La presente ricerca intende indagare alcune tendenze interazionali di discenti giapponesi e svedesi in relazione alla cultura dei parlanti e al processo comunicativo che ha luogo nell’insegnamento dell’italiano all’estero. Gli stili comunicativi e gli stili di apprendimento costituiscono lo sfondo della dinamica di rapporto fra docente e studente. Tali elementi si manifestano in interazioni interculturali attraverso una co-occorrenza di regolarità caratteristiche della comunità linguistica a cui i discenti appartengono. Osservando lo stile comunicativo degli studenti si nota che alcune strategie interazionali riflettono valori culturali a cui è legato il senso della politeness, così come percepito dalla loro comunità linguistica. Il trasferimento di strategie comunicative da una lingua all’altra può dare origine a dissonanze nelle interazioni tra docenti e studenti, inficiando il processo comunicativo che permette di attuare pragmaticamente l’azione didattica, compromettendone talvolta il buon esito. Le modalità interazionali degli studenti riflettono lo stile comunicativo della comunità linguistica di cui fanno parte, mentre la tradizione della didattica delle lingue straniere permette di comprendere gli stili di apprendimento dei discenti. Si comprende così la centralità che hanno la cultura dei parlanti e il processo comunicativo, ai fini dell’insegnamento e dell’apprendimento delle lingue all’estero. / The aim of the present research is to investigate some interactional features of Japanese and Swedish students as regards the culture of the speakers and the process of communication involved in the teaching of Italian as a foreign language. Communication styles and learning styles form the background of the dynamics in the relationship between the lecturer and the student. Such elements can be perceived in intercultural communications, especially by a co-occurrence of regularities that are distinctive of the language community the students belong to. By observing the communication styles of the students one can see that some interactional strategies reflect cultural values that are strictly connected to the sense of politeness, as perceived by a language community. Transferring communicative strategies from one language to another can produce dissonances in the interactions between the lecturer and the students; this in turn can affect the process of communication in its pragmatic application of the teaching, at times making it less successful. The communication styles of the students reflect those of the language community they belong to, whereas the foreign language teaching tradition allows one to comprehend their styles of learning. Thus one can rediscover the central role of culture and communication in the process of teaching a foreign language abroad.

Conversation Analysis (CA) is a tool to facilitate analysis of everyday conversations. A small number of studies have used CA as an intervention for people with aphasia and have seen positive effects as an outcome of the intervention. The authors of the present study have not found any other studies where CA was used as an intervention in other target groups. The purpose of this study was to investigate if CA may be used in intervention with an adolescent who uses Bliss. The main participants in the present study, which the intervention was based upon, were a sixteen year old girl who communicates through Bliss, and her assistant. The participants were filmed in everyday situations. The video recordings were transcribed and primarily analysed according to CA principles by the authors. The authors of the present study observed both well functioning and not so well functioning communication patterns. The three interventions were based on video recordings, transcriptions and analyses. During the interventions, the authors of the study discussed patterns in communication with the participants. The participants were then given information about selected transcriptions, video recordings and analyses that the authors considered contained interesting patterns. Focus of each intervention was on turn-taking, repair, topic and non-verbal communication. The results of the intervention showed that certain communication patterns that the authors had previously regarded to be less functioning had subsequently improved in certain aspects. Comparisons made before and after the intervention showed that the girl had been given more emancipation to decide topic of conversation and take own initiative in the communication after the intervention. The results also showed that CA can be used to find new Bliss symbols that could be used in addition to the Swedish Bliss standard chart. In regard to turn-taking, repairs and non-verbal communication, similar patterns were observed prior to and after the intervention was carried out. / Conversation Analysis (CA) tillhandahåller verktyg för att analysera samtal i vardagen. Ett fåtal studier har använt CA i intervention med personer med afasi och har sett positiva effekter av interventionen. Författarna till föreliggande studie har inte funnit några andra studier där CA används som intervention för andra målgrupper. