STRATEGIES AND FUNCTIONS OF OTHER-REPAIR IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE CONVERSATIONS
ISSN 1859-1531 - THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG, JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, NO 6(103).2016 63 STRATEGIES AND FUNCTIONS OF OTHER-REPAIR IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE CONVERSATIONS Nguyen Thi Minh Hanh1, Nguyen Thi Quynh Hoa2 Doctoral Student of the English Language Course 31 (2015-2019);hanhtky@gmail.com The University of Danang, University of Foreign Language Studies; hoadng@dng.vnn.vn Abstract - Knowing the strategies which listeners use to ask for speakers’ trouble sources causing breakdowns in conversations and knowing the functions of other-repair are necessary because these factors help the interlocutors gain more effectiveness in communication Schefloff et al [3] mentioned other-repair with such features as positions, strategies and functions of correcting the trouble sources causing communication breakdowns from the listeners The results of this research help the listeners know how to manage when they have difficulties in hearing and understanding the information from the speakers This paper presents and analyzes the strategies and the functions of other-repair in English and Vietnamese conversations, based on the theory of Schegloff et al [3] with the aim to discover the similarities and differences in the strategies and the functions of repairing the trouble sources from the listeners in two languages The results will provide learners with some useful ways to make effective conversations Key words - other-repair; strategies; functions; conversation; the theory of Schegloff et al Introduction In daily communication, listeners sometimes cannot understand all the utterances from speakers The reasons are that the listeners cannot hear the speakers’ utterances clearly; or the listeners can hear them but they cannot understand them clearly or they not understand the speakers’ thoughts All of these difficulties are the causes of communication breakdowns To overcome the trouble, the listeners use some strategies to show their difficulties in hearing or understanding what the speakers say Then, the speakers will correct their trouble sources or they can express their thoughts in other ways so that the listeners can understand what they mean Up to now, there has not been any research on this matter in Vietnam Therefore, this article is aimed at presenting the findings of the strategies and functions of other-repair in English and Vietnamese conversations with the hope of contributing a small part to the teaching and learning of the speaking skill Theoretical Background 2.1 Emanuel Abraham Schegloff‘s theory of repair Shegloff et al [3] first characterized the nature and organization of repair in naturally occuring conversations They gave out the findings of the positions, strategies and functions of self repair and other-repair They also mentioned that other-repair may be more frequent in interactions among “not-yet-competent” speakers This comment has stimulated a lot of studies on other-repair in interactions with non-native speakers (Hosoda [1], Wong [5], ) In this paper, we apply this theory to investigate and compare the strategies and functions of other-repair in English and Vietnamese conversations 2.2 Repair in Conversations According to Schegloff et al [3, p361], “repair” is the treatment of trouble occuring in interactive language use or “a mechanism that operates in conversation to deal with problems in speaking, hearing, and understanding the talk in conversation” It includes processes for mutual comprehension such as word search as well as a replacement or correction on hearable errors or mistakes Schegloff et al [2] gave out two types of repair: selfinitiated repair and other-initiated repair Each type consists of three components, namely trouble - source, repair initiator and repair completion - Trouble source refers to any element in a conversation which cause communication breakdown It could be found anywhere during conversational interactions and any element could be repaired by participants in conversations, even if it is a grammatically correct form or a pragmatically appropriate expression - Repair Initiation: A trouble-source can be identified by the speaker in his/her own talk (i.e., self-initiated) or by the recipient in someone else’s talk (i.e., other-initiated), and then the speaker (self-initiator) or the listener (otherinitiator) initiates to use the repair strategies to repair it or to ask for repair - Other is the party who recognizes the trouble source from the speakers and asks for repair - Repair strategies include the interlocutor’s verbal responses to another interlocutor’s wrong, incomplete, or silent responses They also