Doctoral dissertation in social sciences and humanities: Linguistic features of verbal repairs in english and Vietnamese conversations

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This study aims at investigating the linguistic features of verbal repairs in English and Vietnamese conversations in films via the pragmatic, semantic and syntactic features. Besides, the similarities and differences in linguistic features of verbal repair in two the languages were to be recognized. Finally, some implications were given to help English and Vietnamese interlocutors, researchers of films learn about how to overcome the breakdowns during their conversations.

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Nội dung Text: Doctoral dissertation in social sciences and humanities: Linguistic features of verbal repairs in english and Vietnamese conversations

THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ MINH HẠNH LINGUISTIC FEATURES OF VERBAL REPAIRS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE CONVERSATIONS DOCTORAL DISSERTATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES Da Nang, 2021
THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ MINH HẠNH LINGUISTIC FEATURES OF VERBAL REPAIRS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE CONVERSATIONS Major: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS Code: 9.22.02.01 DOCTORAL DISSERTATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES SUPERVISOR: Assoc.Prof.Dr. NGUYỄN THỊ QUỲNH HOA Da Nang, 2021
i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Table of Contents ............................................................................................ i List of Abbreviations ...................................................................................... v CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1. Rationale ...................................................................................................... 2 1.2. Aims and Objectives ..................................................................................... 5 1.2.1. Aims of the Study .................................................................................... 5 1.2.2. Objectives of the Study ........................................................................... 5 1.3. Research Questions....................................................................................... 5 1.4. Scope of the Study ........................................................................................ 6 1.5. Significance of the Study .............................................................................. 7 1.5.1. Theoretical Significance of the Study .................................................... 7 1.5.2. Practical Significance of the Study ........................................................ 8 1.6. Structure of the Thesis .................................................................................. 8 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1. Definitions of Terms ................................................................................... 10 2.2. Theoretical Background .............................................................................. 11 2.2.1. Conversation. ........................................................................................ 11 2.2.2. Conversation Analysis ........................................................................... 14 2.2.3. Utterances ............................................................................................. 20 2.2.4. Speech Act of Repair ............................................................................ 21 2.2.5. Linguistic Features of Verbal Repairs ................................................... 24 2.3. Previous Studies Related to the Study ......................................................... 37 2.4. Summary .................................................................................................... 44 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1. Research Design ..................................................................................... 45 3.2. Research Methods................................................................................... 47
ii 3.2.1. Data Collection Method ................................................................... 47 3.2.2. Data Analysis Method ....................................................................... 54 3.3. Data Coding Method ............................................................................... 54 3.4. Analytical Framework ............................................................................ 56 3.5. Reliability and Validity ........................................................................... 57 3.5.1. Reliability ......................................................................................... 57 3.5.2. Validity ............................................................................................ 58 3.6. Summary ................................................................................................ 58 CHAPTER 4: PRAGMATIC FEATURES OF VERBAL REPAIRS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE TELEVISION FILM CONVERSATIONS 4.1. Pragmatic Features of Verbal Self-Repairs............................................... 60 4.1.1. Pragmatic Features of Verbal Self-Repair in EFCs ............................. 60 4.1.2. Pragmatic Features of Verbal Self-Repair in VFCs ............................ 66 4.1.3. Similarities and Differences ............................................................... 72 4.2. Pragmatic Features of Verbal Other-Repairs ........................................... 73 4.2.1. Pragmatic Features of Verbal Other-Repair in EFCs ......................... 73 4.2.2. Pragmatic Features of Verbal Other-Repair in VFCs ......................... 82 4.2.3. Similarities and Differences ............................................................. 