EL4252 Honours Year, Exchange structure

EL4252 Honours Year: Sessions Nos. 10–11 Exchange Structure

SINCLAIR & COULTHARD 1. An alternative take on genre: exchange structure rather than elements (in GSP). 2. The ‘Birmingham School’: /ˈbɜːmɪŋ(h)əm/. Exchange structure. Emphasis not on the ‘largest’ structures (cf the ‘elements’

or main categories in genre analysis), but on the levels below that. But even then, the lower-down structures might also be genre specific.

3. Malcolm Coulthard, J. McH. Sinclair, Martin Montgomery, Michael Stubbs, Michael McTear 4. Initial application to teacher-pupil interaction, and the description specific to it. Why teacher-pupil interaction? 5. Functional rather than intentional 6. Their minimum criteria or credo: (a) finite categories (b) exponents identifiable (c) comprehensive system (d) at least one impossible combination 7. Basis: Halliday’s scale and category grammar 8. What scales and categories?

SCALES CATEGORIES delicacy

rank realisation (exponence)

structure unit class

system 9. Levels and ranks

Non-linguistic Organisation

Discourse Grammar

course period topic LESSON

TRANSACTION EXCHANGE MOVE sentence ACT clause group word morpheme

10. Levels

T = teacher, P = pupil T: put it near your tissue paper. tell me what happens when you put your pen near your tissue paper P: sir the pen er picks it up T: yes. would you say the pen is doing some work P: yes sir. energy sir T: yes. it’s using energy. yes. where did you get the energy from P: sir, sir. from your arm. T: from the rubbing. yes. right. put your pens down. all eyes on me. now. what we’ve just done what we’ve just done is

given some energy to this pen. now. where’ve we got the energy from . . . 11. Sinclair and Coulthard’s notion of function 12. Determining the act *situation *position in the discourse (function) 13. Link between rank: class An example from grammar — the nominal group (noun phrase)

Elements of Structure Structures Classes of Word Modifier (M)

Head (H) Qualifier (Q)

(M1...M

n)H(Q

1...Q

n) M: determiner, adjective

H: noun Q: adjectives, downranked clauses, etc

14. Summary: RANK I: Lesson

Elements of Structure Structures Classes of Transaction an unordered series of transactions RANK II: Transaction

Elements of Structure Structures Classes of Exchange

Preliminary (P) Medial (M)

Terminal (T) PM(M

2... M

n)(T)

P, T: Boundary II.1 M: Teaching II.2

RANK III: Exchange (Boundary)

Elements of Structure Structures Classes of Move

Frame (Fr) Focus (Fo)

(Fr)(Fo) Fr: Framing III.1 Fo: Focusing III.2

RANK III: Exchange (Teaching)

Elements of Structure Structures Classes of Move

Initiation (I) Response (R) Feedback (F)

I(R)(F) I: Opening III.3

R: Answering III.4 F: Follow-up III.5

RANK IV: Move (Opening) Elements of Structure Structures Classes of Act

signal (s) pre-head (pre-h) head (h) post-head (post-h) select (sel)

(s)(pre-h)h(post-)(sel) OR

(sel)(pre-h)h

s: marker IV.1 pre-h: starter IV.2 h: system operating at h; choice of elicitation, directive, informative,

check IV.3 post-h: system operating at post-h; choice from prompt and clue IV.4 sel: ((cue) bid) nomination IV.5

RANK IV: Move (Answering)

Elements of Structure Structures Classes of Act pre-head (pre-h) head (h) post-head (post-h)

(pre-h)h(post-h) pre-h: acknowledge IV.6 h: system operating at h; choice of reply, react, acknowledge IV.7 post-h: comment IV.8

RANK IV: Move (Follow-up)

Elements of Structure Structures Classes of Act pre-head (pre-h) head (h) post-head (post-h)

(pre-h)(h)(post-h) pre-h: accept IV.9 h: evaluate IV.10 post-h: comment IV.8

RANK IV: Move (Framing)

Elements of Structure Structures Classes of Act head (h) qualifier (q)

hq h: marker IV.1 q: silent stress IV.11

RANK IV: Move (Focusing) Elements of Structure Structures Classes of Act signal (s) pre-head (pre-h) head (h) post-head (post-h)

(s)(pre-h)h(post-h)

s: marker IV.1 pre-h: starter IV.2 h: system at h: choice from metastatement or conclusion IV.12 post-h: comment IV.8

15. Acts IV.1: marker (m) IV.2: starter (s) IV.3.1: elicitation (el); IV.3.2: check (ch); IV.3.3: directive (d); IV.3.4: informative (i) IV.4.1: prompt (p); IV.4.2: clue (cl) IV.5.1: cue (cu); IV.5.2: bid (b); IV.5.3: nomination (n) IV.6: acknowledge (ack) IV.7.1: reply (rep); IV.7.2: react (rea) IV.8: comment (com) IV.9: accept (acc) IV.10: evaluate (e) IV.11: silent stress (^) IV.12.1: metastatement (ms); IV.12.2: conclusion (con) IV.13: loop (l) IV.14: aside (z)

Reference No. Label Symbol Realisation and Definition IV.1 marker m realised by a closed class of items – ‘well’, ‘OK’, ‘now’, ‘good’, ‘right’, ‘all

right’. When a marker is acting as the head of a framing move it has a falling intonation as well as a silent stress. Its function is to mark boundaries in the discourse.

IV.2 starter s realised by statement, question or command. Its function is to provide information about or direct attention to or thought towards an area in order to make a correct response to the initiation more likely.

IV.3.1 elicitation el realised by question. Its function is to request a linguistic response. IV.3.2 check ch realised by a closed class of polar questions concerned with being

‘finished’ or ‘ready’, having ‘problems’ or ‘difficulties’, being able to ‘see’ or ‘hear’. They are ‘real’ questions, in that for once the teacher doesn’t know the answer. If he does know the answer to, for example, ‘have you finished’, it is a directive, not a check. The function of checks is to enable the teacher to ascertain whether there are any problems preventing the successful progress of the lesson.

IV.3.3 directive d realised by command. Its function is to request non-linguistic response. IV.3.4 informative i realised by statement. It differs from other uses of statement in that its

sole function is to provide information. The only response is an acknowledgement of attention and understanding.

IV.4.1 prompt p realised by a closed class of items – ‘go on’, ‘come on’, ‘hurry up’, ‘quickly’, ‘have a guess’. Its function is to reinforce a directive or elicitation by suggesting that the teacher is no longer requesting a response but expecting or even demanding one.

IV.4.2 clue cl realised by statement, question, command, or moodless item. It is subordinate to the head of the initiation and functions by providing additional information which helps the pupil to answer the elicitation or comply with the directive.

IV.5.1 cue cu realised by a closed class of which we have only three exponents, ‘hands up’, ‘don’t call out’, ‘is John the only one’. Its sole function is to evoke an (appropriate) bid.

IV.5.2 bid b realised by a closed class of verbal and non-verbal items – ‘Sir’, ‘Miss’, teacher’s name, raised hand, heavy breathing, finger clicking. Its function is to signal a desire to contribute to the discourse.

IV.5.3 nomination n realised by a closed class consisting of all the names of all the pupils, ‘you’ with contrastive stress, ‘anybody’, ‘yes’, and one or two idiosyncratic items such as ‘who hasn’t said anything yet’. The function of nomination is to call on or give permission to a pupil to contribute to the discourse.

IV.6 acknowledge ack realised by ‘yes’, ‘OK’, ‘cor’, ‘mm’, ‘wow’, and certain non-verbal gestures and expressions. Its function is simply to show that the initiation has been understood, and, if the head was a directive, that the pupil intends to react.

IV.7.1 reply rep realised by statement, question, moodless and non-verbal surrogates such as nods. Its function is to provide a linguistic response which is appropriate to the elicitation.

