Spoken Language Features

Question 1

Accent

Answer 1

The ways in which words are pronounced

Question 2

Adjacency Pairs

Answer 2

Parallel expressions used across the boundaries of individual speaking terms.

Question 3

Give an example of an adjacency pair

Answer 3

‘How are you?’ ‘Fine thanks’

Question 4

Back-Channel

Answer 4

Words, phrases and non verbal utterances used by a listener to give feedback to the speaker that the message is being followed and understood.

Question 5

Contraction

Answer 5

A reduced form often marked by an apostrophe in writing

Question 6

Give an example of contraction

Answer 6

Can’t = cannot

Question 7

Deixis

Answer 7

Words which refer backwards or forwards or outside a text - a verbal pointing. Context dependent!

Question 8

Give an example of deixis

Answer 8

‘this’ ‘that’ ‘here’

Question 9

Dialect

Answer 9

The distinctive grammar and vocabulary which is associated with a regional or social use of language.

Question 10

Discourse Marker

Answer 10

Words and phrases which are used to signal the relationship and connections between utterances and to sign post that what is said can be followed by a listener or reader.

Question 11

Give an example of a discourse marker

Answer 11

‘first’ on the other hand’ ‘so anyway’

Question 12

Elision

Answer 12

The omission or slurring of one or more sounds or syllables

Question 13

Give an example of elision

Answer 13

Gonna = going to

Question 14

Ellipsis

Answer 14

The omission of a part of a grammatical structure.

Question 15

Give an example of ellipsis

Answer 15

‘You going to the party?’ ‘Might be’

Question 16

False start

Answer 16

This is when the speaker begins an utterance, then stops and either repeats or reformulates it.

Question 17

Filler

Answer 17

Items which do not carry conventional meaning but which are inserted in speech to allow time to think, to create a pause or to hold a turn in conversation.

Question 18

Hedge

Answer 18

Words and phrases which soften or weaken the force of which something is said.

Question 19

Give an example of hedge

Answer 19

‘perhaps’ ‘maybe’ ‘I think’

Question 20

Idiolect

Answer 20

An individually distinctive style of speaking.

Question 21

International Talk

Answer 21

Language in conversation used for interpersonal reasons and/or socialising.

Question 22

Non-Fluency Features

Answer 22

Characteristics of spoken language that interrupt the flow of talk.

Question 23

Give an example of a non-fluency feature

Answer 23

Hesitations, false starts, fillers, repetitions, overlaps and interruptions

Question 24

Paralinguistic features

Answer 24

Body language - the use of gestures, facial expressions and other non-verbal elements, to add meaning to the speakers message beyond the words spoken.

Question 25

Phatic talk

Answer 25

Conversational utterances that have no concrete purpose other than to establish or maintain personal relationships.

Question 26

Pragmatics - subtext

Answer 26

An approach to discourse analysis which focuses less on structures and more on contexts and purposes of people talking to each other.

Question 27

Prosodic features

Answer 27

Includes features such as stress, rhythm, pitch, tempo and intonation - which are used by speakers to mark out key meanings in the message. HOW SOMETHING IS SAID.

Question 28

Repairs

Answer 28

An alteration that is suggested or made by a speaker, the addressee, or audience in order to correct or clarify a previous conversational contribution.

Question 29

Sociolect

Answer 29

A social dialect or variety of speech used by a particular group, such as upper class or working class speech.

Question 30

Tag question

Answer 30

Strings of words normally added to a declarative sentence to turn the statement into a question.

Question 31

Give an example of a tag question

Answer 31

“It’s a bit expensive round here, isn’t it?”

Question 32

Transactional talk

Answer 32

Language to get things done or to transmit content or information [used when the participants are exchanging goods and/or services]

Question 33

Turn taking

Answer 33

A turn is a time during which a single participant speaks, within a typical, orderly arrangement in which participants speak with minimal overlap and gap between them.

Question 34

Utterance

Answer 34

Complete unit of talk, bounded by the speakers silence.

Question 35

Vague language

Answer 35

Statements that sound imprecise and unassertive.

Question 36

Give an example of vague language

Answer 36

‘and so on’, ‘or whatever’, ‘thingummy’, ‘whatsit’