Spoken Language Analysis

In this transcript, the two girls are talking about various different topics, including what subjects they are studying, their pets, what they want to do at university, where they are from and how many siblings they have. As there are only two participants in the conversation, we can see that throughout, the participants are using adjacency pairs – a form of turn taking. This means that the conversation flows nicely and there is no awkward silences or times when a participant doesn’t realise that it was there turn to speak. For example, participant number 2 says ‘I have three step brothers as well’ – followed by a laugh, signalling to participant number 1 to speak, so she reply’s with ‘oh my god, no way!’. Another feature that the girls tend to use throughout is the clever use of intonation – the rise and fall of their voices at the end of an utterance. They tend to rise their tone of voice at the end of what they are saying to signal to the other participant that it is their turn to speak.

Firstly, the conversation starts off with one of the girls asking ‘So, what subjects do you take at college?’. This utterance starts with a discourse marker – to set a new subject of conversation or to kick start the conversation off. It may also be a sign of gender as females tend to use conjunctions such as ‘so’ in conversation to come across as more friendly and also perhaps more relaxed. This utterance is also a form of phatic talk, also known as ‘social gel’, meaning that the participant is only really asking the question as something to talk about. The fact that she uses an interrogative also means that it is easier for the second participant to reply; avoiding any awkwardness – something that females tend to try and avoid in conversation.

Furthermore, throughout the whole conversation, the girls tend to use overlaps; not interruptions. This suggests that the participants are quite relaxed with each other and are genuinely enjoying and are interested in the conversation. For example, participant number 2 says ‘yeah, I have a dog’ and participant number 1 overlaps by saying ‘aww, I love dogs’. Although mostly throughout the conversation it seems to be flowing, at some points there are signs of a lack of quantity from participant number 1. This is shown as she says ‘yeah, yeah’, although this could be seen as a sign of back channelling, after she follows it with a pause, causing participant number 2 to ask an interrogative; ‘so, do you have a job?’. This suggests that perhaps participant number 2 is more confident in taking part in the conversation. As she feels as if she should use a discourse marker followed by an interrogative to help move the conversation along. Although the participants use discourse markers and change the topic of conversation, there is still a sense of chaining throughout– all the topics link and the conversation flows and makes sense; it is all relevant.

Although at this point, participant number 2 seems to come across as more confident in the conversation, she tends to use non-fluency features such as false starts and hesitations. For example, ‘-it- - it was alright I guess’. This may show a sense of insecurity in the participant and perhaps she loses her confidence as the conversation moves along. Perhaps due to participant number 1 using a lot of back channelling and maybe she thinks that she is speaking too much?

Throughout the transcript, it is clear to see that the participants use elision and non-standard grammar. For example, they use lexis such as ‘lotta’, ‘wanna’ and ‘kinda’. This may be a sign of accent and where they are from, however perhaps it may be a sign of sociolect – it is simply the language of teenagers. The fact that the girls use elision in the conversation suggest that they are of the same class and have the same power in the conversation – they don’t feel pressured to speak differently to how they normally do. As well as the use of elision, the participants also use slang and colloquial language; they tend to use an informal use of their lexis. For example, ‘yeah, it was pretty sick’ and ‘yeah duhh’. The lexis ‘sick’ is used for a different meaning than usual – she means that it was good rather than what connotations the word usually has. This also may be a sign of sociolect and also is just a sign that the participants are quite laid back and aren’t really worrying if what they are saying is grammatically correct or not. 

As previously stated, the girls tend to use back channelling throughout, such as ‘yeah, yeah’. As well as this feature, the participants also tend to use tag questions at the end of their utterances. For example, ’36 or something, isn’t there?’. This shows that the participants are female as females typically tend to look for reassurance and agreement in conversation. The use of lexis such as ‘same!’ also shows that the girls are agreeing with each other and this helps the conversation flow nicely throughout. The fact that this participant also uses an exclamation shows that she is enjoying the conversation and is excitable because both participants have the same opinion.

Overall, the conversation flows throughout, despite the lack of quantity in some areas. The participants use features which are typically female, such as back channelling and the use of tag questions which would be expected and also their sociolect shows throughout with their use of informal lexis and colloquial language. The conversation flows with the use of turn-taking and it is clear to see that the participants enjoyed the conversation as they used overlaps throughout. The fact that they used overlaps and not interruptions is also another sign that the participants were females and shows that they are polite; not one of them was over confident.