IV.7.2 react rea realised by a non-linguistic action. Its function is to provide the appropriate non-linguistic response defined by the preceding directive.

IV.8 comment com realised by statement and tag question. It is subordinate to the head of the move and its function is to exemplify, expand, justify, provide additional information. On the written page it is difficult to distinguish from informative because the outsider’s ideas of relevance are not always the same. However, teachers signal paralinguistically, by a pause, when they are beginning a new initiation with an informative as a head; otherwise they see themselves as commenting.

IV.9 accept acc realised by a closed class of items – ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘good’, ‘fine’, and repetition of pupil’s reply, all with neutral low fall intonation. Its function is to indicate that the teacher has heard or seen and that the informative, reply or react was appropriate.

IV.10 evaluate e realised by statements and tag questions including words and phrases such as ‘good’, ‘interesting’, ‘team point’, commenting on the quality of the reply, react or initiation, also by ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘good’, ‘fine’, with a high fall intonation, and repetition of the pupil’s reply with either high fall (positive) or a rise of any kind (negative evaluation).

IV.11 silent stress ^ realised by a pause, of the duration of one or more beats, following a marker. It functions to highlight the marker when it is serving as the head of a boundary exchange indicating a transaction boundary.

IV.12.1 metastatement ms realised by a statement which refers to some future time when what is described will occur. Its function is to help pupils to see the structure of the lesson, to help them understand the purpose of the subsequent exchange, and see where they are going.

IV.12.2 conclusion con realised by an anaphoric statement, sometimes marked by slowing of speech rate and usually the lexical items ‘so’ or ‘then’. In a way it is the converse of metastatement. Its function is again to help the pupils understand the structure of the lesson but this time by summarising what the preceding chunk of discourse was about.

IV.13 loop l realised by a closed class of items – ‘pardon’, ‘you what’, ‘eh’, ‘again’, with rising intonation and a few questions like ‘did you say’, ‘do you mean’. Its function is to return the discourse to the stage it was at before the pupil spoke, from where it can proceed normally.

IV.14 aside z realised by statement, question, command, moodless, usually marked by lowering the tone of the voice, and not really addressed to the class. As we noted above, this category covers items we have difficulty in dealing with. It is really instances of the teacher talking to himself, ‘It’s freezing in here’, ‘Where did I put my chalk?’

FOR ACTS Distinction made between

• Grammatical categories • Situational categories • Discourse categories Grammatical categories Situational categories Discourse categories

Declarative Interrogative Imperative

Statement Question Command

Informative Elicitation Directive

Example: T: What kind of a person do you think he is? Do you – what are you laughing at? P: Nothing. ‘What are you laughing at?’ = Give me the reason (question) or Stop laughing (command)

16. SAMPLE (click to see) (first text) 17. S&C owed their IRF structure to Bellack et al. (1966), The language of the classroom (NY: Teachers College Press). It is

also called IRE(Initiation–Response–Evaluation) by Mehan (1979), Learning lessons: social organisation in the classroom (Cambridge, MA: Harvard U P). This has been called ‘the essential teaching exchange’ (Edwards & Westgate (1994), Investigating classroom talk [London: Falmer], p. 24).

18. This IRF or IRE structure has come under criticism within pedagogy as being teacher-centred. Others have said that

particular exchange structures characterise different genres, eg

There are some specific features of the news interview question-answer sequence. In many types of question-answer sequence, in ordinary conversation as well as institutional settings such as classroom teaching …, there occurs a third position slot in which the questioner acknowledges or evaluates the answer. Thus, in standard information seeking questions, we may find the sequence question-answer-acknowledgement, as in the following example:

Ordinary conversation 1 Nancy: How’s yer foot. 2 Edna: Oh it’s healing beautif’lly. 3Nancy: Goo::d. Similarly, in the kind of knowledge-testing questions asked by teachers we may find the sequence question-answer-

evaluation, as in: Classroom interaction 1 Teacher: Can you tell me why do you eat all that food. 2 Yes. 3 Pupil: To keep you strong. 4Teacher: To keep you strong. Yes. To keep you strong. In news interviews, by contrast, there is generally no third turn acknowledgement or evaluation; rather, the standard

sequence is question-answer-next question-answer … and so on. (One exception to this question-answer chaining norm, the case of question-answer-formulation, is discussed below.)

Ian Hutchby (2006), Media talk, p. 124 19. Teacher talk: regulative and instructional talk.

1 Tell 2 Control 3 Stimulate 4 Reward A Content

B Organisation

C Discipline 20. Criticisms

• descriptive apparatus applied to the data ex post facto • identification, segmentation • why is act coterminous with clause? • more than one function possible • discontinuity not dealt with (embedding) • misapprehensions, etc. not dealt with

21. Plusses

• goes beyond two acts (cf. adjacency pairs) • finite categories (cf. their criteria) • possibility of extension to other types of discourse

More exercises in analysis (click to access) (subsequent texts) 22. Modifications – a lot of interest in the level of the exchange, because it forms the minimal interactional unit 23. Sinclair and Coulthard’s exchange structure – I (R) (F). Question: Is the Feedback a semantic category or a structural

category? Maybe this should be rechristened Follow-up to emphasise its structural status.

http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/elltankw/honours/5a.htm

http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/elltankw/honours/5b.htm

24. Structures seem to be either predicted or predicting or both or neither. Predicting Predicted 1. INITIATION 2. RESPONSE 3. FOLLOW-UP 4. ?

Yes No No Yes

No Yes No Yes

Exchange 4 can be labelled R/I. The analogy in grammar is a clause like I saw him die, where him is predicted by the predicator saw, and predicts the predicator die.

Another possible analogy —

A: have you got coffee to go? B: milk and sugar? A: just milk please

25. Structure of an eliciting exchange?

Tutor. can you account for the presence of so many lexical items connoting food and drink in this extract? Undergrad. is it because they’re having their elevenses? Tutor. possibly, but do you think this is significant thematically? Undergrad. this is Philip’s point of view? Tutor. why do you say that? Undergrad. Philip is a child and is therefore very interested in food and drink. Tutor. hmm. why do you say Philip is a child?

The underlined moves are not merely R moves because they are also predicting moves; they must therefore be R/I moves.

A: let’s go to the cinema tonight. B: I’ve got to study for an exam

The indirect speech-act interpretation is precisely because B’s move is an R move, and not an I move.

Linus. do you want to play with me Violet? Violet. you’re younger than me [shuts door] Linus. she didn’t answer my question.

Linus’s final assessment is bizarre (and funny) because he interprets Violet’s move as an I move and not an R move. 26. Summary — the exchange structure as {I (R/I) R (F)n}

Sinclair and Coulthard Element of Structure Move INITIATE RESPONSE FEEDBACK

Opening Answering Follow-up

Coulthard and Brazil Element of Structure Move INITIATION RESPONSE FOLLOW-UP

Eliciting Informing Acknowledging

27. Usefulness from the point of interactional discourse:

• patterning that can be related to genre? • patterning that can be related to notions of power (tenor: who is in control? who has authority?)? • detection of disruptions to the pattern, identification of non-well-formed discourse?

FRANCIS & HUNSTON 28. Adaptation of Sinclair and Coulthard for ‘conversation’. 29. Changes to Exchange structure (Coulthard and Montgomery 1981) : Structure: [I (R/I)n R (F)n]

30. Exchanges are either free exchanges or bound exchanges To clarify, to ask for repetition, to re-initiate an earlier exchange: This is marked by a BROKEN LINE (as opposed to a solid line) across the page. 31. Two kinds of labels: structural and functional (Cf. in grammar: Subject v. Nominal Group.) 32. Three kinds of Exchanges (S & C: Boundary and Teaching): (a) (i) Organisational Boundary, (a) (ii) Organisational: Structuring, Greet, Summon; and (b) Conversational: Elicit, Inform, Direct, Clarify (bound-Elicit) and Repeat (bound-Elicit), Re-Initiation (bound-Elicit) Examples (Ignore the acts for now: focus on the third and fourth columns.)

