Discourse Analysis for Spoken Grammar - Essay Example

Name Professor Course Date Discourse Analysis for Spoken Grammar Introduction Discourse plays an important role in our day to day communication as it is the basis for which messages are passed across from one person to another, formally and informally. Discourse markers help enhance communication and ease the way people interact when communicating informally. Oral conversations are a good source of discourse markers considering they are employed frequently as people seek to keep conversations going. The purpose of this article is to provide a discourse analysis of a typical conversation between me and a classmate friend. The conversation was recorded in a classroom during lunch break so its longevity was limited considering we needed to go and study. The motivation for choosing this type of conversation is the idea that ordinary conversations usually contain a wide range of discourse markers as each individual seeks to contribute to the conversation while allowing the other person to contribute too. I will compare my findings with those in written text by a variety of authors, including Robin Wooffitt, Van Dijk, and James Paul Gee. Analyzed data Friend: Hello Isabella Me: Hi Sean, uuh… what did you do this summer? Friend: I worked for my grandma. What did YOU do this summer? (Intonation at [YOU]) Me: Uhh… I holidayed at nothing. Oh, I went to Tokyo and then Thailand. It’s just close… (Use of ellipses) Friend: [interrupts excitedly] what did you do in Thailand? Me: In Thailand I went Scuba diving… you ever been scuba diving? Friend: No, never Me: do you want to? Friend: Yes Me: why? Friend: [giggles] because it sounds really cool. Everyone who goes to Thailand deserves to … (Use of ellipses) Me: Scuba dive! [Intonation] … what other exercise or sport did you do? Friend: I surfed Me: You surfed? Genuinely? Friend: Yeah! Me: well, where? Friend: In Costa Rica… Me: with a proper surf board or a body board? Friend: uhm… with a surf board Me: a big one, a practice one, like… how did it go? Is it difficult? People say it’s really difficult! Friend: yeah, it’s really hard Me: so, did you get up? Friend: no… Me: you didn’t! [We both laugh] did you do it one day or for a week? Friend: I did it everyday… Me: everyday… for how long? Friend: for a summer Me: and you never stood up… Friend: [interrupts] I stood up, but not for long. It’s not like… psweeet! Me: uuhm… I really would want to know how to surf but the thing for me is that I hate doing things that I’m not good at. I’d need practice. I hate being bad at things Friend: true… Me: what? Friend: I said true you’re not… Me: it’s like I wanna try… like I wanna play tennis with people but I’m not really good at it so I’d have to practice and have like private lessons. So I want to learn Spanish secretly so I can listen to my friends speaking Spanish and they will not know that… Friend: Oh, your parents listen to your German… Me: yeah… yeah, that was sneaky. How’s your Spanish going? Friend: it’s going well, thank you Me: do you think you’ve learned more than Sia? Friend: yes, thank you. Actually, yes! Well, I bought Rosetta Stone. Rosetta Stone is like the main instrument to learn for like adult users… Me: [interrupts] is it a book or an app, or… Friend: it’s an app; you put in your computer. You download it and it takes you through sections Me: did you… Friend: no, I just bought it, I didn’t use again Me: yeah, I downloaded an app to learn Spanish, it just doesn’t work Friend: well, it’s because it’s basic Spanish Me: yeah, I know. You just play the games to get to high levels… Friend: that’s like Rosetta Stone and I don’t wanna play simple games Me: why… I wanna learn Spanish; I will do Rosetta Stone with you sometime Friend: uhm, ok, yeah! Me: alright, we’ll have fun! Friend: ok, great, see you later Me: uhm… (breathes audibly) ok! (Discourse markers are italicized) The discourse analysis conducted in this conversation provides evidence to the importance of discourse markers, the use of ellipses, and intonation in facilitating an informal conversation. In this case, turn allocation would not be possible without the pauses that are marked by ellipses. The seriousness of a speaker’s statement would not be achieved without intonation either, and a speaker would not be able to reveal the thought she has given to an issue without the use of discourse markers. From this analysis, I also learned that discourse markers are useful for encouraging a response or a reaction from the listener. Thanks to discourse markers, it is possible for the speaker to indicate that her turn to speak is not over and thus state a number of things while still getting the listener involved in the conversation. Van Dijk notes that in an ordinary conversation, there are many uncertainties as none of the parties knows how many turns each will be allocated or how long each turn will be (352). However, there are very few instances in which both parties will be talking at the same time, such instances are typically very short lived, and successive turns will be built in such a manner that delays between turns are totally minimized (Van 352). This explains the idea of turn taking and the purpose of interruptions in an ordinary conversation. The same was observed in the conversation analyzed here. At the beginning of the conversation, we did not know how the conversation would unfold, but as the conversation progressed, each party got an equal chance to speak. There were instances of interruptions, whereby both parties spoke at the same time. In such cases, the interrupting party intended to either correct the other, or to clarify a statement that had been put across vaguely. For instance, when I tried to enquire if the friend failed to stand on the surf board after having practiced everyday for an entire summer, she quickly interrupted, stating that she did, but not for long. This was intended at clarifying her earlier claim that she had not been able to stand on the surf board, and to explain that surfing is very difficult. Therefore, turn taking was very effective in this conversation and interruptions were made very effectively. Wooffitt also cites that some ostensibly minor contributions and non-lexical items may be very significant in a conversation (12). Simple discourse markers as “uhm”, “uhhhm”, and “okay” may be enough to signal an understanding