The way how the language is used within a social context is the study of discourse and when the language is acknowledged in context it evolves into understanding that communication is more 'than just grammar and lexis' as North (2012) points out. Whether it is written or spoken when it is employed in real life situations, language has a function irrespective of its form. Also, different registers are applied in different backgrounds dependently on participants engaged in conversation. Therefore, this essay will examine the settings, participants background, social context, register, turn-taking and other elements that are contributing on creation and in analysing different kinds of conversations on different examples of transcripts. More specifically the aim of this essay is to discuss the way in which people use English as a social tool in ordinary conversation through the discipline of conversation analysis on each speech act, as Allington and Mayor (2012) mention, which are actions 'carried out through speaking', that was transcribed from Clip 8.2 on DVD1 (The Open University, 2012) and other module materials as well.
Conversation analysis
The actions carried out by speaking are speech acts and they are meant to be examined by conversation analysis, which was introduced by sociologists Harvey Sacks, Emanuel Schegloff and Gail Jefferson. The crucial point about everyday talk is 'that it is dialogic' (Allington and Mayor, 2012, p. 8), therefore, each participant's utterance is aimed toward other participant. Bakhin (1952),quoted in Allington and Mayor (2012), maintains that it is especially in conversation, where people regularly 'refer to what people have said and that they also expect 'what they might say next' and 'a...
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...elationships are pointed quite clearly is 'in the terms' that 'people use to address each other' (Allington and Mayor, 2012, p. 18). Allington and Mayor (2012) provide a range of examples considering terms of addressing. One of these examples is pointing out at the 'classic example' from the 1960s involving an African-American doctor, which was insulted three times by the policeman and according to Dr Poussaint's, quoted from Ervin-Tripp (1969, pp. 93, 98), his own experience of the encounter was 'profound humiliation' when he says 'For the moment, my manhood had been ripped from me.' It is also noted by Allington and Mayor (2012) that commercial companies in the UK tend to address their clients with informal terms,
Dependently on a setting, relationship, age, gender, social class, ethnicity, place of origin, people employ different conversational styles.
Conversation Analysis (CA) is the study of talk-within-interaction that attempts to describe the orderliness, structure and sequential patterns of interaction in conversation. It is a method of qualitative analysis developed by Harvey Sacks with the aid of Emmanuel Schegloff and Gail Jefferson in the late 1960s to early 1970s. Using the CA frame of mind to view stories shows us that what we may think to be simplistic relaying of information or entertaining our friends is in fact a highly organised social phenomena that is finely tuned in a way that expresses the teller’s motivation behind the talk. (Hutchby & Wooffitt, 2011). It is suggested that CA relies on three main assumptions; talk is a form of social action, action is structurally organised, talk creates and maintains inter-subjectivity (Atkinson & Heritage, 1984).
Conversation analysis was developed as a systematic study of discourse. This was established by the American pioneers in this sector, Harvey Sacks, Emanuel A. Schegloff, and Gail Jefferson. This was further labeled as the 'systematic analysis of the talk produced in everyday situations of human interaction: talk-in-interaction' (Hutchby and Wooffitt, 1998: 13). The study of conversational analysis is an approach to understand how individuals create and understand conversations, looking into investigating the elements of turn-taking, overlapping, pauses within a piece of discourse. The early development of conversational analysis has been deep rooted within sociology, as Harvey Sacks was mainly concerned with creating a way that 'sociology could become a naturalistic, observational science” (Hutchby and Wooffitt, 1998: 25).' The critical analysist's within Conversational analysis are concerned with any discourse, being informal or formal. The most important aspect of...
The next section of study includes comprehensive observations and presents a qualitative analysis of the talk show data gathered from the transcription of the excerpt. It discusses turn-taking and adjacency pair systems that are presented in the transcription of this particular except. It also focuses on terms of overlap, interruption and preferred responses. It considers topic and story telling.
One of Tannen’s major claims is that women use rapport-talk and men use report-talk. Women use their rapport-talk as “private speaking” (Tannen 77). It is a way to gain connections and negotiations with the people to which women talk. Women will establish similarities and matching experiences to make conversation. On the other hand, men normally talk using the report-talk. Tannen would consider this “public speaking.” Tannen defines report-talk as “the primary means to preserve independence and negotiate and maintain status in a hierarchical social order.” Tannen proceeds to explain how men exhibit their knowledge and skills by telling stories, joking, or even impartin...
One important issue in studying communication is to learn how individuals manage to open conversations or how people may address one another in a given language (Aliakbari & Toni, 2008). Oyetade (1995) defines address terms as words or expressions used in interactive and face-to-face situations to designate the person being talked to. Address terms in different speech communities are worthy of study, address terms seem to be influenced by culture (Fitch, 1991; Morford, 1997).
