Selective hearer-adaptation

Abstract

The role of the listener in processes of language planning and production is assessed controversially in the literature. In this paper it is argued that differences observed in the degree of partner adaptivity are related to differences in task complexity. Earlier studies in this field focused on the production of single referential acts. In order to test hearer-orientedness under conditions in which speakers have rather to develop and follow a complex macrostructural plan, an experiment was carried out in which speakers had to instruct a hearer to set up a villagelike configuration of 13 objects. Three aspects of text structure were analyzed as indicators for the degree of partner adaptivity: anchoring of spatial perspective, given-new structure, level of granularity. The results reflect the fact that texts are structured on the basis of two very elementary components: topic elements (including perspective anchoring, choice of linearization criterion) and focus elements. Global choices made with respect to topic elements are fairly resistant to modification (e.g. perspective reanchoring required by the hearer) whereas changes in the focus domain are unproblematic for the speaker (e.g. hearer intervention asking for a change in the level of specificity). In conclusion, we relate these findings to a global model of language production, arguing for different types of partner-orientedness at different levels of the planning process