Chapter 14
INTERACTIONAL SOCIOLINGUITICS
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John Gumperz
Interactional sociolinguistics and
ethnography of speaking
But they also have some
differences
It makes use of the detailed tools of
Conversational Analysis (CA)
Unlike core Conversational analysis
See Example 19 (Analysis:
Page 373 1st paragraph
From an interactional
sociolinguistic perspective
From a sociolinguistic
point of view:
engaged.
Contextualization Cues
They may take a range of forms:
In Example 19
another one who has made a large contribution to the field of Sociolinguistics
share a lot of similarities
in that it pays particular attention to the clues people use to interpret conversational interaction within its
context
pays careful attention to turn-taking behavior, hesitations, pauses , and paralinguistic behavior (e.g. sighs, laughter in-breaths, etc.) to
interpret what the speaker intended
it also takes account of the wider sociocultural context in which interactions take place
So they bring to bear knowledge of the community and its norms in interpreting what is going on in an interaction.
an excerpt from a workplace interaction between a group of men in an information technology team at a company known as Trang.
Note: words between slated lines /\ are uttered simultaneously.
Familiarity with the previous discourse as well as the wider social context is important to the understanding of what is going on here.
This short exchange focuses explicitly on Jacob’s status as an “outsider” and abruptly foregrounds the boundaries between Trang and
Asher Products which appeared irrelevant in the extensive technical discussion in which the participants have previously
* are used in IS in analyzing any interaction; i.e. features by which speakers signal and listeners interpret what the activity is, how
the semantic content is to be understood
and how each sentence relates to what precedes or follows
 signal presupposition, i.e. knowledge that the speaker assumes the listener has already or information that they can work out for
themselves by paying attention to features of the context.
 they thus allow participants to infer the most likely interpretation of an utterance.
The laughter and the teasing tone
 In Example 20 Persistence and repetition (of the waiters question),
his sigh,
his temporary abandonment of the customers
– all the above suggest that he is very unhappy at being forced to make a choice.

In Example 21 Use of strong stress and high volume serves as a contextualization cue indicating that the S found the performance surprisingly good.
(Capitals indicate higher volume and underline indicates strong stress.)

In Example 22: Falling intonation may indicate that the S is providing definitive information in answer to a question.

In Example 1 Can take the form of discourse moves:

– the form of the conversational opening served as a contextualization cue which generated inferences about the relationship between the
participants, and the routineness of the talk

A Japanese researcher showed how the women leaders she studied used supportive moves to obtain cooperation for their directives.
The supportive moves emphasized shared knowledge,
and served as contextualization cues to signal to their listeners that they saw themselves as members of the same team.

In Example 23 Miya’s succeess in setting up the shared context and aligning herself with Tomi her addressee, that he anticipates her directive and
overlaps her articulation of it.
Supportive moves cue the up-coming directive and ensure he interprets her intent accurately.

Non-verbal cues:
Facial expressions
head nods
gestures
silences
raised eyebrow.
A raised eyebrow may differ between cultures. In Polynesian culture a raised eyebrow serves as a greeting; in British culture it
conveys surprise or disbelief.
In Exercise 10 Code-switching may serve as a strategy or contexualization cue for conveying meaning at a covert, taken-for-granted level.

Miscommunication is possible between any two people, but the potential is greater when different sociolinguistic norms are involved.
Valuable contribution of
0f Interactional
Sociolinguistics (IS)
Example 24
Identification of potential sources of miscommunication between different socio-cultural groups.
Example of a misinterpretation of contextual clues because people come from different language or even different dialect backgrounds
Clues to help interpret what people intended to communicate in the specific context of their talk

Roopa, and Indian woman, in a British Cafeteria

Use of a variety of English with a strong stress and falling intonation on the word gravy when offering to customers
People from other dialects of English interpreted this prosodic features as an assertion than an offer.
The contextualization clues were misread because of a clash between dialect features.

Another valuable It tries to make explicit the presuppositions and background knowledge that people use to interpret utterances in context.
Contribution of IS For this, the concept of schema or frame is often useful.

Schema A set of expectations that we bring to an interaction, based on our previous experiences and our cultural norms.
Examples Schema of a: (p. 376)
British shop
Visit to a doctor
Job interview

Schemas and A British interviewer and a job applicant:

different * The British interviewer:
assumptions He assumes the interviewer to play down his weaknesses and talk up his strengths and sell himself
Example 25, P. 376 * The job applicant
Responds to the surface meaning of the interviewer’’ question.
His honesty and his different assumptions about how personal to be or how to present one’s commitment and worth
set off the interview in the wrong footing

Schemas as culture- The Maori ethic in New Zealand society

bound The value they place on humility which sometimes disadvantages them
Examples p. 373 Like the case of Helen (a Pakeha managing editor) and Hem (a Maori manager)

An interactional
sociolinguistic approach
focuses on
the consequences of different background assumptions for interaction between groups.
When expectations are not fulfilled listeners make inferences (e.g she misheard, he is trying to offend, he’s incompetent, she is stupid.
Very rarely do we assume he speaker has a different set of interactional rules of speaking which account for their ( from the listener’s
point of view) unexpected or damaging response.
And since the majority group’s definition of events generally takes precedence, it is typically minority group members who suffer.
Exercise 11 Schemas and frames; contextualization cues that indicate different interpretations
Formal interview between Claire (policy analyst ) and Tom (manager)
Two subschemas:
Seeking advice
Making a complaint