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka om CA kan användas vid intervention med en ungdom som använder sig av bliss i kommunikationen. Huvuddeltagarna i studien, som interventionen baserades på, var en 16-årig flicka som kommunicerar genom bliss, samt hennes assistent. Deltagarna filmades i vardagliga situationer. Videoinspelningarna transkriberades och analyserades huvudsakligen enligt CAs principer av uppsatsförfattarna. Kommunikationsmönster, både välfungerande och mindre välfungerande, konstaterades. Videoinspelningarna, transkriptionerna och analyserna låg sedan till grund för de tre interventionstillfällena där nya videoinspelningar utfördes mellan interventionerna. Under interventionerna diskuterade uppsatsförfattarna, tillsammans med deltagarna, mönster i kommunikationen. Deltagarna fick då ta del av utvalda transkriptioner, videoinspelningar samt analyser som ansågs ha intressanta mönster. De områden som interventionerna fokuserade på var turtagning, reparation, samtalsämne och icke-verbal kommunikation. Resultatet av interventionen i studien visar att vissa mönster i kommunikationen, som uppsatsförfattarna innan interventionen ansåg fungerade mindre bra, nu hade förbättrats i vissa avseenden. Jämförelserna innan samt efter intervention visade att flickan givits mer utrymme att bestämma samtalsämne och ta egna initiativ i kommunikationen efter intervention. Resultatet visade även att CA kan användas för att upptäcka vilka nya blissymboler som skulle behövas som komplement till standardblisskartan. Inom områdena turtagning, reparation och icke-verbal kommunikation konstaterades liknande mönster både före samt efter intervention.

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Turn-final gaze at the interlocutor has been suggested to fill different functions in conversation: being monitoring, regulatory or response-seeking. 16 Swedish toddlers use of turn-final gaze in dyadic interaction with their parents was investigated at the ages 1;0, 1;6, 2;0, 2;6 and 3;0. The turn-final gaze behaviour was investigated for correlations to child age and language level. Additionally, child turn-final gaze in turn-final questions, in turns longer than 5 seconds and in different interaction contexts was examined.Results showed that the use of active turn final gaze increased over ages 1;0-2;0. No correlations between child use of turn-final gaze and child language level could be found. In turn-final questions, 93% of the turn-final gaze was active, i.e. was not present at the start of the turn. Turn-final gaze was used both during conversation and object-oriented interaction at all ages.A monitoring-response-seeking function of turn-final gaze was proposed to be used by the toddlers as a means to get the parent’s encouragement and approval of the child’s interactive language use. Additionally, the importance of choosing a suitable measure type of turn-final gaze while investigating small children was stressed. / Turfinal blick på motparten i ett samtal har föreslagits fylla olika funktioner: övervakande, styrande eller responssökande. 16 svenska småbarns användning av turfinal blick i dyadisk interaktion med sina föräldrar studerades vid åldrarna 1;0, 1;6, 2;0, 2;6 och 3;0. Turfinalt blickbeteende undersöktes angående potentiella korrelationer till barnens ålder och språknivå. Dessutom granskades barnens turfinala blickanvändning i turfinala frågor, i turer längre än 5 sekunder och i olika sorters interaktionskontext.Resultaten visade att användandet av turfinal blick ökade mellan åldrarna 1;0 och 2;0. Inga korrelationer mellan barnens användning av turfinal blick och deras språkliga nivå kunde hittas. I turfinala frågor var 93% av den turfinala blicken aktiv, dvs inte närvarande vid turens start. Turfinal blick förekom både i konversation och objektsorienterad interaktion vid alla åldrar.En övervakande/responssökande funktion hos turfinal blick föreslogs användas av småbarn som ett sätt att få förälderns uppmuntran och bekräftelse på barnets interaktiva språkanvändning. Dessutom poängterades vikten av att välja ett relevant sätt att mäta turfinal blick vid studier av små barns blickbeteende. / MINT: Modelling infant language acquisition from parent-child interaction (MAW 2011.007)

En utilisant les méthodes de la linguistique interactionnelle, notamment de la « syntaxe en ligne », et de l’analyse conversationnelle, notre étude s’est focalisée sur les co-constructions syntaxiques en allemand parlé, qui se caractérisent par la co-construction d’une structure syntaxique par plusieurs locuteurs. L’analyse est basée sur un corpus de 199 occurrences issues de conversations quotidiennes et d’interviews informels. Premièrement, une analyse en termes de projection et rétraction a révélée la structuration syntaxique et temporelle de ce phénomène. La syntaxe s’est révélée cruciale comme ressource pour la co-construction d’un énoncé complet, mais les projections au niveau prosodique, sémantique et pragmatique sont également une ressource importante vers laquelle les locuteurs s’orientent. Nous avons également pu montrer comment les différents types de rétractions pouvaient s’expliquer d’une part par la syntaxe de la co-construction, d’autre part par ses fonctions interactionnelles. Deuxièmement, nous nous sommes focalisée sur les caractéristiques actionnelles de la séquence de co-construction. Nous discutons trois manières principales dont le receipt slot est rempli dans notre corpus: les complétions différées (affiliatives et non-affiliatives), l’acquiescement de la complétion et des nouveaux tours de parole du premier locuteur. Enfin, nous avons constaté que la complétion est une stratégie multifonctionnelle du second locuteur qui accomplit souvent une action collaborative mais qui peut également être compétitive.En somme, notre étude a