Features of Spoken Language

Features of Spoken Language
Child Language Acquisition
Presentation by Chanelle Katsidzira

Discourse
• Discourse can be defined as any spoken or written language

that is longer than the average sentence
• the term ‘discourse’ actually came from the Latin prefix dis-
(“away”) and the root word “currere” (to run) and this pretty
much illustrates the idea of a run-on sentence, which is
basically what discourse is
• There are 4 types of discourse and these are description,
exposition, argumentation and narration
Discourse Features
• These typically aid communication non-
verbally while the speaker talks
• They can be classed as paralinguistic
features (body language) and prosidic
features (intonation, stress, tone, speed)
• The basic discourse features are body
language, turn-taking, adjacency pairs,
and topic shifts among others
• These act as social cues to ensure that flow
of conversation continues without
awkwardness
Holding the Conversation Floor
• To avoid a conversation lapsing into awkward silence and a potential communication breakdown,
there are tactics used to maintain the flow. This is called holding the conversation floor.
• Humans are not necessarily taught these things but rather, learn naturally and acquire social
literacy as they develop in the environment around them
• Some common ways to hand over or take over a conversation are:
- naming the person you wish to hand the conversation to (e.g. Mary was there too, she knows what I’m
talking about)
- concluding what you are saying (e.g “... and that’s how it ended.”)
- hesitating - taking a brief moment’s pause to allow the other person to take over
- use social cues such as body language or sounds - your voice may lower as you look at the next person you
want to hand over to. It should be noted that a tonal rise can indicate the same thing in some varieties of
English speaking and this feature has been coined as high-rising-terminal and is becoming a regular trend in
the other areas of speaking English.
Spontaneous Occurences in Discourse
• Clashing - this is when two or more speakers unexpectedly speak
at the same time. When the clash is realised, the other participant(s)
will normally stop to let another speak. However in the case of a
rude speaker, they will likely try to keep speaking until the others have
no choice but to let them.
• Repairing - this is when a speaker either self-corrects after a
mistake in what they’ve said, or is corrected by others. Normally
this is done using phrases such as “I mean”, “wait” “no” “I wanted
to say”, and when correcting another speaker it’s “don’t you mean”,
“do you mean”, “wait, I thought you said...”
Conversation Markers
• This is referring to the signals that determine the initiation or the ending of a
conversation
• When a conversation is about to be started, the speaker can get the attention of
the listeners with phrases like “You know, [this] happened...” “Did I tell you what
happened...” “Hey guess what...”. Typically, a conversation can spontaneously
sprout from something that was not even intended to lead there. For example,
someone could ask to borrow a pencil, and then say “oh wow, where did you get
this?” And then the other person responds and eventually the conversation ends
up being about how digital art and traditional art are so different.
• This is just a case of a spontaneous conversation, or getting carried away
• When it comes to ending a conversation, the speaker usually says some signaling
phrases such as “... well I better get going”, “we’ll talk”, “see you”, “bye” , etc
Conversation Markers
• Some conversation endings suggest or signal another conversation to be had
later on, such as “we will talk” or “talk to/see you later”. Others, are less
intentional and some of the supposedly signaling ones may actually be
empty. For example , someone could say “we should talk again sometime” but
not actually mean it. A phrase like “bye” does not promise another
conversation, and holds no other intention other than to end the current
conversation.
• From a paralinguistic approach, a conversation ending would be standing up,
starting to pack belongings, or starting to turn away from the other person.
Usually at this point the social cue is recognized, and normally the other
participants follow suite, especially when they are familiar with each other.

Features of Spoken Language - Introduction - Chanelle Katsidzira

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Features of Spoken Language - Introduction - Chanelle Katsidzira

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Features of Spoken Language - Introduction - Chanelle Katsidzira

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Child Language Acquisition

Presentation by Chanelle Katsidzira

• Discourse can be deﬁned as any spoken or written language

You might also like