include interlocutors’ responses that either repair the trouble directly in the same turn or initiate repair that another interlocutor will complete - Repair completion: After a trouble source is identified, it can be repaired by the self-initiator or by the other-initiators Schegloff et al [4] divided the functions of other-repair into three types: clarification request, confirmation check and comprehension check -Clarification request: When the information provided is insufficient or unclear, the listeners initiate repairs - Confirmation check: When the listeners are afraid of misunderstanding the utterance from the speakers, they ask for confirmation - Comprehension check: When the listeners cannot understand the utterance from the speakers, they ask for explanation 2.3 Other-Repair According to Sack, Schegloff and Jefferson [4] otherrepair generally involves a recipient of the problematic talk initiating the repair, but either he/she leaves it for the speakers of the trouble-source to deal with the trouble 64 themselves in the ensuing turn or he/she will repair it For example: (1) S: Were you uh you were in therapy with a private doctor ? H: yah S: Have you ever tried a clinic? H: What? S: Have you ever tried a clinic? H: ((sigh)) No, I don’t want to go to a clinic [3, p.367] Instead of answering the speaker’s (S) question after S’s turn is finished, the hearer (H) initiates repair in the fourth line by using wh-question word “what” that displays his/her trouble in hearing or understanding S’s prior talk In the fifth line, S repeats his prior utterance in response to H’s repair initiation (2) S: Coi chừng đậu phụng nghe! H: Đi đâu cơ? S: Đi đậu phụng! Cái anh!- Cô giao liên té nước lên thuyền.- Anh nhà báo ơi, đậu phụng quê em, Bắc anh lạc Anh hiểu chưa? H: À thế! Đi lạc Đi lạc.- Lê nhắc lại, thích thú [Bồ câu khơng đưa thư, Nguyễn Nhật Ánh] Similarly, in this example, H has trouble in understanding when S uses her dialect “đậu phụng” to express the loss of way and H initiates repair by using whquestion “Đi đâu cơ?” S tries to explain her dialect in her next response Schegloff [4] investigated and systematically described other - repair in conversations This type of other - repair has four strategies Using question words; Repeating a part of the trouble source turn plus a question word; Judging ideas from the speaker’s utterance; Repeating a part of the speaker’s talk with upward intonation and it has three functions such as clarification request, confirmation check and comprehension check Methodology This study is conducted with the descriptive and analytic methods Three criteria to select samples have been established: 1-the samples have to be conversations, 2-they have to contain other - repair, 3- the sources have to be reliable The sources are 30 English stories and 30 Vietnamese stories in the 1970s Each of them contains from 200 to 500 pages.The year of publication is carefully chosen with the hope that the utterances in conversations are modern and similar to what people say in daily conversations at the present time Some of the data is taken from the internet 300 English conversations and 300 Vietnamese conversations have been collected to build up the data with such a set of criteria The numbers of conversations like this can be reliable enough and various to represent the features of other–repair Findings and discussion 4.1 Strategies of Other -Repair in English and Vietnamese Conversations Nguyen Thi Minh Hanh, Nguyen Thi Quynh Hoa 4.1.1 Using question words Question words in English consists of “what”, “who” ; in Vietnamese such as “Hả?”, “Cái gì?”, “Ai?”, “Ở đâu?”, “Tại sao?” (3) S:“Let’s go.” H:“Huh?” S:“Let’s go,” I repeat, and with such obvious authority that she began to follow me as I walked toward the [Love Story, Segal, E.] In (3), S produces the trouble-source because H does not understand where S is going, so H initiates a repair on that trouble-source with “Huh” and in the next turn, S self completes by repeating the utterance along with the action (4) S:“Even the Sonovabitch?” she asked H:“Who?” S:“Oliver Barrett III.” H:“Ah, he’s a nice guy You’ll really like him.” [Love Story, Segal, E.] (5) S: Nó bỏ hở chị? H: Ai cơ? S: Con mèo H:Ừ, mèo bỏ [Kính vạn hoa, Nguyễn Nhật Ánh] (6) S: Anh Sáu, thằng Lê mà ! H: Hả? S: Lê nhà báo đây! [Khắc khoải, Hồ Hải Học] In these above examples, Ss produce the troublesources because Hs cannot know who Sonovabitch, Lê and Nó are, so Hs initiate repairs on these trouble-sources by using question words “Who?”, “Ai cơ?”, “Hả?” and in the next turn, Ss self complete 4.1.2 Repeating a part of the trouble source turn plus a question word (7) S: “Go to Cairo,” Teddy said without opening his eyes H: “Sure And what?” S: “Wait.” H: “Wait for what?” S: “Wait for the ground to shake Stay away