Act el. of str. Move el. of str. A: well m s framing Fr anyway fr h A: okay fr pre-h opening I got to go now ms h B: [non-verbal] aqu h answering R A: hi there! gr h opening I B: hullo. re-gr h answering R A: oh Khai Meng sum h opening I B: yeah re-sum h answering R A: are you all right now? n.pr h eliciting I B: I’m doing wonderfully now i h informing R A: good end h acknowl. F A: I enjoyed the show. i h informing I I’ve never seen anything like it. com post-h B: yeah. end h acknowl. R A: pass me my specs. d h directing I B: here you are rec pre-h behaving R [non-verbal] be h A: thanks end h acknowl. F

33. Eight kinds of Moves (cf. five in S & C): (a) Framing [h = fr], (b) Opening [h = ms, con, gr, sum], (c) Answering [h = acq, re-gr, re-sum, rej], (d) Eliciting [h = enq, n.pr, m.pr, ret, l, p], (e) Informing [h = obs, i, conc, conf, qual, rej], (f) Acknowledging [h = ter, rec, rea, end, prot], (g) Directing [h = d], and (h) Behaving [h = be] 34. Summary of the Ranks RANK I: Interaction

Elements of Structure Structures Classes of Transactions an unordered series of transactions RANK II: Transaction

Elements of Structure Structures Classes of Exchanges Preliminary (P)

Medial (M) Terminal (T)

PM(M2...Mn)(T) P, T: Organisational M: Conversational

RANK III: Exchange (Organisational: Boundary) Elements of Structure Structures Classes of Moves

Frame (Fr) Fr Fr: Framing RANK III: Exchange (Organisational: Structuring, Greet, Summon)

Elements of Structure Structures Classes of Moves Initiation (I)

Response (R) IR

I: Opening R: Answering

RANK III: Exchange (Conversational)

Elements of Structure Structures Classes of Moves Initiation (I) Initiation and Response (R/I) Response (R) Follow-up (F)

I(R/I)R(Fn)

I: Eliciting, Informing, Directing R/I: Eliciting, Informing R: Informing, Acknowledging, Behaving F: Acknowledging

RANK IV: Move (Framing)

Elements of Structure Structures Classes of Acts signal (s) head (h)

(s)h s: Marker h: Framer

RANK IV: Move (Opening)

Elements of Structure Structures Classes of Acts signal (s) pre-head (pre-h) head (h) post-head (post-h)

(s)(pre-h)h(post-h)

s: Marker pre-h: Framer, Starter h: Metastatement, Conclusion, Greeting, Summons post-h: Comment

RANK IV: Move (Answering)


(s)(pre-h)h(post-h)

s: Marker pre-h: Starter h: Acquiesce, Reply-Greeting, Reply- Summons, Rejects post-h: Comment, Qualify

RANK IV: Move (Eliciting)

Elements of Structure Structures Classes of Acts

signal (s) pre-head (pre-h) head (h) post-head (post-h)

(s)(pre-h)h(post-h)

s: Marker pre-h: Starter h: Enquire, Neutral Proposal, Marked Proposal, Return,

Loop, Prompt post-h: Comment, Prompt

RANK IV: Move (Informing)

Elements of Structure Structures Classes of Acts


(s)(pre-h)h(post-h)

s: Marker pre-h: Starter, Receive h: Informative, Observation, Concur, Confirm, Qualify,

Reject post-h: Concur, Comment, Qualify

RANK IV: Move (Acknowledging)


(s)(pre-h)h(post-h)

s: Marker pre-h: Receive h: Terminate, Receive, React, Reformulate, Endorse,

Protest post-h: Comment, Terminate

RANK IV: Move (Directing) Elements of Structure Structures Classes of Acts


(s)(pre-h)h(post-h)

s: Marker pre-h: Starter h: Directive post-h: Comment, Prompt

RANK IV: Move (Behaving)


(s)(pre-h)h(post-h)

s: Marker pre-h: Starter, Receive, Reject h: Behave post-h: Comment, Qualify

RANK V: Acts framer (fr) Realised by a closed class: ‘OK’, ‘(all) right’, ‘anyway’, etc. (preceding an exchange-initial move

head); or ‘well’, ‘now’, ‘good’, etc. with high-fall intonation. marker (m) Realised by the same closed class of items as fr: ‘OK’, etc. (preceding a non-exchange-initial move

head’; or ‘well’, etc. (also ‘oh’, ‘er(m)’ and ‘look’) without high-fall intonation. starter (s) Realised by statement, question, command or moodless item. Functions to provide information

about or direct attention towards the act realising the move head. metastatement (ms) Realised by statement, question or command. Functions to structure the conversation

prospectively in some way (and to obtain warrant for doing so) conclusion (con) Realised by a statement or question often with anaphoric reference. Functions to ‘tie up’ a

particular topic (and to obtain warrant for doing so) acquiesce (acq) Realised by ‘yes’, etc. (also non-verbal). Functions to provide a warrant for a suggestions as to

prospective (ms) or retrospective (con) structuring made by the other participant in a two-party conversation

greeting (gr) Realised by: ‘hello’, ‘hi’, ‘good morning’, etc.; and ‘(good-)bye(-bye), ‘cheerio’, ‘have a nice week end’, etc.

reply-greeting (re-gr) Realised by the second-pair parts of gr above summons (sum) Realised by the ringing of the phone, knock at the door, etc., or the calling of somebody’s name.

Function to engage other participant in a conversation or to attract his/her attention reply-summons (re-sum)

Realised by ‘hello’, announcing one’s number, etc. (in the case of phone conversation) or ‘come in’, etc. (in the case of knock at the door), or ‘yes’, ‘what?’, etc. Functions to indicate willingness to participate in a conversation, or that one is giving one’s attention

enquire (enq) Realised by questions (etc.) which seek information. Functions to elicit information neutral proposal (n.pr)

Realised by polar questions. Functions to elicit ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response

marked proposal (m.pr)

Realised by polar questions with positive or negative answer expected. Functions to elicit agreement

return (ret) Realised by question (often ellipted). Functions to seek clarification of a preceding utterance loop (l) Realised by a closed class: ‘pardon’, ‘what’, ‘eh’, ‘hmm?’, ‘come again’, etc. with rising intonation.

Functions to elicit the repetition of a preceding utterance which was not clearly heard prompt (p) Realised by a closed class: ‘hah?’, ‘come on’, ‘guess’, etc. Functions to reinforce the point of a

preceding utterance observation (obs) Realised by statement. Functions to offer ‘information’ which is already part of the shared

knowledge of the participants. informative (i) Realised by statement or by ‘yes’ and ‘no’ items and their variants, both verbal and non-verbal.

