Metalanguage Discourse Flashcards
Learn 'Discourse' Metalanguage Terms
A word that joins phrases, clauses or words.
Conjunction
Placing at the start (front) of a sentence information that would normally occur later in the sentence, to give it extra prominence.
front focus
A cohesive device whereby a word is substituted for another.
substitution
Conjunctions such as ‘however’, ‘although’ and ‘because’
subordinating conjunctions
Terms which refer to the personal, temporal or locational characteristics of a situation, and whose meanings only make sense in that context or situation. For example, ‘here’ and ‘there, this and ‘that only make sense when taken in context.
deixis/deictic expressions
Logical development and integration within speech or writing. i.e. makes a text understandable.
Coherence
The technique of handing over one’s turn to another interlocutor.
passing the floor
Social ‘chit-chat’ such as talking about the weather or enquiring about someone’s health; the sort of language used to maintain social relationships.
phatic communication
Features of speech that are typical in spontaneous discourse: hesitations, pauses, false starts, repairs, repetition and filled pauses (e.g. ‘um’, ‘er’).
non-fluency features
The cooperative responses or back-channelling made by speakers to encourage their interlocutors to keep talking.
minimal responses
Splitting a single clause into two clauses, each with its own verb, e.g. ‘Jenny ate the ice-cream’ becomes ‘It was Jenny who ate the ice-cream.
Clefting
Adjacent turns in spoken discourse which relate to each other, such as questions and answers or greetings and responses
adjacency pairs
Two or more speakers talking simultaneously.
overlapping speech
Techniques used by speakers to maintain their turn in conversation.
floor-holding strategies
The use of a high-rising or questioning intonation at the end of a statement. Typical in young speakers, it has a range of discourse functions, such as seeking empathy or keeping the other interlocutor involved in the conversation.
HRT (high-rising terminal)
The language variety of a regional or social group.
Dialect
Little expressions, such as ‘isn’t it?’ and ‘will she?’, which turn statements into questions.
interrogative tag
The use of words that are opposite in meaning, e.g. hot & cold
antonymy
Something that has been deduced by using implicit information (such as cultural knowledge).
Inference
Given or familiar information followed by new information. This gives prominence to the final part of the sentence and can enable suspense to build. Also, end weight.
end focus
In spoken discourse this refers to words being repeated due to hesitancy or a false start. In writing it refers to a stylistic device that uses reiteration to emphasize an idea.
repetition
Strategies for presenting information within a sentence, such as front focus, end focus and clefting.
information flow
Conversational strategies for controlling the topic.
topic management
The practice of alternating between two or more languages or dialects in a conversation.
Code-switching