from the embassy.” [The Brethren, John Grisham] (8) S: Cô ơi, chân H: Chân em ? S: Trắng q! Tơi sợ phát [Khắc khoải, Hồ Hải Học] In these two above examples, Hs repeat a part of Ss’ utterances plus question words “What” and “làm sao?” to show the wish for Ss to repair their utterances more clearly 4.1.3 Judging ideas from the speaker’s utterance (9) S: "You're not a woman," she said "I sometimes wonder if I am myself, the way I live." ISSN 1859-1531 - THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG, JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, NO 6(103).2016 H: "You mean the impermanence?" S: She looked at him angrily "No, I don't! I mean the monotony with nothing to show for it-no kids You're married, aren't you?" [Gentlement in their season, Gabriel, F.] In (9), H gives the judgement of what S has just said with the purpose of confirming information or repair it to make its meaning more explicit (10) S: Đáng lo chỗ tụi khơng biết Hiền Hịa nói thật hay nói dối H: Ý mày muốn bảo ba Hiền Hịa khơng có nhà Hiền Hịa vờ nói có ư? S: Có thể lắm! [Kính vạn hoa, Nguyễn Nhật Ánh] In this example, H gives the thoughts of what S has just spoken with the hope that the information will be reconfirmed or repaired more clearly 4.1.4 Repeating a part of the speaker’s talk with upward intonation (11) S: "We didn't strike yet, because I'm waiting for a stick." H: "A stick?" S: "That's right A stick And you know what I'm going to with the stick?" [American Gods, Gaiman, N,] H specifies the trouble source by repeating a partial part of the prior talk A stick with an upward intonation in the second turn S completes the repair by confirming the utterance (12) S: Đây người ta đánh nhầm H: Đánh nhầm? - Quý ròm kêu bật lên S: Ừ! [Kính vạn hoa, Nguyễn Nhật Ánh] In this example, H makes a partial repeat of the prior talk with upward intonation such as “Đánh nhầm?” to clarify what he/she has just heard from S Table below is the summary of the strategies of otherrepair and the frequency of its presenting from 187 English conversations and 180 Vietnamese conversations Table Strategies of Other-Repair in English and Vietnamese Conversations Strategies English Vietnamese Occurrence % Occurrence % Clarification request 50 26.7 63 35 Confirmation check 72 38.5 50 27.8 Comprehension check 65 34.8 67 37.2 187/300 100 180/300 100 Total The statistics indicates that two strategies such as Using question words and Judging ideas from the speaker’s utterance are more commonly used in English conversations than in Vietnamese ones This shows the 65 difference that there is only one word you for the second person in English conversations and the interlocutors use the intonation, so these two strategies are chosen to use when the hearers want the speakers to repair their utterances In Vietnamese, it is impossible to say “Hả?”, “Ai?”, “Làm sao?” to the adults or the people with their high social positions However, more Vietnamese people use the strategies Repeating a part of the trouble source turn plus a question word and Repeating a part of the speaker’s talk with upward intonation When using these two strategies, the hearers can either employ words of modality like“ạ”, “chứ”, “chứ ạ” or not to identify their relationships with the speakers 4.2 Functions of Other-Repair in English and Vietnamese Conversations 4.2.1 Clarification Request (13) S: "You've made me wonder about my own wife." H: "Did you say 'wife' or 'life'?" S: "I said 'wife'-though they're the same thing really." [Gentlemen in their Season, Gabriel, F.] In this example, H hears what S has just asked, but H wants to make it clearer, so H initiates a repair and in the next turn, A self completes the utterance (14) S: Thưa cụ, bà chúng toàn người Nam H:Nam nào? Nam Định hay Thái Bình hay Hà Nam, Phủ Lý? S: Thưa với cụ, Nam Định Hà Nam [Tác phẩm văn học giải thưởng HCM, Nguyên Hồng] In (14), the phrase người Nam causes some opacity to H because in Viet Nam, there are many localities whose names begin with Nam or includes the word Nam So, H must ask S for clarification 4.2.2 Confirmation Check (15) S: "I don't know him Is there any comparison?" H: You mean in his attitude?" S:"Yes" [Gentlemen in their season, Gabriel, F.] In the example (15), H hears what S has just said clearly, but H does not want to cause misunderstanding, so H asks for confirmation of what S is thinking And S confirms it in the next turn (16) S: Đáng lo chỗ tụi khơng biết Hiền Hịa nói thật hay nói dối H: Ý mày muốn bảo ba Hiền Hịa khơng có nhà Hiền Hịa vờ nói có ư? S: Có thể lắm! [Kính vạn hoa, Nguyễn Nhật Ánh] In the example, the other initiator uses the strategy “ý mày muốn ” to affirm what S is saying and thinking 4.2.3 Comprehension Check (17) S: "You're perfectly right; I'm depressed Let us talk about Hotchkis' wife Last time we met