Functions to supply information or to give a decision between ‘yes’ and ‘no’ concur (conc) Realised by low or mid-key ‘yes’ and ‘no’ items, etc., both verbal and non-verbal; or by repetition

or paraphrase. Functions to give agreement confirm (conf) Realised by high-key ‘yes’ and ‘no’ items, etc., both verbal and non-verbal; or by repetition or

paraphrase. Functions to give or assert agreement qualify (qu) Realised by ‘qualified’ statement or by tentative ‘yes’ and ‘no’ items, etc. Functions to qualify a

decision or an agreement reject (rej) Realised by statement or by ‘yes’ and ‘no’ items, etc. Functions to refuse to acquiesce to a

suggestion, etc. terminate (ter) Realised by mid-key ‘yes’ and ‘no’ items, etc., or mid-key repetition. Functions to acknowledge a

preceding utterance and to terminate an exchange

receive (rec) Realised by mid-key ‘yes’ and ‘no’ items, etc., or mid-key repetition. Functions to acknowledge a preceding utterance or (as pre-head) to indicate that the appropriate i, be, etc. is forthcoming

react (rea) Realised by high-key ‘yes’ and ‘no’ items, etc., or by high-key repetition. Functions to indicate positive endorsement of a preceding utterance

reformulate (ref) Realised by a statement which paraphrases a preceding utterance. Functions to acknowledge a preceding utterance or offer a revised version of it

endorse (end) Realised by statement or moodless item. Functions to offer positive endorsement of, sympathy with, etc., a preceding utterance

protest (prot) Realised by statement or by ‘yes’ and ‘no’ items, etc. Functions to raise an objection to a preceding utterance

directive (d) Realised by command. Functions to request a non-verbal response behave (be) Realised by action. Functions to provide a non-verbal response to a preceding d comment (com) Realised by statement. Functions to exemplify, explain, justify, provide additional information, or

evaluate one’s own utterance engage (eng) Realised by ‘hmm’, ‘yeah’ and low- or mid-key ‘echoes’. Functions to provide minimal feedback

while not interrupting flow of the other participant’s utterance 35. Main points: (i) Francis and Hunston distinguish between Organisational and Conversational Exchanges. The structure of an organisational exchange is IR, where I is realised by an Opening Move, and R by an Answering Move. Example: A: see you then, Joe. (I = Opening Move) B: right, cheers. (R = Answering Move) (ii) A conversational exchange has the structure I(R/I)R(Fn). A conversational exchange can be characterised as Eliciting, Informing, or Directing depending on what I is realised by. Examples:

(a) A: excuse me, sir. have you got the time? (I = Eliciting Move) B: erm, let me see - ten to two by my watch. (R = Informing Move) A: ten to two. thanks. (F = Acknowledging Move) (b) A: I’m going to have to leave soon, Dad. (I = Informing Move) B: not to worry, I’ll be fine. (R = Acknowledging Move) A: okay. (F = Acknowledging Move) (c) A: we’d like some mustard with our hot-dog please. (I = Directing Move) B: certainly madam. [Gets mustard.] (R = Behaving Move) A: ah, the mustard. good, thanks. (F = Acknowledging Move) B: not at all, madam. (F = Acknowledging Move)

(iii) There are three categories of Bound Exchanges, which cannot stand on their own as their existence depend on the previous exchange. They are either Clarifying, Repeating, or Re-Initiating. Examples:

(a) A: can I see you at two? (I = Eliciting Move) B: possibly (R = Informing Move) A: eh? what does that mean? (Ib = Eliciting Move) B: oh, two’s fine. just wait a while if I’m late. (R = Informing Move) (b) A: can I see you at two? (I = Eliciting Move) B: what did you say? (Ib = Eliciting Move) A: can I see you at two? (R/I = Eliciting Move) B: oh, two’s fine. (R = Informing Move) (c) A: can I see you at two? (I = Eliciting Move) B: [No response] A: I said, can I see you at two? (Ib = Eliciting Move) B: sorry, I was just thinking. two’s fine. (R = Informing Move)

(iv) On occasions, there might be incomplete exchanges, e.g. where there is no R. 36. Francis and Hunston have 8 categories of Moves and 32 categories of Acts. 37. They hint at the possibility of ‘double-labelling’ as in the R/I category, but also in terms of Wells et al.’s (1981) notion of overlapping exchanges, eg

Parent: Have you cleaned your teeth? I [eliciting] Child: Yes. R [informing] Parent: No you didn’t. F [acknowledging] + I [informing] Child: Mummy I did it. R [acknowledging] + I [informing] Parent: Okay. R [acknowledging] They suggest that multiple functions might also wreak havoc to the system, eg A proselytiser (A) at a bus-stop attempting to convert a bystander (B): A: Where will you stand on Judgement Day? B: Still here I expect, waiting for the number eleven bus. Is B’s response just a straightforward reply, or can we also say it is a joke, or a mild insult or an expression of affection, etc.? 38. Like Exchanges, Moves have structures: (a) The structure of a Framing Move is (s)h where s = signal, h = head. (b) The structure of the other Moves (Opening, Answering, Eliciting, Informing, Acknowledging,

Directing, Behaving) is (s)(pre-h)h(post-h) where s = signal, pre-h = pre-head, h = head, and post-h = post-head. In all cases, only the head is obligatory.

39. The signal is always realised by the act marker (see pp. 92 & 93). Act E.s. Move E.s. Exchange A: oh, m s Elicit I Eliciting can we meet at two? n.pr h B: erm m s Inform R okay i h The pre-head is often realised by the act starter, except for an Acknowledging Move. (For other possibilities, see p.

93.) Act E.s. Move E.s. Exchange

A: oh, about tomorrow- can we meet at two? B: erm okay

m st n.pr m i

s pre-h h s h

Elicit Inform

I R

Eliciting

The post-head is often realised by the act comment. (For other possibilities, see above.) Act E.s. Move E.s. Exchange

A: oh, can we meet at two? otherwise I can’t go home B: erm okay

m n.pr com m i

s h post-h s h

Elicit Inform

I R

Eliciting

40 The most important acts are those realising the heads of Moves because they define what Move is being performed. (i) The head of a Framing move is a framer: Act E.s. Move E.s. Exchange

A: now! [high fall] fr h Framing Fr Orgnstnl.: Boundary

can we meet at two? B: erm okay

n.pr m i

h s h

Elicit Inform

I R

Eliciting

(ii) The head of an Opening Move is either metastatement, conclusion, greeting, or summons: Act E.s. Move E.s. Exchange

A: I need to ask you something. B: [enquiring look]

ms acq

h h

Opening Answering

I R

Orgnstnl: Structuring

A: can we meet at two? B: two, certainly

n.pr rec i

h pre-h h

Elicit Inform

I R

Eliciting

(iii) The head of an Answering move is either acquiesce, reply-greeting, reply-summons, or reject (example above in (ii)). (iv) The head of an Eliciting move is either enquire, neutral proposal, marked proposal, return, loop, or prompt (example above in (ii)). (v) The head of an Informing move is either informative, observation, concur, confirm, qualify, or reject (one example in

(ii) above, another one below): Act E.s. Move E.s. Exchange A: Jeffrey looks so fat! obs h Informing I Informing But actually he looks much better like this qual post-h B: yah! rec h Acknowl. R (vi) The head of an Acknowledging move is either terminate, receive, react, reformulate, endorse, or protest (example above in (v)). Note that it is not always easy to differentiate between the acts given. (vii) The head of a Directing move must be a directive: Act E.s. Move E.s. Exchange

A: You remember my niece Gilly? Do you mind if I give her one of your sweets? B: Not at all (gives sweet)

s d rec be

pre-h h pre-h h

Directing Behaving

I R

Directing

(vii) The head of a Behaving move must be a behave (example above in (vii)). 41. Problems? (i) Discontinuity (ii) Incomplete or ‘ungrammatical’/unusual structures? (iii) Multiple speakers? (iv) Identification ambiguity 42. Advantages? (i) Flexibility, generalisability (ii) Cognisant of non-verbal acts (iii) Finite no. of categories (iv) Goes beyond the two-act sequence (adjacency pairs). Exercises (click to access) 43. In what way is a exchange-structure type analysis useful? (a) I would venture to suggest that there should be some correlation between neatness in exchange structure and features of the context, discussed under genre. For example, some of these questions or assumptions might need testing out (and perhaps can be done as an honours dissertation topic):

• Exchange structures in interactions are neater in more formal or polite circumstances, and untidier in involved circumstances (eg in a quarrelling situation or a high camaraderie session)

• Exchange structures in interaction among friends are less neat than those between acquaintances and friends • Exchanges structures are neater in interactions where the participants have clearly assigned roles (eg interviewer,

tutor, shop assistant). • Women are said to interrupt less than men; in exchange structures of single-sex interactions, we might expect the

women-only interaction to be neater than the men-only interaction (not borne out by research in Singapore though).

http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/elltankw/honours/6a.htm

• Exchange structures are neater in constructed text (eg dialogue in literary texts, dramatic texts, scripted dialogue in sitcoms) and less neat in authentic texts.

