Spoken Discourse Analysis

Omra MALLADI
Textbooks
• Insights 1977 (1st published in 1976):
Donn Byrne and Susan Holden

• Speak out Upper Intermediate Student´s

Book: Francis Eales and Steve Oakes

• Medicine 1: Sam McCarter

 Exchange Structure
• J: Jim L: Liz
• J: Here´s your coffee.
• (IM) three parts Exchange
• L: thanks, Jim. Oh, I needed that.
• J: No problem. (FM) Hey, Liz, there´s • (RM)
something I´ve been meaning to talk to • (FM)
you about. (IM)
• L: Oh yeah?
• J: It´s just that …well…you know you you • Back channelling
borrowed some money from me last
week? • Hedges
• L: Oh, right. It was ten euros, wasn’t it? I
don’t actually have that on me at the
moment. (RM)
• J: It´s not that, (FM) it´s …well…I hope • Adverb (softner)
you don’t take it wrong way, but, um…
• L: Right.
• J: … it´s just that this isn’t the • Hedges
first time I´ve lent you money
and er, well you haven’t paid it
back. I mean, it´s not a lot, just
small amounts each time but it
kind of adds up quite quickly … I • Vague language adverb
dunno. Do you know what I
mean? (IM)
• L: Yeah. Sorry. I didn’t realize. I
know I´m terrible with money. I •
just forget. Look, I promise I´ll • Back channelling
give it back, but could you wait a
week? Until I get paid. (RM)
• J: well, actually, you’ve said that once • Hedges
before. I don’t want you to get wrong
idea, but … it, you know, never
happened. And it makes things slightly
awkward. It makes me feel just a little bit
annoyed (FM). Do you see where I´m • Adverb / softner
coming from?
• L: Oh. Yeah. I suppose so.
• J: Look, I´ve got a suggestion. I ´d feel
better if we could work out how much is
owed and then you could pay me back a
little each week, you know, however how
much you can afford. How does that
• Back channelling
sound? (IM)
• L: Yeah, yeah. That sounds reasonable.
(RM)
• J: Ok, great so… (FM)
Terry Barnes, who applied for a job in Unit 2, starts work at HNP. Ted Cook, the foremen, explains his first job to him.

• FOREMAN: Trainee, aren’t you? • Ellipsis / question tag

• TERRY: That s right.
• FOREMAN: Ever been inside a factory
before?
• TERREY: Not really. I mean, I was • Adjacency pairs: Q/A
shown over this one before I was
offered a job here.
• FOREMAN: What made you leave • Deixis
school?
• TERRY: Oh, I don’t know. I wasn’t
specially keen on going to Poly … and
anyway, I wanted to start earning a bit
of money.
• Discourse markers
• FOREMAN: Hm. And I suppose one day
you´d like to be the boss here!
• TERRY: Oh, come off it! I do want to
get on, though. They´ve said I´ll be
moved to one of the labs in a couple
of months or so …
• FOREMAN: But meantime you´re
learning the jobs on the production
line. Ok, let´s see. I´ll start you off on
one of the easy jobs for a week or
two. Making up boxes for Fred here.
• TERRY: What do I have to do exactly?
• FOREMAN: I´ll show you. You stand
here, just behind Fred. Then you get • Deixis
hold of one of these pieces of
cardboard … and you fold it into a
box … like this. Then you hand it to
Fred. • Discourse markers
• TERRY: It sounds easy. What else
do I have to do?
• FOREMAN: Nothing. It takes
Fred about half a minute to fill
one of these boxes. You have to
be ready with the next one. • Ellipsis
• TERRY: Two a minute … one
hundred and twenty an hour …
Do I have to do this all day?
• FOREMAN: That’s right. And just • Deixis
remember, there are some
people in this place who´ve been
doing jobs like this all their lives!
 Narrative Structure

• D: Dan I: Ingrid
• D: I was badly tricked a few years ago when
E
I was working in a jewellery shop. Badly
V
• I: You never told me about that. What Abstract A
happened? L well-
• D: Well, this woman came in and was U
dressed
looking at necklaces. She was young, A
attractive, well-dressed, and then a guy T
came in shortly afterwards and he was just Orientation I
looking around. But then the woman went O very
N expensive
to pay for a very expensive necklace that
she´d picked out, and when she was
counting out the money onto the counter,
the guy grabbed her, flashed his police ID
and said he was arresting her for paying
with counterfeit money. COMPLICATION
• I: NO! Wow!
• D: So he took the cash and the necklace
as evidence, wrote down his contact
details, and promised me he´d bring the
necklace back by the end of the day. I
didn’t suspect anything. Then he took the
woman away, presumably to book her at
the police station.
• I: And he didn’t come back?
• D: No, and stupid me, I didn’t even begin
to suspect anything until it was closing
time, so then I phoned the police and
they had no idea what I was talking • Resolution / fixed expresión
about. That was it, end of story.
• I: How was the necklace worth?
• D: 600 pounds. And my boss took it out
of my salary. That´s why I quit.
• I: So the police ID must have been a fake. • No empathy
• D: That´s right. I just didn’t check
it.
• I: And wait a second, was the
woman a real customer?
• D: NO, the woman must have
been working with the guy. She
wouldn’t have been a real
customer or she couldn’t have
been gone with him…
• I: But she might have had fake
money.
• D: I really don’t think so.
• I: Talk about an ingenious scam… • Coda
Opening/ Closing turns
• D: Mrs Allen, from our examination, and from what
you´ve told me, it doesn’t really look like meningitis.
But what he has got is a barking cough and a touch
of fever. I think he´s actually got croup.
• P: Mmm. Opening initiated by the Dr
• D: You said he´s had this once this year in the spring.
• P: Yes around March I think, and I went to my GP then.
• D: what did he say it was then?
• P: the same as you, I think.
• D: Did you use steam last time?
• Discourse markers
• P: A little.
• D: Well, if you use steam, it´ll help to ease the
cough.
• P: So you don’t think it´s meningitis? Vague language
• D: No. If it were, I´d expect him to be very unwell. He
probably wouldn’t be able to run around the way he • Deixis
is; he´d may be more listless.
• P: Mmm.
• Ellipsis
• D: And he´d may be have a rash and, er, shy away
from the light.
• P: I´ve seen on one of the posters that difficulty
moving his head is related to meningitis.
• D: AH. Yes, it is. But, Mrs Allen, if he had neck
stiffness, he wouldn’t be able to move about the
way he is.
• P: I was just scared it might be something serious.
• D: Mmm. That´s what every mother might feel in
the circumstances, and you´re very right to be
cautious.
• P: Thank you, doctor.
• D: Keep an eye on him, and don’t hesitate to
contact your GP immediately or come and see us
if there are any changes or if he starts crying in an • Pre-closing turn
odd way.
• P: OK. Thanks. I feel a bit more relaxed about it. Doctor Turns
• D: Ah. Is there anything else you´d like to ask
before I write…? • Closing turn