A feature of conversation used on a daily basis where the speaker topic shifts mid-sentence. Often shows a lost train of thought or an important point or idea coming to the forefront. (1) So she said that.. Wow look at that rain! (2) I think you could.. did I tell you about Brian? This is also an interesting technique that will show examiners that you have done additional reading. Fillers Words such as „erm‟ that fill in time or show hesitation or lack of clarity. Interjections Words of no grammatical value, such as „oh‟ and „hmmm‟. „Oh‟ is the most common in the set texts as it can be replicating a sigh or surprise. Consider here how the line would be delivered to make a phonological point. Repetition Repetition of words shows the importance of a particular aspect of the conversation of a character of speaker. Hesitations Pauses and hesitations are simple to spot but more difficult to explain in terms of effects. In the play script you could be given the stage directions (pause) or be given ellipses (…) to indicate a pause. In transcripts you could be given a number of seconds (1). Consider the context carefully and never merely write „this is to give the speaker thinking time‟. Your comment for Question 1 or 7

2 must be specifically linked to context and the content of the conversation. Is the character or the speaker nervous or stalling or is there another reason for the hesitation. Overlaps and Interruptions An overlap or interruption is certainly telling you something about the relationship and status of the two characters (Q1) or speakers (Q2). Is the speaker excited or rude or trying to re-gain control of the conversation? Repairs Self repairs. This is where a speaker makes an error and repairs their utterance by changing their language to utter the correct words. (1) Pass me the sp…tea spoon. (2) Today it is the third- fourth. Other repair. This is when another speaker repairs your error for you. (1) Adam has got a new car. Alec has got a new car. Other initiated self repair. Where another participant in the conversation prompts the self-repair. (1) Pass me the spoon The tea spoon? Yes, the tea spoon. Gender Is there a distinctly male versus female way of talking? Various studies have commented on the supposed passivity of women and the supposed dominance of men. This is not essential for your set text and many candidates who gain top grades do not link essays to gender studies. However, with ELLB3 having a definite steer you could be asked q question specifically on female language, therefore it is a good idea to have practised applying gender theory to your set text and a number of transcripts of spoken language. O‟Barr and Atkins from their study of courtroom language described women‟s language as “powerless” Studies show that these are some differences in the genres of talk that we employ. These include Telling stories or anecdotes Gossiping expressing opinions Telling jokes Chatting It is often said that women engage in gossip more than men. Gossip may be defined as idle chat or conversations based on rumours about others. Eggins and Slade suggest that gossip is a way of “asserting social unity”. 8

Storytelling These theories are taken from Analysing Casual Conversation by Eggins and Slade They suggest that: Women don‟t tell naughty stories Stories in which speakers show themselves in fearful, embarrassing or humiliating situations are far more likely to be told by women than men. Male speakers seem to prefer to feature as heroes in stories which are about danger, violence, heroic deeds etc. In our culture men do not usually tell stories about their own fears and failures. Women present a mundane world where problems can be shared and usually where something is being „done‟ to the protagonist rather than by the protagonist. Women relate incidents in which they violate social norms and are scared or embarrassed as a result. Pragmatics The emphasis is not on what the sentences mean but what the speaker‟s mean when they utter them. Purposes of conversations When considering the purposes of conversations it is important to look at the literary texts in a different way to transcripts. Every conversation within a literary text has been written by the text producer for a particular reason or reasons. For literary texts consider dramatic purposes like the following: Moving plot on Creating an atmosphere or mood To reveal more about a character To reveal more about the relationship between characters Every To create tension or drama conversation has To create irony a purpose and To reveal more about the attitude of a particular character For Question 2 To introduce character consider one or To help to convey time or setting more of the To develop a particular theme following purposes at the beginning of the essay in the context section, as you would for Question 1. 9

Transactional – exchanges where the speaker is getting something done e.g asking for directions Referential- providing information e.g telling someone the times and dates of a meeting Phatic – small talk e.g talking about the weather or asking how someone is in a telephone conversation Interactional – main purpose is social. This has links with phatic conversations e.g talking about a shared night out Expository- think of expose-to explain something clearly Performative – carrying out the purpose of the talk- e.g an introduction 10

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