(b) I would also venture to suggest that there should be some correlation between the kind of exchanges found and what is going on within the genre. For example, these are common assumptions:

• Interview texts (job interviews, doctor-patient interviews) are marked by the predominance of eliciting exchanges in the middle sections at least

• Casual conversation is partly characterised by the predominance of eliciting and informing exchanges – and not directing exchanges

(c) Finally, I would also venture to suggest that there might be some correlation between who provides the I moves or the R moves and who it is who is dominant or in control of the dialogue. For example, these are common assumptions:

• Dominant participants might provide most of the I moves in an interaction (compare this with Wilson’s speaking rights theory)

• Compliant participants might provide more R moves than I moves. In other words, an exchange-structure type analysis might reinforce our view of what is going on in the interaction. If there is a mismatch, perhaps something else is going on!

MARTIN & ROSE 44. Another take on the exchange structure: emphasis not on the initiator but on the primary knower or actor. 45. Distinction between two different kinds of commodities: knowledge and goods-and-services. Question: is this distinction tenable? is it too reductive? 46. The speech functions and based on demanding and supplying these commodities. (These are to do with

negotiation) knowledge goods-and-services demanding question command supplying statement offer

The other speech functions are to do with greeting, calling and exclamations. And there will be the appropriate

responses to these speech functions. The following table summarises them. Think of other lists of speech acts supplied. You might be familiar with Searle’s five categories. You will also recall F &

H’s list of 32 speech acts. Which list is better? How are these speech acts different from other kinds of acts, eg psychological acts (thinking, deciding), physiological

acts (breathing, coughing, digesting, evacuation), non-linguistic social acts (kissing, hugging, curtseying), physical acts (running, jumping, playing)?

(From Martin & Rose (2007: 226)) 47. We can take each of those speech functions as moves. We could have minimally one move to form an exchange (this

makes it different from Francis & Hunston). Here are examples involving action (A) and knowledge (K) Waitress: Wine? [dA1] Hendrik: Could I have a bottle of your best dry red? [A2] Waitress: Yes. [A1] Hendrik: Thank you. [A2f] Waitress: My pleasure. [A1f] The main action [A1 = primary actor] is the waitress supplying the wine to Hendrik, who is the secondary actor [A2, who can request for the service]. The primary actor can also delay the A1 move, but inserting a kind of prelude to it [dA1, where ‘d’ stands for delay]. And the secondary actor can acknowledge the primary act [A2f, where ‘f’ stands for follow up], which the primary actor can also acknowledge [A1f]. Here’s a similar example involving knowledge. Sannie: You’ll never guess who’s here. [dK1] Llewelyn: Who? [K2] Sannie: Coetzee. [K1] Llewelyn: Is he? [K2f] Sannie: Yeah. [K1f] So the structure potential for action and knowledge exchanges are:

((dA1) ^ A2) ^ A1 (A2f ^ (A1f)) ((dK1) ^ K2) ^ K1 (K2f ^ (K1f))

48. These exchanges can be interrupted by challenges or tracking. Tracking moves ‘clarify in some way the ideational content of what is being negotiated’ (p. 241), whereas challenging moves ‘resist in some way the interpersonal thrust of an exchange’ (ibid.). Here are examples; ch = challenge; rch = response to challenge; tr = tracking; rtr = response to tracking. Sannie: Coetzee’s here. [K1] Llewelyn: Pardon? [tr] Sannie: Coetzee’s here. [rtr] Llewelyn: Really? [K2f] Luke: How’s she gonna keep him there? [K2] Llewelyn: I don’t know. [ch] Coetzee: I didn’t pass here for sympathy. [K1] Ernest: Bullshit man. [ch] Sannie: You’ll never guess who’s here. [dK1] Llewelyn: I don’t want to know. [ch] Magda: Some tea father? [dA1] Dalton: No, I can see you have a lot of work to do. [ch] Ernest: Call the Ahoy B&B [A2] and tell him not to come. [A2] Go. [A2] Sannie: I won’t go. [ch] Waitress: Some more wine (starting to pour)? [A1] Magda: Not for me thanks. [ch] 49. Martin & Rose suggest that exchanges might also form bigger patterns, eg Identify ^ Prepare ^ Extend. 50. This system of analysis allows us to focus on the main actors and knowers.

51. We have begun to deal with a number of fictional texts which are often useful because they tend to be ‘neater’, and less fraught with ‘performance errors’ (cf. the Chomskyan position that corpora are somehow ‘debased’), and speakers are more eloquent than in naturalistic situations. A very valuable advantage of fictional texts is the availability of interactional situations that would not be available naturalistically or only available with great difficulty – like quarrels – because of their sensitivity. But beware of the fictional discourse situation (which would apply to fictional narratives, poems, plays, filmscripts, sitcoms, etc.), which is more complicated. Addresser 1 Message Addressee 1 (eg Narrator) (eg Reader) A’er 2 M A’ee 2 A’er 3 M A’ee 3 A’er 4 M A’ee 4 (Diagram adapted from Mick Short (1996), Exploring the Language of Poems, Plays and Prose [London: Longman], p. 41) There can be complications: how do we deal with a chat show when a guest comes in character and the host is himself: for example Bruno (gay Austrian fashion reporter, played by Sacha Baron Cohen) in Australian host Rove McManus’s show. See: http://youtu.be/DchotzuAvgc (Background: Sacha Baron Cohen created several characters: Ali G, Borat and Bruno.) Rove: Now, obviously, straight off the top, you’re a very handsome – v- very, very stylish man erm – and you know because

you know fashion so well, I have to ask if you have any fashion tips Bruno: No, again [pointing to his crotch] Rove: Yes, yes, I know, and I pointed. Bruno: At least Russell Crowe took me to a movie first. Rove: But you have any fashion tips you could share with us? Bruno: Ya, of course, I mean, it’s really important like to treat your clothes like you would treat your pet – you know, love it

for a week then put it in a zip-up bag – and then throw it in the river. – The other thing is wax, wax, wax, wax. Rove: Wax, yes. Bruno: You know, how hairy – well, can I ask you how hairy is your kugelsack? READINGS Malcolm Coulthard (ed.), Advances in Spoken Discourse Analysis (London: Routledge, 1992), Chs. 1 and 3 [Call No. P302Adv] ———, An Introduction to Discourse Analysis, 2nd edn. (London: Longman, 1985), pp. 120–45 [Call No. PE1422Cou] ——— and Martin Montgomery (eds.), Studies in Discourse Analysis (London: Routledge, 1981) [In RBR, Call No. P302Stu]

— this volume contains Malcolm Coulthard and David Brazil, ‘Exchange Structure’, pp. 82–106 *Gillian Francis and Susan Hunston, ‘Analysing everyday conversation’, in Malcolm Coulthard, Advances in Spoken Discourse

Analysis (London: Routledge, 1992), pp. 123–61 Ian Hutchby, Media Talk (Maidenhead, UK: Open University, 2006), Ch 7. Jay L. Lemke, Using Language in the Classroom (Geelong, Victoria: Deakin University Press, 1985) [In RBR., Call No.

