Transcript Slide 1

LING 3P95
Topics in Discourse Analysis
Unit 3:
Discourse Structure A Linguistic Approach:
Acts
3.3.5 Act
• smallest unit of analysis (in CA)
• corresponds to clause or phrase in grammar
• S&C (1975): 22 acts; reduced to 17 (Coulthard 1985)
• elicitation, directive, informative, reply, comment,
evaluation, etc.
[SEMINAR]
• For the test, you will need to know starter, elicitation,
reply, bid, nomination, comment, evaluation, directive,
react, appreciate, aside (pre-response comments);
In-class exercise: Analyze the exchange structures (acts: el, bid, nom,
rep, ev, acc, and s; moves: I R F; exchange):
Teacher-elicit
1. T: Anyone think they know what it says?
P: (Hands raised)
T: Let's see what you think, Martin.
P: Heeroglyphs.
T: Yes, you're pronouncing it almost right.
1
2
3
4
5
1(el)
2 (bid)
3 (nom)
4(rep)
5(ev)
I
2. T: Hands up. What’s that?
P: (Raised hands)
T: Janet.
P: A nail.
T: A nail,
well done, a nail.
1
2
3
4
5
6
1(el)
2 (bid)
3 (nom)
4(rep)
5(acc)
6(ev)
I
3. T: Is “t” a vowel?
P: No.
T: No.
1
2
3
1(el)
2(rep)
3(acc)
I
R
F
Teacher-elicit
1(s)
2(el)
3(rep)
4(ev)
I
Teacher-elicit
4. T: Those letters have special names.
1
Do you know what it is?
2
P: Vowels.
3
T: They're vowels, aren't they?
4
Do you think you could say that sentence
without having the vowels in it?
5
5(el)
R
F
Teacher-elicit
R
F
R
F
I
Common Acts Used in Conversation Analysis (Birmingham)
Act
Definition/Characteristics
Directive
(d)
• Realized by command
• Realizes h of directing move
• To request non-verbal response (action)
Behave
(be)
• Realized by action
• Realizes h of behaving move
• To provide non-verbal response to preceding d
Comment
(com)
• Realized by statement
• Realizes post-h of all moves, except framing
• To exemplify, expand, explain, justify, provide
additional info, or evaluate one’s own U
Engage
(eng)
• Realized by: “mm”, “yeah”, low/mid key echoes
• Not realize any element of move structure
• To provide minimal feedback while not
interrupting flow of conversation
Example
Act
Definition/Characteristics
Framer (fr) • Closed class of items
• Must precede exchange-initial move
head (h)
Marker (m) • Closed class
• “OK” where item precedes nonexchange initial move h
Starter (s) • Realized by statement, Q, command
or moodless item
• Realizes Pre-h of opening, answering,
eliciting, directing or behaving move
• To provide info about or direct
attention to the act
Example
• Ok, all-right, well, now,
good and their variants;
• generally said with high
key falling intonation
• ok, well, oh, erm, look;
• NOT said with high key
falling intonation
Act
Definition/Characteristics
Metastatement (ms)
• Realized by statement, Q or command
• Indicates h of opening move in a structuring
exchange
Conclusion
(con)
• Realized by a statement or Q, usu. w/
anaphoric ref
• Realizes h in opening move of structuring E
• To “tie up” particular topic
Acquiesce
(acq)
• Realized by “yes” and other verbal or nonverbal items indicating consent
• Realizes h of answering move in structuring E
Example
Act
Definition/Characteristics
Example
Greeting
(gr)
• Closed class of items used in first
pair parts of greeting & exiting rituals
• Realizes h of opening move in a
greet exchange
hello, hi, good morning,
good bye, bye-bye, have a
good day, have a nice
day, I’ll be seeing you, etc.
Repygreeting
(re-gr)
• Closed class items used in 2nd-pair
part of greeting and exiting rituals
• Realizes h of answering move in a
greet exchange
hello, hi, good morning,
fine thanks...and you? ,
same to you, yeah see
you, etc.
