Download Discourse Strategies used by speakers and how cooperation is

Discourse Strategies used by
speakers and how cooperation is
achieved
TOPIC MANAGEMENT AND TURN-TAKING
What is turn-taking?
 In conversations people take turns speaking and they
manage this with great efficiency. For talk to be
successful, turns have to be connected in some way.
What a speakers says must fit with what has been
said previously
 Speakers are not always consciously aware of the
rules and conventions of conversation, but follow
them anyway*
 There is a range of verbal and non-verbal cues which
signal that a speaker is reaching the end of an
utterance or that a listener wishes to speak
Is turn-taking the same for everyone?
 Members of a social group generally have the same
conventions for turn-taking. When this is the case
conversations will run smoothly
 Conventions can vary between cultural groups,
dialects, or individual members of the same
community
Do we learn how to do it?
 Although speakers do not consciously learn the
knowledge used to make decisions about ‘turns’. In
some cases, usually more formal situations (job
interviews, the classroom, in meetings) the pattern of
exchange can be learnt.
 Speakers can also rely on their knowledge of
adjacency pairs, for example when meeting with a
stranger.
Cues for turn-taking in informal conversations
1. It can be explicit;
o A direct question and tag questions are an invitation to
speak
o Mentioning someone’s name (e.g. Emma knows about
that)
2.It can be more subtle;
o The grammatical construction is complete*
o The speaker makes a concluding statement (e.g. that was
that)
o A falling intonation, or a lengthened syllable
o Non-verbal cues such as leaning back or forward or eyecontact
Holding the floor
 If a speaker does not want to give up their turn, they
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want to ‘hold the floor’.
This can be done by adding conjunctions ‘and’ and
‘but’, and by avoiding eye-contact.
Increased volume can be used to hold the floor when
someone else interrupts.
Speakers with a higher status usually hold the floor,
while others listen. They are more likely to interrupt.
Back channelling are supportive noises (.e.g.
hmm, yes, right) that are used by listeners to
encourage the speaker to hold the floor*
Turn-taking and relationships
 Turn-taking can reflect the relationship between
speakers
 Frequent and equal turn-taking can reflect and close
social distance and a familiar relationship, although
there may still be a dominant speaker.
 A T.V or Radio host may control the turn-taking and
topic management because that is their role. For an
example of this see page 78 in Living lingo
Topic Management
 Utterances are usually relevant to the current topic
or will attempt to initiate new topics
 In formal situations there may be a predetermined
topic or set of topics that is discussed in a systematic
way. (e.g. a meeting, interview or lecture)
 In informal interactions, conversations will drift
from topic to topic. The main topic (the reason for
the exchange) may not come first.
Topic Management
 Topic Shifts are changes of topics. The speaker in
charge of introducing new topics is in charge of turntaking. The end of a topic may be indicated by ‘by the
way’. New topics with ‘that reminds me..’
 The speaker who introduces new topics may have a
higher status or be the dominant speaker. If a
speaker is unsuccessful in introducing a new topic it
shows a lower status.
 Topic Loops are when a conversation returns to an
earlier topic