LING 3P95 Topics in Discourse Analysis Unit 3: Discourse Structure - A Linguistic Approach: Acts

3.3.5 Act smallest unit of analysis (in CA) corresponds to clause or phrase in grammar S&C (1975): 22 acts; reduced to 17 (Coulthard 1985) elicitation, directive, informative, reply, comment, evaluation, etc. [SEMINAR] For the test, you will need to know starter, elicitation, reply, bid, nomination, comment, evaluation, directive, react, appreciate, aside (pre-response comments);

In-class exercise: Analyze the exchange structures (acts: el, bid, nom, rep, ev, acc, and s; moves: I R F; exchange): 1.T: Anyone think they know what it says?1 P: (Hands raised)2 T: Let's see what you think, Martin.3 P: Heeroglyphs.4 T: Yes, you're pronouncing it almost right.5 2.T: Hands up. What’s that?1 P: (Raised hands)2 T: Janet.3 P: A nail.4 T: A nail,5 well done, a nail. 6 3.T: Is “t” a vowel? 1 P: No. 2 T: No. 3 4.T: Those letters have special names.1 Do you know what it is? 2 P: Vowels. 3 T: They're vowels, aren't they?4 Do you think you could say that sentence without having the vowels in it?5 1(el) 2 (bid) 3 (nom) 4(rep) 5(ev) I R F Teacher-elicit 1(el) 2 (bid) 3 (nom) 4(rep) 5(acc) 6(ev) 1(el) 2(rep) 3(acc) 1(s) 2(el) 3(rep) 4(ev) 5(el) I R F I R F I R F Teacher-elicit I

Common Acts Used in Conversation Analysis (Birmingham) ActDefinition/CharacteristicsExample Directive (d) Realized by command Realizes h of directing move To request non-verbal response (action) Behave (be) Realized by action Realizes h of behaving move To provide non-verbal response to preceding d Comment (com) Realized by statement Realizes post-h of all moves, except framing To exemplify, expand, explain, justify, provide additional info, or evaluate one’s own U Engage (eng) Realized by: “mm”, “yeah”, low/mid key echoes Not realize any element of move structure To provide minimal feedback while not interrupting flow of conversation

ActDefinition/CharacteristicsExample Framer (fr) Closed class of items Must precede exchange-initial move head (h) Ok, all-right, well, now, good and their variants; generally said with high key falling intonation Marker (m) Closed class “OK” where item precedes non- exchange initial move h ok, well, oh, erm, look; NOT said with high key falling intonation Starter (s) Realized by statement, Q, command or moodless item Realizes Pre-h of opening, answering, eliciting, directing or behaving move To provide info about or direct attention to the act

ActDefinition/CharacteristicsExample Metastate- ment (ms) Realized by statement, Q or command Indicates h of opening move in a structuring exchange Conclusion (con) Realized by a statement or Q, usu. w/ anaphoric ref Realizes h in opening move of structuring E To “tie up” particular topic Acquiesce (acq) Realized by “yes” and other verbal or non- verbal items indicating consent Realizes h of answering move in structuring E

ActDefinition/CharacteristicsExample Greeting (gr) Closed class of items used in first pair parts of greeting & exiting rituals Realizes h of opening move in a greet exchange hello, hi, good morning, good bye, bye-bye, have a good day, have a nice day, I’ll be seeing you, etc. Repy- greeting (re-gr) Closed class items used in 2 nd -pair part of greeting and exiting rituals Realizes h of answering move in a greet exchange hello, hi, good morning, fine thanks...and you?, same to you, yeah see you, etc. Summons (sum) Realizes h of opening move in a summon exchange To engage another participant in conversation Ringing of a telephone, knock at a door, calling out of someone’s name

ActDefinition/CharacteristicsExample Reply – summons (re-sum) Used to answer a summons Can be verbal or non-verbal Realizes h of answering move in a summon exchange answer the phone or door etc. “yes” or “what?” Inquire (inq) Realized by Qs that seek info w/out a yes/no answer To elicit info WH-questions & ellipted forms of these Neutral proposal (n.pr) Realized by Qs which seek yes/ no answer Realizes h of eliciting move, and elicits decision b/t yes and no “Do you....?” “Are you....?” & ellipted forms of these

ActDefinition/CharacteristicsExample Marked proposal (m.pr) Realized by Qs seeking y/n answer Form of Q indicates expected answer Realizes h of eliciting move, & elicits agreement “Aren’t you...?” Return ( ret) Realized by Q, usually ellipted Seeks clarification of preceding U Loop (l) Closed class of items Elicits repetition of preceding U which was not clearly heard pardon, what, eh, again and their variants, said with rising intonation Prompt (p) Closed class of items Realizes h of eliciting move in re-initiation exchange, or post-h of any other eliciting or directing move To reinforce point of preceding U “hah” (rising intonation), “come on”, “go on, give me an answer”, “guess” and their variants

ActDefinition/CharacteristicsExample Observation (obs) Realized by statement Realized by h if informing move at I To offer info that is already part of shared knowledge among participants in conversation Informative (i) Realized by statement or y/n items & variants, both verbal & non-verbal Realizes h of informing move at I, or at R/I or R in elicit exchange Concur (conc) Realized by low/mid key y/n items & variants, both verbal & non verbal, or by repetition or paraphrase Realizes post-h of informing move at R/I or R in elicit exchange To give agreement Yeah, nay, …

ActDefinition/CharacteristicsExample Confirm (conf) Realized by high key y/n items & variants, both verbal & non verbal, or by repetition or paraphrase Realizes h of informing more at R/I or R To give/assert agreement Qualify (qu) Realized by a “qualified’ statement or tentative y/n items (where intonationally signalled) Realizes h of informing move at R/I or R exchange To qualify decision or agreement by indicating that its polarity is not unconditional Verbal: “To some extent yes” “ No not really” “Well I suppose so...” Non-verbal: shrugging the shoulders

ActDefinition/CharacteristicsExample Reject (rej) Realized by statement or y/n items & variants, both verbal & nonverbal; can also include silence Realizes h if answering move in a structuring, greet or summon exchange, or h of informing move at R/I or R Terminate (ter) Realized by low key y/n item & variants, both verbal & non-verbal, or by low key repetition Realizes h and/or post-h of acknowledging move at R or F To acknowledge preceding U & to terminate exchange

ActDefinition/CharacteristicsExample Receive (rec) Realized by mid key yes/no item & variants, both verbal & non-verbal, or by mid key repetition Realizes h or pre-h of acknowledging move at R and/or F To acknowledge preceding U or to indicate that the appropriate is forthcoming React (rea) Realized by high key y/n item & variants, both verbal & non-verbal, or by high key repetition Realizes h of acknowledging move at R and/or F To indicate positive endorsement of preceding U Reformulate (ref) Realized by statement paraphrasing preceding U Realizes h of acknowledging move at R and/or F To acknowledge preceding U, or offer a revised version of it

ActDefinition/CharacteristicsExample Endorse (end) Realized by statement or moodless item Realizes h of acknowledging move at R and/or F To offer positive endorsement of, or sympathy w/ preceding U Protest (prot) Realized by statement or y/n items & variants Realizes h of acknowledging move at R and/or F To raise objection to a preceding U; it acknowledges U as well as disputes its correctness Note: Some acts either do not have examples or have examples incorporated into the definitions/characteristics. Students can find examples from the readings and/or come up with their own examples to fit the definitions/characteristics.