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Conversation Skills

This document discusses the key aspects of conversation, including definitions, functions, units, and cultural differences. It defines conversation as a social skill involving verbal exchanges to communicate. The basic unit is an exchange consisting of two moves (initiating and responding). Exchanges form adjacency pairs that are related, like greetings. Turn-taking, openings, closings, and topics also vary between cultures. The document provides examples of adjacency pairs, techniques for managing turn-taking, common openings and closings, and differences in topics preferred by men and women. It aims to outline important aspects of conversation for developing oral expression skills.

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Ruth N. Puente
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758 views9 pages

Conversation Skills

This document discusses the key aspects of conversation, including definitions, functions, units, and cultural differences. It defines conversation as a social skill involving verbal exchanges to communicate. The basic unit is an exchange consisting of two moves (initiating and responding). Exchanges form adjacency pairs that are related, like greetings. Turn-taking, openings, closings, and topics also vary between cultures. The document provides examples of adjacency pairs, techniques for managing turn-taking, common openings and closings, and differences in topics preferred by men and women. It aims to outline important aspects of conversation for developing oral expression skills.

Uploaded by

Ruth N. Puente
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL EXPERIMENTAL

FRANCISCO DE MIRANDA

Subject: Oral Expression

Lidia Govea Pia


Govea Pia (2010)

What is conversation?
People sometimes use the term 'conversation to mean any spoken encounter or
interaction
It is a social skill that allows people to make a verbal transaction to communicate
something

The functions of conversation


The purposes of conversation include the exchange of information; the creation
and maintenance of social relationships such as friendship; the negotiation of
status and social roles. Conversation therefore has many functions, although its
primary purpose in our own language is probably social.

Govea Pia (2010)

The units of conversation


The basic unit of conversation is an exchange. An exchange consists of two
moves (an initiating move and a response).

The making of meaning


When we speak we make promises, give advice or praise, issue threats, etc. Some
linguists refer to individual moves as speech acts.
Turn left at the next street (Instruction?)
Invest in Crescent Life (Advice?)
Keep off the grass (Order?)

Govea Pia (2010)

Adjacency:
The two moves in an exchange are related to each other through the use of
adjacency pairs. These are utterances produced by two successive speakers in
which the second utterance can be identified as being related to the first.
Some examples of adjacency pairs are:
A: Hello!
B: Hi!

(Greeting-Greeting)

A: Dinner's ready! (Call-Answer)


B: Coming.
A: Is this yours? (Question-Answer)
B No.

Govea Pia (2010)

Turn taking
Knowing who is to speak, when, and for how long.
Failing intonation helps you identifying when it is your turn
Foreigners sometimes lose their turn because they hesitate in order to find the
right word.
Teaching our students expressions like, Wait, there's more, or That's not all, as
well as fillers and hesitation devices such as Erm . . ., Well . . ., so you can guess
what happened . . ., etc. will help them to keep going.
Finally, it is well worth looking at ways in which we initiate and build on what
others have said such as Thai's like what happened to me . . . and Did I tell you
about when . . .?, so that students can make appropriate contributions.

Govea Pia (2010)

Openings and closings

The devices used for opening and closing different conversations are very similar.
Many conversations start with adjacency pairs designed to attract attention, such
as:
A: Gosh it's hot in here today.
B: I'm used to it.
Openings such as these allow further talk once the other person's attention has
been obtained. Many foreign students use openings that make them sound too
direct and intrusive, for example, by asking a very direct question.

Govea Pia (2010)

Openings and closings


Closing too presents a problem when the sudden introduction of a final move like,
Goodbye makes the foreigner sound rude. Native speakers will tend to negotiate
the end if a conversation so that nobody is left talking and you will hear
expressions like:
OK then . . .
Right...
Well, I suppose . . .
Erin, I'm afraid. , .
I've got to go now.
I'll let you get back to your writing.
So I'll see you next week.
Native speakers sometimes try to cut conversation short by only producing a
minimal response or even saying nothing at all, but neither strategy is
recommended for students of English.

Govea Pia (2010)

Topics
Different cultures talk about different things in their everyday lives. Native
speakers are very aware of what they should and should not talk about with
specific categories of people in their own language, but the rules may be
different in a foreign language.
Male and female differences in conversation
Women are more likely to show an interest in personal details than men.
They are also better listeners and more likely to help the person they are
speaking to develop a topic, by asking information questions and making
encouraging remarks and gestures.
Men are more reluctant to disclose personal information. They prefer it when
there is a purpose for the conversation and they would rather talk about
outside topics, e.g. games, hobbies, politics, cars, etc. than themselves.

Govea Pia (2010)

References
Brown (2001) en Martnez (2010). Oral Expression Module. Universidad
Nacional Experimental Francisco de Miranda.

Govea Pia (2010)

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