For example, Meyerhoff describes the use of an honorific form of a word as a demonstration of respect by the speaker towards the person with whom they are speaking (85). In order to collect data, researchers may analyze audio recordings, observe social interactions, or review transcriptions. Meyerhoff provides the example of a trascribed exchange in Japanese in which a student and a professor both elect to use the honorific forms in their conversation. When speaking in Japanese, “speakers have to be very discerning: they have to be sensitive to the social significance of the relationships and settings they find themselves in and be able to appropriately draw on the conventions for use of honorifics in those settings” (85). Although this is the specific methodology in Japanese politeness, other languages may hold an identical
In every society nonverbal communication is one of the most powerful tools that a person can use to interpret the message that is being delivered. Even though verbal communication is fairly straightforward, nonverbal communication allows others to sense the true emotions of the person that is expressing them. For example even though a person may say that they are not irritated, their usage of voice may display otherwise. Nonverbal communication not only reveals hidden messages, but it also complements, substitutes, and exaggerates verbal communication.
Communication between humans would not be possible without the development of language. Gee and Hayes (2011), states that Language is a physically present set of rules that are established cognitively and socially that guides groups of humans to communicate with each other (p. 6). Language can take the form of many types of communication. Language that is seen, also known as non-verbal communication can be described as written language, body language, gestures and Auslan (Grellier & Goerke, 2014, p. 220). Language that is heard, also known as oral language is the ability to communicate through speech (Gee & Hayes, 2011. p. 6). Oral language has been present amoung all humanity since the beginning of time, starting from one original language.
Competence in interpersonal communication can be assessed both through general interpersonal interactions and non-verbal communication. Both general competence and non-verbal competence are very important to the way that we communicate and have great influence on the message that we relay to those with whom we communicate. After watching the conversation recorded between Matt and I, I have realized that although there are some areas in which I am a competent communicator, there are areas where I could benefit to improve.
Interpersonal communication theories are interesting and compelling to read. They are astonishingly relatable to one’s everyday life. As one reads an interpersonal communication theory, he or she may find himself or herself thinking of instances in daily life and relationships that directly correspond with the theory. I found the theories to be eerily similar to how many people behave, communicate, and think with regards to interacting with one another. Interpersonal communication theories describe the communication between two or more individuals through verbal, non verbal, and written communication. I believe the theories are some of the easiest to comprehend perhaps due to the direct correlation with people’s lives. Through my own research and those of others, I have found Cognitive Dissonance Theory, Uncertainty Reduction Theory, and Social Penetration Theory to be most pertinent to my life. I will begin by describing the basics of each theory and then explain how they have played such a significant role.
Gumperz and Gumperz (1982) argue that communication cannot be studied in isolation. Its effects on people’s lives should also be analysed thus creating a holistic approach in detailing observations and findings of social interaction. Through communicative interaction, a speaker is constantly organising and reorganising who they are and how they relate to the social world (Norton 1997). In other words, speakers demonstrate their “linguistic features and communicative functions and social distribution” (Androutsopoulos & Georgakopoulou
There are all different types of communication that people will use through out their life. The most important type of communication is interpersonal communication. Interpersonal communication differs from other forms of communication in that there are few participants involved, the participants are in close proximity to each other, there are many sensory channels used, and feedback is immediate. Interpersonal communication is the information received from listening to what someone else is saying. Interpersonal communication always uses intonation, diction and enunciation to give meaning to information. Intonation, diction and enunciation sometimes give more meaning to what is being said than the actual words themselves. In the following paragraphs, I will explain to the reader the importance of interpersonal communication in business.
A vital aspect of interpersonal communication is the style in which one listens. While every individual possesses their own preferred method of listening in communication, it can be enlightening to analyze our own strengths and weaknesses so as to maximize effectual communication. Within the confines of four main listening style categories, I have chosen those which best describe my own personal listening style.
This difference, however, led to many interesting questions and observations that arose from examining the two different transcriptions and the power, identity, and value these interactions represented. In addition, the communication between the participants in both field notes often was analyzed using the readings and theoretical arguments presented from the book A Cultural Approach to Interpersonal Communication edited by Leila Monaghan, Jane E. Goodman, and Jennifer Meta Robinson. While some of these aspects of communication found within the transcriptions fall in line with the arguments presented within the various readings, some of the aspects and evidence found do not follow the characteristics of the explained communication
Communication is essential to human life. Every aspect of our daily lives is affected by our communication with others. It can be different types such as verbal, nonverbal and written communication. It is indeed a complex process filled with countless elements, all of which play an important role. The process of communication between human beings has been studied and analyzed outwardly since the beginning of time. The term itself cannot be defined in only one particular way because communication exists in a certain context and is dependable on the communicator and the audience. Example of describing communication is as “the transmission of information, ideas, attitudes or emotions from one person or group to another (or others) primarily through symbols” and “social interaction through messages” (McQuail, 1993). Furthermore, Watson and Hill describe the process of communication as “one which begins when a message is thought up by a sender, who then encodes the message before transmitting it through a particular channel to a receiver, who in turn decodes the message with a certain effect as an outcome” (Price, 1998).The complexity of the whole process is seen through the use of verbal and nonverbal communication on a daily basis, as well as the ability to interact with other human beings on multiple levels, mentally and emotionally. We begin communicating the moment we come out of the womb and do not stop communicating until death. This essay will try to compare and contrast two different communication contexts- interpersonal and mass communication, by using relevant communication models.