Conversational Structure

A. Definition of Conversation

Conversation is clearly the prototypical kind of language usage, the form in which we are all first exposed to language. All major aspects of pragmatic organization are connected to usage in conversation such as  Deixis: encoding of temporal, spatial, social, discourse parameters organized around the assumption of co-present conversational participants. Presupposition: involving constraints on the way in which information has to be presented if it is to be introduced to particular participants with specific shared knowledge and assumptions about the world. Implicatures: deriving from specific assumptions about conversational context.  Speech acts: building on the assumption of a conversational matrix (e.g., betting requires an uptake to be effective).

Conversational Implicature

Levinson writes what I believe are the most instructive 70-something pages on the subject of conversational implicature. He is, from the very beginning, anxious to point out not only the great many advantages which the concept brings but also the puzzles it gives rise to. “Implicature,” he writes, “stands as a paradigmatic example of the nature and power of pragmatic explanations of linguistic phenomena” (p. 97) The main output of such a theory is that – as Grice in fact pointed out in Prolegomena to Grice (1989) – that over and beyond the stable semantic core there is an unstable, contextual layer of meaning. This layer of meaning may be seen as “the set of possible implicatures”. As long as we are able to define and predict the usage of this set, the theory itself might turn out to be profitable. Before we go further, it might perhaps be handy to stress that this level-division is also present in the nature of the four maxims (Quality, Quantity, Relation & Manner): they are, indeed, maxims – not rules. They express maximally co-operative communication and thus function not as conventions but as putting into practice a rationale for co-operative exchange. As a matter of fact, one of Grice’s powerful arguments was the fact that the same maxims or some derivates of them seem to operate also within non-linguistic behavior.

Deixis

Essentially deixis concerns the ways in which language encode or grammaticalize features of the context of utterance or speech event, and thus also concerns ways in which the interpretation of utterances depends on the analysis of that context of utterance. The facts of deixis should act as a constant reminder to theoretical linguists of the simple but immensely important fact that natural languages are primarily designed, so to speak, for use in face to face interaction, and thus there are limits to the extent to which they can be analyzed without taking this into account (Lyson, 1977a: 589ff).

Deixis is the phenomenon of encoding contextual information by means of lexical items of grammatical distinctions that provide this information only when paired with this context. In other words, it means lexicalizing or grammaticalizing contextual information that is making it into obligatory grammatical or lexical distinctions. They give instructions to the addressee that context has to be consulted in order to grasp the meaning of the utterance. In all languages there are many words and expressions whose reference rely entirely on the situational context of the utterance and can only be understood in light of these circumstances. This aspect of pragmatics is called deixis.

Total Physical Renponse (TPR)

a.    Definition

Total Physical Response (TPR) is a language teaching method which establishes a link between speech, a primary mode of language and action. The mode of teaching language here is a motor activity. TPR real acts a grammar based view of language (Singh, 2011).

Children are exposed to huge amounts of language input before speaking. Language learners can also benefit from following this “natural” progression from comprehension to production, instead of the more normal situation where learners are asked to produce instantly. The left brain can be described as logical, one-track, and cynical. It is used when analyzing, talking, discussing, etc. Most classroom activities in Indonesia are aimed at the left brain. The right brain is used when moving, acting, using metaphor, drawing, pointing, etc. It is targeted by sports and extra-curricular activities in Indonesian schools. When language is taught by lecturing or explaining, the cynical left brain is targeted and the information is kept in short term memory (if at all). It is soon forgotten as it never becomes “real” to the student.

When language is taught actively through movement, the right brain “believes” the information and retains it, in the same way that skills such as swimming or riding a bicycle are remembered long term. Students learn more when they are relaxed. This is because the affective filter, a mental barrier between the students and the information, is raised when students are nervous or uncomfortable. When the affective filter is high, learners find it harder to understand, process, and remember information.