Conversational Style Research Articles

REALIZATION OF «LOVE» CONCEPT IN THE TEXTS OF ROCK SONGS

This article is devoted to the research of linguistic means of realization of «LOVE» concept on the basis of texts of rock songs by Aerosmith band. The article deals with the definition of the concept given in the works of Russian scholars – E. S. Kubryakova, D. S. Likhachev, U.S. Stepanov and others, and analysis of the language means of «LOVE» concept realization in the texts of rock songs. The author examines in detail the explicit and implicit means of this concept realization. The analysis shows that the elements of conversational style in the texts of rock songs contribute to the closer communication of the singer with his fans, make the lyrics more understandable to the recipients, facilitating the implementation of their conceptual content. Slang units in the texts of rock songs help the performer express his attitude to the concept realized; they are dynamic and expressive means of rendering the author’s ideas; they make the lyrics more understandable to the modern generation. The analysis has demonstrated that that the most frequent stylistic means of the «LOVE» concept realization in the texts of rock songs are such means as metaphor, rhetorical question and repetition. The language and stylistic means are used to render the basic idea that love has a significant impact on the inner world of a human being.

Deprescribing conversations: a closer look at prescriber-patient communication.

Little is known about the initiation, style and content of patient and healthcare provider communication around deprescribing. We report the findings from a content analysis of audio-recorded discussions of proton pump inhibitor (PPI) and benzodiazepine deprescribing in primary care. Participants were healthcare providers (n = 13) from primary care practices (n = 3) and patients aged ⩾65 (n = 24) who were chronic users of PPIs or benzodiazepines. The EMPOWER educational brochures were distributed prior to (n = 15) or after (n = 9) the patient's usual healthcare provider appointment. Conversations were audio-recorded and coded using MEDICODE to analyze who initiated different themes, whether they followed a monologue or dialogue style, and to what extent the thematic content addressed issues pertaining to: 'dosage/instructions,' 'medication action and efficacy,' 'risk/adverse effects,' 'attitudes/emotions,' 'adherence' and 'follow up.' Descriptive analysis of the conversations was performed with comparison between patients who received the EMPOWER brochure before or after their appointments. Patients were mostly women (67%) with a mean age of 74 ± 6 years. For PPI users, prior education resulted in a greater proportion of themes initiated by patients (44% versus 17%) and maintaining dialogue-style conversations (48% versus 28%). Among benzodiazepine users, conversation initiation (52% versus 47%) and conversation style was similar between both groups. The content of deprescribing conversations for PPIs revealed that patients and their healthcare providers focused less on 'dosage/instructions,' and more on the 'medication action and efficacy' and the necessity for 'follow up.' Conversations about stopping benzodiazepines were more likely to stagnate on the 'if' rather than the 'how.' The initiation, style and content of the conversations varied between PPI and benzodiazepine users, suggesting that healthcare providers will need to tailor deprescribing conversations accordingly.

Gender performance through turn-taking organisation in a foreign language classroom

ABSTRACT According to research in pragmatics, gender represents an important factor in individuals’ turn-taking behaviour, with results indicating overall male-dominated conversational patterns. Despite the significance of gender in the students’ conversational styles in an academic setting, gender and turn-taking has yet to be investigated in the foreign language classroom. Therefore, the present case-study investigates gender as performed in turn-taking organisation in the Spanish language classroom with the focus on floor management, linguistic means of expressing conversational styles, and content of the interaction in its relation to gender. Qualitative conversation analysis of 9 pair interactions of students conducting a problem-solving task in a foreign language (Spanish) overall support the hypothesis of gender-related differences in conversational styles – a pattern previously established in a native-language environment. Specifically, the main differentiation of interlocutor-oriented collaborative female vs. self-oriented competitive male style was found in the content-level patterns. Moreover, the findings of the study provide additional evidence for the argument of gender being shaped and constructed in society, as well as reflection of gender stereotypes in the content of the message conveyed by the individuals.

The social meaning of rising-falling tone in a ‘reality’ TV show

This study discusses the social meaning of LHL% (rising-falling tone in IP final) in Seoul Korean, and shows the two kinds of LHL% contours that depend on the phonetic details of the contours. The data consist of popular “pseudo-reality” TV show called ‘we got married,’ where the female characters switch styles between a rational interview style and emotional, conversational style. What clearly characterizes the two styles is the phonetic pattern of LHL%—pitch and duration as the speakers use more phonetically extreme contours in a conversational style. The non-expressive LHL%, with the mild phonetic contour, functions as a “smoother,” while the expressive LHL%, with the extreme contour, has various emotional functions. Thus, this paper argues that while the “smoother” function can be the basis of social meanings of LHL%, the phonetic details, which make the variable more salient, are more important in shaping the social meaning and speaker stances.

