Discourse variation and social comfort: A study of topic initiation and interruption patterns in the dinner conversations of preadolescent children.
Item
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Title
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Discourse variation and social comfort: A study of topic initiation and interruption patterns in the dinner conversations of preadolescent children.
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Identifier
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AAI9000699
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identifier
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9000699
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Creator
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Greenwood, Alice.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Ed Bendix
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Date
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1989
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Language, Linguistics
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Abstract
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Discourse strategies, like other kinds of linguistic behavior, can be shown to vary for individual speakers in a motivated way. Through an examination of the friendly talk of a small group of preadolescent children, variation is shown to reflect feelings of social comfort and acceptance by the other members of the group. In an analysis of topic introduction and interruption patterns of the same girls and boys across several conversations, it was established that the gender of the participants was not a salient factor in discourse style variation. Rather, feelings of being an outsider to the group or being extremely comfortable in the group interaction was shown to have specific language reflexes. Equality in the numbers of topics introduced by the members of the conversational group reflects feelings of group solidarity; inequality indicates lack of cohesion in the group. Interruption patterns, which have been correlated with hostility and aggressive behavior, are here demonstrated to be a signal of intimacy and familiarity.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