P41Lem] *J R Martin and David Rose (2007), Working with discourse: meaning beyond the clause, 2nd edn (London: Continuum), Ch. 7 John McH. Sinclair, The Structure of Teacher Talk, Discourse Analysis Monograph No. 15 (Birmingham: English Language

Research, undated [?1991]) *John McH. Sinclair and R. Malcolm Coulthard, Towards an Analysis of Discourse: The English Used by Teachers and Pupils

(London: Oxford University Press, 1985), Chapters 1, 2 and 3

© 2019 Peter Tan

EL4252 Honours Year: Session 5 (Data) Sample classroom text for Sinclair-and-Coulthard-type analysis. Opening

Move Answering

Move Follow-up

Move T: (1) put it near your tissue paper. (2) tell me what happens when you put your pen near your tissue paper. P: (3) sir the pen er picks it up T: (4) yes.

http://youtu.be/DchotzuAvgc

(5) would you say the pen is doing some work P: (6) yes sir. energy sir T: (7) yes. (8) it’s using energy. (9) yes (10) where did you get the energy from P: (11) sir, sir. (12) from your arm. T: (13) from the rubbing. (14) yes. (15) right. (16) put your pens down. (17) all eyes on me. (18) now. (19) what we’ve just done is given some energy to this pen. (20) now. (21) where’ve we got the energy from ...

B. Another traditional teacher-fronted classroom lesson Provide an analysis of the following in terms of exchanges, moves, and acts. What are the structures of the exchanges? Do all of the exchanges have Follow-up Moves? (T = teacher, P = pupil. Numbers in parenthesis are for ease of reference to utterances or non-verbal acts, as the case may be.)

Data Opening Move

Answering Move

Follow-up Move

T: (1) there are a number of symbols used in a diagram to represent erm the e- experimental set-up which you may be familiar with

(2) if you’re not I’ll go through what those mean now (3) now who can tell me what this stands for (4) [draws symbol on blackboard] (5) put your hand up (6) Jo*hn* P: (7) *power* source? T: (8) pardon? P: (9) power source? T: (10) power source. (11) it’s *more erm* P: (12) *(battery* battery) P: (13) cell T: (14) cell. (15) it’s good (16) [writes ‘cell’ on the blackboard] (17) who can tell me what this stands for (18) [draws another symbol on the blackboard] P: (19) (battery two cells) T: (20) Donald? P: (21) two cells T: (22) could be two cells P: (23) or three volts P: (24) battery T: (25) battery. (26) right. (27) [writes ‘battery on the blackboard] (28) the plural of erm a cell er if you’ve got more than one of them you call them a

battery of cells. (29) can anyone tell me what a [draws a straight line] straight line represents P: (30) (wire a wire) T: (31) a wire or a lead either of those (32) erm (33) if you make [draws] a connection to let’s say that stroke here (34) what do you call that single thing (35) if you make a connection of a wire or a lead here

(36) what do you call that thing (37) Donald P: (38) two volts T: (39) pardon? (40) no P: (41) positive T: (42) positive what P: (43) (charge terminal) T: (44) terminal. (45) so positive terminal (46) [writes ‘positive terminal’ on blackboard] (47) right (48) erm (49) you may come across this symbol (50) [draws symbol] (51) represents [writes ‘light bulb’] a light bulb (52) [draws another symbol] P: (53) switch T: (54) switch. (55) right (56) [writes ‘switch’ on board] (57) those are the major ones that you’re going to meet in this section initially.

Do you think the Sinclair-and-Coulthard method of analysis could work for other teaching styles? Look at the following extracts, and see how far you can go with them. (Don’t worry too much about the acts; concentrate on the moves.)

C. School discussion (genre difference?) This is an extract from a school discussion in a British school. A small group of secondary school pupils are working with their teacher. The pupils are all girls aged 14–15 years. S1 = teacher: male, 37; S2–S5 = pupils

Data Opening Move

Answer-ing Move

Follow-up Move

S1: (1) What do you have to do, then, in the evenings, if you want to go out, where? S2: (2) On the underground. S1: (3) Down the underground? What’s the underground? S2: (4) Yeah ... that’s where ... boys do the popping S3: (5) Popping. S1: (6) Where’s that? S5: (7) It’s an area ... where all the boys get together ... and they er pops S2: (8) Underneath Russell Sports. S5: (9) and dances. S1: (10) What in the arcade off John Foss Square? S2: (11) No underneath Russell Sports. S1: (12) Underneath? That’s ... under the car parks. S3: (13) Yeah. S1: (14) And what’s body-popping exactly? S3: (15) It’s dancing. S1: (16) What ... describe it. I don’t know. I’ve never seen it. S5: (17) It’s just a new style of dancing, American style. S1: (18) But ... er ... if it’s in the car park, um, how do you dance? Where’s the music

come from? S4: (19) Bring a tape-recorder. S5: (20) They bring a tape-recorder, they put lino in the floor and S4: (21) So they put all graffiti all over the walls. S1: (22) So they spray-paint the walls, they put lino on the floor and then they just do

this body-popping the the car park like that? Why do you have to do it in the car park?

S2: (23) Cos nowhere else to go. S3: (24) The police it’s cold S5: (25) The police allows them to um go there ... the people in ... it’s underneath

Russell Sports and, um ... everytime ... they come and bring things in, um, from Russell Sports and they says ‘Hi’ to us ... and they don’t mind long as we keep the music down.

S1: (26) So as long as it’s not too loud the police are quite happy for you to go there? No-one chases you away?

S3, S5: (27) No. S1: (28) But you have to go there because there’s nothing else to do? S5: (29) Nothing else

[Source: Carter & McCarthy, Exploring Spoken English]

D. University tutorial in cultural studies This is an extract from an undergraduate tutorial in NUS. The subject is American Studies. S1 is the tutor, and S2 to S4 are undergraduates. (S1 is female, early 30s.)

Data Opening

Move Answer-ing Move

Follow-up Move

S1: (1) In what way are you peers S2: (2) Educational level, yes, but by race, no, by religion, no, by mindset, no, *by

ideology, no* S1: (3) *So are we just* going to run down a hundred criteria like that and say which is

ticked and which is crossed? **We (inaudible)** S2: (4) **That’s the problem you see** S3: (5) Then in that case you have no peers at all S1: (6) *EXACTLY* S4: (7) *That’s why* in that case you have no peers S1: (8) Nobody is exactly like you S2: (9) Uh no, but to have the same mindset is different from to have *somebody* S4: (10) *Nobod nobod* nobody really has the same mindset S2: (11) **Er** S4: (12) **If you’re** going to say fair you have to really: this is the community, cut

right through.

E. University tutorial on phonetics This is an extract from another undergraduate tutorial in NUS. The subject is Phonetics and Phonology. S1 is the tutor, and S2 to S3 are undergraduates. (S1 is female, early 30s.)

Data Opening

Move Answer-ing Move

Follow-up Move

S1: (1) All right ‘extraordinary’. All right did they have, did anyone syllabify it slightly different

S2: (2) I did it differently. I put the s-t-r with the onset S1: (3) Okay what would be your reasons or sort of extra proof for erm support that

might justify your choosing to put ‘s’ here or ‘s’ there? Who put ‘s’ as the coda of ‘extraordinary’? What? You did it the other way?

