SPID 2.1 - social psychology of language

How is speech organised?

Orderly exchange of turns
In most European discourses

What situations affect turn taking?

Informal conversation
Interviews
Ceremonies and rituals (parliament)

What did Walker (1982) study about speaker changeovers?

Informal 1-1 convos
Finely timed changeovers between speakers
Transition pauses less than 200 m/s
Completion of speaking turns projectable (can anticipate when ending)

What are the 6 turn-yielding cues that Duncan and Fiske (1972) found?

Rise/fall in pitch at end of clause
Drawl on final syllable
Termination of hand gestures
Stereotyped expressions (you know)
Drop in loudness
Completion of a grammatical clause

Associated with smooth speaker switch
Hand gesture is an attempt-suppressing signal

How did De Ruiter study accurate predictions of speaker turns?

Original recording = accurate
Intonation synthesised so pitch is flat but words are incant = accurate
When speech is filtered = significant deterioration

Speech and syntax most important

What are the two main types of interruptions?

Silent = without simultaneous speech
Listener responses = back channels eg yeah, uh huh

What did Roger, Bull and Smith (1988) study about the typology of interruptions?

Two main dimensions: single or complex / successful or unsuccessful
Excessive interruptions break down a convo
Can signal enthusiasm

How did Menz and Al-Roubaie (2008) study interruptions in medical consultations?

Doctors believe if patients aren't interrupted, they'll spent too long talking
Non-supportive used more by doctors
Patients less likely to succeed in interruptions
Failed more with senior v student doctors
Takes longer the more the doctor interrupts

What's manterrupting?

The unnecessary interruption of a woman by a man
Results in female frustration due to being ignored, silenced in personal or professional conversation eg power grabbing forms in parliament

What did Och 2020 study about manterrupting?

Analysed debated in Germany
Defined it as any interruption that doesnt add to the debate
Women 17.7% more likely to be interrupted than men
Women interrupted men more often
Not systemic or frequent enough to be considered as resistance against women
More about political opposition than gender

What is equivocation?

Avoiding answering a question by being deliberately vague and imprecise

What are the two main aspects of equivocation?

Situational theory of communicative conflict (STCC)
Multidimensional - 4 dimensions

What is STCC?

All possible responses to a question may have negative consequences
A response is still expected
Results of communicative situation
However it's not very common

What are the 4 dimensions of being equivocal?

Sender - not stating own opinion
Content - clarity
Receiver - addressed to other person in the situation often in mass media
Context - to what extent is there a direct answer?

What did Bavelas find were the 3 kinds of equivocal responses?

Subtle changes in response to
Deferred replies
Hints
Responses to communicative conflicts rated sig more equivocal

What are the two main criticisms of equivocation?

Role of face and face management
Consequences of equivocation

What is the role of face and face management?

Face is your reputation and people thinking well of you
Bello and Edward's - in a poor presentation, people protect their own face and others
Bull - communicative conflict in political interviews created by threats to face

What are the consequences of equivocation?

Strategic advantages of implicit replies to questions
Regarded as forms of equivocation in the original theory

What is Giles et al's communication accommodation theory (CAT)?

Based on Byrne's similarity-attraction theory
Reducing dissimilarities leads to more favourable evaluation
Evolved out of an earlier theory (SAT)

How does accent tie into SAT?

Accent facts how people are perceived
Accent = pronounced and is PART of dialect
Dialect = distinct manner of speech that differs in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar

What was Fuerte et al (2012)'s study on accent prestige?

Meta analysis of 20 studies comparing standard and non-standard accents
Status, solidarity and dynamism
Standard rated sig higher on all 3 dimensions

How did Giles (1973) study accent change?

Divergence or convergence
Convergence is upwards or downwards

How did Willemyns et al (1997) study accent convergence in Aus?

Study of aus job interviews with 48 ppts and 8 interviewers (equal gender)
Broad (regional) or cultivated accents
Sig convergence with broad interviewers
Disgareed that it changed
Women disagreed more than men

How did Bourhis and Giles (1977) study Welsh accent divergence?

Welsh students studying welsh in lab
Integrative (familiar w heritage) and instrumental (job) learners
Listened to q in englush from english speaker and asked why they're studying a dying language with a dismal future
Instrumental softened (converged) and integrative broadened and diverged
Instrumental also used welsh words and phrases (content divergence)

Why is optimal convergence needed?

Possible to be over-accommodating eg old people
Can be seen as ingratiating or patronising
Presumed optimal level

How did Giles and Smith (1979) study the optimal level of convergence with teachers?

Canadian man describes education system to teachers from England and accommodated with speech rate, content and pronounciation
Most favourable when teacher converefed on speech rate and content OR pronounciation
Less so with all 3