Spoken Language Features

This should help you with analysing spoken language texts such as transcripts or conversations. Useful for both Section A (categorising texts) and Section B! (Language And Gender/Language And Power)

If your'e anything like me and forget terminology so easily, use this!

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  • Created by: Emily
  • Created on: 22-05-13 13:07
Accent
The ways in which words are pronounced. Accent can vary according to the region or social class of a speaker.
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Adjacency Pairs
Parallel expressions used across the boundaries of individual speaking turns. They are usually ritualistic and formulaic socially. For example: 'How are you?' / 'Fine thanks'
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Back-channel Features
Words, phrases, and non-verbal utterances [e.g. 'I see', 'oh', 'uh huh', 'really'] used by a listener to give feedback to a speaker that the message is being followed and understood
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Contraction
A reduced form often marked by an apostrophe in writing - e.g. can't = cannot; she'll = she will. See also ELISION
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Deixis/deictics
Words such as 'this', 'that', 'here', 'there' which refer backwards or forwards or outside a text - a sort of verbal pointing. Very much a context dependent feature of talk.
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Dialect
The distinctive grammar and vocabulary which is associated with a regional or social use of language.
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Discourse Markers
Words and phrases which are used to signal the relationship and connections between utterances and to signpost that what is said can be followed by the listener or reader E.g. 'first', 'on the other hand', 'now', 'what's more', 'so anyway', etc.
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Elision
The omission or slurring [eliding] of one or more sounds or syllables - e.g. gonna = going to; wannabe = want to be; wassup = what is up
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Ellipsis
The omission of part of a grammatical structure. For example, in the dialogue: 'You going to the party?" / "Might be." - the verb 'are' and the pronoun 'I' are missed out. The resulting ellipsis conveys a more casual and informal tone.
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False Start
This is when the speaker begins an utterance, then stops and either repeats or reformulates it. Sometimes called selfcorrection. See also REPAIRS
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Fillers
Items which do not carry conventional meaning but which are inserted in speech to allow time to think, to create a pause, or to hold a turn in conversation. Examples are 'er', 'um', 'ah'. Also called voiced pauses.
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Grice's Maxims
Grice proposed 4 basic conversational 'rules' [maxims] as criteria for successful conversation: quantity [don't say too much or too little]; relevance [keep to the point]; manner [speak in a clear, coherent, and orderly way]; quality [be truthful]
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Hedge
Words and phrases which soften or weaken the force with which something is said - e.g. 'perhaps', 'maybe', 'sort of', 'possibly', 'I think'. (Lakoff's theory suggests these are popular in 'women's language')
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Idiolect
An individually distinctive style of speaking
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Interactional talk
Language in conversation used for interpersonal reasons and/or socialising
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Non-fluency Features
Typical and normal characteristics of spoken language that interrupt the 'flow' of talk. Some examples: hesitations, false starts, filers, repetitions [though can be used for emphasis], overlaps and interruptions.
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Paralinguistic Features
Related to body language - it is the use of gestures, facial expressions + other non-verbal elements [such as laughter] to add meaning to the speakers message beyond the words being spoken
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Phatic talk
Conversational utterances that have no concrete purpose other than to establish or maintain personal relationships. It's related to small talk - and follows traditional patterns, with stock responses and formulaic expressions: 'How are you?' / 'Fine'
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Pragmatics
An approach to discourse analysis which focuses less on structures and more on contexts and purposes of people talking to each other. 'Pragmatics studies the factors that govern our choice of language in social interaction and the effects on others'
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Prosodic Features
Includes features such as stress, rhythm, pitch, tempo, and intonation - which are used by speakers to mark out key meanings in a message. Essentially, how something is said.
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Repairs
An alteration that is suggested or made by a speaker, the addressee, or audience in order to correct or clarify a previous conversational contribution.
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Sociolect
A social dialect or variety of speech used by a particular group, such as working-class or upper-class speech.
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Tag Question
Strings of words normally added to a declarative sentence to turn the statement into a question. E.g. "It's a bit expensive round here, isn't it?" (Also common feature of Lakoff's women's language)
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Transactional Talk
Language to get things done or to transmit content or information [used when the participants are exchanging goods and/or services]
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Turn Taking
A turn is a time during which a single participant speaks, within a typical, orderly arrangement in which participants speak with minimal overlap and gap between them. The principal unit in conversational structure.
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Utterance
An utterance is a complete unit of talk, bounded by the speaker's silence.
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Vague Language
Statements that sound imprecise and unassertive. E.g. - 'and so on', 'whatever', 'thingummy', 'whatsit'
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Parallel expressions used across the boundaries of individual speaking turns. They are usually ritualistic and formulaic socially. For example: 'How are you?' / 'Fine thanks'

Back

Adjacency Pairs

Card 3

Front

Words, phrases, and non-verbal utterances [e.g. 'I see', 'oh', 'uh huh', 'really'] used by a listener to give feedback to a speaker that the message is being followed and understood

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

A reduced form often marked by an apostrophe in writing - e.g. can't = cannot; she'll = she will. See also ELISION

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

Words such as 'this', 'that', 'here', 'there' which refer backwards or forwards or outside a text - a sort of verbal pointing. Very much a context dependent feature of talk.

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
View more cards

Comments

Bami_x

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Thanks, this was very helpful :)

trybreathing

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thank youu

trybreathing

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thank youu

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