S3: (4) S-t-r S1: (5) S-t-r? Huh? *Str str* S3: (6) *S-t-r* S1: (7) Why or why not? S3: (8) Cos like ‘text’ right the ‘x’ is ‘ks’ so I thought (inaudible) S1: (9) Okay yah that’s true it does not violate any sort of rules, it can exist as ‘x’ but

then, who was at the lecture yesterday, not yesterday, Tuesday when Doctor Bao was saying how do you decide whether ‘s’ is there, remember his --- remember aspiration of plosives when your voiceless plosives get aspirated like [th] but they don’t get aspirated when you have a /s/ before so if you have /tr/ erm ‘try’ you get [thraI] when you get ‘strife’ you wouldn’t have, you wouldn’t say [sth], sorry, [sthraIf] with the aspirated ‘t’ there right? Because you got the/s/ preceding it, that’s one of our phonological rules for English, it doesn’t get aspirated if it’s preceded by /s/, so you don’t say [sthraIf], [sthraIf]right? However, if you have something like ‘try’ or ‘trade’ or whatever you should get that aspirated so in this case, interesting,

um do you say ‘extraordinary’ with aspiration or ‘extraordinary’ without aspiration

S3: (10) Without. S1: (11) Without, so that would suggest what? S3: (12) (inaudible) S1: (13) Um exactly

F. TELEPHONE TEXT Attempt a Francis-and-Hunston-type analysis of the following transcript from a telephone conversation between two friends in Singapore. [S1 = female undergraduate, c. 20; S2 = female technician, c. 20] [Gap of 2 seconds] S2: (1) EH [high-fall] - can you draw dinosaur or not? - AH can you do me a favour? *[laugh]* S1: (2) *[laugh] okay* [mid-fall] S2: (3) can you draw a dinosaur for me? S1: (4) the cute kind or the realistic kind= S2: (5) =the cute *kind.* S1: (6) *oh* [mid-fall] okay no **problem** S2: (7) **for** - for birthday card kind of thing? S1: (8) a:h [mid-rise] can *can can* S2: (9) *the little* guy is four years old. S1: (10) oh [mid-fall] so cute. - do you want those kind the evil looking one the tyrannosaurus rex, or do you want

those friendly looking one. S2: (11) FRIENDLY LAH. [high-fall] cute-cute one you know? S1: (12) oh [mid-level] okay= S2: (13) =yah, he’s four - he likes dinosaurs. S1: (14) WHO? S2: (15) this little - my colleague’s * - son.* S1: (16) *oh [mid-fall]* your colleague’s son. okay. S2: (17) yah. S1: (18) what’s his name? S2: (19) e:r ---- what’s his name. -- erm -- what’s his name? - AH LEONARD *[laugh]* S1: (20) *[laugh]*

G. INFORMAL CHAT S1: (1) Wei! Wei! Wei! - Guess who I saw just now? S2: (2) Who? S1: (3) Guess lah! S2: (4) Who? S1: (5) The:::re - two years ago most e:li:gible bachelor in Eusoff Ha::ll o:ne? S2: (6) Who is i::t? S1: (7) Hai: ya::! - tsk you know his name starts with - M one? - you know like Mi::chael? Michael? S2: (8) Michael. - Ooh! You mean Michael Qua:h is it? S1: (9) Ya: lo:r! I tell you he still looks the same okay? U:gh! so goo::d looki::ng S2: (10) [laugh] S1: (11) Hai! S2: (12) Ya::h - I remember - But don’t know why nowadays the guys in the hall - quite koyak [‘terrible’, CSE from Malay] yah? S1: (13) Ai yah! ai yah! Not very true - look at the Conrad. He’s so darn - bi:g and *stro:ng okay?* S2: (14) *AIYO::!* - you mou kau ts‘oh [‘are you sure?’, Cantonese] Are you blind is i:t? He looks like your - typical male

bimbo **[laugh]** S1: (15) **[laugh] Oh yah! [laugh]** Eh what is the name ah? that Moon gives him a:h? S2: (16) Stan Chart lor! S1: (17) *[laugh]* S2: (18) *[laugh]* eh siau [‘crazy’, CSE from Hokkien] ah you -- **eh get a hold of yourself** S1: (19) **No no no no no* - eh seriously - what do they call a male bimbo? S2: (20) I think --- manbo! S1: (21) Don’t joke lah! Manbo::? Where got this kind of *na::me*? S2: (22) *Go::t*! Haven’t you heard? It’s a mixture of erm man and bimbo: S1: (23) [laugh] Eh wah! sometimes ah you can be quite smart eh? S2: (24) Of course! You never underestimate a ge:nius. S1: (25) Yah, yah, ya::h! Eh! I heard ah, you quite happening no? Every night got ma:le sli:ppers ou:tside your doo:r leh?

*[laugh]*

S2: (26) *Where go:t* **It’s just** S1: (27) **Aha! ha-ha!** don’t give me excuses S2: (28) Nothing one lah! It’s just a good *friend* S1: (29) *Ya ya ya ya ya* and I’m Margaret Tha:tcher right? S2: (30) You mean you’re not? **[laugh]** S1: (31) **[laugh]** S2: (32) Eh, why? You jealous is it? Well, if you want to potong jalan [‘cut in the way’, CSE from Malay] I don’t mind, just find

me another hunk lor! S1: (33) Eh actually ah? Come to think of it ah, what’s so good about having a boyfriend huh? So te:dious oka:y. Everything

you do ah, must think of the other person S2: (34) But S1: (35) What I can’t stand most is how couples always like to wear the same clothes. Like that where got *identity?* S2: (36) *Haiya!* Why you so ulufied [‘unsophisticated’, CSE] one? It’s called bonding! --- There, just like us now lor -

bonding! Who knows, maybe tomorrow, we’ll be wearing the same **clothes** S1: (37) **Haiyo! yo yo!** Ts’oi ts’oi ts’oi [‘touchwood’, from Cantonese] don’t say until like that ah, I’m quite normal you

know S2: (38) Stu:pid! I don’t mean that lah S1: (39) Then what do you mean what do you mean by that! -- When you talk about couples and bonding the only thing that

comes to my mind is -- *cou:pli::ng!* S2: (40) *Eee!* Your mind ah, I tell you is darn disgusting. It needs to be washed and hung up to **dry::!** S1: (41) **[laugh] Oh yah yah** what about my mind? At least I have a good body *unlike some people?* S2: (42) *Hello, hello,* I happen to like all hundred and forty pounds of me! Ever heard the phrase, big is **beautiful?** S1: (43) **[laugh]** Oh yah yah yah! How about taking all that hundred and forty pounds down to Hon Sui Sen? *Mm-hm?* S2: (44) *Hah?* You mean jogging ah? Ah - cannot leh! S1: (45) You ah, always like to talk about diet, now asking you to go jogging only say ca:nnot, say don’t want S2: (46) Tsk! No, it’s because ah, I’ve got this bi:g o chhin [‘black-green’, ie bruise, Hokkien] on my knee, very painful leh? S1: (47) Yah, yah, yah! Serves you right! You’re always so careless S2: (48) Eh, my fault ah? During hockey that day ah, there’s this toa chiah [‘big person’, Hokkien] eh, whacked the ball so hard

straight for my leg. Wah! Darn pain boy! S1: (49) [laugh] You good for nothing okay! So big also kena [‘get’, CSE] whack. S2: (50) As though you’ve never been hit before ah? S1: (51) [laugh] Sorry lah S2: (52) I tell you ah, talk to you damn siong [‘difficult’, Hokkien] one you know, always get slimed. I don’t know why I still

bo:ther S1: (53) Becau:se I’m such a wo:nderful friend what! S2: (54) Ah pui!

H. CHAT-SHOW TALK The transcription below of from the TCS programme ‘Tonight with Gurmit’. Gurmit’s guest is actor Evelyn Tan. Try to work out if the presence of an audience complicates the structure of the talk. S1 = Evelyn Tan; S2 = Gurmit Singh. S2: (1) Please welcome Evelyn Tan. S1: (2) Hullo. S2: (3) Evelyn. S1: (4) Yah, hi. S2: (5) Hullo. S1: (6) Hullo, how are you? S2: (7) I’m fine, I’m fine. How are you. S1: (8) I’m fine, thank you. S2: (9) So how are you? S1: (10) Okay S2: (11) Okay, wait let me er just er S1: (12) I’m so nervous. S2: (13) Why? Why are you nervous? Well, this is a cure for nervousness, ladies and gentlemen (points to a bowl of rambutans) S1: (14) Okay, would you peel it and feed me S2: (15) Wah, so romantic ah? Okay do I - you - peel it with my mouth or with my bare hands? - to show you my awesome

power (points to arms) S1: (16) (to audience) What do you say? (to Gurmit) No, I’ll stick with the hands. S2: (17) (to audience) Who said nose?! S1: (18) (laughs) S2: (19) Here you go this is a - by the way, do you know that er before this show er I was doing some gardening? S1: (20) Mhm.

