WHAT DO PEOPLE DO TO SUSTAIN A CONVERSATION: ANALYSIS OF THE FEATURES AND THE SPEECH FUNCTION OF A CASUAL CONVERSATION
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Abstract
Conversation Analysis (CA) has a great implication in the second or foreign language teaching and learning. This study was aimed to analyse a casual conversation, to identify what people do to sustain a conversation. The conversation, which lasted for 20 minutes and involved three speakers, was transcribed verbatim. Several features of the spoken text are analysed: spontaneity, interactivity, interpersonal features, coherence features, negotiation of meaning, and speech function. The result of the analysis showed that there are several strategies used by the speakers: time-gaining strategies (filled pauses; frequent use of conjunctions: and, but, so); using chunks and producing one clause or phrase in small ‘runs’; self-monitoring strategies (repetition, backtracking), and interactional strategies (backchanneling, showing amusement by laughing or chuckling, using certain discourse markers, hedges, vague language, showing empathy by completing and repeating each other’s utterances). The speakers also negotiate interpersonally and logico-semantically to keep the conversation going on. The equal number of rejoinders that each speaker produces indicates that they are willing to support each other to sustain the conversation. This study implies that when teaching speaking, English teachers should include communication strategies to achieve the goals of communication.
Keywords: casual conversation; negotiation of meaning; speech function; strategies.Article Details
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References
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Schiffrin, D. (2001). Discourse markers: Language, meaning, and context. In The Handbook of Discourse Analysis (pp. 54–75). Blackwell Publishers Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203813324-7
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Thornburry, S. (2005). Beyond the sentence: Introducing discourse analysis. Macmillan Education.
Trippas, J. R., Spina, D., Cavedon, L., & Sanderson, M. (2017). A Conversational search transcription protocol and analysis. ACM SIGIR Workshop on Conversational Approaches for Information Retrieval. Retrieved on 2 June, 2020 from https://www.johannetrippas.com/papers/Trippas et al-CAIR2017-protocol.pdf
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Vo, T. H. Le, Wyatt, M., & McCullagh, M. (2016). Exploring the gap between Vietnamese workplace communication in English and English language teaching at a university. Asian ESP Journal, 12(1), 8–38.
Albert, S. (2017). Research methods: Conversation analysis. In M. Schober, D. . Rapp, & A. . Britt (Eds.), The Handbook of Discourse Processes 2nd edition (2nd Editio, pp. 99–108). Taylor and Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315687384
Barraja-Rohan, A. M. (2011). Using conversation analysis in the second language classroom to teach interactional competence. Language Teaching Research, 15(4):479-507 https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168811412878
Barthel, M., Meyer, A. S., & Levinson, S. C. (2017). Next speakers plan their turn early and speak after turn-final “go-signals.” Frontiers in Psychology, 8(393), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00393
Bögels, S., Kendrick, K. H., & Levinson, S. C. (2015). Never say no . . . How the brain interprets the pregnant pause in conversation. PLoS ONE, 10(12), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0145474
Buchholz, M. B., & Kächele, H. (2013). Conversation analysis – A powerful tool for psychoanalytic practice and psychotherapy research. Language and Psychoanalysis, 2(2), 4–30. https://doi.org/10.7565/landp.2013.004
Buchholz, M. B., & Kächele, H. (2017). From turn-by-turn to larger chunks of talk: An exploratory study in psychotherapeutic micro-processes using conversation analysis. Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome, 20(257), 161–178. https://doi.org/10.4081/ripppo.2017.257
Celce-Murcia, M. (2007). Rethinking the role of communicative competence in language teaching. In E. A. Soler & M. P. S. Jorda (Eds.), Intercultural Language Use and Language Learning (pp. 41–57). Springer Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5639-0_3