Hybridity and Linguistic Pluralism: A Pragmatic Analysis of University Academic Discourse

The language used in academic texts and pedagogy is referred as academic discourse. Being student and teacher, the researchers observed that mixing of home language with academic language was a common practice in many institutions. Some linguists appreciate it, while others resist it by claiming it detrimental to objectivity and neutrality. Chiang (2006) finds role of teacher’s discourse a determining factor in pedagogy. Current study was conducted to observe the phenomenon of hybridization in academic discourse and to assess it in the light of pragmatics. Pragmatic analysis is known as a useful method to infer covert and implicit meanings of language (Savignon, 2007) and the researchers deemed it appropriate for current research. The pragmatic analysis could provide a newer outlook on academic discourse. Data was collected through observation sheet from the classes. Questionnaire was also used to get relevant data from teachers. The findings revealed that teachers often relied on cultural and ideological underpinnings in their pedagogy. The individual conversational styles were also responsible for different mode of hybridization and subsequently reinforced diverse facet of discourse different in pragmatic nature. The data was first analyzed for hybridization followed by its pragmatic analysis. The study was important in the backdrop of one of many beliefs, that meaning never remains fixed and it resides in socio-cultural structures and lack of pragmatic knowledge among interlocutors impedes semantic proficiency. The study revealed utility of pragmatic competence in turning this mixing of discourses in a class into a continuum. It also found that knowledge of academic pragmatics could reinforce semantic proficiency.

Do speakers maintain clear speech throughout natural conversation?

Previous studies have shown that speakers tend to speak more clearly when they speak with a listener in adverse listening conditions in naturalistic settings. Most previous studies assumed that when speakers speak more clearly, they maintain the style throughout the conversation. However, a clear speech style deviates from speakers’ conversational speaking style, and extra effort is required in order to produce clear speech. Therefore, it is possible that speakers begin a conversation in a clear speaking style and revert back to a conversational style at some point during the conversation. This study aims to examine whether native English speakers use and maintain a clear speaking style while participating in a conversation with non-native speakers in naturalistic settings. Native English listeners will respond to sentences from naturalistic conversations. The sentences are from either a conversation between two native English speakers or a conversation between a native English speaker and a non-native English speaker. Intelligibility (typing what the listeners heard) and comprehensibility (rating how easy it is to understand the sentences) are measured to examine the usage of clear speech throughout the conversations. The results of this study will provide a better understanding of the circumstances under which speakers use clear speech.Previous studies have shown that speakers tend to speak more clearly when they speak with a listener in adverse listening conditions in naturalistic settings. Most previous studies assumed that when speakers speak more clearly, they maintain the style throughout the conversation. However, a clear speech style deviates from speakers’ conversational speaking style, and extra effort is required in order to produce clear speech. Therefore, it is possible that speakers begin a conversation in a clear speaking style and revert back to a conversational style at some point during the conversation. This study aims to examine whether native English speakers use and maintain a clear speaking style while participating in a conversation with non-native speakers in naturalistic settings. Native English listeners will respond to sentences from naturalistic conversations. The sentences are from either a conversation between two native English speakers or a conversation between a native English speaker and a non-native En...

Acoustic-phonetic consequences of clear speech in Cantonese vowels and lexical tones

In adverse communicative contexts, speakers will modify their speech style to enhance intelligibility, which can involve a range of acoustic and articulatory adjustments. Prior work has focused on the influence of speaking style on spectral (e.g., vowel space expansion) and temporal distinctions (e.g., voice-onset time). Thus, this study investigated the extent to which such adjustments extend to the pitch dimension, namely lexical tone. Ten native Cantonese speakers were recorded producing five monosyllables with six Cantonese tones embedded in sentence contexts in both clear and conversational speaking styles. Acoustic analyses revealed that speakers produced two distinct styles, with longer vowel durations and greater vowel dispersion in clear relative to conversational speech. However, with regards to lexical tone production, the results indicated only a marginal re-adjustment of tones within the tone space as a result of clear speech. Specific contour tones, such as the low- and high-rising tones, saw increases in their F0 offset. However, mean F0, F0 range and tonal dispersion did not differ substantially between styles. These findings indicate that speakers maintain tonal stability across speaking styles, suggesting that, relative to segments, lexical tones may not be prioritized as phonological contrasts vital to enhance the overall intelligibility of the utterance.

