For my discourse analysis, I have chosen the Lapse for Words Transcript since I found it interesting and I believe I can discuss many things through it. It was an interesting conversation since it does happen almost everyday – people dating and breaking over the phone, which of course, since two people conversing couldn’t see each other (speaker and the listener), would imply different things to each other.
Also, the transcription used several overlap symbols, elapsed time, punctuation for intonation, stress (pitch and volume), aspiration, being unsure of accuracy and nonverbal sounds such as breathing and sighing.
First, let us discuss about how the communication between Gordon and Denise began. All kinds of communication have a way of signaling the other party if the conversation is about to start and about to end (Trilestari).
It was Gordon who phoned Denise. The means of production were only two people and medium used was phone (oral conversation).When Denise answered the phone, it was transcribed as:
Den: Hello?
The punctuation (question) mark indicated a rise in tone, which of course meant that she had no idea who was calling and she wanted the caller to introduce his/her self. But when Gordon answered her with a question, “Denise?”, she then lowered her voice to confirm that it was her who answered the phone as well as the period (.) in the transcription which denoted a quick pause for confirmation that it was her and she already knew who was on the other line.
As we can see, the beginning of their conversation followed a typical way of any phone conversation, starting with the identification sequence, followed by greeting sequence, and then how-are-you sequence (Trilestari). The speaker will not directly talk about the intended subject of the communication.
Gordon explained to her that he caught a cold, making his pitch higher at the end of his sentence when Denise asked her how he was doing, “I have the cold now? (0.3)”. He answered her with a question and again, the question mark denoted a rising intonation and the (0.3) tells us the elapsed time in tenths of a second before Denise replied with a “Huh?”.
She used a backchannel cue that she did not quite get the message and the speaker should repair or reconstruct his sentence. Of which Gordon understood the cue.
As a listener, somehow it would imply a bit of sarcasm (knowing that she can notice through his voice that he was not feeling well). As a speaker, it might suggest to the listener that he wanted her to get curious and ask how he got it, wanting the conversation to be in “turns” by asking a question. Gordon also assumed that Denise was already has mental representation of his current situation of which when the conversation went on, we can notice that Denise did not really care about his sickness.
In addition, he emphasized that he caught the cold when he was at A&M, which further expressed that Denise did not care and was not really interested with the subject of conversation.
She exclaimed with “.hhh Oh Goo:d”, which means a lengthened or prolonged syllable, but after that she did not ask any questions nor give advice to Gordon that he should take some medicines and rest, to show that she was concerned. There was a moment of silence and her audible breathing was transcribed with [hhh. It was not a sign of backchannel signal, or as described by Trilestari “[] a signal which encourages the speaker to continue”. Instead, it was a sign of disinterest towards Gordon. She expressed that she clearly got the message by not questioning again or by not raising her pitch, but she chose not to extend the topic by being silent.
But Gordon thought of another topic when he brought up another subject, “[D’you enjoy your parents coming up here (.)”. Again, Denise only answered the question quickly and there was another silence between them (0.4). It was also noticeable that Gordon only stated the subject with not much of interest (same speed and pitch which means no excitement in his voice), just to keep the conversation going.
As Wells suggests, when we wanted to communicate well and be effective in our conversation, we should give our listener/speaker the impression of being enthusiastic on the subject matter.
It had (maybe) triggered Gordon’s emotion of bringing up the topic of them not getting along with each other and so they should stop seeing each other. He started it by explaining that he wanted to tell it personally but because he caught flu, he could not make it.
Then Gordon explained why they should stop dating. He only paused for half a second every time and was shooting fire on Denise, making an impression that he really wanted to end their relationship.
“hhh Bu:t u:m (0.6)” in here we can sense that he was about to bring up a new subject. The indication was the colon which implies a prolonged syllable and the pause of 6 tenths of a second. But as he continued, he became a little hesitant: “I think maybe u-u I w- (0.2) um would like tuh- stop really goin ou:t at least for right no:w”.
We can see that a mere pitch, speed and tone can have a greater effect in our conversations, especially in the Lapse for Words transcript where they could not see each other in person. At least when he told her that he intended to stop dating; it was in a low voice, with pauses and no rising pitches. But it was not a statement which seeks for approval; it is purely a statement which expressed his intention of why he phoned Denise. In here, we can now point out his real intention on why he phoned Denise.
She even agreed to Gordon and added reasons of being tired and being busy also affected their communication and relationship, “Den: Yeah I know what chyou me:an. (1.2)”. She ended the sentence in a low voice thus expressing it as a confirmation and not wanting to argue or fight for their relationship.
On the part of Gordon, he was in “corrective” or “making points” state. Since he already brought up the topic, he then wanted to justify his actions – by shooting rapid fire and not giving Denise a chance to explain herself. He was assertive about his point. Although some of his words were staggered, he still did not give any cue to that he wanted to stop explaining and he wanted to make his statement clear.
