THE SPOKEN WORD
INTRODUCTION
Spoken language, although it may not appear so with its hesitations, confusions, mixed
messages, ‘inarticulacy’, is as governed by as many rules and regulations as written
language and is as important a branch of LINGUISTICS as any other. In the past, spoken
language has been seen in some way as inferior to writing, which is taught in schools
according to a prescribed model of accuracy as defined, and enshrined, in Literature.
Spoken language is very different from written language and it is good that it is, because
‘…an identical spoken and written language would be intolerable. If we spoke as we
write we should find no one to listen: and if we wrote as we speak we should find no one
to read. The spoken and written language must not be too near together, as they must not
be too far apart.’ (T. S. Eliot)
. It is not helpful to say that spoken language is ‘ungrammatical’, because it does not
seem to have the regular order and structure that writing has. The analytical tools and
terms used for spoken language are not always the same as those used for the dissection
of the written. Consider the following exchange:
J: What about a drink?
F: Good idea. Where?
J: Somewhere in Lang Kwai?
Not one ‘sentence’ (in the written, grammatical sense) has been used, yet both reader and
participants clearly understand what has been said; as a spoken exchange it is perfectly
natural.
Spoken language is the PRIMARY form of communication, while written language is
SECONDARY, because it has to be learned: very few people can write as well as they
can speak. As a teacher of English I can testify to that.
It is important that students always remain aware of the complex nature of speech and
how we manage it with such astonishing dexterity and skill. They will never master
another skill as completely as they have done language and they must always be aware
that the purpose of this course is to make explicit and known what we unconsciously
have mastered with such ease. It is worth pointing out that they master language by the
age of five and that the purpose of English lessons at school is simply to hone that which
they already know.
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Task 1
Brainstorm the purpose of language in general and the purpose of spoken language
in particular. Note this as a spider or a tree diagram.
Write a short exchange like the one above that you have recently had, either at
home or, as is more likely, with friends. Perhaps it was during break, or it was a
greeting as you arrived at school? Try to make it as realistic as possible and include
genuine speech features. Keep this safe because it can be used later on in the course.
THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
In the analysis of DISCOURSE (the body of ‘text’ for analysis: ‘discourse’ can be spoken
or written) there is a whole host of theories about the construction of speech, but these are
only artificial frameworks for that which comes naturally to all people. They are an
attempt to ‘explain’ why talk happens in the way it does and why it happens in the first
place. (see p24 ‘Investigating Talk’ in the ‘Living Language’ series).
These are interesting as an academic study, but not because one, or other, is a true
definition of why and how conversation occurs. I happen to think that the theory of
PRAGMATICS comes as close as any to logically explaining why people speak as they
do, but only because it makes sense, not because in some way it is intrinsically ‘right’.
We speak as we do because that is how human communication has evolved, not because
we try to accord with a particular theory.
SPEECH ACT THEORY
The central tenet of this theory is that language PERFORMS communicative ACTS
between speakers and listeners and is important in the language of ritual and ceremony,
because after the act has been performed the STATE has changed between speaker and
listener(s): a marriage ceremony, an apology, an arrest. The speech act can be prefaced
by ‘hereby’ as a test for this theory:
I hereby apologise; I hereby pronounce you man and wife…
A further importance of this theory is the FELICITY CONDITIONS it states must be
fulfilled for conversation to be successful:



You must have AUTHORITY to perform the speech act (teacher imparting
knowledge, policeman arresting somebody)
You must perform the speech act CORRECTLY (introduce somebody correctly,
greet somebody correctly)
You must perform the speech act SINCERELY (don’t pretend to agree if you don’t)
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The other important aspect of this theory, so it is said, is that it is able to take into
consideration the INDIRECT SPEECH ACT, when what is said might not be what is
literally meant. ‘I’m boiling hot’ might mean that, but it might also mean ‘I could do with
a drink’ or ‘open the window.’ Context will add to the meaning here, as will other
attendant features (see later Grice’s Maxims and CONVERSATIONAL
IMPLICATURE).
Task 2
Write some short exchanges of your own, if possible based on real-life spoken word
events, where indirect speech acts are used. Think about at home, or out with
friends.
Begin to make a glossary of spoken word terms. Such a specialist SEMANTIC
FIELD will become very helpful the further you get into the course.
EXCHANGE STRUCTURE THEORY
This is an interesting theory because it applies very much to a teacher-led lesson in the
classroom. There is an interactional structure:
1. FRAMING move: ‘right, let’s begin’
1. An INITIATING move: ‘what’s the capital of China?’
2. A RESPONSE: ‘Beijing’
3. Teacher FEEDBACK/EVALUATION: ‘well done’
This three-way response can be replaced by perhaps the more universal and thus more
common ADJACENCY PAIR:
What’s the time?
Six o’ clock
The train’s late again
Yes, I’m fed up
It is possible to get an INSERTION SEQUENCE here as well:
How much did these jeans cost?
Do you really want to know?
Yes?
$80
What is useful about this theory is that it can apply to many different conversations, not
just classroom ones. All types of PHATIC COMMUNION generally rely on adjacency
pairs, as do some comic routines, SERVICE ENCOUNTERS (transactional conversation)
etc.
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Task 3
Write a genuine example of this theory, either as an exchange between friends or
one based on a classroom scenario.
NARRATIVE STRUCTURE THEORY
Labov sees narrative as central to all forms of written and spoken language. It can be
defined as a unit of discourse with clear boundaries, a linear structure and recognisable
stages in its development. There are very close connections with Freytag’s Pyramid, the
theory behind short story structure:






