Volume Three, Number One
ABSTRACTS
Articles
Some notes on the
connective for
Michal
Vallee, University of Avignon
The connective for still raises many questions concerning its status in linguistics. In this article, I will demonstrate that it is possible to provide some new elements as far as the study of the clausal connector is concerned from a precise analysis of the clause that precedes for and the one that follows it. This approach will also enable me to determine if the connective belongs to the coordinating or subordinating conjunctions.
Differences in the
Structure of Conversations Between a Father-Child and Mother-Child
Dyad: A Preliminary Investigation
Vicki
Xafis, Monash University
A father-child and a mother-child conversation were analysed based on Stech's (1982) framework in order to determine whether there were structural differences between the two conversations. The child subject was a male, 3:7 years of age. Structural complexity, topic initiation, topic maintenance and development were the key areas examined. The father-child conversation displayed greater structural complexity and a greater balance in contributions between father and child. This conversation also displayed greater cohesion than the mother-child conversation. Conversely, in the mother-child conversation, the mother had greater control of the conversation and introduced most of the topics as a result of which the child contributed less than in the father-child conversation. These differences can be attributed to speaker style, gender-based linguistic differences and parental roles.
Failure
of the parent to respond to a child's action: A violation or
an interactional display?
Anna Filipi,
LaTrobe University
It is well documented in the literature on developmental pragmatics that parents are highly responsive to a child's initiating action, be it a vocalisation or a gestural action (for example, Bruner, 1983, Harding, 1984). However, in analysing toddler/parent interaction it has also become apparent that there are recurring instances of a parent's failure to respond to such actions. In the study to be reported in this paper, Conversation Analysis was used to analyse the interactions between three toddlers and their parents in everyday activities. Six environments where a parent failed to respond to the child's pointing gesture were identified. An attempt is made to show what is being achieved through such an action and how this is consequential for the ensuing talk.
Bilingual interjections: Evidence from Croatian-English
code-switching.
Jim Hlavac, Monash University
This paper examines the presence of English-origin interjections - affirmatives and negatives - in otherwise Croatian speech. Previous examinations of bilingual discourse marking has focused on habitualisation, pragmatic transference, cognitive processes (in terms of reducing the 'mental load' of distinguishing between two systems) or psycholinguistic factors (eg.'non-deactivation' of pragmatic forms from one language which speakers habitually speak). However, such studies only address transference of pragmatic norms, whether features and/or forms. They have limited explanatory power where speakers employ discourse forms from one language and equivalent forms from the other language there. This study examines the frequency and functionality of English-origin forms compared to Croatian ones. Findings here show that English forms generally co-occur with Croatian forms in a statistical sense and only displace Croatian ones where English forms are polyfunctional or perform more functions that their Croatian counterparts. This accounts for the higher statistical frequency of yeah, while forms such as no or nah occur roughly to the same degree as their Croatian equivalents. Thus, linguistic, in particular micro-discourse features are shown to influence selection of interjections.