He also emphasized that he was a speech major, though he only meant it as a half joke, it seemed like Denise was not the right partner for him since they have “lapse of words” and Denise was not aware of it. It made Denise feel like she was not smart enough to date him. No wonder that many people nowadays easily enter a relationship (mostly through social media) and end it easily too.
Basically, the depiction of social power causes social control over others. This control applies to the range of possible actions and cognitions of others: more authoritative actors have the means and resources to influence the actions or the minds of the less powerful (Tauschel).
It is also important to highlight that in this transcription though they broke up, at least they did not argue. It is of course, because if their tone and proper loudness of their voice. We can see that none from both of them raised nor stretched some words that may cue to the listener that the speaker is trying to mock him/her. The comma (,) indicates a little rise in tone and the good thing, Denise only used it when she said goodbye.
When Gordon apologized, “And I apologize for- you know not talkin to you earlier even”, we can notice that his words were not staggered nor had changes in his pitch or speed, thus, making his statement sincere. Denise accepted his apology by replying promptly, “That’s okay”. Again, no hint of sarcasm in her response.
As they approach the closing of their conversation, they did not merely said goodbye and hang up. Denise was the one who spoke some of the Preclosing signals (Trilestari), “So”, “Yeah”, “Sure a course” followed by Gordon’s statement, “Okay well I’m g’let you go”, “Good, see you later” and finally “Bye”.
Aside from what we learned about the Conversational Signals and Devices in Chapter Three that we should always consider the “tone of our voice, speed, intonation and loudness”, it is also important to empathize to our listeners. Empathizing is trying to see things from the point-of-view of others. Simply being “in their shoe”. It is best to always bear in mind that some subjects might be sensitive or taboo or stressful to others, especially if others are experiencing a bad situation.
As Skills You Need suggests, we should not say directly what comes up to our mind, instead we should take a pause and think about it and how to focus on the implication of what we want to communicate or what subject we want to transmit to our listener by maintaining their social face and ours. It is simply being respectful and polite when you converse with anyone.
In Chapter Three of Linguistics and Conversational Style book, we have learned that we often do not consider how we say things. It is a common practice that we become unconscious of what, when, and how the words come out to our mouth especially during the instances that we are losing our face and we have to stand up for it.
It is always the best way to find the right time if something is bothering you and you would like to have a serious conversation about it. It is also rude to interrupt the receiver of your message (e.g. when they’re watching a sports game, TV show, about to go to sleep or stressed about an upcoming test). Just tell to him/her that you would like to talk later and find a time when you’re in the same room and not doing anything important in lower and softer voice- to avoid outburst or confusion to your listener.
One should also avoid talking about serious matters or issues in writing, (text messages, letters and emails) or over the phone since it can be misinterpreted. This does not mean that you would always talk face-to-face. Just be mindful that you have to consider the absence of the listeners’ immediate interactive feedback so you have to be extra careful in how you say each word, especially the tone and speed.
Let us remember that in order to communicate effectively, it involves not only speaking well, but listening well, too.
As Pinola suggests, we should focus on what the speaker has to say and observe for the content and feeling to understand the entire message. We should also respond with verbal feedback aside from nodding or shaking our head (if in person) to confirm our understanding of the message. This is to show that we are interested to what the speaker would like to express. Also, we should be aware of keeping our tone sincere and nonjudgmental (by using proper pitch, pausing, and loudness).
Works Cited
Marten, Jennifer. “Starting the Communication about Feedback.” Slideshare.net, 2012. Web
< http://www.slideshare.net/jmarten/starting-the-conversation-on-feedback >
Pinola, Melanie. “Top 10 Ways to Improve Your Communication Skills.” Lifehacker.com, 2014.
Web. 14 June 2014 < http://lifehacker.com/top-10-ways-to-improve-your-communication-skills-1590488550>
Skills You Need. “Improving Communication- Developing Effective Communication Skills.”
http://www.skillsyouneed.com.Develop The Skills You Need For Life, 2015.
Web. <http://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/improving-communication.html>
Tauschel, Alexander. “Basic Concepts of Discourse Analysis”. Grin.com, 2004. Web
<http://www.grin.com/en/e-book/120981/basic-concepts-of-discourse-analysis>
Trilestari, Kuntum. “Communication Theory: System Constraints and Conversational Analysis”.
Slideshare.net, 2012. Web http://www.slideshare.net/kuntumtrilestari/discourse-analysis-paper
Wells, Jonathan. “14 Very Effective Communication Skills”. Advancedlifeskills.com, 2016.
Web < http://advancedlifeskills.com/blog/14-very-effective-communication-skills/>