I could see that 66 Nguyen Thi Minh Hanh, Nguyen Thi Quynh Hoa you were about to meet her." H: "How you mean?" S: "You looked lustful I told Helen that your marriage was in danger 'He's involved,' I said, 'with a woman for whom murder was done.” [Gentlemen in their season, Gabriel, F.] In this example, H cannot understand what S is saying although H hears it clearly, so H initiates repair and S explains to H in the next turn (18) S: À qn, thưa việc em biết H: Việc việc gì? S: Việc bạn Hiền Hịa bị điểm [Kính vạn hoa, Nguyễn Nhật Ánh] The other-initiator does not understand what S has just told her, so she must ask for comprehension Table below is a summary of the functions of otherrepair and its frequency taken from 187 English conversations and 180 Vietnamese conversations Table Functions of Other-Repair in English and Vietnamese Conversations English Strategies Vietnamese Occurrence % Occurrence % Clarification request 50 26.7 63 35 Confirmation check 72 38.5 50 27.8 Comprehension check 65 34.8 67 37.2 187/300 100 180/300 100 Total This table shows that three functions such as “clarification request”, “confirmation check” and “comprehension check” are presented in English and Vietnamese conversations However, the function confirmation check in English conversations takes up the higher rates than in Vietnamese ones The listeners ask for repair because they want the speakers to confirm their utterances or to check whether the speakers’ thoughts are the same with the listeners’ ones English have many multisyllablic words, so its vocabulary is one of the factors causing the trouble-sources for the listeners Meanwhile, the function comprehension check has the highest rate in Vietnamese conversations Vietnamese people have a habit of beating about the bush and their utterances have more underlying meanings, so the listeners must ask for their clarification Conclusion The results of the investigation show that English and Vietnamese conversations cover all of the features of strategies and functions of other-repair according to the theory of Schegloff et al There are four strategies namely Using question words; Repeating a part of the trouble source turn plus a question word; Judging ideas from the speaker’s utterance; Repeating a part of the speaker’s talk with upward intonation and three functions namely clarification request, confirmation check and comprehension check The differences in strategies and functions show that each language always reflects the cultural features of its speech community The results of the research can be applied to teaching English and Vietnamese conversations The features of the strategies and functions of other - repair help learners know how to employ suitable strategies to show their problems in hearing and understanding speakers’ utterances REFERENCES [1] Hosoda, Y (2000), “Other-repair in Japanese conversations between nonnative and native speakers”, Issues in Applied Linguistics, 11, p.39-65 [2] Sack, H., Schegloff, E & Jefferson, G (1974), “A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking in conversation”, Language 50/4: p.693-735.3 [3] Schegloff, E.A., Jefferson, G., & Sacks, H (1977), “The preference for self-correction in the organization of repair in conversation”, Language, 53, p.361-382 [4] Schegloff, E.A (2000), “When others initiate repair”, Applied Linguistics, 21, p244-267 [5] Wong, J (2000), “Delayed next turn repair initiation in native/nonnative speaker English conversation”, Applied Linguistics, 21, p.274-97 [6] Nguyễn Nhật Ánh (2003), Kính vạn hoa, Tập 1-Tập 15, Nxb Kim Đồng [7] Nguyễn Nhật Ánh (2003), Kính vạn hoa, Tập 31-Tập 45, Nxb Kim Đồng [8] Nguyễn Nhật Ánh (2007), Bồ câu không đưa thư, Nxb Trẻ [9] Hồ Hải Học (2001), Khắc khoải, Nxb Thanh Niên [10] Nguyên Hồng (2005), Tác phẩm văn học giải thưởng Hồ Chí Minh, Quyển II, Nxb Văn học [11] Gabriel Fielding (1966), Gentlemen in Their Season, William Morrow & Co, New York [12] Gaiman, N (2003), American Gods, Harper Collins Publishers Inc., New York [13] John Grisham (2000), The Brethren, Arrow Books [14] Segal, E (2000), Love Story, Bantam Books (The Board of Editors received the paper on 07/04/2016, its review was completed on 25/04/2016) ... strategies of otherrepair and the frequency of its presenting from 187 English conversations and 180 Vietnamese conversations Table Strategies of Other-Repair in English and Vietnamese Conversations Strategies. .. The results of the investigation show that English and Vietnamese conversations cover all of the features of strategies and functions of other-repair according to the theory of Schegloff et al... taken from 187 English conversations and 180 Vietnamese conversations Table Functions of Other-Repair in English and Vietnamese Conversations English Strategies Vietnamese Occurrence % Occurrence