conversation and preference structure

Conversation and Preference Structure

Presented by:

Asif Ali Raza

[email protected]

+92-300-4-62-62-34

mailto:[email protected]

• Interaction

• Conversation

• Conversation Analysis

• Terms regarding Conversation Analysis

• Pauses, overlaps, and backchannels

• Conversational style

• Adjacency pairs

• Preference structure

• Summary

Contents

Term INTERACTION could actually apply to a very large number of quite different social encounters.

Different Social Encounters• A teacher talking to students

• A doctor talking to a patient in a clinic

• Individuals taking part in courtroom proceedings, attending meeting, buying stamps at the post office

• And dozens of other different experiences

Interaction

This kind of talk is likely to differ according to the different contexts of interaction.

• The basic pattern of ‘I speak – you speak – I speak – you speak’ is called conversation structure.

• We drive this structure from that fundamental kind of interaction we acquire first and use most often.

Conversation Structure

There are many metaphors used to describe conversation structure.

• For some; conversation is like a dance, with conversational partners coordinating their movements smoothly

• For others; conversation is like traffic crossing an intersection, involving lots of alternating movements without any crashes.

Conversation Analysis

The most widely used approach is based not on dancing, nor on traffic flow but on an analogy with

the workings of a market economy.

• Floor –the right to speak (a scarce commodity)

• Turn – having control of this floor at any time

• Turn-taking – In any situation where control is not fixed in advance, any one can attempt to get control.

• Local Management System – set of conventions for getting, keeping and giving away turns

• Transition Relevance Place (TRP) – Any possible change-of-turn point

Specific words used for this analogy

Market Economy Metaphor (Cont.)

• The speakers accomplish change of turn smoothly because they are aware of the local management system for taking those turns at an appropriate TRP.

This metaphor can be applied to:

• Where speakers cooperate and share the floor equally.

• Also where speakers compete for keeping the floor, preventing others from getting it.

Conversations typically consist of two or more participants taking turns, and only one participant speaking at any time. Smooth transitions from one speaker to the next are valued.

• Transitions with a long silence between turns• Or significant overlap (both speakers trying to

speak at the same time)

Pauses and Overlaps

‘are perceived as awkward’

When two people attempt to have a conversation and discover that there is no ‘flow’, or smooth rhythm to their transition, much more is being communicated than is said. There is a sense of distance, an absence of familiarity, or ease. Following is an interaction between a student and his friend’s father during their first meeting:

Pauses and Overlaps (Cont.)

Mr. Strait: What's your major, Dave?Dave: English—well, I haven't really decided yet.

(3 seconds silence)Mr. Strait: So—you want to be a teacher?Dave: No—not really—well not if I can help it.

(2.5 seconds silence)Mr. Strait: Wha—//Where do you— go aheadDave: I mean it's a—oh, sorry //I em—

• — are short pauses and show hesitations • Long pauses become silences. Silences in the

previous slide are not attributed to either speaker because each has completed a turn.

• // used at the beginning of the overlapping talk.


• If one speaker actually turns over the floor to another and the other does not speak, then the silence is attributed to the second speakers and become significance. It’s an attributable silence.

• In the following interaction, the non-response of Dave is treated, by his girlfriend, as possibly communicating something:


Jan: Dave, I'm going to the store.

(2 seconds)Jan: Dave?

(2 seconds)Jan: Dave – is something

wrong?Dave: What? What's wrong?Jan: Never mind.

3-Apart from the basic overlap, sometimes younger speakers overlapped talk appears to function like an expression of solidarity or closeness opining about similar things.


Min: Did you see him in the video?Wendy: Yeah - the part on the beachMin: Oh my God // he was so lovelyWendy // he was just being so coolMin: And all the waves // crashing around him!Wendy: // yeah that was really wild.

4-Overlap can also communicate competition.

Joe: When they were in // power las-- wait CAN I FINISH?Jerry: // that's my point I said --

The point of overlap is treated as an interruption and the first speaker actually has to make a comment about procedure, i.e., appeals to an unstated rule of conversation structure, namely that each potential speaker is expected to wait until the current speaker reaches a TRP.

Markers of TRPs: - end of a structural unit (phrase/clause)

- pause


5-A speaker who wants to keep holding the floor will avoid providing TRPs, i.e. avoiding open pauses at the end of syntactic units and places fillers/breaths in the middle, not at the end of those units.

• I wasn't talking about—um his first book that was—uh really just like a start and so— uh isn't—doesn't count really.



6- Another floor holding device is to indicate that there is a larger structure to your turn.

a. There are three points I'd like to make—first ...b. There's more than one way to do this—one example would be...c. Didn't you know about Melvin?—Oh, it was last October ...d. Did you hear about Cindy's new car?—She

got it in ...a/b technical information about coming

structurec/d preludes to storytelling

Speakers expect their conversational partners to indicate that they are listening. Nodding, smiling, other facial expressions, gestures, vocal indications are called backchannel signals

Backchannel

Caller: If you use your long distance service a lot then you'll …Mary: // uh-huhCaller: be interested in the discount I'm talking about because …Mary: // yeahCaller: it can only save you money to switch to a cheaper serviceMary: // mmm

Backchannel (Cont.)

• Backchannel signals provide feedback to the speaker that the message is being received, they indicate that the listener is following and not objecting.

• The absence of backchannels is interpreted as significant (in telephone conversations the speaker is prompted to ask whether the speaker is still there).

• In face-to-face conversations the absence of backchannels may be interpreted as a way of withholding agreement.

