Talk Situations Research Articles

The not so silent Estonians? Perceptions and practice of small talk

Abstract The present paper analyses self-reflexive opinions of 33 Estonians about small talk; it is based on interviews carried out in 2020–2022. The main topics covered in the paper are what participants consider small talk situations, how they feel in such situations, and what kind of topics they bring up or avoid. While silent Finns and silent Scandinavians appear in the literature almost as terms, research on Estonians and their behaviour has been scarce. The paper reveals that although Estonians might see themselves as silent, they often feel the need to break the silence. As it appears, it might result in a failed attempt, but the attempts are there. The article discusses various decisive factors in engaging in or refraining from small talk mentioned by the participants. It also sheds light on changes in time, which mainly seem to indicate that Estonians are opening up. Although small talk is not primarily connected with the notion of politeness in the interviewees’ views, it nevertheless belongs to what is considered appropriate behaviour.

Interest in Dialogic and Non-Dialogic Teacher Talk Situations in Middle School Science Classroom

Previous research has shown that dialogic teacher talk not only supports students’ understanding but also raises their interest. However, there is little, if any, research on the connection between dialogic talk and student interest in classroom situations. To investigate this connection, we collected video observations and experience sampling data. In total, 87 middle school students aged 14 to 16 participated in the study. Data were collected from the classes of six science teachers, and three lessons were video recorded in each teacher’s classroom. During the lessons, students were asked several times to express their interest in the situation through the experience sampling method (ESM). The measurements took place in situations where the teacher either talked with the students or talked to the whole group of students. The talk situations were categorised as dialogic or non-dialogic, based on the video recording. On a five-point scale of interest, the median value was 3.3 in non-dialogic talk situations and 3.5 in dialogic talk situations. We hypothesised that students’ interest would be higher in dialogic talk situations than in non-dialogic talk situations. The hypothesis was tested with a related samples Wilcoxon signed rank test, and the results supported the hypothesis (Z = − 2.62; p < 0.05). The results suggest that dialogic talk may trigger students’ interest in science learning.

Deaf and hearing high-school students’ expectations for the role of educational sign-language interpreter

This article focuses on the role of the educational interpreter as seen from the student's perspective. Based on a classroom study conducted in Norway, it presents an analysis of interviews with high-school students who have hearing loss and with students who do not. The main finding is that both groups have similar expectations for the educational interpreter's role. Repeatedly mentioned topics were connected to how the interpreters mediated language, how they coordinated their interaction, and how they facilitated small talk situations between the students. With respect to the coordinative function, both groups appreciate if the interpreter advises them on how to organise the seating and coordinates the turn-taking. Deaf and hard-of-hearing students also appreciate if the interpreter adjusts the mediation to their visual orientation. The facilitator models are therefore more in line with the students’ expectations than a linguistically oriented role model, and to fulfil the students’ expectations educational interpreters appear to need a stronger implementation of interactional elements in their role definitions. Keywords: Inclusive education; educational interpreter's role; students' expectations; facilitator model; Norwegian sign language (Published: 1 December 2015) Citation: Society, Health & Vulnerability. http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/shv.v6.28969

ANAPHORS IN CASUAL AND CONTROLLED TALK GROUPS OF IRANIAN EFL LEARNERS

By relying mainly on the accessibility approach to anaphora, this article intends to analyze the types, distributions and retrieval of anaphors in two forms of spoken discourse: casual and controlled talk. For the specific purposes of the study, twenty sophomore Iranian students were randomly selected to conduct the talks. The subjects were divided into two groups of casual and controlled talk. According to the settings and adopted topics, the overall casual talk group was further divided into two groups of dorm and academic talk. In the end, it was observed that as the talk situations vary, types, frequencies, distances, retrieval qualities and thematic structure (patterning) of anaphors undergo dramatic changes too. Further analyses of the obtained data show that the number of pronominal anaphors is by far more than NP anaphors in dorm casual talk whereas in academic casual talk the number of NP anaphors exceeds that of the former talk groups. However, the distribution of anaphors in the performance of controlled talk groups has shown to be more moderate with regard to the types of anaphors used in it. Overall, the distributional patterns of various anaphoric devices in different talk situations are considered to be a function of the speakers’ evaluation of the cognitive states of the listeners/addressees. Average distances and frequencies of the different types of zero, pronominal, and NP anaphors have also been shown to undergo dramatic changes as talk situations vary.