S2: (21) And I haven’t washed my hands yet. There you go, this is your rambutan. S1: (22) Thank you. S2: (23) The last time I saw you was in Beauty World and after that S1: (24) Mhm S2: (25) we parted and er what’s happened since then? S1: (26) Ah there are no present projects for filming so far so I’m already almost done with my recording work S2: (27) Ah okay S1: (28) So ah over the next two months I’ll probably be looking forward to doing my photo cover ah the photo shoot for

my cover of the album. S2: (29) Sure, the album. S1: (30) Yes. S2: (31) Ah okay S1: (32) Should be coming out sometime in November. S2: (33) What kind of album is this? Is this like a fast song? Party song? School song? S1: (34) Er S2: (35) Rap song? Country? S1: (36) It’s mixed. S2: (37) Yeah? S1: (38) Yah. S2: (39) What do you prefer actually? S1: (40) Actually I myself I prefer slower ballads you know, slower numbers er more romantic more sentimental kind of stuff S2: (41) Because you are also a romantic? S1: (42) Because I’m er yes I’m a sentimental. S2: (43) Aah (falling tone). S1: (44) Don’t I look like one? S2: (45) Yes, you do of course S1: (46) (laughs)

I. LITERARY DIALOGUE: NOVEL (child & adult) This is an extract from Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel When We Were Orphans (2000). The protagonist is Christopher Banks who grew up in Shanghai as a child around 1900. Here he recalls a conversation between himself (‘Puffin’ is his nickname) and Uncle Philip (he is an honorary ‘uncle’, rather than an uncle by blood or marriage). Ignore the narrative sections – they are there for the context. That time I confided in him, Uncle Philip and I were sitting together in his office, waiting for my mother to come back from somewhere … (1) ‘So, Puffin. We’re rather glum today.’ I saw my chance and said: (2) ‘Uncle Philip, I was just wondering. How do you suppose one might become more English?’ (3) ‘More English?’ He stopped whatever it was he was doing and looked at me. Then, with a thoughtful expression, he came nearer, pulled a chair up to the desk and sat down. (4) ‘Now why would you want to be more English than you are, Puffin?’ (5) ‘I just thought … well, I just thought I might.’ (6) ‘Who says you’re not sufficiently English already?’ (7) ‘No one really.’ Then after a second I added: ‘But I think perhaps my parents think so.’ (8) ‘And what do you think, Puffin? Do you think you ought to be more English?’ (9) ‘I can’t tell really, sir.’ (10) ‘No, I suppose you can’t. Well, it’s true, out here, you’re growing up with a lot of different sorts around you. Chinese, French, Germans, Americans, what have you. It’d be no wonder if you grew up a bit of a mongrel.’ He gave a short laugh. Then he went on: (11) ‘But that’s no bad thing. You know what I think, Puffin? I think it would be no bad thing if boys like you all grew up with a bit of everything. We might all treat each other a good deal better then. Be less of these wars for one thing. Oh yes. Perhaps one day, all these conflicts will end, and it won’t be because of great statesmen or churches or organisations like this one. It’ll be because people have changed. They’ll be like you, Puffin. More a mixture. So why not become a mongrel? It’s healthy.’ (12) ‘But if I did, everything might …’ I stopped. (13) ‘Everything might what, Puffin?’ (14) ‘Like that blind there’ – I pointed – ‘if the twine broke. Everything might scatter.’ Uncle Philip stared at the blind I had indicated. Then he rose, went to the window and touched it gently. (15) ‘Everything might scatter. You might be right. I suppose it’s something we can’t easily get away from. People need to feel they belong. To a nation, to a race. Otherwise, who knows what might happen? This civilisation of ours, perhaps it’ll just collapse. And everything scatter, as you put it.’ He sighed, as though I had just defeated him in an argument. (17) ‘So you want to be more English. Well, well, Puffin. So what are we to do about it?’

(18) ‘I wondered, if it’s all right, sir, if you didn’t awfully mind. I wondered if I might copy you sometimes.’ (19) ‘Copy me?’ (20) ‘Yes, sir. Just sometimes. Just so that I learn to do things the English way.’ (21) ‘That’s very flattering, old fellow. But don’t you think your father’s the one to have this great privilege? About as English as they come, I’d say.’ I looked away, and Uncle Philip must immediately have sensed he had said the wrong thing. He came back to his chair and sat down again in front of me. (22) ‘Look,’ he said quietly. ‘I’ll tell you what we’ll do. If you’re ever worried how you should go about things, anything, if you’re worried about the proper way to go about it, then just you come to me and we’ll have a good talk about it. We’ll talk it all through until you know exactly what’s what. Now. Feel better?’ (23) ‘Yes, sir. I think I do.’ I managed a weak smile. ‘Thank you, sir.’ (24) ‘Look here, Puffin. You’re a right little horror. You know that, of course. But as little horrors go, you’re a pretty decent specimen. I’m sure your mother and father are very, very proud of you.’ (25) ‘Do you really think so, sir?’ (26) ‘I do. I really do. So, you feel better?’ With that, he sprang to his feet to resume his wanderings around his office. (Ishiguro 2000: 75–77)

J. FILM SCRIPT (long-lost classmates meeting up) This is a short excerpt from Stanley Kubrick and Frederic Raphael’s screenplay Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Bill Harcourt is a doctor in New York. He chanced upon Nick Nightingale who was in medical school with him, but didn’t finish the course and became a musician. BILL walks down a street and happens by the Café Sonata

where NICK Nightingale mentioned he was playing. BILL stops and looks in the window where he sees a photograph of NICK sitting at the piano. BILL think for a moment then makes for the door, which is opened by a doorman.

BILL (1): Thank you. BILL walks down the stairs of the club. We hear live

music as BILL is greeted by the MAÎTRE D’. MAÎTRE D’ (2): Good evening, sir. Would you like a table

or would you like to sit at the bar? BILL (3): I’d like a table. MAÎTRE D’ (4): Please, follow me. Can I take your coat? As BILL is taken to his table we see his friend, NICK, playing

piano on stage with a jazz trio. BILL (to Maître d’) (5): Thank you. MAÎTRE D’ (6): Can I get you anything to drink? BILL (7): I’d like a beer. MAÎTRE D’ (8): Certainly. BILL watches the group as it finishes its final number.

Then NICK quickly gets the band into the fast closing theme to cover his introductions to the musicians and his tanks to the audience.

NICK (9): Hope you enjoyed he music tonight. We’re

going to be here for the next two weeks. So, please, do stop by. I’m Nick Nightingale. Good night.

NICK leaves the stage and walks through the club. VOICE FROM AUDIENCE (10): Nick, that was great! NICK (11): Oh, thanks. BILL (12): Nightingale! NICK sees BILL and goes over to him. NICK (13): Hey, Bill! You made it. BILL (14): Yeah, listen, I’m sorry. I got here just as you

were finishing your last set. NICK (15): That’s all right, the band sucked tonight

anyway. The MAÎTRE D’ brings BILL his beer.

BILL (to NICK) (16): What are you drinking? NICK (17): A vodka and tonic, please. BILL (18): Thank you. NICK (19): So what brings you out at this hour? BILL (20): I have a patient in the neighbourhood. NICK (21): Do you live in the Village? BILL (22): No, we have an apartment on Central Park

West. NICK (23): Are you married? BILL (24): Nine years. NICK (25): Do you have any kids? BILL (26): Yes, we have a seven-year-old daughter. How

about you? NICK (27): I’ve got a wife and four boys in Seattle. BILL (28): You’re a long way from home. NICK (29): Yeah, well, you’ve gotta go where the work is.

EL4252 Honours Year, Exchange structure

Documents

Transcript of EL4252 Honours Year, Exchange structure