Abstract (signals story is about to begin; gets listener’s attention; might ask
permission to tell story; summary of story)
Orientation (context in which the story takes place: time, place, who involved, the
‘when, where, who, what of the story)
Narrative/complicating action (the story itself)
Evaluation (point of interest in the story; the effect of the experience)
Result/resolution (what finally happened)
Coda (signals the end: the conclusion)
It is quite possible or even probable that certain elements of this structure may be missing
from any ‘story’. The Abstract may be missing because the listener has requested the
story; the Orientation may be missing because the listener may be already privy to the
time and place; Evaluation may take place at any time of the story. In fact, Evaluation is
anything other than the actual narrative and can be as simple as “it is interesting
because…”
The re-telling of a story or an account of an incident is an important aspect of everyday
spoken language, from the student explaining why s/he is late to narrating a funny thing
that happened on the way to the bar.
Task 4
Look at p40 in ‘Investigating Talk’ for a transcript that is appropriate as a
MONOLOGIC anecdote. Apply Labov’s structure and notice how it helps to order
and adds meaning to the telling of the incident. Notice the FRAMING DEVICE
used at the beginning of the story as an introduction to the story.
Record somebody telling a joke and identify the narrative structure that helps
sequence the telling.
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PRAGMATICS
This is David Crystal’s own theory and as an eminent linguistics expert, it is worthy of
great note, because it makes such sound common sense.
This theory says that it is the CONTEXT and PURPOSE of people talking that dictates
language use. Also, this theory takes into account the effect an utterance has on the
listener and his/her response. Pragmatics ‘…studies the factors that govern our language
in social interaction and the effect of our choice on others.’ (David Crystal).
This is closely connected with the idea of REGISTER (the degree of formality in lexis,
structure, style) which is determined by:
1. the social and status situation the speakers have with regard to one another
2. their relationship and perhaps genders
3. the topic of conversation
All of this is closely associated with POLITENESS STRATEGIES (SEE LATER).
CONVERSATION ANALYSIS
This theory focuses on the way society affects conversation; social interaction dictates the
language and rules of that language use, rather than prescribed grammar. This theory
investigates features of spoken language like:
TURN-TAKING; ADJACENCY PAIRS; SPEECH MARKERS; OPENINGS AND
CLOSURES; PHARIC COMMUNION; TOPIC SHIFTS; TOPIC MANAGEMENT;
SPEAKER
CHANGES;
TOPIC
CHANGES;
REPAIR
SEQUENCES;
CONVERSATIONAL
INFERENCES;
CONTEXTUALISATION
CUES;
SEQUENCING OF TURNS AND TURN TRANSITIONS; POLITENESS
STRATEGIES; FACE SAVING DEVICES.
These are features of successful conversation; if certain rules are not followed, then
conversation is not successful. It is suggested that men and women fail to understand one
another sometimes because they follow different conversational rules and hence
misunderstand one another.
Task 5
Think of a film where there may be social conversation between characters. Look at
a part of the film and see if conversation analysis applies or, indeed, if any of the
other theories do. Remember, that a scripted piece only has certain features of reallife conversation so you are listening to content in terms of social context, rather
than trying to analyse the realism of the exchange.
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All these theories are in ‘Investigating Talk’ pages 25-30. Really, speech acts are made
up of a whole host of different factors, some explored in theoretical frameworks and
some from no theories at all.
WHAT IS SPEECH?
Speech is bursts of meaningful sound, which is decoded by the listener. Speech lengths
are best referred to as UTTERANCES rather than as sentences, although sentences,
clauses, phrases, words can be structural features of utterances. Halliday calls language a
‘social semiotic’ – a system of signs and sounds used by human beings to communicate
with each other.
All sorts of other forms of communication, which can be used to aid the speech process,
often accompany speech:

PARALINGUISTIC FEATURES: body language, facial expressions, gestures,
sounds that can contribute to the overall SEMANTICS (the MEANING) of words and
utterances. Paralinguistic features depend upon context:
T: Did you like that meal?
S: Mmmm!
Included in these features can be PROXEMICS (communication by touch) and
GAZE (eye contact)

SUPRASEGMENTAL FEATURES: these are features above the level of language
and incorporate the PHONOLOGY (the study of the SOUND) of language, which is
so important to the SEMANTICS (the meaning) of utterances. Phonology
incorporates: INTONATION - rising tone for questions, exclamations, pauses,
singing; STRESS patterns on words, those which are emphasised and which are not;
PITCH, the degree of high or low tones in voice, for shouting, singing etc.

Some of these suprasegmental features are indicated by PUNCTUATION in writing,
but the term ‘punctuation’ cannot be used to describe these items in speech, because
the punctuation marks obviously cannot be seen, only heard. Consider the following,
where intonation and word selection combine to provide the SEMANTIC
interpretation:



That was clever, wasn’t it? (following a silly prank)
Call that a ‘car’? (looking at a decrepit junk heap)
That was a bit of all right, wasn’t it? (following a particularly successful game of
football)
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Where the true meaning is clearly NOT what has been said: thus IRONY or SARCASM,
which is semantic nuance. This is a good example of a particular type of
CONVERATIONAL IMPLICATURE (see earlier).
Task 6
Write a short script where paralinguistic and suprasegmantal features are used.
How will you indicate them? Draw on your knowledge of script work to help.
WHY DO WE TALK?
There are a variety of reasons why we talk and M. A. K. Halliday lists seven functions in
his TAXONOMY OF LANGUAGE (p140 in ‘English Language & Literature’ by
Norman):
1.
2.
3.
4.
INSTRUMENTAL: language used to get things done: to get what is needed
REGULATORY: used to influence or control the actions of other people (teachers)
INTERACTIONAL: used to sustain relationships with people
PERSONAL: used to express yourself and personality (this manifests itself in an
IDIOLECT, the unique and particular way an individual speaks, which includes pitch,
accent, word choice, social status, role, education etc Think of Eddie Carbone’s
idiolect in ‘A View from a Bridge.’ See later in ‘How we Talk’)
5. HEURISTIC: used to find out about people and things
6. IMAGINATIVE: used to explore the imagination
7. REPRESENTATIONAL: used to pass on information
However, it may be more convenient to distinguish two functional categories:


Transactional spoken language (used to obtain services and goods)
Interactional/interpersonal (language used in social situations)
Whatever classification, there are numerous reasons why we talk, just as there are
numerous reasons why we write.
Task 7
Make a list of all the different types of conversations you have in a day. Try to
categorise them according to Halliday’s Taxonomy. Are there any that might fall
outside his classification?
HOW WE TALK
This is governed by a whole host of factors, some of which have been outlined in the
definition of IDIOLECT above, but to itemise a little more:
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
Gender, education, social status, status and/or role at the moment of talking (friend,
colleague, employer/employee, manager, lover), context – environment and topic,
why we are talking, etc. All these things, too, contribute to a person’s idiolect.
Task 8
Record a short conversation between you and your friends about an event at the
weekend, an incident in the common room etc. Try to be as natural as possible and
see if you can spot idiolectal features in each other’s spoken language.
THE ‘RULES’ OF TALK
Task8
Everybody in the group must take a piece of paper and every three lines or so write
A & B to the end of the page:
A
B
A
B
Then as a group, decide on a situation where two people meet. Decide if they are
friends, colleagues, strangers etc.
Now, everybody writes on his/her own piece of paper what A says, then pass the
paper on to the next person who continues the conversation. Before you get to the
bottom of the page, bring the conversation to an end. In pairs, read out the final
dialogues.
(See page 144 of ‘English Language & Literature’ by R. Norman)
It will be possible to see from these that there are definite ‘rules’ that govern
conversational exchanges, no matter whom they are between, if the conversations are to
be successful. Naturally, academics have written theories about these, too! It stands to
reason, though, that there are reasons why some conversations are successful, because
some are not. We have all been in the company of the person who dominates the
conversation, or who doesn’t listen, or who shows off, or who is rude and because they
are ‘breaking the rules’, it follows that there must be rules to be broken.
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Successful Conversation
Successful talk occurs when a whole host of maxims and politeness strategies are
employed and work effectively; unsuccessful talk happens when somebody flouts these
rules.
In 1975 H.P. Grice proposed four basic conversational MAXIMS as criteria for
successful conversation:
1. Be RELEVANT (maxim of RELEVANCE). Offer contributions which relate
directly to what the previous speakers have been discussing.
2. Be TRUTHFUL and have enough evidence for what you say (maxim of
QUALITY). There is an assumption on the part of the speaker that s/he is telling
the truth
3. Speak APPROPRIATELY – don’t talk too much or too little (maxim of
QUANTITY)
4. Speak in a CLEAR, COHERENT, ORDERLY way ( maxim of MANNER)
CONVERSATIONAL IMPLICATURE – when what is said is not really what is meant,
because there is usually a deliberately implied message in the utterance – are inferences
based upon the normal assumption that the maxims are being followed. Both parties
accept this, because both participants understand the context and situation. Consider the
following:
M: Have you seen Jim? (Meaning ‘where is Jim?’)
F: No (Fred understands the implication and directly answers that, rather than the literal
meaning of the question, the answer to which would be ‘yes, of course I’ve seen Jim; I
work with him.’)
J: Are you busy? (meaning, ‘can you do something for me?’)
D: Why? (D understands precisely why J has asked the question and wants to elicit
exactly what it is J wants him to do.)
(see p37-8, ‘Investigating Talk’)
There are lots of common phrases in use that show speakers unconsciously subscribe to
these theoretical maxims:



To cut a long story short
I know you’re not going to believe this…
I’ll spare you the grisly details
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

Correct me if I’m wrong, but…
I’m not saying we have to discuss this right now, but…
Politeness Needs
Respect for a conversationalist is essential if conversation is to be successful:


Maintain a social ‘distance’ from the other people in the conversation: this can be a
physical distance, too. Different cultures have varying physical-distance factors.
Here in Hong Kong we know all about that
Have respect for cultural and social status: don’t call the teacher by first name unless
asked to do so, don’t swear in front of the Principal etc. This is the principle of
REGISTER, where the appropriate language is chosen according to topic, status,
situation.
People adjust their talk to the relative position they have with regard to what is being
discussed and the person with whom they are talking. This is called FOOTING and is a
sort of linguistic ‘stance’ adopted according to the position the speaker has.
“Your FOOTING in talking to a university admissions tutor, for example, is that of a
would-be participant and you would adjust your language appropriately,” (Investigating
Talk’ p16)
Brown & Levinson have written a theory about politeness (see p16 in ‘Investigating
Talk’) and they divide it into POSITIVE and NEGATIVE POLITENESS.
Positive politeness means that you claim common ground with those whom the
conversation is with and that you are eager to be co-operative. Some politeness strategies
are:
1. Pay attention to the other speakers (show interest, sympathy, approval)
2. Seek agreement (choose safe topics for conversation. This is particularly true when
meeting people for the first time. The stereotype is that the British always talk about
the weather – a very safe topic of conversation).
3. Avoid disagreement (pretend to agree, use white lies, hedge own opinions)
4. Presuppose or assert common ground
5. Make jokes
6. Assume or assert agreement between conversationalists
Robin Lakov added three further maxims, which summarise Politeness Needs/Principles:
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


Don’t impose
Give options
Make your receiver feel good
NEGATIVE POLITENESS – in a sense where you abase yourself linguistically – means
that you don’t presume or assume anything; you don’t impose your point at all. People
adopt negative politeness strategies when finishing a conversation and the extent to which
these are used is determined by how abruptly the conversation is being terminated:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Be indirect
Question and hedge
Be pessimistic
Be deferential
Be apologetic
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Task 9
Study p17-18 in ‘Investigating Talk’ which provide example of politeness strategies
in action.
REAL TALK

There is a TOPIC for conversation; indeed, in a conversation there may be several
TOPICS for discussion. There are clear signals for TOPIC SHIFTS from one to
another and this may be signalled by one of a series of CUES (see later) or a
SPEAKER SHIFT, when one speaker gives way to another. In more formal
situations, like a meeting, or a conversation between a chat show host and a guest,
TOPIC MANAGEMENT strategies will be employed, not the least of which is an
agenda for the conversation.

There is a protocol for beginning and ending conversations, which is highly ritualised
and is an excellent example of CONVERSATIONAL IMPLICATURE. This ritual is
called PHATIC COMMUNION and the language used is PHATIC LANGUAGE.
The semantics of phatic communion is not in the meaning of the words or sentiments
used, which is why I term it conversational implicature. What is really meant in this
phatic communion is “ I acknowledge you as somebody with whom I am going to
have a conversation and I am abiding by our cultural rituals to initiate that
conversation.”
J: Hallo! How are you?
M: Fine, thanks, and you?
J: Fine.
There are all sorts of variations on this; for the British it may be about the weather.
‘What a glorious day, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, it is; one of the best we’ve had’ etc.
A very recent and interesting part of this ritual is the use of the word ‘good’ in response
to ‘How are you?’ Yet people respond without demur to this statement that on the surface
is more a reference to moral worth, rather than health, which goes to prove the ritualised
nature of phatic communion: thus the influence of Australian English on phatic language.
The ending of the conversation, too, has its ritualised signals, which may be linguistic or
paralinguistic. The gathering of papers, or adjustment to clothes, or finishing a drink are
all signs that may indicate that a person wants to bring the conversation to a close. It may
be that someone says, ‘Well, it’s been nice talking to you…’ or some other phatic talk
that meets all the politeness and face requirements and brings the conversation to an end
successfully. The person leaving will engage in minor NEGATIVE FACE moves:
perhaps apologise for having to leave; praise some aspect of the person; make an excuse.
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Schegloff (whoever he is) has proposed the following routine, which characterises
telephone openings:

Summons – answer: the ring of the phone is the summons and the pick-up is the
answer
Identification – recognition: called person is first to speak in English-speaking
cultures (and many others, too, I’d suspect) allowing voice to be recognized
Greeting – greeting: speakers exchange greetings, which may be the same words, or
different ones
Initial enquiries: about state of health, general state of things



This is hardly an earth-shattering theory, but it will do as a framework for the important
part of the phone message, which obviously would follow.
Task10
Join with a partner and role-play different scenarios where you are meeting people.
Greet friends, teachers, someone you have never met before and write out the phatic
communion used. End the conversations as well.
Once into the conversation, there is obviously TURN-TAKING and, generally, there are
CUES that are recognisable in the conversation that will indicate that it is somebody
else’s turn to talk:

SEMANTIC clues: deduced from what is being said. Even if the speaker’s meaning is
incomplete and yet there are clues that s/he is finished, the other speaker may wait for
further elucidation of a point. If the listener anticipates the meaning of the concluding
part of a turn, s/he may well finish off the utterance, or offer a BACK-CHANNEL
feedback, or even interrupt, or overlap.