90 4.3. Summary ................................................................................................ 91 CHAPTER 5: SEMANTIC FEATURES OF VERBAL REPAIRS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE TELEVISION FILM CONVERSATIONS 5.1. Semantic Features of Verbal Self-Repair in EFCs in Films ...................... 93 5.1.1. Relational Process ............................................................................. 95 5.1.2. Material Process................................................................................ 98 5.1.3. Mental Process ................................................................................ 101 5.1.4. Verbal Process ................................................................................ 102 5.1.5. Existent Process .............................................................................. 104 5.2. Semantic Features of Verbal Self-Repair in VFCs in Films ................... 105 5.2.1. Relational Process ........................................................................... 107 5.2.2. Material Process.............................................................................. 109
iii 5.2.3. Mental Process ................................................................................ 111 5.2.4. Verbal Process ................................................................................ 113 5.2.5. Existental Process ........................................................................... 114 5.2.6. Similarities and Differences ........................................................... 115 5.3. Semantic Features of Verbal Other-Repair in EFCs ............................... 116 5.3.1. Relational Process ........................................................................... 119 5.3.2. Material Process.............................................................................. 123 5.3.3. Verbal Process ................................................................................ 127 5.3.4. Mental Process ................................................................................ 129 5.3.5. Existential Process .......................................................................... 133 5.4. Semantic Features of Verbal Other-Repair in VFCs .............................. 134 5.4.1. Relational Process ........................................................................... 136 5.4.2. Verbal Process ................................................................................ 139 5.4.3. Material Process.............................................................................. 140 5.4.4. Mental Process ................................................................................ 145 5.4.5. Existential Process ......................................................................... 149 5.4.6. Similarities and Differences ............................................................ 151 5.5. Summary .............................................................................................. 152 CHAPTER 6: SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF VERBAL REPAIRS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE TELEVISION FILM CONVERSATIONS 6.1. Syntactic Features of Verbal Self-Repair in EFCs .................................. 154 6.1.1. Self-Repair initiated after a Nominal Group .................................... 156 6.1.2. Self-Repair initiated after a Clause .................................................. 161 6.1.3. Self-Repair initiated after a Verbal Group ....................................... 164 6.1.4. Self-Repair initiated after a Prepositional Phrase ............................. 165 6.2. Syntactic Features of Verbal Self-Repair in VFCs ................................. 166 6.2.1. Self-Repair initiated after a Nominal Group .................................... 168 6.2.2. Self-Repair initiated after a Verbal Group ....................................... 174 6.2.3. Self-Repair initiated after a Prepositional Phrase ............................. 175 6.2.4. Self-Repair initiated after a Clause .................................................. 176
iv 6.2.5. Similarities and Differences ............................................................ 177 6.3. Syntactic Features of Verbal Other-Repair in EFCs .............................. 178 6.3.1. Other-Repair initiated after a Clause ............................................... 181 6.3.2. Other-Repair initiated after a Nominal Group ................................. 186 6.3.3. Other-Repair initiated after a Verbal Group .................................... 192 6.3.4. Other-Repair initiated after a Prepositional Phrase .......................... 194 6.3.5. Other-Repair initiated after the Adjective Group ............................ 195 6.4. Syntactic Features of Verbal Other-Repair in VFCs .............................. 196 6.4.1. Other-Repair initiated after a Clause ............................................... 199 6.4.2. Other-Repair initiated after a Nominal Group ................................. 203 6.4.3. Other-Repair initiated after a Verbal Group .................................... 209 6.4.4. Other-repair initiated after an Adjective group ................................ 210 6.4.5. Similarities and Differences ............................................................ 213 6.4.5.1. Similarities ................................................................................ 213 6.4.5.2. Differences ................................................................................ 214 6.5. Summary .............................................................................................. 214 CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSION 7.1. Conclusions .............................................................................................. 216 7.2. Implications .............................................................................................. 222 7.3. Limitations of the Study ........................................................................... 223 7.4. Suggestions for Further Research.............................................................. 223 REFERENCES ....................................................................................... 225 APPENDIX ............................................................................................. 229
