8.1 Features of spoken language
Discourse- Any spoken or written language that is no longer than a sentence, in this section it
applies primarily to spoken language
Utterance- A section of spoken language which is often preceded by silence and followed by
silence or change of speaker, this term is commonly used as an alternative to sentence in
conversation analysis, as it is difficult to apply the traditional characteristics of a written sentence
to a spoken language.
Unlike the majority of what we write which can be redrafted and polished to achieve the desired
effect, most speech is spontaneous. We need strategies to make it flow as smoothly as
possible, though there are times when inevitably we say the wrong things. Public speaking,
such as speeches and lectures share common features with written language as they are
planned and organised before their delivery. Texts and other forms of digital communication blur
the boundaries between speech and writing.
The structure of unscripted conversation
Conversations take place between two or more participants. Much unscripted conversation
follows recognisable conventions which we develop through early life.
Transcripts are records of speech. However, they don't just record what was said but also how
it's delivered. The delivery is represented by specific conventions, which are shown in the
following table.
Convention What it shows
(1) Pause in seconds
(.) micropause
underlined Stressed sound
// Speech overlap
italics Paralinguistic features
UPPER CASE Words spoken with increased volume
↗ Upward intonation
↘ Downward intonation
/wiv/ Phonemic representation of speech sounds
°word° Words spoken with decreased volume.
, These conventions are used to capture and represent spoken language, the standardised
conventions allow for accurate representation from any transcript and ensure reliable data for
analysis.
Discourse features
It is important to look at the conversation in context of who is talking and why, rather than simply
identifying these individual features as this helps to interpret the dynamics of the conversation.
● Opening greetings: Conversation openings usually have a standard form to help ease
the participant into this conversion, greetings such as hello,hi,good morning and nice
day establish feelings of mutual ease. These standard greetings may be accompanied
by body language and gestures such as handshakes or kissing or hugging.
● Turn taking: conversation is usually cooperative with both participants taking turns but
quite frequently speakers overlap, this has to be done with sensitivity as in many cultures
interrupting is rude.When conversation is not cooperative, for example in arguments then
participants.
● Adjacency pairs: Statement and response form the basis of conversations, and form
key parts of caregiver speech as discourse can come when the speaker responds.
● Conversational floor: In discourse the person speaking is said to be holding the
conversational floor, however yielding is used in caregiver speech to encourage child to
speak, when someone is about to finish their turn we use a variety of strategies to
determine who will take over, for example we can name them,complete what we are
saying, hesitate.
● Clashing: When two people start to speak at the same time, the clash is acknowledged
and one participant must stop speaking while the other continues. Status and context is
important here, in discussions one will yield the conversational floor for example, done
as a way in educating the classroom.
● Repairing: During the conversation, participants are constantly monitoring themselves
and to those whom they are speaking, by fixing what you are saying, for example in
discourse speakers may use, I mean, I should have said or no that's wrong.
● Topic shift: Conversation is dynamic and spontaneous,management of topic shift is
most commonly achieved with expressions such as Oh by the way or which reminds me.
● Conversation ending: Closing a conversation also has formulaic utterances with
standard phrases such as see you later, bye, nice to see you. Often both speakers will
seem to synchronise this.
Prosodic and paralinguistic features:
Paralinguistic features are the unspoken element of communication such as body language,
gestures and facial expression.Prosodic features compromise intonation,stress,tone and speed
involved in spoken language.These features add to the meaning of the total discourse.
● Tone relates to the emotion associated with the utterance
● Pitch is a musical term and in language it means whether the voice is high or low, it is
closely associated with the emotion we are feeling.
● Volume is the level of voice production and volume may change according to
circumstance.