PHONETIC (suprasegmental) clues: indicated by intonation patterns: falling
intonation, slowing down, trailing off…

PAUSE clues: where a speaker simply pauses to allow another person to pick up the
conversation.

PARALINGUISTIC clues: body language shifts – relaxing back into a chair; using
GAZE (eye contact) to indicate speaker end.
Many of these features are formalised in playscripts very clearly indeed, either through
the script itself, or in the stage directions, but in a transcript of a normal conversation
much of this has to be deduced from clues in the dialogue.
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The Features of Conversation
It is important now to look at the SEMANTIC FIELD of terms needed to analyse
different types of conversation and then consider a systematic ‘toolkit’ that can help to
construct the necessary analytical essays. It is important to make clear to all students that
they will gain very few marks for simply ‘feature-spotting’; they must get into the habit
of saying WHY features have been used in the conversations.
LEXIS (vocabulary)
RELATIONSHIP.
determined
by
CONTEXT,
PURPOSE,
SPEAKER
The features above will determine the SEMANTIC FIELD and the REGISTER of the
talk.
 More concrete, less abstract vocabulary used than in scripted speech or in writing

Simple vocabulary use

Context-determined lexical choice

Use of vague language, such as FILLERS (‘er’, ‘um’) that literally fill spaces in the
conversation while the person constructs utterances or HEDGES (‘like’, ‘you know’,
‘and stuff’, ‘sort of’, ‘whatsit’, ‘thingummybob/jig’) that can fill gaps, or stretch out
utterances. You only have to listen to the conversation of all people below 40 to hear
such hedging devices used over and over again, as if people have all been cloned
from the same language mould!

Terms of address, or more likely terms of endearment, depending on the formality of
the exchange. ‘Sir’, ‘mum’, ‘love’, ‘dear’, ‘mate’ etc.

Frequent use of phatic language

Colloquial language/slang/swearing used in very informal situations and among very
close friends
GRAMMAR/SYNTACTIC FEATURES
These features are NOT based on SENTENCES, which is the basis for written language
constructions. However, it will be clear that certain constructions and forms below are
used in written language, but that is sometimes when the written deliberately mimics
aspects of the spoken, as in direct speech, informal writing in magazines, scripts, adverts
etc.

ELISION: when parts of a word are elided without damaging meaning: ‘DON’T be
late; ‘IT’S a muddle’. In other words, the use of contractions. This is standard in any
conversation, be it formal, or informal, although in a formal speech, elision may not
be used.
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
ELLIPSIS: the same as above, but at word level. Usually, it is grammar words that
are left out to avoid unnecessary repetition and to subscribe to the maxim of
quantity. Elision is very common in all constructions, be they written or spoken and
not to use it makes for very stilted and unnatural forms indeed. ‘I like fish and chips’
is an obvious example, where the second and repeated predicate (‘I like’) is avoided.
Many compound sentences of this sort use ellipsis. In conversation it is used all the
time and only when it is not used would attention be drawn to it:
M: (do you) fancy a drink? The part in brackets is often left out.
T: Yes (I do fancy a drink) If the part is spoken in the brackets then T is emphasising how
much he wants a drink and the ‘do’ may be stressed.


Active rather than passive constructions, because that which is being discussed is
‘alive’ rather than dormant
Imperative and interrogative forms frequently used

Use of phrases rather than clause or sentence constructions; when clauses are used
they are often simple and short and they are frequently co-ordinated, and sometimes
unusual: ‘that film, it’s brilliant’

Deictics: these are words, often pronouns, that rely for their meaning on the context
and knowledge of the speakers involved. They can be divided into three groups:
spatial – over THERE, just HERE; temporal - just THEN, at that MINUTE; personal
– YOU, ME, THEY etc.

Ungrammatical constructions; this is a frequent feature of casual conversation and
shows that speakers are relaxed enough in the company – close friends, relations,
recalling shared experiences - they are in and the topic is suitably informal
DISCOURSE FEATURES
These are features of conversation that don’t fall easily into either of the other two
categories because they reflect the NATURE of the exchange: words used to forward a
story, or sequence it; words used to add a sense of drama to the exchange. They reflect
how speakers relate to each other, how they express attentiveness, interest, attitude,
emotion etc.
However, they are made up of words and phrases, naturally, so in a sense they fit both the
other categories as well. It is fair to say that this division of words and phrases is quite
artificial and is only a means of classification for study purposes.

DISCOURSE MARKERS: these are words or phrases used to either break up speech
into manageable chunks, ordering and sequencing it. They are also used to indicate
the next stage in a conversation and help move it on: ‘so’, ‘well’, ‘anyway’, ‘right’,
‘ok’, ‘however’ among others
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
Feaures that indicate the interpersonal nature of the exchanges: TAG QUESTIONS,
OVERLAPS, INTERRUPTIONS, LATCHING (the immediate follow-on of a
response), INCOMPLETE CLAUSES

REPETITION & ECHOING BETWEEN SPEAKERS: ‘said…never speak again!’
never speak again? No, never speak again. Used to show that listener is paying close
attention and is reacting sympathetically to what is being said

REPETITION OF WORDS & PHRASES: ‘not – not the thing to do’. Speaker is
(indignant?) enough to repeat words, or thinking about what next to say, or some
other thought has intruded and disrupts the flow of thought

REFORMULATION OF UTTERANCES: e.g. ‘You mean that you have a problem,
not that you’ll never take a plane again. Be honest – say you have a problem with
flying.’ Speaker here obviously wants to make a serious point and so reformulates it
for emphasis

BACK-CHANNEL
FEATURES/MONITORING
DEVICES/MINIMAL
RESPONSES: words or sounds that indicate that the listener is listening and is
encouraging the speaker to continue: ‘mmm’, ‘ah-ha’, ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘yeah’, ‘right’,
‘really’, ‘sure’. This becomes a MONITORING DEVICE if the speaker uses these
with a rising intonation to check that the listener is doing just that: ‘ok?’, ‘right?’,
‘yeah?’, ‘you know?’ etc.