montré que la structure syntaxique et séquentielle d’un phénomène spécifique de l’oral tel que les co-constructions n’est à concevoir que si on l’analyse dans son émergence temporelle. Cela nous emmène à discuter la manière dont la grammaire est exploitée pour construire des actions sociales qui sont pertinentes et reconnaissables pour les participants. / Applying the methods of Conversation Analysis and Interactional Linguistics, especially the methodological framework of Auer`s on-line syntax, this study focused on syntactic co-constructions in spoken German i.e. the production of one syntactic gestalt by two speakers.The study is based on a data set of 199 co-constructed syntactic completions which are taken from audio and video recordings of German everyday conversation and informal interviews. First, we present a syntactic and prosodic analysis of the co-constructed syntactic gestalts. An analysis in terms of projections and retractions revealed the syntactic and temporal organization of the co-constructed units. Syntax turned out to be a crucial resource speakers rely on in order to complete the preliminary speaker’s syntactic gestalt. However, the prosodic, semantic and pragmatic levels are also important for the second speaker to anticipate a possible completion. Furthermore, the study also showed that retractions in the second speaker’s completion can be explained by syntactic constraints and by the interactional function of the completion. Second, the analysis focused on the sequential organization of the co-constructions. We discussed three ways in which the receipt slot, i.e. the sequential position where the first speaker can accept or reject the suggested completion, can be filled: delayed completions (affiliative and non-affiliative), acknowledgment of the completion and a new turn of the first speaker. Finally the interactional functions of the co-constructions were described. The co-construction of one syntactic unit by two speakers is a multifunctional strategy which is often used to show understanding and agreement, but which can also be found in competitive contexts and can be exploited for turn-taking. Our study shows that the syntactic and sequential structure of interactional phenomena like co-constructions can only be analyzed if we consider their temporal emergence. This allows us to make a contribution to the description of how grammar is exploited to build accountable actions.

Cette thèse démontre que la gestion des tours de parole des locuteurs non natifs vietnamiens en situation exolingue avec des locuteurs natifs français est caractérisée par deux types de stratégies : d’une part, des stratégies conversationnelles résultant soit de transferts de leur système de langue-culture à la situation exolingue, soit de l’appropriation des stratégies propres aux natifs français ; et d’autre part, des stratégies de communication pour pallier des problèmes de gestion de l’interaction. En plus, les problèmes de divergences codiques et culturelles entre natifs et non natifs peuvent provoquer des dysfonctionnements interactionnels et des « ratés » du système des tours de parole. En se servant de l’approche de l’analyse du discours-en-interaction, et à partir de corpus vidéo portant sur des situations de communication endolingues et exolingues, l’auteur analyse et compare les stratégies de gestion des tours de parole dans ces deux situations. Les analyses quantitatives sur la moyenne des pauses inter-tours, les chevauchements et les interruptions sont réalisées pour connaître la tendance générale des interactions. Les analyses qualitatives se focalisent sur les techniques de prise, de conservation et de passation de tour de parole des non natifs, tant sur le plan verbal que non verbal, pour en dégager les particularités.Cette thèse débouche sur des pistes pédagogiques de sensibilisation et d’entraînement aux stratégies de gestion des tours de parole des natifs français afin de mieux préparer les apprenants en situation institutionnelle à une conversation exolingue en milieu naturel. / This thesis shows that turn-taking management by Vietnamese non-native speakers communicating with French native speakers is characterized by two strategies : on the one hand, conversational strategies either resulting from transfers from their language-culture system or from the acquisition of strategies used by native French speakers ; on the other hand, communication strategies used to overcome problems of interactional management. Problems due to language and cultural divergences between native and non-native speakers may also provoke a disfunctioning of the turn-taking system.Using a method of analysis of discourse in interaction, based on a video corpus of situations of communication between native speakers and between native and non native speakers, the author analyses and compares turn-taking strategies used in these two situations. Quantitative analyses of the average rates of gaps, overlaps and interruptions are carried out to discover the general tendencies within the interactions. Qualitative analyses focus on non-native speakers’ verbal and non-verbal techniques of turn-taking, turn-keeping and turn-passing to establish their particularities.The thesis ends with a few suggestions of methods of conscious-raising and training in native speaker turn-taking strategies in order to prepare the Vietnamese learners working in an institutional context to take part in conversation with French speakers in a natural setting.