Effect of proficiency on perception of English nasal stops by native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese

Brazilian Portuguese (BP) does not contrast /m/ and /n/ in coda position, leading to perceptual difficulties with minimal pairs like lime/line in L2 English. This study examined the effect of acoustic-phonetic and semantic enhancements on word recognition in noise for native English (n = 26) and L1 BP/L2 English (n = 21) listeners. They heard 120 high- and low-predictability sentences produced in clear and conversational speaking styles and mixed with speech-shaped noise. They typed the last word ending in either /m/ or /n/. The L2 listeners were separated into high- and low-proficiency (HP and LP) groups based on the perceived accentedness ratings of speech samples they provided. The results showed that native listeners benefited more from semantic than acoustic-phonetic enhancements alone, and the accuracy was highest when both enhancements were combined. The HP L2 listeners recognized more target words overall than the LP group, and their benefit from semantic over acoustic-phonetic enhancements mirrored that of the native listeners. In contrast, LP listeners could not utilize the higher-level semantic information to the same degree in the absence of signal clarity. These findings show that L2 listeners benefited from acoustic-phonetic, semantic, and combined enhancements when recognizing /m/-/n/ coda pairs, but this effect was mediated by proficiency.

Unpacking the black box: Examining the (de)Gender categorization effect in human-machine communication

Although studies have explored the gender categorization effect in both face-to-face and mediated communication environments in relation to the use of gender-linked language, whether the effect still holds in the context of human-machine communication (HMC) remains unknown. To examine this question, in this study, we asked 245 participants to assign gender categories to targets after viewing transcripts of the targets' conversations with a chatbot and a human interlocutor. The results showed that the participants had a better-than-chance probability (68.98%) of correctly guessing the gender of the target based on the target-human conversation transcripts. However, the predictive power of the language cues decreased sharply to a less-than-chance level (42.86%) based on target-chatbot conversation transcripts. We also examined the roles that social media use and demographics played in the gender categorization processes in both computer-mediated communication and HMC contexts. Although far from conclusive, our results suggested that there were significant differences between the styles of conversation in the target-chatbot and target-human interlocutor transcripts. These findings imply that people use different approaches when communicating with human and non-human interlocutors.

Should AI-Based, conversational digital assistants employ social- or task-oriented interaction style? A task-competency and reciprocity perspective for older adults

This study investigates whether social- versus task-oriented interaction of virtual shopping assistants differentially benefits low versus high Internet competency older consumers with respect to social (perceived interactivity, trust), cognitive (perceived information load), functional (self-efficacy, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness), and behavioral intent (website patronage intent) outcomes in an online shopping task. A total of 121 older adults (61–89 years) participated in a laboratory experiment with a 2 (digital assistant interaction style: (social-vs. task-oriented) × 2 (user Internet competency: low vs. high) × 2 (user exchange modality: text vs. voice) between-subjects design. The results revealed that users' Internet competency and the digital assistant's conversational style had significant interaction effects on social, functional, and behavioral intent outcomes. Social-oriented digital assistants lead to superior social outcomes (enhanced perceptions of two-way interactivity and trust in the integrity of the site) for older users with high Internet competency, who need less task-related assistance. On the other hand, low-competency older users showed significantly superior cognitive (lower perceived information load) and functional outcomes (greater perceived ease and self-efficacy of using the site) when the digital assistant employed a task-oriented interaction style. Theoretical and agent design implications are discussed.

A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: How Humanized, Retargeted Ads Intrude in Social Contexts

A great deal of past work has demonstrated that ads that “fit” or blend into their context evoke favorable responses because consumers perceive such ads as less intrusive. The current work posits that when aspects of the ad make persuasive intent salient—such as exposure to retargeted ads, which are generated based on consumers' past online browsing behavior—this relationship reverses such that fit between an ad and its context elicits higher perceptions of intrusiveness. Specifically, ads that present ad copy in a conversational style “fit” with a social media context on the dimension of social presence. Across three studies, we show that retargeted ads that “fit” the context on the dimension of social presence evoke higher levels of perceived intrusiveness, which, in turn, influence downstream responses such as attitudes toward the ad.