v ABBREVIATIONS Adj: Adjective Adj P: Adjective phrase Adv: Adverb Adv P: Adverbial phrase LFs: Linguistic Features ms: minutes N: Noun NG: Nominal Group P: Preposition PP: Prepositional phrase EFCs: English Film Conversations VFCs: Vietnamese Film Conversations RECs: Repairs in English Conversations RVCs: Repairs in Vietnamese Conversations S: Speaker Ss: Speakers S1: the second speaker S1s: the second speakers V: Verb VG: Verbal Group
vi LISTS OF TABLES Table 3.1: Number of conversations containing Repairs ........................................ 44 Table 4.1: Pragmatic Functions of Verbal Self-Repair in EFCs ............................. 53 Table 4.2: Pragmatic Functions of Representatives and Expressives of Verbal Self- Repair in EFCs………………………………………………………………………54 Table 4.3: Pragmatic Functions of Verbal Self-Repair in VFCs ............................. 60 Table 4.4: Pragmatic Functions of Representatives and Expressives of Verbal Self- Repair in VFCs………………………………………………………………………61 Table 4.5: Pragmatic Functions of Verbal Other-Repair in EFCs……………..........74 Table 4.6: Pragmatic Functions of Representatives and Expressives of Verbal Other- Repair in EFCs ...................................................................................................... 75 Table 4.7: Pragmatic Functions of Verbal Other-Repair in VFCs .......................... 84 Table 4.8: Pragmatic Functions of Representatives and Expressives of Verbal Other- Repair in VFCs ..................................................................................................... 85 Table 5.1: Semantic Processes Of Verbal Self-Repair in EFCs ............................ 101 Table 5.2: Parts of Experiential Meaning of Verbal Self-Repair in EFCs............. 102 Table 5.3: Semantic Processes of Verbal Self-Repair in VFCs ............................ 116 Table 5.4: Parts of Experiential Meaning of Verbal Self-Repair in VFCs ............ 117 Table 5.5: Semantic Processes of Verbal Other-Repair in EFCs .......................... 129 Table 5.6: Parts of Experiential Meaning of Verbal Other-Repair in EFCs...........130 Table 5.7: Semantic Processes of Verbal Other-Repair in VFCs...........................148 Table 5.8: Parts of Experiential Meaning of Verbal Other-Repair in VFCs.......... 149 Table 6.1: Syntactic Features Of Verbal Self-Repair in EFCs.. ............................ 170 Table 6.2: Syntactic Structures Of Verbal Self-Repair in EFCs.. ......................... 171 Table 6.3: Syntactic Features Of Verbal Self-Repair in VFCs.. ........................... 184 Table 6.4: Syntactic Structures Of Verbal Self-Repair in VFCs.. ......................... 184 Table 6.5: Syntactic Features Of Verbal Other-Repair in EFCs.. ......................... 196 Table 6.6: Syntactic Structures Of Verbal Other-Repair in EFCs......................... 197 Table 6.7: Syntactic Features Of Verbal Other-Repair in VFCs.. ......................... 216
vii Table 6.8: Syntactic Structures Of Verbal Self-Repair in VFCs.. ......................... 217 LISTS OF FIGURES Figure 3.1: Steps for searching and downloading the subtitle of a film .................. 42 Figure 3.2: The software VLC media player ......................................................... 42 Figure 3.3: Pragmatic features of verbal repairs from Excel 2010 .......................... 43 Figure 3.4: Types of verbal repairs and their pragmatic functions from Excel 2010.. .............................................................................................................................. 43 Figure 3.5: The Analytical Framework of the study .............................................. 47
1 ABSTRACT The study investigated linguistic features of verbal repairs in English and Vietnamese Conversations. The type of this research is qualitative, quantitative, deductive, descriptive and contrastive research. This study used 372 daily conversations from 23 English television films and 385 daily conversations from 39 Vietnamese television films to analyze the pragmatic, semantic and syntactic features of verbal repairs. The research used the theory of conversation analysis and repair of Schegloff et al. (1977)In addition, the cooperative principles of Grice (1975), classification of illocutionary act of Searle (1969) were used to find out the pragmatic features. Semantic and syntactic features of verbal repairs were analyzed on the basis of the viewpoints of functional grammar by Halliday (1994) and then they were concretized by Downing (2015). Some aspects such as the frequencies of the use of the repairs, the functions of the repairs, the violation of Grice’s maxims, the experiential meanings of the repairs, the techniques of the repairs were to be compared. The results revealed that for pragmatic features: English speakers used self and other-repair for the functions of representatives whereas Vietnamese speakers used self and other-repair for the functions of expressives. The findings showed that English speakers violated the maxim of cooperative principle of Grice (1975) because either they did not provide enough information or their information not clear. Vietnamese speakers used self and other-repairs for their own communicative purposes. For semantic features, the study showed that S and S1 in the extracts of English and Vietnamese film conversations repaired the experiential meanings of 5 processes: material, mental, relational, verbal and existential processes in Downing (2015)’s classification. For syntactic features, the findings revealed that S and S1 in the extracts of English and Vietnamese film conversations used the techniques such as recycling, replacing, inserting, adding to repair after a noun, verb, preposition, adjective and clause.
