Abstract
Pauses and hesitations are phenomena that can be found in speech. They can help both the speaker and the hearer, due to the functions they have in a dialogue. Their occurrence in speech has a value that they make it more understandable. In this regard, the researchers intend to critically examine the pauses and hesitations used in the two texts as well as their functions. The present paper aims to identify the types of pauses and hesitations used by Pinter’s The Homecoming and Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation as well as the functions they serve and to compare both playwrights in this regard. To do so, the sequential production approach of turn taking, in combination with the contributions of some scholars who state the multifunctional use of pauses and hesitations, has been used. The findings of the present study show that pauses and hesitations do not exist arbitrarily in speech but they are found to serve certain functions depending on the context in which they occur. Regarding the two selected extracts, it is noticed from the comparison that the two writers do not use pauses and hesitations equally. Baker uses them more frequently than Pinter due to the context in which they are used which requires using pauses to aid comprehension.
Highlights
Pragmatic markers are signals or cues that help the hearer understand utterances and interpret them in the right way
The present paper aims to identify the types of pauses and hesitations used by Pinter’s The Homecoming and Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation as well as the functions they serve and to compare both playwrights in this regard
The findings of the present study show that pauses and hesitations do not exist arbitrarily in speech but they are found to serve certain functions depending on the context in which they occur
Summary
Pragmatic markers are signals or cues that help the hearer (or reader) understand utterances and interpret them in the right way. These markers make speech or writing more cohesive by relating what is said to what is said earlier. Pauses and hesitations are considered as a type of pragmatic markers. Since many studies have been conducted for the investigation of pauses and their functions in discourse (Stenstorm, 2011). Many recent studies have been even carried to investigate the use of pauses and hesitation by non nativespeakers (Watanabe & Rose, 2012). It is worth mentioning that the uses of pauses and hesitation have been studied by native and non-native speakers of English as well (Watanabe & Rose, 2012)
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