MARKERS OF SYMPATHETIC CIRCULARITY: these are words and phrases
similar to back-channels and monitors that are used to check that both speaker and
listener share the understanding of what is being discussed. This would be using ‘you
know’ without the rising intonation: ‘I was just going to go for a little while, you
know, and then come home…’
It becomes apparent that certain words and phrases can perform different discourse
functions according to context and relationship between speakers. Their context rather
than a preconceived notion of use should decide how they are used.

DISJUNCTS: adverbs and adverbials that are used to comment upon style, truth,
value of what is being said, although in the case of ‘basically’ it can be a mark of
idiolect where a person uses it from habit rather than use it as a judgement: ‘frankly’,
‘honestly’, ‘confidentially’, ‘hopefully’, ‘regrettably’, ‘you know’, ‘I suppose’, ‘I
regret to say’. In speech they can be said with a parenthetic tone of voice with
increased speed and loudness. As adverbials, as phrases or clauses, they are called
COMMENT CLAUSES and express speaker’s feelings: tentativeness = I think, I
suppose, they say; certainty = I know, I’m sure, I must say, there’s no doubt;
emotional attitude = I’m delighted to say, I’m afraid, Heaven knows, to be honest,
frankly speaking, with due respect. When used a lot in speech they are associated
with evasiveness and unclear thinking, the ‘linguistic wriggling’ of the politician in
16
the ‘yes, well, you know, in a nutshell’ response. But they can be used to help
speakers think on their feet and give listeners a chance to think on their feet.
Non-fluency Features
Just as there are features that promote the fluency of conversation, so there are those that
do not. It is as important to know these, as it is to know their opposites:

HESITATIONS: these can be UNVOICED PAUSES (in other words, silence) or
VOICED FILLERS which may just be sounds like ‘er’, ‘um’, or HEDGES. If any of
these are used too much they can have a deleterious effect on the conversation and the
interest of the listener

FALSE STARTS: ‘I think that – I would like to consider…’ where the speaker
perhaps hasn’t quite thought through what s/he wants to say, or another, more
important, point suddenly comes to mind

REPETITIONS: not for emphasis, but over-use of the same word or phrase

EXCESSIVE USE OF OVERLAPS: when one speaker starts before another finishes.
Over-use will hamper conversation because misunderstanding will occur

EXCESSIVE USE OF INTERRUPTIONS: indicating impatience perhaps because
the speaker is flouting maxims

FAILURE TO REPAIR MISCOMMUNICATION

FAILURE TO USE POLITENESS FEATURES OR CONVERSATIONAL
MAXIMS
Talking with past A/S students they don’t seem to have a problem memorising these. It is
very important that when they use them in analytical work, they don’t just ‘feature spot’
as in “the speaker uses elision and ellipsis” and leave it at that, because they will receive
very few marks if they do. They must be able to hazard opinion as to ‘WHY’ a feature
has been used:
“…the informal content and the relaxed nature of the conversation indicates the degree of
familiarity between X and Y and so there is a high incidence of ellipsis, because each
understands clearly the content and it may be that they have spoken on such a topic
before…”
17
Task 11
Look back at some of the task dialogues and spot some of the features mentioned
here. Work in pairs and make notes that try to explain why the features have been
used.
Read the transcript on p36-7 in ‘Investigating Talk’ and make notes on the spoken
language features apparent there. Remember to try to say why features have been
used.
As a generalisation, it would appear that the more informal a conversation, the more
features are used. It is also interesting to note that the more scripted talk is, the more it
bears the features of written language and the more informal the writing, the closer it is to
speech. Indeed, it is imperative that students study a variety of written texts that do use
features of speech.
ACCENT & DIALECT
This is an area of spoken language that Hong Kong students seem to have a lot of trouble
with, because there is not the variety of accent and dialect here as there is back in the UK.
Having said that, there is variation between the certain accents: British: English/Scottish,
North American (Canada and U.S.), Australian, South African, Scottish.
They must be aware of the difference between the two: accent distinguished by different
pronunciation of Standard forms of language and dialect as a deviation from Standard in
one, two or three of the following language categories:
LEXIS: word choice, which can either be lexical items (completely different words), or
grammar items (particularly prepositions)
GRAMMAR: differences in verb forms and agreement between subject and verb; use of
double negatives
SYNTAX: differences in word positions in an utterance
They need to be aware that even Standard English is a dialectal form that has assumed a
dominance over other dialects and that the most favoured accent is only that, an accent, in
this case BBC English.
It is important that students are able to distinguish also between IDIOLECT and
DIALECT. An idiolect operates within a dialect and will have features of that dialect, but
it will also have features peculiar to the individual that may not be commonly shared by
other people.
There is quite a good section on this in ‘English Language & Literature’ by Norman, p46
onwards, but lots of language books will have a section on accent and dialect.
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Task 12
Find an extract in a novel where accent and dialect have been clearly used for
character delineation. ‘Huckleberry Finn’, or ‘Tom Sawyer’, by Mark Twain is an
excellent source, or the novels of D.H. Lawrence provide plenty of example.
There is a plethora of practice dialogic and monologic talk in ‘Investigating Talk’
chapter 3 ‘Unplanned Speech’ p35-50 and students should be given plenty of
practice with these. There is an excellent example of casual conversation, with a
commentary, between a builder and house-owners in ‘English Language &
Literature’ by Ron Norman, p157.
TRANSACTIONAL SPEECH
Up to now, the concentration has been on private, fairly casual conversation, but to cover
all types it is necessary to look at what ‘Investigating Talk’ calls SERVICE
ENCOUNTERS ( see p52).
These are less complex than private conversation and theoretically follow a particular
pattern and two speech experts identify these UNIQUE STRUCTURAL PATTERNS.
Ruqaiya Hasan posits a GENERIC STRUCTURE THEORY, which means that every
GENRE of talk – from joke-telling to a visit to the doctor – will have its own unique
structural pattern or GSP (GENERIC STRUCTURE POTENTIAL). Hasan argues that
every genre will have its OBLIGATORY and OPTIONAL elements.
This all seems a bit obvious to me, but I suppose linguistics experts have to earn their
money somehow.
Erija Ventola identifies an obligatory pattern common to all service encounters:




An offer of service
A request for service
A transaction
A salutation
Exchange Structure Theory says pretty much the same thing, so between the three
theories and given the features of speech already looked at, students should have little
problem analysing any type of service encounter.
Task 13
There are plenty of examples in ‘Investigating Talk’ p53-72 and they include
courtroom exchanges, chat shows, broadcast debates, radio phone-ins, sports
commentaries. Choose two or three and examine them in the light of the theories
19
posited. Don’t be worried if you find there is less to say about these conversations
than the casual ones, that is to be expected, in most cases.
Start to plan toolkit that not only shows all the necessary analytical features, but
also suggests a sequence of analysis that can be used to shape exam and essay
answers. You might not get this right the first time, but by practising with it, you
should eventually get to a definitive one. There will be help provided later on how to
tackle the analysis and essay writing.
PLANNED SPEECH
Students can think back to IGCSE days to help them with the analysis of these, but it is
worth considering for a moment the nature of planned speech.
Task 14
List the reasons why people make speeches and try to note what makes a successful
speech. Think about the way it is spoken: how the lexis, the paralinguistic and the
suprasegmental features contribute to its success.
Speech should appear natural, but without those features of natural speech that would
hinder the effect or the message. Play-scripts, too, have to appear ‘natural’ but eliminate
those features that could confuse an audience.
Use of syntactic, semantic, grammatical parallelism (anaphora), use of two and three
examples, metaphor, intertextuality (where a reference is made to another text, or a
structure is borrowed from another text) and all sorts of other lexical, grammatical and
syntactical strategies are used. These need to be looked at in detail and p73 onwards in
‘Investigating Talk’ provides plenty of examples.
THE SPOKEN WORD AND LITERATURE
Once into the scripted it is necessary to start considering the LITERARY qualities of
texts, because in the exam candidates will be asked about literary features and even
perhaps how a writer maintains the reader’s/audience’s interest. Here is a typical question
from an A/S Spoken Word paper:
‘Read Text A and B carefully. Text A is a transcript of some authentic conversation. Text
B is from a book on travel writing/from a play/from a poem [this can be anything that has
speech somehow represented in it].
Making use of the information provided and your knowledge of language and literature:
 Identify and comment on the most significant features and their effects in each text,
making contrasts and comparisons between Text A and Text B.
20

Explain how the language of Text B draws on familiar characteristics of authentic
speech and fictional prose/dramatic effect to achieve its effects.
It is important that students do NOT see real conversation as somehow inferior to
scripted talk (a play script, perhaps), or that scripted talk is somehow inferior to
‘real’ talk because it is not ‘authentic’. It is important to point out that a script is a
shaped version of a transcript that attempts to be NATURALISTIC rather than
authentic. A playwright is using the script as a means to an end – to make a
social/political/literary point – and not as a means in itself. Only in a transcript is
the message the medium itself.
It is important, then, for students to look at Text B (which I now use as a generic term for
all texts other than a transcript of genuine conversation) in a dual capacity:
1. How it draws upon familiar characteristics of authentic speech
2. How it achieves its literary purpose or its literary effect
And point 2 is as important as point 1.
It is now that students can draw upon their knowledge of literary features gleaned over a
number of years, but particularly from the GCSE Literature course and use them in
tandem with newly acquired linguistic skills. The study of the literary text in the other
half of the Spoken Word module will certainly help them, because there they have to look
very closely at language that characters use as clues to the character him/herself.
This branch of analysis used for the literary study of the play in this Spoken Word
module is called STYLISTICS, which means a study of characteristic choice in use of
language in literature as regards sound, form, vocabulary, made by different individuals
or social groups in different situations of use. Stylistics is not concerned with the value of
texts, but with a description and analysis of linguistic detail in the text, related to the
sociolinguistic issues underlying the text. This may sound complicated, but students must
become aware that just as their language is influenced by their social situation – by the
television programmes they watch, by their friends, by their education, by their parents,
by the books they read, by the games they play, in other words, by their complete social
environment – so too do writers make their characters in plays, novels, poems reflect the
social situation that surrounds them. Eddie Carbone in ‘A View from the Bridge’ speaks
very differently from Alfieri and yet both men come from the same ethnic stock and both
consider themselves American, but one is a longshoreman and the other a lawyer.
The students will NOT have to carry out a detailed stylistic analysis of Text B at all,
because time will not allow it. However, they may want to call upon some of those
analytical features employed for the analysis of their play in the other half of the
module to give a greater depth to the analysis of Text B.
21
So, if they are looking at a play script, or a dramatic monologue (Alan Bennet’s ‘Talking
Heads’) they will note the spoken word features the playwright has used to convey
naturalism – perhaps question forms, adjacency pairs, politeness strategies, latching,
overlapping, fillers, ellipsis, elision etc. – and then consider how this helps achieve the
literary purpose of:









Development of plot
Development of character
Cementing themes
Creating dramatic tension/climax/anti-climax
Creating humour/irony/sarcasm
Dramatic tension
Dramatic climax
Dramatic pace
Exposition
Task 15
Examine an extract from ‘Educating Rita’ and carry out a stylistic analysis of it.
Work together and be as detailed as you can. Notice how the linguistic element
enhances its dramatic qualities.
If the text is a poem – perhaps a Browning monologue, or a question-and-answer poem –
then it might be worth considering using the following framework as a means of
assessing the LITERARY impact of it:





Unusual word choice so that language draws attention to itself
Noticeable PHONOLOGICAL features e.g. alliteration, assonance, rhyme, stress
Cultural themes: love, nature, life
Imagery, particularly metaphor, simile
GRAPHOLOGY: layout on the page and general shape
Task 16
Look at a Browning poem and make detailed notes on how he uses features of
spoken language to give realism to his content.
If the text is from a novel, or a non-literary travel book, or (auto)biography, it will
probably have some direct (or indirect) speech in it which can be analysised in terms of
spoken word features, but for its literary effect they might want to consider the following
framework:



Some ‘imitation’ of reality
A narrative voice
Cultural themes: love, death, money etc.
22