of the on-going interaction, thus facilitating or hindering the continuity of the conversation (Wooffitt 12). The author adds that instances of audible breathing also signal to the listener how well a statement was received by the speaker (Wooffitt 13). The author analyses a telephone conversation to clarify this claim. In this case, the listener signals to the speaker that he understands her explanations by simply using such markers as “yeah” and “ah... Ha”. In instances whereby the listener hesitates to respond, the speaker is hinted that the listener is either unwilling to confirm, or that he thinks the speaker is wrong. Discourse markers are therefore important for providing important hints to the parties in a conversation. The telephone conversation below is provided in Wooffitt’s text. Discourse markers are italicized 1. E: hh something red. Erhm; looks like it might be a porcupine with lots of spines standing hhh standing up 2. S: Yeah ‘hh 3. E: And then a frog – a frog’s face peering over something 4. E: hh: a ghost? Coming out of a door: or a chair, like a mirror, in a funny house 5. S: yeah, 6. E: hh shapes ahr: are in this funny house, and shapes like like ehm bunny rabbits with weird ears 7. S: yeah, hhuh, huh ‘hhhh (Wooffitt 12) The conversation analyzed in this essay compares closely with that in Wooffitt’s conversation as discourse markers are used for similar purposes. As the conversation begins, simple greetings are exchanged then the discourse marker “uuh” is used for transitioning into a question. “Hi Sean? Uuh… what did you do this summer?” Without this discourse marker, the sentence would still be grammatically meaningful. However, the greeting would become unimportant and would only seem to be a phrase for drawing the attention of the listener. “Hi Sean, what did you do this summer?” Because of using the discourse marker, the listener is signaled to proceed with a friendly conversation that unfolds successfully. Audible breathing is also effective in signaling to the listener that a statement she made during her turn was not very welcome. This is in the conclusion of the conversation whereby one party suddenly concludes the conversation, and the other breathes audibly before saying “ok!” The telephone conversation provided in the book also differs slightly from the real life conversation analyzed in this book, particularly considering that turn taking is achieved in different ways. While in the real life conversation, each person takes her turn to talk and express her view; only one speaker is seen to be actively speaking in the telephone conversation. The result is that the one who speaks more uses more discourse markers than the listener, whose responses are only in agreement with those of the speaker. This is the model of conversation used in a doctor-patient conversation, whereby the doctor listens as the patient speaks using discourse markers to explain how he feels (Starks 1376). Discourse markers are also used to indicate a speaker’s attitude towards what he/she is saying (Gee 42). Gee explains that without discourse markers, it would be very difficult to understand the speaker’s mood without other elements such as discourse (42). When a speaker uses such phrases as “as a matter of fact”, “actually”, “probably”, “not really”, and “well”, we get the insinuation he/she intends to put across. A speaker can therefore insert a serious statement in a casual conversation by simply saying “frankly” before a statement. Similarly, a speaker can insert sarcasm in a statement by merely inserting such a discourse marker as “probably” in a statement that would otherwise have a serious meaning. The listener is accordingly guided to respond appropriately. Discourse markers are therefore important in creating the implication of a speaker’s statement and guiding the listener to respond during his/her turn. The conversation analyzed here has utilized discourse markers in the same way suggested by Gee. The discourse marker “genuinely” is used to show doubt in the speaker’s statement that she surfed during the summer. The next statement following the response begins with the discourse marker “well”. This is used to affirm the speaker’s interest in the listener’s previous statement. This discourse marker is thus indicative of a receptive attitude to the listener’s story. As the conversation progresses, the discourse marker “actually” is used to show seriousness. Its usage before an affirmative “yes” is purposed at suggesting that the speaker is serious. Other affirmative discourse markers in the conversation include; “alright” and “yeah”. They are featured frequently in the conversation, suggesting that the two speakers are in agreement. Work cited Gee, James Paul. An introduction to discourse analysis: Theory and method. Routledge, 2013. Available at; http://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ML_ofk3EFSwC&oi=fnd&pg=PP2&dq =An+introduction+to+discourse+analysis:+Theory+and+method&ots=ImaJW4rgzi&sig= RbDSLDbx5KCbSea1up_6yYGH7eA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=An%20introduction %20to%20discourse%20analysis%3A%20Theory%20and%20method&f=false Starks, Helene, and Susan Brown Trinidad. "Choose your method: A comparison of phenomenology, discourse analysis, and grounded theory." Qualitative health research 17.10 (2007): 1372-1380. Available at; http://qhr.sagepub.com/content/17/10/1372.short Van Dijk, Teun A. "18 Critical discourse analysis." The handbook of discourse analysis 18 (2003): 352. Available through; http://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=6RfarwereacC&oi=fnd&pg=PA352&dq =18+Critical+discourse+analysis&ots=wDHO3jSIcp&sig=p- 3QTP88YJLb7DRSiUi26jbyz7k&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=18%20Critical%20discour se%20analysis&f=false Wooffitt, Robin. Conversation analysis and discourse analysis : a comparative and critical introduction. London ; Thousand Oaks, Calif. : SAGE, 2005. http://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ZFs3ggGstlcC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=C onversation+analysis+and+discourse+analysis+:+a+comparative+and+critical+%09intro duction.&ots=OQAv4Dj- U_&sig=2s0EdyKf3E_r6IA3v5F_720gP8A&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Conversation %20analysis%20and%20discourse%20analysis%20%3A%20a%20comparative%20and %20critical%20%09introduction.&f=false Read More