Native speaker/non-native speaker discourse in an educational setting : the construction of interaction in an English language conversation scheme
Native speaker/non-native speaker discourse in an educational setting : the construction of interaction in an English language conversation scheme
This thesis is a study of spoken discourse. It examines the joint construction of native speaker / non-native speaker (NS / NNS) conversation in the semi-formal context of an English language conversation scheme. Recordings of their meetings by eight NS / NNS dyads during two years were subjected to detailed analysis, in which three major factors were considered: (1) linguistic - the contribution of features at discoursal, sentential and suprasentential levels; (2) personal - variations in speakers' expectations and performance; and (3) social - the roles of the participants as learner and teacher. The participants' views of their meetings, expressed in written reports and interviews, together with those of twenty-eight others, provided additional insights when interpreting the conversational data.
Although there was found to be wide variation in the production of features at individual level, their grouping within NS and NNS categories enabled certain general trends to be observed. NNSs were active in initiating talk at all levels, including topic, pedagogic episodes and embedded sequences. They also asked more questions. NNS topic initiation notably led to interactional, reciprocal speech events. This linguistic behaviour was consistent with their purpose in joining the conversation scheme and their social role as learners. NS discourse behaviour was complementary. NSs talked and laughed more and were more likely to continue speaking after a pause. The talk which they initiated was less interactional and more oriented to control.
The study shows that a combination of discourse analysis and speaker reflection can yield fresh insights into the content and structure of NS / NNS conversation. In particular, the application of the combined approach in the analysis of selected paralinguistic features provided suggestive results which indicate areas for further research.
University of Southampton
1993
Williams, Simon Avery
(1993)
Native speaker/non-native speaker discourse in an educational setting : the construction of interaction in an English language conversation scheme.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
This thesis is a study of spoken discourse. It examines the joint construction of native speaker / non-native speaker (NS / NNS) conversation in the semi-formal context of an English language conversation scheme. Recordings of their meetings by eight NS / NNS dyads during two years were subjected to detailed analysis, in which three major factors were considered: (1) linguistic - the contribution of features at discoursal, sentential and suprasentential levels; (2) personal - variations in speakers' expectations and performance; and (3) social - the roles of the participants as learner and teacher. The participants' views of their meetings, expressed in written reports and interviews, together with those of twenty-eight others, provided additional insights when interpreting the conversational data.
Although there was found to be wide variation in the production of features at individual level, their grouping within NS and NNS categories enabled certain general trends to be observed. NNSs were active in initiating talk at all levels, including topic, pedagogic episodes and embedded sequences. They also asked more questions. NNS topic initiation notably led to interactional, reciprocal speech events. This linguistic behaviour was consistent with their purpose in joining the conversation scheme and their social role as learners. NS discourse behaviour was complementary. NSs talked and laughed more and were more likely to continue speaking after a pause. The talk which they initiated was less interactional and more oriented to control.
The study shows that a combination of discourse analysis and speaker reflection can yield fresh insights into the content and structure of NS / NNS conversation. In particular, the application of the combined approach in the analysis of selected paralinguistic features provided suggestive results which indicate areas for further research.
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Published date: 1993
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Local EPrints ID: 462446
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/462446
PURE UUID: 826a60eb-dcb6-43ff-9941-76868a734800
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Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 19:08
Last modified: 04 Jul 2022 19:08
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Author:
Simon Avery Williams
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