Comparative psycholinguistic analysis of the communicative styles of the american TV presenters (on the example of tv shows by Oprah Winfrey and Larry King)

This article analyzes the psycholinguistic features of communicative behavior, speech style of two popular American TV hosts: Oprah Winfrey and Larry King. The material for the study was the interview of TV presenters, based on 50 interviews. A person’s personality can be considered as a carrier of a certain culture, an individual fragment or a part of а society, thus, speech behavior of the person, and specifically – the texts produced by him, can and should be searched in national-cultural, socially conditioned and individual components. The research is carried out in the direction of the actual modern science – gender linguistics and reveals the linguistic, psychological and ethnospecific features of the communicative style of American TV hosts. The author develops an interdisciplinary approach to solving problems at the intersection of Humanities: linguistics, psychology, cognitive science, genderology, journalism.As a result of the linguistic analysis, the author comes to the conclusion that the male style of interviewing Larry King is characterized by restraint, official style, clear structure of the interview; Oprah Winfrey’s speech style is characterized by emotionality, openness, characteristic of the conversational style of communication. However, the revealed gender features of the analyzed interviews do not affect the success of achieving the goals set by the interviewer. The presenter receives information through the use of psycholinguistic techniques. The result was a success regardless of the chosen tactics of negotiating in the analyzed interviews.

Perceived doctor-patient relationship and its association with demoralization in patients with advanced cancer.

Advanced diseases pose a great burden on patients and go hand in hand with existential concerns. Demoralization is considered as a syndrome of existential distress with a perceived inability to cope with loss of meaning in life and feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. Professional health care providers play an important role in providing support for patients and unfavorable conversational styles in their relationship can increase patient's distress. In this study, we examine the association between the patient's perceived relationship to health care providers and demoralization. We used baseline data of a randomized control trial intervention study for advanced cancer patients (UICC-Stage ≥ III; PHQ≥9 and/or Distress-Thermometer ≥5). We used a subscale of the QUAL-EC-P for assessing doctor-patient relationship, Beck Depression Inventory-II for depressive symptoms, a modified version of the MSAS as physiological symptom checklist, and the Demoralization Scale to assess demoralization. A hierarchical regression analysis was calculated. In our sample of 187 patients with stage III or IV cancer (62% women), demoralization was present in 53.4% (16% moderate demoralization; 37.4% high demoralization) of the patients. Relationship to health care provider was an independent predictor (β=-.33, t(186)=-6.70, P<.001) of demoralization. Our findings underline the importance of the physician-patient relationship in the context of coping with existential challenges in advanced cancer patients. Trainings on how to communicate and build a sustainable relationship with patients and their specific needs may increase the buffering effect of social support by the physicians on patient's existential distress.

In Loving Memory

In Loving Memory

Manual of Neuroanesthesia

Manual of Neuroanesthesia

The lived experiences of smokers with lung cancer

Objective: The aims of this research were to learn about the lived experiences of patients with lung cancer who smoke tobacco and to provide nurses with more insights into complexities of people’s relationship with their smoking.Methods: Descriptive phenomenology was used to explore the lived experiences of smokers with lung cancer. An in-depth unstructured conversational style interview was used as a method for data collection. The study was conducted in the inpatient, outpatient, and day care units at the National Center for Cancer Care and Research (NCCCR) in Qatar. Purposive sampling was used to recruit five lung cancer patients who smoke. Colaizzi’s (1978) method was used to analyze data.Results: Participants described three related themes: (a) fate, (b) a socially acceptable addiction, and (c) self-blame and guilt.Conclusions: The findings of this study are of interest to nurses and physicians who work with lung cancer patients. The findings provide insight into experiences of patients who continue to smoke after their lung cancer diagnosis. Nurses within the smoking cessation clinic will also benefit from patients’ descriptions of what they consider useful and supportive in regards to an empathetic, coaching response to their relationships with tobacco. Future study is needed to elucidate nurses' perception on lung cancer patients who continue to smoke.

The Terminology of the Study of Verbal Politeness in English and Serbian

This paper deals with terms and concepts related to the field of ver­bal politeness over the past five decades, with an emphasis on the two most relevant approaches: a) the earlier – modern approach, whose main representatives are Leech, on the one hand, with his conversational maxim view, and Brown and Levinson, on the other, with their face-saving view of politeness, and b) the more recent – postmodern approach, introduced by Watts, Werkhofer, Ide, Locher and others, who see politeness as a more dynamic context-dependent concept that requires analysis by setting up a different terminological and conceptual framework largely based on relational work. Fol­lowing the introductory theoretical remarks on these two seminal approaches, as well as mentioning the general postulates of creating structurally and semantically viable terms, the main aim of this paper is highlighted – that of introducing new Serbian terminology in the field, primarily based on English terms resulting from postmodern research while, at the same time, offering a short critical overview of previously used Serbian translation equivalents of the relevant modern-approach terminology in English. The three central sections are devoted to conceptual and terminological phenomena related, first, to cultural context models and their conversational styles and then, more importantly, to the aforementioned modern and post­modern approach postulates. In the latter, there is special emphasis on relevant English terms and their suggested Serbian counterparts. Certain disputable terminological issues are discussed and resolved, with the ultimate aim of establishing and, hopefully, standardising the Serbian terminology related to verbally expressed politeness, as is concluded in the final remarks.