Nous présentons dans cette thèse un modèle pour la coordination de la parole dans des interactions dyadiques utilisateur-agent. Selon une approche courante, coordonner la parole reviendrait à éviter les recouvrements de parole et à minimiser les moments de silence entre deux tours, ceci pour rendre plus fluide l’interaction avec l’agent et améliorer l’expérience de l’utilisateur en interaction dialogique avec l’agent. Les interactions humaines montrent néanmoins une coordination plus complexe avec des recouvrements de parole compétitifs ou non compétitifs et des moments de silences longs. Selon notre approche, c’est en permettant cette diversité des situations que nous verrons émerger, entre l’utilisateur et l’agent, une interaction plus fluide et plus crédible, améliorant l’expérience de l’utilisateur avec l’agent. Les échanges de paroles sont néanmoins, par nature, complexes, la coordination se faisant par l’interaction entre locuteur et auditeur plus que par un participant en particulier. Pour capturer cette complexité, nous avons élaboré un modèle mettant l’accent sur une coordination de la parole basée sur un couplage sensorimoteur continu. Sur la base de ce couplage sensorimoteur, le comportement de l’agent n’est pas entièrement contrôlé par ce dernier, mais est émergent de l’interaction entre les participants. Nous montrons la capacité de notre modèle à faire émerger les différentes situations liées à la coordination de la parole humaine à la fois dans une interaction entre deux agents et dans une interaction utilisateur-agent. / In this thesis, we present a model for the coordination of speaking turns in dyadic interactions between users and agents. According to a common view, to coordinate turns means avoiding overlaps and reduces silences between turns. By optimizing turn transitions between users and agents, the user’s experience is expected to be improved. However, observations of human conversations show a more complex coordination of speaking turns between users and agents: awkward silences and overlaps, competitive or not, are common. In order to improve the credibility and the naturalness of the interaction, we must observe the same variability of situations in a user-agent interaction. Nevertheless, coordination of speaking turns is, by nature, complex, the coordination is managed by the interaction between participants more than controlled by one participant alone. To capture this complexity, we elaborated a model emphasizing the continuous sensory-motor coupling existing between the user and the agent. As a result of this sensory-motor coupling, the behavior of the agent is not entirely controlled by the agent but is an emergent property of the interaction between the user and the agent. We show the capacity of our model to make emerge the different situations linked to the coordination of speaking turns in interactions between two agents and between one user and one agent.