2 Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1. Rationale Conversation – verbal communication between people - is indispensable in our daily life. In the social relationships or in common communication, people need to talk to exchange information, establish and maintain social relationship, discuss together to find out the solutions to professional issues and even other problems in their daily lives. Liddicoat (2007) states that conversation is one of the ways people can socialize, develop and sustain each other’s relationship. For that reason, delivering information smoothly is really important for achieving its goal. Although mutual understanding is the goal and the expected state of affairs in conversation, interlocutors sometimes have difficulty in interpreting the other speaker’s turn, or they may interpret their turns differently from what they actually meant. To deal with such problematic cases - where some troubles in speaking, hearing, or understanding the talk occur - repair organisation is needed. Repair is a mechanism to achieve clarification, to re-establish mutual intelligibility after some perceived trouble. The interlocutors do not have smooth conversations because the obstructions appear in the middle of their conversations. According to Schegloff (cited in Cho, 2008), these obstructions can be any factor in the conversation. It can be a grammatically correct form or a pragmatically appropriate expression. These obstructions make the interlocutors revise a part or the whole of their utterance. Repair is a term that refers to how people deal with the difficulty that appears in the middle of the conversation. Conversations in films are also talks about issues in the daily life between people. The conversational settings are selected and written by the scriptwriters. Although film scripts are not naturally occurring conversations and are therefore not what people actually do in real life conversations, their purposes are the same as the ones in natural conversations in every day life, as Dose (2013) states “Speakers use language for a wide range of communicative purpose: in addition to conveying
3 information, speakers express opinions, feelings, and attitudes”. Therefore, conversational situations in films also contain obstructions which make conversations not so smooth as do conversations in daily life. Repairing the trouble sources causing communication breakdown was done to help characters in films obtain their communicative purposes, as in the following examples. (1.1) S: It’ll only be temporary, okay? S1: What’s temporary? S: Temporary means just for a little bit of time. [128] In (1.1), S was explaining to the guard in the flat about S’s letting her boyfriend to her room. S knew the regulation of the flat, but S supposed that letting her boyfriend in the room was “temporary”. The guard asked for explaining the meaning of the word temporary, so S made a repair by explaining that permitting her boyfriend to come in her room happened for a short period of time. S’s repair helped S avoid the misunderstanding that could cause the communication breakdown. (1.2) S: Bác ơi cháu báo tin mừng cho Bác. S1: Tin mừng à? Tin mừng gì thế? S: Đối thủ cạnh tranh của chúng cháu đã ngừng cạnh tranh, không chỉ có thế họ còn quay lại giúp chúng cháu, thế có đáng mừng không Bác. S1: Thế mừng quá còn gì nữa. [177] In (1.2), S1 did not know which happy news S was mentioning, S1 asked S to give more information for S’s utterance. S repaired the utterance by giving some more detailed information of happy news (Đối thủ cạnh tranh của chúng cháu đã ngừng cạnh tranh, không chỉ có thế họ còn quay lại giúp chúng cháu). S’s repair helped S1 understand more and their conversation became more interesting. The example shows that repairs can perform many other pragmatic functions than just preventing communication breakdowns. A communication breakdown is originated from trouble source in a conversation. It occurs when a message is not properly carried among participants and as a result, the conversation is blocked. According to Schegloff et al. (1977), repair sequences consist, minimally, of the repairable and the repair. The repairable is