Emotional and intellectual content
Sense of ending
Implicit as well as explicit meanings (symbol, imagery)
Some obscurity and difficulty in understanding the meaning
Cohesion and consistency
‘atmosphere’
poetic dimension
Task 17
Examine an extract from Paul Theroux or Michael Palin and show how they use
spoken word features to extend the literary qualities of their writing.
HUMOUR
It is worth spending time looking at how humour is achieved in a variety of different
texts, but particularly scripts: for television, radio, stage. Making people laugh is
achieved by a series of linguistic strategies:
 Misunderstanding (a key word or phrase is misinterpreted, which leads to humorous
activity )
 Malapropisms (wrong forms of words used: see Dogberry in ‘Much Ado about
Nothing’)
 Cross-purpose talking (characters think they are talking about the same thing, but
they’re not)
 The one-liner (‘I think I’ve sprained my imagination’)
 The running gag (a joke alluded to at various points of the show, or from episode to
episode)
 The comic exchange ( adjacency-pair question and answer: stichomythia)
 The frustration routine (a character in a hurry, being delayed)
 Innuendo – particularly sexual (risque humour)
 Exaggeration (for dramatic effect)
 Ambiguity (duality of meaning, particularly with reference to sex or lavatorial
references)
 Direct insult (always guaranteed to raise a laugh, particularly if it is racial or genderbased)
 Deliberate (or seemingly unintentional) mixing of register (‘are you extracting the
piss?’)
see p82 ‘Investigating Talk’ and ‘The Discourse of Comedy’ p164 in ‘English Language
& Literature’ but the best thing to do is to look at any episode of ‘Friends’, ‘Ally
McBeal’ or any other situation comedy on television at the moment and note down the
those aspects of humour that rely upon language in some way.
23
Task 18
Record an extract from a sitcom of your choice. As a group, examine how the
writers convey the humour in the programme.
Indeed, it is quite possible to use this approach with Text A as a means of providing a
framework for explaining WHY people say things the way they do and thus avoid that
curse of this paper: the FEATURE SPOTTING SYNDROME.
As an example here consider this analysis of the very first piece of transcript.
M: what about a drink?
F: good idea(.) where?
M: somewhere down Lang Kwai?
F: o.k.
(question marks have been used to indicate a rising intonation)
Notes
Content: two friends agree to go for a drink in a particular area of town.
Discourse features: adjacency pairs, transactional discourse, has qualities of the Exchange
structure theory with question (initiating) and answer (response); short, elliptical, indicate
that this may be a type of exchange they have had before and that the response is
habitual. Conversational implicature of first line understood clearly by F, showing
familiarity with situation; use of colloquial back-channel ‘o.k.’ indicates relaxed nature of
discourse
Lexical: simple vocabulary; concrete, functional to purpose; high lexical level; few
grammatical words.
Grammar/syntax: elision used which indicates intimacy between and informality of
exchange; this further emphasised by use of phrases that stand for longer utterances; use
of spatial deictic ‘Lang Kwai’ showing that both know context…
‘The short transactional two-part exchange, or adjacency paired conversation, between M
and F about going out for a drink shows the relationship that exists between them and
their attitudes and values.
The conversational implicature of the opening and eliciting utterance ‘What about a
drink?’ indicates the informality and familiarity between the two speakers, as does the
absence of any phatic language or politeness features. The impression created is that such
24
a minimal exchange has occurred before and each participant knows his/her role. The
pause after ‘Good idea’ prepares for the question ‘where’ and it is perhaps possible to
surmise that in such an exchange it is usually M who makes this decision and that F will
ususally defer to him/her in this situation. Certainly, the attitude and values – that a drink
is an important part of the M and F’s social scene and that F respects M’s decision – are
clearly shown…’
And so on and so forth. This short extract clearly shows why features have been used. As
a further exercise, perhaps students could finish the essay.
Task 19
Look back at the transcript of the meeting between the builder and the couple in
‘English Language & Literature’ p157 – 162 as an example of how to say WHY
certain speech features have been used. There are also lots of examples in
‘Investigating Talk’ as well.
THE SPOKEN WORD AND GENDER
As a preface to this section see if the students would assign a particular gender to M and
F in the above conversation and why. Is F feminine because ‘she’ defers to M and it is M
who initiates the idea of going out for a drink, a particularly ‘masculine’ pastime? Most I
feel would say that this is the case. There is no clue in the initials. To be honest, there are
no clues at all, because I didn’t even think of gender when I wrote the exchange, but trust
the tale, not the teller.
It is quite clear that there are strongly held gender stereotypes in male/female talk:
 that women gossip while men talk about ‘serious’ things;
 women screech while men are gruff;
 women talk more than men;
 women nag;
 men swear more than women and are more apt to pick arguments…
There are several theories about the relative linguistic performances of men and women:


that language use reflects power and powerlessness
that language use reflects a male-dominated world.
Certainly, research does show substantial evidence of gender-influenced features in
conversation:




That men interrupt more
Men hold the floor longer
Men want to talk more about their topics
Men use imperatives as directives
25










Men swear more
Men use a higher proportion of colloquialisms and slang
Men use more HYPOTAXIS (embedded structures) women use more PARATAXIS
( linked structures)
Women use more adverbs as intensifiers (awfully, terribly, so, very)
Women use more politeness markers: please, thank you
Women use more back-channel features
Women use more minimal responses: ‘yeah’
Women use more diminutives: Freddy, Lizzie, Rosie etc.
Women use more reduplications: ‘teensy-weensy’, ‘itsy-bitsy’
Women use more pet names and terms of endearment: ‘darling’
‘Investigating Talk’ (P92) has a whole chapter, with transcripts, of gender talk.
It is important that students are provided with the chance to examine extensively different
categories of texts that purport to contain aspects of spoken language:

poems, plays, travel writing, (auto)biography, novels, adverts, magazines of all
sorts, notices, leaflets and anything else that is relevant.
J. Harniess 6. 02
26
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
ACCENT: the way people pronounce words according to their geographical and social
circumstances
ADJACENCY PAIRS: the basic unit of conversation, consisting of an utterance and a
response
BACK-CHANNEL FEATURES: similar to monitoring devices, which are used to signal
that the listener has understood the conversation.
COMMENT CLAUSES: clauses that indicate a speaker’s feelings: ‘I know’, ‘I’m sure’.
These are clausal variations of DISJUNCTS.
CONVERSATIONAL IMPLICATURE: the underlying, implied meaning of an
utterance, which bears little resemblance to what has actually been said e.g. ‘that was
clever, wasn’t it?’ when the opposite is intended. Irony and sarcasm are prime examples
of this.
CUES: signals – verbal, paralinguistic, semantic – that indicate a speaker is coming to the
end of a turn.
DEICTICS: words, usually pronouns, but not always, that require knowledge of context,
setting, referential information for meaning e.g. personal deictics - she, he, we I; spatial
deictics - there, here, that place; temporal deictics – remember that time, last year,
yesterday etc.
DEIXIS: the use of deictics
DIALECT: variations of language use that differ from Standard English because of
geographical location. Variation can be lexical, grammatical, syntactic.
DIALOGIC: conversation with two or more participants
DISCOURSE: a body of text; more than one or two lines. Discourse can be either written
or spoken text.
DISCOURSE MARKERS: phrases in conversation that reflect the nature of the
exchange; comment clauses, disjuncts, back-channel features etc.
DISJUNCTS: comment adverbs and adverbials that can be words, phrases, clauses –
‘fortunately’, ‘curiously’, ‘foolishly’, ‘regrettably’, ‘undoubtedly’, ‘hopefully’ and not to
be left out ‘basically’. “I suppose’, ‘you know’, ‘I’m glad to say’ are clause forms and
pass comment on what has been said. These can move about in utterances: at the
beginning, middle or the end.
27
ELLIPSIS: words that are left out of an utterance in order to avoid unnecessary
repetition.
ELISION: letters left out of word combinations – a common feature of speech. Known as
contractions in writing and indicated by an apostrophe
EXCHANGE STRUCTURE THEORY: ‘classroom transactional exchange’ conversation
consisting of an initiating move, a response, teacher feedback
FALSE STARTS: when a speaker begins and then reformulates the utterance to begin in
a different way.
FELICITY CONDITIONS: criteria that if followed lead to successful conversation.
FILLERS: sounds or words that literally fill in the pauses in spoken language e.g. er, um,
you know etc. often called a VOICED PAUSE.
FOOTING: the linguistic ‘stance’ adopted when talking to somebody, often when in a
transactional exchange
GENERIC STRUCTURE THEORY: the theory that every form of conversation has its
own unique linguistic, structural pattern
GRAMMAR: the rules governing the combinations of word forms in spoken or written
utterances. Often used as the collective word for all aspects of written and spoken
language deemed correct.
GRAMMAR WORDS: the ‘glue’ of an utterance, those words that in themselves have no
meaning but are used to cement utterances together: ‘the’, ‘on’, ‘and’, ‘will’ etc.
GRAPHOLOGY: the look of text – layout, handwriting, font etc.
GRICE’S MAXIMS: four maxims necessary for successful conversation
HEDGES: the vague use of language used commonly in casual conversation: ‘thingy’,
‘and stuff’ etc.
HYPOTAXIS: the act of subordinating one clause to another by using a conjunction.
IDIOLECT: the style of speaking distinctive to the individual
INDIRECT SPEECH ACT: very similar to conversational implicature, but dependant
often upon context: ‘I’m boiling hot’. Associated with Speech Act theory.
28
INTERACTIONAL EXCHANGE: social conversation, as opposed to transactional
exchange.
INSERTION SEQUENCE: an additional utterance that interrupts an adjacency pair
INTERTEXTUALITY: the reference to another text when discussing a particular text;
often used in planned speech
INTONATION: the rise and fall of the voice when speaking, marked by punctuation in
writing; a suprasegmental feature.
IRONY: saying one thing and meaning another; a form of conversational implicature
LATCHING: an immediate response to and utterance
LEXIS: another word for vocabulary.
LEXICAL WORD: words that carry meaning in an utterance – nouns, verbs, adjectives
etc.
LINGUISTICS: the scientific study of language.
MARKERS OF SYMPATHETIC CIRCULARITY: words and phrases that show
understanding on the part of the listener and used as a monitoring device by the speaker.
See monitoring device and back-channel features.
MONITORING DEVICE: sounds that indicate whether a person is listening or
understanding: ‘ah-ha’, ‘yeah’ etc.
NARRATIVE STRUCTURE THEORY: (Labov) a structure for looking at monologic
anecdote/joke/story telling.
OVERLAPPING: interrupting before the speaker has finished
PARALINGUISTIC FEATURES: body language of all sorts and other non-verbal
elements that add to meaning. There can be paralinguistic sounds that have no lexical
meaning, but do have semantic meaning.
PARATAXIS: the juxtaposition of clauses without the use of a conjunction: ‘none of my
friends left – they all stayed’.
PHATIC COMMUNION: the speech acts of politeness that are usually used in greetings,
They have no other concrete purpose or meaning than to establish or maintain personal
relationships and are not taken literally. Formulaic in construction and expression.
PHATIC LANGUAGE: the lexis of phatic communion.
29
PHONOLOGY: the sound of language; the prosodic patterns of language: stress,
intonation, rhythm found in utterances and deliberate combinations of word and letter
sounds.
POLITENESS NEEDS: showing respect and politeness to others in dialogic exchanges;
acknowledgement of and respect for face needs.
PRAGMATICS: the speech theory that states that the content of dialogue depends upon
the context and purposes of people talking to each other, rather than the structures they
use.
REGISTER: the degree of formality in conversation, dictated by topic for conversation,
the relative status of those involved, the situation itself. All these will dictate choice and
combinations of words and structures.
SARCASM: a crude and hurtful form of irony.
SEGMENTAL FEATURES: the actual segments of language: vowels and consonants.
SEMANTIC FIELD: specialist words used with a particular linguistic area: the semantic
field of law, or literature.
SPEAKER SHIFTS: when somebody else begins to speak in a conversation, either by
changing the topic, or adding to the existing one.
SPEECH ACT THEORY: the theory that states that language performs communicative
acts between speakers and listeners, which changes the state thereafter. ‘I hereby
apologise’.
SUPRASEGMENTAL FEATURES: stress, pitch and intonation of spoken language. See
phonology.
STYLISTICS: critical approach to text that examines the literary through linguistic
usage, related to sociolinguistic issues.
SYNTAX: the order of words in speaking and writing dictated by the accepted language
structure.
TAG QUESTIONS: question ‘tags’ added onto the ends of statements and so turning
them into questions.
TOPIC: the subject of a conversational exchange
TOPIC MANAGEMENT: the managing of topics in conversation, generally in formal
situations as in a meeting by a chairperson and an agenda.
30
TOPIC SHIFT: the introduction of another subject for conversation which may be
accompanied by certain cues to indicate the change, or by a speaker shift.
TRANSACTIONAL EXCHANGE: service exchanges when buying something, or
passing on information. Opposite to INTERACTIONAL exchanges.
TURN TAKING: speaking in conversation in an orderly manner with limited overlap or
gaps.
UNVOICED FILLERS: pauses marked by silence, marked as (.) in a transcript.
UTTERANCE: a unit of talk, bounded by the speaker’s silence.
31
BIBLIOGRAPHY
“Working with Texts”
Ronald Carter Routledge.
“The Cambridge Encyclopedia of The English Language” David Crystal C.U.P.
“The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language” David Crystal C.U.P.
“Investigating Talk” Susan Cockcroft “Living Language” series Hodder & Stoughton
“Language & Literature” George Keith “Living Language” series Hodder & Stoughton
“Grammar, Structure & Style” Shirley Russell O.U.P.
“Your Own Words” Jackie Eames & Judith Wainwright Nelson
“English Language & Literature: An integrated approach” Ron Norman Stanley Thornes
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