METHOD OF DETECTING A DOUBLE TALK SITUATION FOR A “HANDS-FREE” TELEPHONE DEVICE

The device comprises a microphone for detecting a speech signal from a near speaker, and a loudspeaker for reproducing a speech signal from a remote speaker. The processing for canceling the interfering acoustic echo implements an adaptive linear filtering algorithm. Double talk situations are detected by: evaluating an index representative of the convergence or divergence of the algorithm; assessing a predetermined condition for detecting a double talk situation; and if the condition is satisfied, modifying at least one parameter of the algorithm in response to the detection. The representative index may be the norm of the gradient vector describing the adaptation of the filter from one iteration of the algorithm to the next, the conditions being a comparison between the gradient and a threshold. The parameter that is modified double talk situation may be the adaptation stepsize of the algorithm, and also the gain control of an echo suppression stage.

Talking alone

This article examines reality TV as an illustration of contemporary confessional culture in which the key attraction is the disclosure of true emotions. This article hopes to contribute to the understanding of the production of self-disclosure through a formal analysis of international and domestic dating, adventure and lifestyle-oriented reality shows broadcast on Finnish television between 2002 and 2004. The diverse programmes verify that reality TV shows capitalize on a variety of talk situations within one programme, but it is the monologue that is used as a truth-sign of direct access to the authentic. We also suggest that the power of monologue in the reality genre promotes the transformation of television from a mass medium to first-person medium addressing masses of individuals.

Oppositional Codes in Students' Narratives about New Information Technologies

In this ethnographic account, I focused on the interconnections of power, technology, and culture in a University that recently embarked on a program of full integration of electronic technology into its teaching-learning process. I explored how African American and European American students positioned themselves in relation to their University's preferred view of technology. Two codes emerged from the narratives of participants. The dominant code was found to be business-oriented. This code evaluated technology in terms of the degree to which technology promoted administrative economic efficiency. The cultural/communication code favored interpersonal interaction. It was critical of the negative effects that technology might produce due to differences in culture as well as the economic status of students. While there was some evidence that African American students used more of the cultural/communication code than the business code, there was no evidence that these codes marked cultural boundaries. This study stresses the need for more research on how information technology is actually enhancing or hindering the democratization of organization discourse. It also stresses the need to ensure that organization members' understandings are sought through the use of methods that emphasize the communication practices of these members in actual talk situations.

Partitioned residual echo power estimation for frequency‐domain acoustic echo cancellation and postfiltering

AbstractResidual echo arises in hands‐free telephony equipment due to insufficient echo canceler convergence, but can be suppressed using a postfilter. The residual echo power spectral density is the most crucial control parameter for both frequency‐domain acoustic echo cancellation and combined residual echo and noise postfiltering. In this contribution we present and compare residual echo power spectral estimation techniques. We introduce a new partitioned block‐adaptive estimation technique delivering considerably improved residual echo estimates in strongly reverberant and noisy acoustic environments. We show that the adaptation loop of the frequency‐domain adaptive filter (FDAF) can be used simultaneously for residual echo power estimation and tracking of the echo path impulse response. In this way, the FDAF and the postfilter concept supplement each other in a true synergy with low complexity. The resulting echo and noise control system proves to be robust in double talk situations as well.

Gender Differences in Self-Reported Response to Troubles Talk

Tannen [(1990) You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation, New York: William Morrow] and others have argued that women and men differ in communication style, and particularly in the way they respond to “troubles talk.” However, her research on gender differences in communication style has primarily made use of qualitative analysis of naturally occurring discourse. A Communication Styles Survey was developed to assess self-reported behavioral and emotional responses in “troubles talk” situations. This survey was administered to a total of 384 participants, the majority of whom were Caucasian college students. Statistically significant gender differences consistent with Tannen's predictions were found but the effect sizes tended to be small. Self-reported responses to troubles talk (such as giving advice) showed consistent individual differences among persons; for example, some persons tend to report themselves as “advice givers” or “jokers” across a wide range of troubles talk situations.

Personality in the context of conversation: Person‐talk scenarios replicated

In this study 90 pairs of subjects (N=180) were requested to describe a recent situation in which they had said something about a person. The pairs of subjects were randomly assigned to three conditions differing on the main question, namely whether the subjects had said something about themselves, about their partner, or about a third person. Each person‐talk situation was described from two perspectives, namely from that of the speaker and from that of the addressee. The descriptions of the talk situations were judged separately for the content of the utterances about the persons, and for the intentional activities of the two interlocutors with respect to each other. Redundancy analysis followed by a rotation to the canonical correlation solution was applied on two sets of variables, namely the one describing the speaker's role in the talk situation and the one describing the addressee's role. For each of the two perspectives this analysis produced seven canonical components. Each of the components identifed a person‐talk scenario such as an entertainment scenario, a flirtation scenario, and a gossip scenario. A comparison of the two canonical structures indicated that the person‐talk scenarios obtained under the perspective of the speaker were well replicated in the data obtained under the perspective of the addressee, and vice versa.