4 a linguistic unit which contains the trouble source and which is being repaired, and the repair is the turn in which the problematic element is replaced with another. "Trouble source" refers to any elements in a conversation which cause communication breakdown to the participants. It could be placed anywhere during conversational interaction and any element could be repaired by participants in conversation. In daily communicative conversations and in conversations in films, the interlocutors can face communication breakdowns. Therefore, they have to use strategies to repair the trouble sources or ask for repair so that they can have effective communication. Schegloff et al. (1977) were the first researchers of linguistics who mentioned the term of repair and presented strategies of repair often used to overcome the trouble sources causing communication breakdowns. (1.3 ) Ken: Sure enough ten minutes later the bell r - the doorbell rang... [Schegloff, 1977, p.363] The example (1.3) shows that the speaker S (Ken) produced the trouble source bell because S (Ken) knew that the hearer could not know what kind of bell, So S (Ken) found out the trouble source and initiated repair by using the word the doorbell. There have been many authors dealing with the theory of repair but Schegloff is considered the first outstanding figure in this realm. Until now, there has been no complete study of linguistic features of verbal repair, especially, there are no contrastive researches of verbal repairs in films in English and Vietnamese. Therefore, it is hoped that the thesis entitled Linguistic Features of Verbal Repairs in English and Vietnamese Conversations, once finished, can help both Vietnamese learners of English and English learners of Vietnamese know how to use the strategies more effectively in conversations. Furthermore, the study of verbal repairs in terms of pragmatics, semantics and syntactics might contribute a better understanding of linguistic natures of verbal repairs in English and Vietnamese. Teachers and learners can apply the research results to teaching and learning speaking skills in the two languages.
5 1. 2. Aims and Objectives 1. 2. 1. Aims of the Study This study aims at investigating the linguistic features of verbal repairs in English and Vietnamese conversations in films via the pragmatic, semantic and syntactic features. Besides, the similarities and differences in linguistic features of verbal repair in two the languages were to be recognized. Finally, some implications were given to help English and Vietnamese interlocutors, researchers of films learn about how to overcome the breakdowns during their conversations. 1. 2. 2. Objectives of the Study The study was carried out to describe and contrast the pragmatic, semantic and syntactic features of verbal repairs in English and Vietnamese conversations in films; therefore, it is essential to achieve these following goals: - To provide linguistic evidence collected from television films to illustrate the presence of many pragmatic functions, semantic and syntactic features of RECs and RVCs. - To analyze and clarify the linguistic features realized in RECs and RVCs. - To compare and contrast English and Vietnamese verbal repairs to figure out the similarities and differences between RECs and RVCs in terms of pragmatic, semantic and syntactic features. 1. 3. Research Questions To carry out the study, we focus on dealing with the following questions: 1. What are the pragmatic features of verbal repairs in English and Vietnamese television film conversations? 2. What are semantic features of verbal repairs in conversations from English and Vietnamese television films? 3. What are syntactic features of verbal repairs in conversations from English and Vietnamese television films?
6 4. What are similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese verbal repairs from television film conversations in terms of pragmatics, semantics and syntactics? 1. 4. Scope of the Study The study focused on investigating and analyzing English and Vietnamese pragmatic, semantic and syntactic features of verbal repairs in films. However, some issues that were concerned with our study were determined and limited as follows. Firstly, only verbal repairs were examined. Therefore, non verbal repairs were not taken into consideration. In addition, phonologic features of repairs were not analyzed. This dissertation considered repair expressed via utterances. The basis structure of utterance was a sentence and its parts of a sentence. Secondly, all the utterances containing verbal repairs were collected from English and Vietnamese television films that first published from 1990s to 2017. The study analyzed 372 daily conversations from 23 English films and 385 daily conversations from 39 Vietnamese films on television with three topics such as Love, Family life and Social relationships. Among 23 English television films, there are 19 films whose scriptwriters were born and have worked in the United States. There are 3 films whose scriptwriters were born and have worked in England. All of the scriptwriters have the age range from 35 to below 70. The films were distributed on channels such as The USA, Disney-ABC, New line, CBS, The UK channel 4, NBC, The CW, The USA Universal Pictures, Warner Bros Pictures, Sony Pictures, A24, The USA 20th Century Fox. The Vietnamese data were selected from 39 television films. All of the scriptwriters were born, grew up and have worked in Vietnam. These films are distributed on channels such as VTV1, VTV2, VTV3, VTV4, VTV5, VTV9, HTV9, VOV, VTC1, VTC9, VTC10, HTV, HTV7, HTV9, H1, HTVL, VTV Cần Thơ, H1, VCTV2.