L'objectif principal de cette thèse est de concevoir un système impliquant un feedback tactile facilitant l’organisation du tour de parole dans le contexte de la communication verbale à distance et à plusieurs. Ces situations impliquant des technologies numériques sont actuellement décrites comme étant des "conferences call". Elles relèvent également du Computer Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW) lorsqu'elles impliquent une tâche collaborative. Curieusement, ces situations n'ont été l'objet que de très peu d'études en dépit des problèmes qu'elles suscitent et l'évolution de ces technologies s'est faite au profit d'un enrichissement par la vidéo. Cette thèse propose une autre forme d'enrichissement par un retour tactile permettant de dépasser l'une des principales difficultés de la communication verbale à distance à savoir le contrôle du tour de parole. Deux modalités de cet enrichissement ont été étudiés : la redondance et la substitution. Comme redondance avec le feedback visuel, nous avons fait l'hypothèse que la modalité tactile favorise l'alternance du tour de parole et augmente l'expression d'intentions non verbales à l'image des situations de face à face. Comme substitution au visuel, l'hypothèse a été de poser que le tactile produit un avantage en cela qu'il fluidifie le tour de parole. Le système conçu dans cette recherche montre, au moyen de trois expériences, que l'échange verbal à distance et sa distribution dans le cadre d'une tâche de prise de décision collective peut être efficient avec un enrichissement tactile et donner lieu à une auto-régulation du tour de parole. / Our thesis aim was to design a system based on tactile modality to organize a synchronous, multi-user remote verbal communication to facilitate better turn-taking. The remote communication we studied is actually called the ‘conference call’, and relies on computer technology. A conference call is a form of CSCW, and it is thus a collaborative task. As conference calls have rarely been studied in previous research, a system designed to optimize this kind of work is of great value. Tactile modality is the basic element of the design and its impact is also studied in our thesis. As a modality of redundancy, tactile feedback accelerates the alternation of turn-taking. Moreover, it augments the intention of non-verbal exchanges, which accounts for most of the communication in face-to-face situations. As a modality of substitution, tactile modality shows a distinct advantage in making the turn-taking transfer smoother compared to visual modality. Finally, a conference call for a decision-making task under a simple turn-taking allocation system based on tactile modality provides evidence that this designed system’s controlled conference call has good efficiency and good distribution of the talking length of turn-taking.

In every setting of human space there is hierarchy. At home there are parents and children while in social structures there are organisations/institutions and leaders, all of whom carry their positions with them. All these hierarchies are embedded in a web of mutual relations, but to a greater extent, power relations as others abuse their positions while some are subjugated and controlled. This study critically analyses talk exchanges in power relations within topic development. It draws its analytical viewpoint from twelve selected IsiZulu drama books with an aim of demonstrating power relations as embedded in language and literature in particular. The following are some of the elements of the discussion that highlight talk exchanges and power relations, namely, maxim of conversation, interruptions and interjections, dominance and control, power of language and turntaking, to name a few. To analyse data, written conversations are clustered based on themes as expounded by (Vaismoradi, et al, 2016:101). Themes were then analysed using the conditions of agreement (similar cases) and differences within the scope of Analytical Comparisons. As the findings, the study revealed that talk exchanges are elements of power relations in topic development. Further, the findings also contributed to the understanding that power abuse has beeninstitutionalised along the line of institutions, race, gender and age. The findings further highlight that most drama books have themes that share method of agreement and lesser of the condition of difference. The study further highlights that written texts of human engagement keep records of social cohesion and cohabitation. Furthermore, if such coexistence is discorded by power (dominance and control), resistance interjects. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (Language, Linguistics and Literature)

The present study analyses turn-taking in spoken discourse in seminar settings of higher education. The aim of the study is two-fold, (i) to explore how teachers organize their classroom discourse in terms of turn-taking structure, discursive organization and the subject positions of teachers and students and (ii) to further explore how power asymmetry in the teacher-student relationship may be realized in institutional discourse settings such as classrooms. Through the frameworks of institutional discourse, conversation analysis (CA) and critical discourse analysis (CDA), the study encompasses analyses of seminar data culled from The British Academic Spoken English (BASE) corpus. The study analyses the discourse organization of two different seminars in social studies and sciences by their turn-taking structure, turn-distribution and activity types to discuss the institutional properties of the interactions and the power asymmetry between participants. The analysis shows that the discursive subject roles of “teacher” and “student” have different claims to power and that the participants are more or less restricted by both the structure of the turn-taking systems and the activity types of the seminars. The teachers of the two seminars are further shown to restrict their students’ speaking rights and discursive mobility, using different discursive strategies to achieve their goals and to exercise control over the discourse, but that some students more or less effectively resist this control by utilizing the discourse structure and its resources to their advantage.