INTERACTION, TRANSACTION, AND PERFORMANCE

SPEECH AS INTERACTION, TRANSACTION & PERFORMANCE

Karina Rojas Tapia Professor Gernot Potengowski Taller de Producción Oral y Comprensión Auditiva December 13th, 2021

“If you can’t communicate and talk to other people and get across your ideas, you’re giving up your potential.”

– Warren Buffet E

FUNCTION OF SPEAKING Several language experts have attempted to categorize the functions of speaking in human interaction. According to Brown and Yule, as quote by Richards and Renanda (2007), "the function of speaking are classified into three, there are talk as interest, talk as transactopn, and talk as performance" Each of these speech activities is quite distinct in term of form and function and requires different teaching approaches.

gillian brown & george yule

TALK AS INTERACTION

This function is about what we usually know as “conversation” also considered as the interaction that serves a primarily social function. This kind of interaction occurs when people meet, they start exchanging greetings, having small conversations, talking about their own different experiences, they want to be friendly, and to establish rapport with a comfortable environment and a nice interaction with others. Depending on the circumstances, the exchange of ideas and thoughts can be casual or more formal. The main features of talk as interaction are: -Has a primarily social function -Reflects role relationships -Reflect´s speaker´s identity -May be formal or casual -Uses conversational conventions -Reflects degrees of politeness -Employs many generic words -Uses conversational register -Is jointly constructed

chit-chat: informal conversation about matters that are not important

Examples of these kinds of talk are:

Chatting to another customer in the supermarket while you wait to pay for your items. (polite conversation that does not seek to develop the basis for future social contact)

Chatting to a co-worker during the first training session as new hires. (casual conversation that serves to mark an ongoing friendship)

An employee chatting to his/her boss while waiting for their order at a coffee shop. (polite conversation that reflects unequal power between the two participants)

There are some skills involved in using talk as interaction, such as:

-Opening and closing conversations -Choosing topics -Making small-talk -Joking -Recounting personal incidents and experiences -Turn-taking -Using adjacency pairs* Interrupting -Reacting to others -Using an appropriate style of speaking

*In linguistics, an adjacency pair is an example of conversational turn-taking. For example: "See you!" → "Yeah, see you later!"

TALK AS TRANSACTION

It refers to situations that are focused on what is said or done. The central focus is to make oneself understood clearly and accurately, rather than the participants. Examples of talk representation are: -Classroom group discussions and problem-solving activities -A class activity during which students design a poster -Discussing needed computer repairs with a technician -Discussing sightseeing plans with a hotel clerk or tour guide -Making a telephone call to obtain flight information -Asking someone for directions on the street -Buying something in a shop -Ordering food from a menu in a restaurant

The main features of a talk transaction are: -It has a primarily information focus. -The main focus is on the message and not the participants. -Participants employ communication strategies to make themselves understood. -There may be frequent questions, repetitions, and comprehension checks, as in the example from the preceding classroom lesson. -There may be negotiation and digression. -Linguistic accuracy is not always important.

One of the skills involved in using talk for transaction are: -Explaining a need or intention -Describing something -Asking questions -Asking for clarification -Confirming information -Justifying an opinion -Making suggestions -Clarifying understanding -Making comparisons -Agreeing and disagreeing

TALK AS PERFORMANCE

This interaction refers to public talk, that transmits information before an audience, such as classroom presentations, public announcements, and speeches. Talk as performance tends to be in the form of monolog rather than dialogue, and it often follows a recognizable format, and is closer to written language than conversational language. It is often evaluated according to its effectiveness or impact on the listener, something that is unlikely to happen with talk as interaction or transaction.

The following passage is part of the speech given by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, on June 12, 2005 at Stanford University.

“I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.”

Some other examples of talk performance are: -Giving a class report about a school trip -Conducting a class debate -Giving a speech of welcome -Making a sales presentation -Giving a lecture

The main features of talk as performance are: -A focus on both message and audience -Predictable organization and sequencing -Importance of both form and accuracy -Language is more like written language -Often monologic

Some of the skills involved in using talk as performance are: -Using an appropriate format -Presenting information in an appropriate sequence -Maintaining audience engagement -Using correct pronunciation and grammar -Creating an effect on the audience -Using appropriate vocabulary -Using an appropriate opening and closing

In terms of lexicon acquisition, students need not only learn the meaning of words, but also how and when to use them, which cannot be achieved by looking up words in the dictionary because the attention necessary for appropriation of words is not available. Negotiation, in contrast, provides ample opportunities for such conditions. The following excerpt provides a real example of conversations, in which native speakers (NS) modify their output so non-native speaker (NN) understand meaning:

"NEGOTIATION OF MEANING"

Negotiation of meaning is a process that speakers go through to reach a clear understanding of each other. Asking for clarification, rephrasing, and confirming what you think you have understood are all strategies for the negotiation of meaning.

NS: and I have a garage on the side with three little black windows NNS: three black windows? NS: you know what a garage is? NNS: no NS: um, it’s attached to the house. It’s a building attached to the house in which you keep your cars and called a garage, OK, so it looks like a big house and a little house, but they’re attached. NNS: oh it’s a small house NS: Uhuh NNS: Uhuh, and black roof? NS: Uhuh NNS: Yeah, oh, maybe, let’s see, yeah, I understand

In the classroom:Information gap activities such as jigsaw readings or listenings, group story building, spot the difference and communicative crosswords are examples of activities that give learners the opportunity to develop their communicative competence through negotiation of meaning as they share information.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND SOURCES

Learn to Ask for and Give Directions in English. (s. f.). ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/dialogue-giving-directions-1211300 Function of Speaking. (s. f.). Bos Informasi. https://www.bosinformasi.web.id/2014/03/function-of-speaking.html Negotiation of meaning. (s. f.). Teaching English. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/negotiation-meaning The Negotiation of Meaning: contributions to Second Language acquisition (SLA). (s. f.). Https://Www.Moroccoworldnews.Com/. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2013/05/89533/the-negotiation-of-meaning-contributions-to-second-language-acquisition-sla-2

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