Conversation

 Politeness

 Grice articulated 4 rules for conversation in mainstream US culture

• quantity (offer enough information/participation, not too much)

• quality (offer truthful, substantiated info)

• relevance (relates to what is being discussed)

• manner (contributions are concise, non-ambiguous, and efficient)

 Face work (Brown and Levinson):

             Negative face - avoiding restraints, not interfering with other's presentation of face

             Positive face - presenting a positive self image, being seen in a positive light by others, supporting the self presentation

 Failure events/repairs

• Punctuating episodes changes in posture and distance mark changes in the episode; head nods mark points within a position.

• Turn time distribution -- too long or too many turns, too little or too short turns are often interpreted negatively, too many interruptions are also negative

 Decision to interact:  largely based on first impressions which stress nonverbal communication (stereotypes, uncertainty reduction)

 Beginning the conversation

 approaching and greeting by establish eye contact, slight head nod, smile, wave, closer distance, handshake

 Maintaining the conversation

• Average speaking turn is 6 seconds
• Average length of time between turns is .1 – 2.9 seconds (interrupt, too quick or too slow)
• Transition – speaker looks less until the end then looks more while listener looks while listening and beginning of turn, then looks less.
• Turn requesting cues:  eye contact (look more while listening), increased head nodding, forward lean, open mouth and inhale, gesture in front of you
• Turn maintaining or suppressing cues:  continued gesturing, facing away, filling pauses (um, ah, you know, like), audible inhalation of breath
• Turn Yielding cues:  end a suppressor, falling or raising intonation, stress on last syllable, increased eye contact
• Emphasizing points:  main points are emphasized by postural and distance shifts, while minor points by head nods. Vocal emphasis works for both.
• Backchannel cues cues that respond without asking for the floor

 Ending the conversation  -- role play, three functions

·        Inaccessibility (verbal – have to catch a bus now, time for my next class):  decrease eye contact, position toward exit, major leg movements, slap leg, look at watch, hands on thighs, gather possessions

·        supportiveness (verbal -- see you later):  touch, set time for future meeting

·        summarize (verbal – had a great time):  kiss (date), hug, handshake

Activity: 3 ways of saying goodbye in various contexts, 3 ways of ending a class.