Indicated or elective? The association of providers' words with HPV vaccine receipt

ABSTRACTBackground: Appropriate provider recommendation is crucial to raising HPV vaccination uptake, yet scant research has explored actual conversations between providers and parents, the effect of parental pre-visit vaccine intention on vaccination, or the effect of conversation style on parental satisfaction with that conversation.Methods: We analyzed 146 audio-recorded clinical encounters between providers, parents/guardians, and HPV vaccine-eligible adolescents, from May 2015 to March 2017, at eight practices in Northeastern U.S. Parents completed pre-visit measures of intent to vaccinate and post-visit assessments of satisfaction with vaccine conversations. We qualitatively analyzed transcribed audio recordings and evaluated associations between providers' vaccine introductions and vaccine receipt.Results: Provider recommendations were empirically defined as “indicated” (clear recommendation that the child receive HPV vaccination at that visit), “elective” (vaccination presented as optional), or “contraindicated” (delay recommended). The vaccination rates were 87%, 68%, and 0% following “indicated,” “elective,” and “contraindicated” presentations respectively. Providers' statements attesting to the vaccine's value to the child did not affect receipt. Parental pre-visit intent to vaccinate was associated with vaccine receipt: 100% for likely/very likely compared to 28% for very unlikely. The association between vaccine recommendation style and vaccine receipt was most pronounced with undecided parents, with 92% accepting vaccination after an “indicated” recommendation vs. 68% after an “elective” recommendation. Satisfaction with vaccine conversations was high regardless of recommendation style.Conclusions: The results suggest that the words used to introduce HPV vaccination have the potential to inform parents' HPV vaccination decisions. Providers should be encouraged to simply state, “Your child is due for the HPV vaccine today.”

Motivational interviewing in long-term sickness absence: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial followed by qualitative and economic studies

BackgroundMotivational interviewing (MI), mainly used and shown effective in health care (substance abuse, smoking cessation, increasing exercise and other life style changes), is a collaborative conversation (style) about change that could be useful for individuals having problems related to return to work (RTW). The aim of this paper is to describe the design of a randomized controlled trial evaluating the effect of MI on RTW among sick listed persons compared to usual care, in a social security setting.MethodsThe study is a randomized controlled trial with parallel group design. Individuals between 18 and 60 years who have been sick listed for more than 7 weeks, with a current sick leave status of 50–100%, are identified in the Norwegian National Social Security System and invited to participate in the study. Exclusion criteria are no employment and pregnancy. Included participants are randomly assigned to the MI intervention or one of two control groups. The MI intervention consists of two MI sessions offered by caseworkers at the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Service (NAV), while the comparative arms consist of a usual care group and a group that receives two extra sessions without MI content (to control for attentional bias). The primary outcome measure is the total number of sickness absence days during 12 months after inclusion, obtained from national registers. Secondary outcomes include time until full sustainable return to work, health-related quality of life and mental health status. In addition, a health economic evaluation, a feasibility/process evaluation and qualitative studies will be performed as part of the study.DiscussionA previous study has suggested an effect of MI on RTW for sick listed workers with musculoskeletal complaints. The present study will evaluate the effect of MI for all sick listed workers, regardless of diagnosis. The knowledge from this study will potentially be important for policy makers, clinicians and other professionals` practical work.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03212118 (registered July 11, 2017).

What happened in kindergarten? Mother-child conversations about life story chapters

ABSTRACTResearch indicates that adults form life story chapters, representations of extended time periods that include people, places and activities. Life chapter memories are distinct from episodic memories and have implications for behaviour, self and mental health, yet little is known about their development during childhood. Two exploratory studies examined parent–child conversations about life chapters. In Study 1, mothers recorded naturalistic conversations with their 5–6 year old children about two chapters in the child’s life. In Study 2, mothers recorded conversations with their 6–7 year old children about a particular life chapter—the child’s kindergarten year—and also about a specific episode of their choice. The results indicated that young children are able to recall and discuss information about life chapters and that parents actively scaffold children’s discussion of general information in chapters as well as specific events. Mothers’ conversational style when discussing chapters (e.g., elaborativeness) predicted children’s memory contributions, and was also positively correlated with their style when discussing specific events. The results suggest new avenues for research on the ontogeny of life chapters, the factors that shape them, and their role in development.