Managing the Discourse

1. Chapter no 10
Managing the discourse
Mr. Muhammad Anees Sattar

2. Managing the conversation
Introduction
To treat different discourses in different ways
Lecture ( one way speech)
Conversation ( two way speech)
Teaching of conversational management and the effects of
cultural differences on interactions

3. Spoken and Written Discourse
Spoken Discourse
Spoken Discourse is often pointed out,
Unplanned
It happens in time
Produced and processed “online”
There is no way to go back for changing and restructuring the
spoken words ( as in Writing)
Often no time to pause or think while talking or listening.
e.g casual conversation

4. Spoken Discourse
Planned discourse
There are many types of discourses which are planned in
advance or structured by custom and rule,
Meetings, Trials
Intermediate between writing and speech
Example, spoken language learnt from script ,news bulletin,
plays.
(With the help of recording (audio ,video) we can go back to understand
what we have said and to pause and think about it too…)

5. Spoken Discourse
Weakness in division of spoken and written forms
There are more divisions in spoken category.
One way speech (lecture)
Two way speech ( Conversation)
(High degree and lower degree reciprocity)
One way speech is more common in writing than spoken

6. Spoken Discourse by clines
Planned ---------------------- Unplanned
Socially structured ------------------ Less socially structured
Aided by Writing --------------------- Unaided by writing
Less reciprocal --------------------- More reciprocal
Casual Conversation is at one extreme;
Unplanned, Unpredictable ,Frequent turn taking, unaided by
writing.
It is different from other discourse and needs different treatment
in class room.

7. Teaching Conversation
Teaching conversation to students is difficult because the features
of conversation involved ;
Greater spontaneity and freedom
Equality among participants than other discourses.
These features are odd with the nature of classroom;
Language is direct towards a specific purpose
Inequality between teachers and students.

8. Teaching Conversation
Despite of all these difficulties with conversational classes,
Students desire for successful conversation in the language they
are learning.
Successful conversation involves;
Knowledge of Language system ( bottom up)
Factors to create coherence
Gaining and holding of turn
Identification of turn type ( e.g singling)
Shifting of topic
Meaning of negotiation and direction
Use of voice quality ,face and body

9. Problems Teaching Conversation
Conversational Analysis is an academic study not a pedagogic.
It happen at speed
Some language features are least accessable,extremely difficult to
teach.
Despite these difficulties,phrases,words, noise associated with
particular turn type , getting and passing of turn may be taught in
classroom.

10. Kinds of association in b/w mechanism and realization
Opening; hellow,hi….
Turn Taking; yes but,surely…..
Holding a turn er ,em, anyway..I mean….
Passing a turn What do you think ?...
Other ways of turn taking don't associated with word,phrase or
noise are not easy to taught;
Voce quality
Elongation of syllable
Pitch rise
Pause or overlap
Signal of body, face and eyes,etc

11. Kinds of association in b/w mechanism and realization
Opening; hellow,hi….
Turn Taking; yes but,surely…..
Holding a turn er ,em, anyway..I mean….
Passing a turn What do you think ?...
Other ways of turn taking don't associated with word,phrase or noise are
not easy to taught;
Voce quality
Elongation of syllable
Pitch rise
Pause or overlap
Signal of body, face and eyes,etc
(however video recordings may be helpful to understand these features)

12. Approach to Conversation Development
Nolasco and Arthur suggest four types of activities to develop conversation
1.Controled activities
Giving and eliciting personal information; I am …….. I am from…..
Where are you from
Memorizing dialogue and repeating along with original or with friend
Caricatured or exaggerated; imitation of native speaker sound and
intonation
Information gap activities; movement in the classroom, students are
given half of exchange and have to find the student with other half

13. Approach to Conversation Development
2.Awareness Activities
Use of audio,video recording of the native speakers for;
Identifying words,phrase in turn taking
Wactching vision without sound or hear without vision to guess the
contents of missing channel.
3.Flunency Activities
Use of communicate activities;
Role play, Games, Discussion …etc.
4.Feedback Activities;
Use of audios, videos and observation of own conversation to note the
presence and absence of features, strategies used in conversation, and
communication problems in the language they are learning.

14. Conversation and Culture appropriateness
Conversation raised the issue of the need and justification of cultural effect
and linguistic change in students behaviors.
Politeness principle in communication varies from culture to culture.
Some elements of communication are universal ( causing physical pain is
the sign of unfriendliness)
Some are culture specific; Indian salute with both palms pressed together
,its mean some signal is being sent, but this signal may be different in other
cultures.
Wearing shoes in Church have no social meaning but same in mosque is
considered the blasphemy..