7 All of the English and Vietnamese conversations chosen have the same length to make sure that utterances containing self-repair include from 1 to 2 or 3 turns. In some situations, self-repair consisted of 1 turn because the speaker talked alone or talked on the phone. The utterances containing other-repair include from 2 to 3 or 4 turns. Each of conversation consisted of two or three elements such as pre-repair, repair or repair, post-repair or only repair because sometimes, post-repair was not included when the interlocutor finished his/her turn by leaving out, or nodding, looking at outside…ect… Finally, the research used the theory of conversation analysis and repair of Schegloff et al. (1977) In addition, the cooperative principles of Grice (1975), classification of illocutionary act of Searle (1969) were used to find out pragmatic features. For semantic and syntactic features, the research was based on the theory of the experiential meaning and concretization via the means of lexico-grammar of simple sentences in the text on the viewpoint of Halliday (1994, 2014) and then they were concretized by Downing (2015) via syntactic structures and semantic structures. Therefore, the terms related to the experiential meaning and the concretization of syntactic structures were used on the viewpoint of Downing (2015). 1.5. Significance of the Study 1. 5. 1. Theoretical Significance of the Study This thesis widened conversation analysis in daily life via conversation analysis in films to analyze the speech act of repair. The thesis can contribute to the research of nature and linguistic features of verbal repairs in English and Vietnamese television film conversations in terms of pragmatic, semantic and syntactic features. The thesis gives out explicit explanations of similarities and differences of linguistic features of verbal repairs in two languages. The detailed and full analysis of linguistic features of verbal repairs in English and Vietnamese television film conversations will probably make a foundation for the future researches of repair.
8 1. 5. 2. Practical Significance of the Study The study aims to: - discover the similarities and differences of linguistic features of verbal repairs in English and Vietnamese television film conversations. This can help teachers and learners in two languages teach and learn speaking skills better because they know how to use verbal repairs flexibly for their own communicative purposes in their conversations. - help the interlocutors use repair strategies effectively for their own communicative purposes. - assist scriptwriters, writers to choose the suitable strategies of repairs for their characters in the conversations with the better and more effective utterances. - can be a very useful source of reference for compiling lectures, books, materials related to the scope of the study. To sum up, it is hoped that, once finished, the study can help both Vietnamese learners of English and English learners of Vietnamese use verbal repairs more effectively in their communication. Furthermore, the study of pragmatics, semantics and syntactics of verbal repairs might contribute a complete understanding of linguistic features of verbal repairs and improve the quality of teaching and learning communicating in English. 1. 6. Structure of the thesis The thesis consisted of the following chapters: Chapter 1: Introduction: This chapter presents the introduction of the study, aims and objectives, research questions, scope of the study, significances of the study, and the organization of the study. Chapter 2: Literature review: This chapter provides the theoretical knowledge related to the pragmatic, semantic and syntactic features of verbal repairs. The previous studies containing the pragmatic, semantic and syntactic features are reviewed in this chapter. It also gives some comments on their achievements and limitations.