Summons
(sum)
• Realizes h of opening move in a
summon exchange
• To engage another participant in
conversation
Ringing of a telephone,
knock at a door, calling
out of someone’s name
Act
Definition/Characteristics
Example
Reply –
summons
(re-sum)
• Used to answer a summons
• Can be verbal or non-verbal
• Realizes h of answering move in a
summon exchange
Inquire
(inq)
• Realized by Qs that seek info w/out a WH-questions & ellipted
forms of these
yes/no answer
• To elicit info
Neutral
proposal
(n.pr)
• Realized by Qs which seek yes/ no
answer
• Realizes h of eliciting move, and
elicits decision b/t yes and no
answer the phone or door
etc.
“yes” or “what?”
“Do you....?”
“Are you....?” & ellipted
forms of these
Act
Marked
proposal
(m.pr)
Definition/Characteristics
• Realized by Qs seeking y/n answer
• Form of Q indicates expected answer
• Realizes h of eliciting move, & elicits
agreement
Example
“Aren’t you...?”
Return ( ret) • Realized by Q, usually ellipted
• Seeks clarification of preceding U
Loop (l)
• Closed class of items
• Elicits repetition of preceding U which
was not clearly heard
pardon, what, eh, again
and their variants, said
with rising intonation
Prompt (p)
• Closed class of items
• Realizes h of eliciting move in
re-initiation exchange, or post-h of
any other eliciting or directing move
• To reinforce point of preceding U
“hah” (rising intonation),
“come on”, “go on, give
me an answer”, “guess”
and their variants
Act
Definition/Characteristics
Example
Observation • Realized by statement
(obs)
• Realized by h if informing move at I
• To offer info that is already part of shared
knowledge among participants in conversation
Informative • Realized by statement or y/n items &
(i)
variants, both verbal & non-verbal
• Realizes h of informing move at I, or at R/I or
R in elicit exchange
Concur
(conc)
• Realized by low/mid key y/n items &
variants, both verbal & non verbal, or by
repetition or paraphrase
• Realizes post-h of informing move at R/I or R
in elicit exchange
• To give agreement
Yeah, nay, …
Act
Definition/Characteristics
Confirm
(conf)
• Realized by high key y/n items &
variants, both verbal & non verbal, or
by repetition or paraphrase
• Realizes h of informing more at R/I or R
• To give/assert agreement
Qualify (qu)
• Realized by a “qualified’ statement or
tentative y/n items (where intonationally
signalled)
• Realizes h of informing move at R/I or R
exchange
• To qualify decision or agreement by
indicating that its polarity is not
unconditional
Example
Verbal: “To some extent
yes” “ No not really”
“Well I suppose so...”
Non-verbal: shrugging
the shoulders
Act
Definition/Characteristics
Reject (rej) • Realized by statement or y/n items & variants,
both verbal & nonverbal; can also include silence
• Realizes h if answering move in a structuring,
greet or summon exchange, or h of informing
move at R/I or R
Terminate
(ter)
• Realized by low key y/n item & variants, both
verbal & non-verbal, or by low key repetition
• Realizes h and/or post-h of acknowledging move
at R or F
• To acknowledge preceding U & to terminate
exchange
Example
Act
Definition/Characteristics
Receive
(rec)
• Realized by mid key yes/no item & variants,
both verbal & non-verbal, or by mid key repetition
• Realizes h or pre-h of acknowledging move at R
and/or F
• To acknowledge preceding U or to indicate that
the appropriate is forthcoming
React (rea)
• Realized by high key y/n item & variants, both
verbal & non-verbal, or by high key repetition
• Realizes h of acknowledging move at R and/or F
• To indicate positive endorsement of preceding U
Reformulate • Realized by statement paraphrasing preceding U
(ref)
• Realizes h of acknowledging move at R and/or F
• To acknowledge preceding U, or offer a revised
version of it
Example
Act
Definition/Characteristics
Endorse
(end)
• Realized by statement or moodless item
• Realizes h of acknowledging move at R and/or F
• To offer positive endorsement of, or sympathy w/
preceding U
Protest
(prot)
• Realized by statement or y/n items & variants
• Realizes h of acknowledging move at R and/or F
• To raise objection to a preceding U; it
acknowledges U as well as disputes its correctness
Example
Note: Some acts either do not have examples or have examples
incorporated into the definitions/characteristics. Students can find
examples from the readings and/or come up with their own examples to fit
the definitions/characteristics.