Chan, C. S. C. (2019). Long-term workplace communication needs of business professionals: Stories from Hong Kong senior executives and their implications for ESP and higher education. English for Specific Purposes, 56, 68–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2019.07.003
Cornish, F. (2006). Understanding spoken discourse (Vol. 13, pp. 227–230). Elsevier Ltd. retrieved on 2 June, 2020 from https://hal-univ-tlse2.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00952132/document
Dahal, B. (2010). Analysis of spoken discourse pattern in Nepali ELT classes. Journal of NELTA, 15(1–2), 22–27. https://doi.org/10.3126/nelta.v15i1-2.4606
De Jaegher, H., Peräkylä, A., & Stevanovic, M. (2016). The co-creation of meaningful action: Bridging enaction and interactional sociology. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 371, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2015.0378
Eggins, S., & Slade, D. (1997). Analysing casual conversation. Creative Print and Design. Retrieved on 2 June, 2020 from https://books.google.com/books?printsec=frontcover&vid=ISBN0304337293&vid=ISBN0304337285&vid=LCCN96043841#v=onepage&q&f=false
Fasulo, A., & Sterponi, L. (2016). Understanding children’s mental health conditions in their interactional environment: Conversation analysis and autism. TPM - Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 23(4), 453–470. https://doi.org/10.4473/TPM23.4.3
Hale, C. C., Nanni, A., & Hooper, D. (2018). Conversation analysis in language teacher education: An approach for reflection through action research. Hacettepe University Journal of Education, 33(Special Issue), 54–71. https://doi.org/10.16986/HUJE.2018038796
Halliday, M. A. K. (1989). Spoken and written language. Oxford University Press.
Hidayat, D. N. (2019). Conversation analysis and its implications to language teaching. TARBIYA: Journal of Education in Muslim Society, 6(2), 197–209. https://doi.org/10.15408/tjems.v6i2.15138
Hoey, E. M., & Kendrick, K. H. (2018). Conversation analysis. In A. M. . de Groot & P. Hagoort (Eds.), Research Methods in Psycholinguistics: A Practical Guide (pp. 120–134). Wiley Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203809068-16
Kendrick, K. H. (2017). Using conversation analysis in the lab. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 50(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/08351813.2017.1267911
Koole, T. (2013). Conversation Analysis and Education. In C. A. Chapelle (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics. Blackwell Publishing Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal0199
Kpogo, F., & Abrefa, K. B. (2017). The Structure of Face-To-Face Casual Conversation Among the Akans. Ghana Journal of Linguistics, 6(2), 56–84. https://doi.org/10.4314/gjl.v6i2.4
Martin, J. R., & Rose, D. (2007). Working with discourse (2nd Editio). Continuum.
Peräkylä, A. (2019). Conversation analysis and psychotherapy: Identifying transformative sequences. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 52(3), 257–280. https://doi.org/10.1080/08351813.2019.1631044
Schiffrin, D. (2001). Discourse markers: Language, meaning, and context. In The Handbook of Discourse Analysis (pp. 54–75). Blackwell Publishers Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203813324-7
Sert, O., & Seedhouse, P. (2011). Introduction: Conversation analysis in applied linguistics. Novitas-ROYAL: Research on Youth and Language, 5(1), 1–14.
Takeda, R. (2013). Language Learner Identities: Utilizing Conversation Analysis in the Classroom. Accents Asia, 6(1), 32–42.
Thornburry, S. (2005). Beyond the sentence: Introducing discourse analysis. Macmillan Education.
Trippas, J. R., Spina, D., Cavedon, L., & Sanderson, M. (2017). A Conversational search transcription protocol and analysis. ACM SIGIR Workshop on Conversational Approaches for Information Retrieval. Retrieved on 2 June, 2020 from https://www.johannetrippas.com/papers/Trippas et al-CAIR2017-protocol.pdf
Verhoeven, L. (1994). Functional literacy: Theoretical issues and educational implications. John Benjamin B.V.
Vo, T. H. Le, Wyatt, M., & McCullagh, M. (2016). Exploring the gap between Vietnamese workplace communication in English and English language teaching at a university. Asian ESP Journal, 12(1), 8–38.