There are individual and cultural differences in conversational style/turn taking

Conversation Style

High Involvement Style—some individuals expect that participation in a conversation will be very active, that speaking rate will be relatively fast, with almost no pausing between turns, and with some overlap or even competition between turns.

High Considerateness Style—such speakers use a slower rate, expect longer pauses between turns, do not overlap and avoid interruption or completion of the other's turn.

Style clashes lead a conversation to be one-sided.

Conversation Style (Cont.)

• the faster speaker may think the slower one doesn't have much to say, is shy, perhaps boring or stupid

• the slower speaker may view the faster one as noisy, pushy, domineering, selfish and tiresome

features of conversational style are often interpreted as personality traits

Adjacency Pairs

Almost automatic patterns in the structure of conversation (as given below), e.g., in greetings and good-byes are called adjacency pairs.

Examples:

Anna: Hello! Bill: Hi!Anna: How are you? Bill: Fine.Anna: See ya! Bill: Bye!

Adjacency Pairs (Cont.)

• These automatic sequences are called adjacency pairs

• They always consist of a first and second part produced by different speakers.

• The utterance of the first part immediately creates an expectation of the utterance of a second part of the pair.

• Failure to produce the second part will be treated as a significant and hence meaningful.


First Part Second PartA: What's up? B: Nothin' muchA: How's it goin'? B: Jus' hangin' in thereA: How are things? B: The usualA: How ya doin' B: Can't complain

A lot of internal variation is possible:For example: opening of conversation.


First Part Second Part

A: What time is it? B: About eight-thirtyA: Thanks. B: You're welcomeA: Could you help me with this? B: Sure

Example: question - answer sequence in [1]Example: thanking - response sequence in

[2]Example: request - accept sequence in

[3]


Agent: Do you want the early flight? (= Q1)

Client: What time does it arrive? (= Q2)Agent: Nine forty-five (= A2)Client: Yeah - that's great (= A1)

Insertion sequences can intervene between adjacency pairs:Form Q1 - Q2 - A2 - A1 (one adjacency pair within another)

Jean: Could you mail this letter for me? (Req. 1)Fred: Does it have a stamp on? (Q2)Jean: Yeah. (A2)Fred: Okay (Acc. 1)

Mix of different sequences possible:


Opening Sections (Summons-Answer Sequences):First utterance is a summons, the second utterance an answer to the summons, establishing an open channel for talk (three part structure).

Child: Mommy? (Summons)Mum: Yes, dear. (Answer)Child: Can I have chocolate? (Reason for summons)

Examples:


Closing Sections:The closure of any topic after the first one makes the introduction of a closing section imminent• closings placed in such a way that no

party is forced to exit while still having compelling things to say

• hasty or slow terminations carry unwelcome inferences about the relationships between the speakers


B: Okay, so that would be in St. Jude’s wouldn’t it?A: YesB: Okay so …A: One o’clock in the bar closing implicative topic (arrangement)B: OkayA: Okay? one or more pairs of passing turns withB: Okay then thanks very much indeed George – pre-closing items (okay, alright, so …)A: - AlrightB: //See you thereA: //See you thereB: OkayA: Okay // bye terminal elementsB: // bye

Examples:

• adjacency pairs represent social actions, and not all social actions are equal when they occur as second parts of some pairs, e.g., a first part request expects an acceptance.

• acceptance is structurally more likely than refusal and Structural likelihood is called preference

Preference Structures

Preference structure divides second parts into PREFERRED and DISPREFERRED social

acts

First part

Preference Structures

Second part

Preferred Dispreferred

Assessment Isn't that really great? agree Yes, it is disagreeInvitation Why not join us tonight? accept I’d love to refuseoffer Want some coffee? accept Yes, please declineproposal Maybe we could go for a walk. agree That'd be great disagreerequest Can you help me? accept Sure refuse

Silence is also always a dispreferred response, often leading to a revision of the first part. (Non-response communicates that the speaker is not in a position to provide the preferred response)

Preference Structure (Cont.)

Sandy: But I'm sure they'll have good food there

(1.6 seconds)Sandy: Hmm—I guess the food isn't greatJack: Nah—people mostly go for the musicSilence is risky as it may give the impression of non-participation

in the conversationalStructure. Speakers often signal that they are producing the marked, dispreferred structure

Aassessment:


Cindy: So chiropodists do hands I guessJulie: Em - well - out there - they they mostly work on people's feet

- initial hesitation: delay (em + pause)- preface: well- appeal to the views of others: out there- stumbling repetition: they they- relativizing statement/mitigation: mostly

Invitation:


Becky: Come over for some coffee laterWally: Oh - eh - I'd love to - but you see - I - I'm supposed to get this finished - you know

- hesitation: oh - eh- preface: I'd love to (token acceptance)- stumbling repetition: I - I'm- account: I'm supposed to get this finished- invocation of understanding: but you see, you know

How to do a dispreferred second part?


delay/hesitate pause; er; em; ahpreface well; ohexpress doubt I'm not sure; I don't knowtoken acceptance that's great; I'd love toapology I'm sorry; what a pitymention obligation I must do X; I'm expected in Yappeal for understanding you see; you knowmake it non-personal everbody else; out theregive an account too much work; no time leftuse mitigators really; mostly; sort of; kindahedge the negative I guess not; not possible


• dispreferreds take more time/language/effort• more language creates more distance between first and second part• preferred represents closeness and quick connection• participants try to avoid creating contexts for dispreferreds e.g., by using pre-sequences

Question and Answer Period

Thanks

conversation and preference structure

Education

conversation analysis

time pauses

open pauses

short pauses

following interaction

seconds silence

hesitations long pauses

term interaction