9 Chapter 3: Research Methodology: This chapter presents data collection, data coding, data description, data comparison, data analysis. Chapter 4: Pragmatic features of verbal repairs in English and Vietnamese television film conversations: This chapter presents pragmatic functions of verbal self-repair and other-repair in English and Vietnamese conversations. The comparison between the pragmatic features of verbal repairs in English and Vietnamese conversations is carried out. Chapter 5: Semantic features of verbal repairs in English and Vietnamese television film conversations: This chapter presents representational meanings of verbal self-repair and other-repair in English and Vietnamese conversations. The comparison between the semantic features of verbal repairs in English and Vietnamese conversations is carried out. Chapter 6: Syntactic features of verbal repairs in English and Vietnamese television film conversations: This chapter presents syntactic structures of verbal self-repair and other-repair in English and Vietnamese conversations. The comparison between the syntactic features of verbal repairs in English and Vietnamese conversations is carried out. Chapter 7: Conclusion: This chapter presents the conclusion, implications, limitations and suggestions for further researches.
10 Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1. Definitions of Terms According to Schegloff et al. (1977, p.361) “Repair” is the treatment of trouble occurring in interactive language use or “a mechanism that operates in conversation to deal with problems in speaking, hearing, and understanding the talk in conversation.” Verbal repair is defined as a mechanism that operates in conversation not only to deal with problems in speaking, hearing, and understanding the talk in conversation by using semantic structures and syntactic structures in an interlocutor’s turn-taking but also to convey some communicative purposes from the interlocutors. There are two different types of repair: Self-initiated and Other-initiated repairs. Self-repair ordinarily involves the speaker of the trouble-source initiating repair and prosecuting it to conclusion in the same turn or the listener will help him/her to repair (Schegloff et al.,1977). Other-repair generally involves a recipient of the problematic talk initiating the repair, but either he/she leaves it for the speakers of the trouble-source to deal with the trouble themselves in the ensuing turn or he/she will repair it (Schegloff et al.,1977). In their research of repair, Schegloff, Jefferson & Sacks (1977) classified repair into 2 types: self-repair and other-repair. In self-repair, there were two subtypes self-initiated self-repair, self-initiated other-repair. In other-repair, there were two subtypes: other –initiated self-repair, other-initiated other - repair. However, this study analyzed only two types of repair: self-repair and other repair because the data were not enough for analyzing 4 types of repair. The terms Recycling and Replacement refer to two repairing techniques used in the study when analyzing the syntactic features of verbal repairs.
11 Recycling (or repetition) means the repeating, either with no apparent changes or with some additions or deletion, of the repaired segment (Fox et al, 1996, p. 230). Replacement means that the speaker substitutes a quasi-lexical or lexical item or items for another quasi-lexical or lexical item or items, when the repaired and the repairing segments belong to the same syntactic class (Fox et al, 1996, p. 230). 2.2. Theoretical Background 2.2.1. Conversation 2.2.1.1. Conversation The term “conversation” has been defined by many linguists. According to Arthur (1987, p.5), “Conversation” refers to a time when two or more people have the right to talk or listen without having to follow a fixed schedule, such as agenda. In conversations, everyone can have something to say and any one can speak at any time”. Maybin (1996, p.5) states that “Conversation is without doubt the foundation stone of the social world - human beings learn to talk in it, find a mate with it, rise in social hierarchy as a result of it, and, it is suggested, may even develop mental illness because of it”. Cutting (2002) defines that “Conversation is discourse mutually constructed and negotiated in time between speakers; it is usually informal and unplanned”. The above definitions emphasize the characteristics of a conversation as a social activity. However, the definition of conversation provided by Finegan et al. (1994, p.316) has an aspect related to the thesis: “Conversation can be used as a series of speech acts - greeting, enquiries, comments, requests...To accomplish the work of speech acts, some organization is essential: We take turns to speak, answer questions, mark the beginning and end of conversation, and make corrections when they are needed.” Making corrections is an aspect related to the term "repair" in this study. Repair is defined as a ‘communicative phenmenon which helps to sustain social interaction by allowing conversants to mutually handle problems which arise as they communicate” (Schegloff et al., 1977, p.56). Repair is addressed by conversation analysts in terms of errors and other problems of speaking within turn-