Conversation is the most common way that we communicate with each other and, similar to written text, it can also be manipulated. I like to think I have control over most of the language and tone that I adopt during different conversations; however, I must concur with Wooffitt’s (2005) research that logically certain situations have strong social norms that we must adhere to. Particular circumstances require unequal turn-taking and power roles to be adopted for the correct amount of respect to be shown; therefore, how much control do we really have over how and what we say?
Let’s look at two possible questions that would require me to answer in different manners:
Let’s look at two possible questions that would require me to answer in different manners:
1. A Police Officer:
“Good evening Miss, do you have your driving licence there please? Do you know the speed limit of this road and how fast you were just travelling?”
2. A Friend:
“Hi sweetie, how you doing? Training’s been cancelled so do you wanna come over to mine later?”
“Good evening Miss, do you have your driving licence there please? Do you know the speed limit of this road and how fast you were just travelling?”
2. A Friend:
“Hi sweetie, how you doing? Training’s been cancelled so do you wanna come over to mine later?”
As we can see these two situations are set in very different contexts and therefore the resulting conversation will differ in regards to turn-taking, power roles and tones adopted, for example. It is apparent that I certainly wouldn’t answer these two questions in the same manner!
Initially we can analyse the situation of the conversations, in a similar manner as we analysed the register of text in the previous blog, in order to assess the appropriate reply. Extract 1 automatically assigns unequal power roles as the question is posed by a police officer, who has legitimate power over the public. Stillar (1998) showed that such a superior role by one party would result in uneven turn-taking, as the superior speaker would guide the conversation and speak for longer than the inferior party. Therefore, in the first example I would expect to only speak when a question was asked of me, and to supply the relevant information when needed. This situation seems more reminiscent of the Victorian days, when an ethos of “don’t speak until you’re spoken too” was considered the norm, however, it is appropriate to use such an approach when you find yourself in an inferior position in a conversation, in order to show respect. In Extract 1 the police officer has also reinforced the formal tone required from my reply by addressing me with a formal title, “Miss”.
The second situation could not be any more different! This proposal by a friend begins with an informal term of endearment, reinforcing the equal power roles between two friends. It is apparent that an informal tone is acceptable in my reply, as the friend has already adopted a colloquial tone and has used slang words that our generation are renowned for. In the previous extract I would expect to have to adapt the length of my reply to the open or closed questions posed by the officer (i.e. longer answers for open questions, and short answers for closed questions), whereas in the second extract more leeway applies to the length of speech and topics discussed.
So what happens if we get the wrong conversational style in a certain situation? For example, if I had replied to the officer using slang and a disrespectful tone? Well, I’d expect to be treated discourteously and reminded of my inferior position to regain the social norms of the situation ... regardless, I certainly wouldn’t try to purposefully test these norms with a police officer! And in the second situation, what if I replied formally to my friend? Well in some instances I would probably be laughed at or asked why I was talking differently. However, sometimes a change in my discourse style might actually result in my friend changing their style too, as investigated by Phillips and Jorgenson (2002). It is interesting to discover you can influence other people’s discourse style by adjusting your own style; however, I would certainly be careful of when I tried this theory in reality, as sometimes the social norms are just too strong to play with!
Initially we can analyse the situation of the conversations, in a similar manner as we analysed the register of text in the previous blog, in order to assess the appropriate reply. Extract 1 automatically assigns unequal power roles as the question is posed by a police officer, who has legitimate power over the public. Stillar (1998) showed that such a superior role by one party would result in uneven turn-taking, as the superior speaker would guide the conversation and speak for longer than the inferior party. Therefore, in the first example I would expect to only speak when a question was asked of me, and to supply the relevant information when needed. This situation seems more reminiscent of the Victorian days, when an ethos of “don’t speak until you’re spoken too” was considered the norm, however, it is appropriate to use such an approach when you find yourself in an inferior position in a conversation, in order to show respect. In Extract 1 the police officer has also reinforced the formal tone required from my reply by addressing me with a formal title, “Miss”.
The second situation could not be any more different! This proposal by a friend begins with an informal term of endearment, reinforcing the equal power roles between two friends. It is apparent that an informal tone is acceptable in my reply, as the friend has already adopted a colloquial tone and has used slang words that our generation are renowned for. In the previous extract I would expect to have to adapt the length of my reply to the open or closed questions posed by the officer (i.e. longer answers for open questions, and short answers for closed questions), whereas in the second extract more leeway applies to the length of speech and topics discussed.
So what happens if we get the wrong conversational style in a certain situation? For example, if I had replied to the officer using slang and a disrespectful tone? Well, I’d expect to be treated discourteously and reminded of my inferior position to regain the social norms of the situation ... regardless, I certainly wouldn’t try to purposefully test these norms with a police officer! And in the second situation, what if I replied formally to my friend? Well in some instances I would probably be laughed at or asked why I was talking differently. However, sometimes a change in my discourse style might actually result in my friend changing their style too, as investigated by Phillips and Jorgenson (2002). It is interesting to discover you can influence other people’s discourse style by adjusting your own style; however, I would certainly be careful of when I tried this theory in reality, as sometimes the social norms are just too strong to play with!
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