A Study of Dispreferred Second Turns used in Part A – Listening Section of TOEFL PBT : . M.A Thesis

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES Faculty OF Post-graduate STUDIES o0o - NGUYEN THI OANH A STUDY OF DISPREFERRED SECOND TURNS USED IN PART A – LISTENING SECTION OF TOEFL PBT (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ CÂU ĐÁP KHÔNG ĐƯỢC ƯU TIÊN TRONG PHẦN A – NGHE HIỂU TOEFL PBT) Field: MA in English Linguistics Code: 60.22.02.01 Training Program: Type Hanoi – 2013 VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES Faculty OF Post-graduate STUDIES o0o - NGUYỄN THỊ OANH A STUDY OF DISPREFERRED SECOND TURNS USED IN PART A – LISTENING SECTION OF TOEFL PBT (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ CÂU ĐÁP KHÔNG ĐƯỢC ƯU TIÊN TRONG PHẦN A – NGHE HIỂU TOEFL PBT) Field: English Linguistics Code: 60.22.02.01 Training Program: Type Supervisor: Dr Kiều Thị Thu Hương Hanoi – 2013 DECLARATION I hereby, certify the thesis entitled “A study of Dispreferred Second Turns used in part A – Listening Section of TOEFL PBT”is the result of my own research for the Minor Degree of Master of Arts in English Linguistics at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi The thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other universities or institutions I agree that the origin of my thesis deposited in the library can be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan and reproduction of the paper Hanoi, October 1st, 2013 Signature Nguyen Thi Oanh I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my special thanks to Dr Kieu Thi Thu Huong, my supervisor, for her exciting lectures on Pragmatics, her valuable advice and continual supports without which I could not have finished my thesis I owe Assoc Prof Dr Le Hung Tien my deep debt of gratitude for his useful and interesting course in Research Methodology, which provides me with indispensable techniques to complete this thesis My heartfelt thanks go to all the staff, teachers and members at Faculty of PostGraduate Studies - University of Languages and International Studies - Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their work and services Especially, I would like to show my profound gratitude to all the librarians at Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies during my searching for reference books Their enthusiastic cooperation is really precious towards the results of my study I would like to express my warmest thanks to my family for their support and encouragement during the completion of this research Finally, I am also grateful to all the authors whose books, newspapers and magazines I have referred to II ABSTRACT The main objective of this thesis is discovering the general patterns of dispreferred second turns and the common linguistic features indicating them in part A – Listening Comprehesion Section of TOEFL PBT based on the theoretical frameworks of pragmatics and conversation analysis The corpus of the study consists of 50 dialogs containing dispreferreds in Part A Both quantitative and qualitative methods have been used to find out the answers to the research questions There are some findings in the research In the first place, the five patterns of dispreferreds, namely assessment-disagreement, invitation-refusal, proposal- disagreement, offer-declination and request-refusal, are all used in Part A and the pattern assessment-disagreement is the most common one Also, there are eight common linguistic elements indicating dispreferreds among which ‗give an account‟ ranks the most The data analysis also points out that each linguistic feature is priorly used in one or some certain patterns of dispreferreds III TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION .I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS II ABSTRACT III TABLE OF CONTENTS .IV LISTS OF TABLES & FIGURES VI ABBREVIATIONS & CONVENTIONS VII PART I - INTRODUCTION 1 Statement of the Problem Research Question Objectives of the study Significance of the study Scope of the study .3 Design of the study .4 PART II - DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Speech Acts .5 1.1.1 Definition 1.1.2 Common kinds 1.2 Conversation Analysis .6 1.2.1 Definition 1.2.2 Turn-taking 1.2.3 Adjacency pairs 1.3 Preference structure 1.3.1 Definition 1.3.2 General patterns of preference structure 10 1.3.3 Dispreferred second turns 11 1.4 Dispreferreds in Part A - Listening Comprehension of TOEFL PBT .14 1.5 Previous works .17 CHAPTER II: THE STUDY 19 2.1 Database 19 IV 2.2 Methodology 19 2.3 Procedure 20 2.4 Findings and discussion 21 2.4.1 General patterns of dispreferreds 21 2.4.2 Common linguistic features of dispreferreds 22 PART III - CONCLUSION 34 Recapitulation .34 1.1 The common patterns of dispreferreds 34 1.2 The linguistic features signaling dispreferreds 34 Suggested tips for TOEFL PBT learners or potential test-takers .36 Implications for English language learning and test taking .37 Limitations of the research 39 Suggestions for further research…….…………………………………………40 REFERENCES V LISTS OF TABLES & FIGURES CONTENTS PAGE Table - Correlations of content and format in adjacency pair seconds 10 Table - The general patterns of preferred and dispreferred structures 11 Table - Linguistic elements indicating dispreferred second turns 12 Table - Listening Comprehension Format in Standard Form 14 Figure - Common patterns of dispreferred second turns 21 Figure - Linguistic features indicating dispreferreds 22 VI ABBREVIATIONS & CONVENTIONS  ETS Educational Testing Service  ASEAN The Association of South East Asian Nations  AFTA ASEAN Free Trade Area  APEC Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation  ASEM Asia-Europe Meeting  WTO World Trade Organization  TOEFL Test of English as a Foreign Language  TOEFL PBT Test of English as a Foreign Language Paper-Based Test  TOEFL CBT Test of English as a Foreign Language Computer-Based test  TOEFL IBT Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-Based Test  IELTS International English Language Testing System  TOEIC Test of English for International Communication  M Male  F Female  F1 Female  F2 Female  M1 Male  M2 Male  CA Conversation Analysis  SA Speech Act  // Point at which the current utterance is overlapped by that transcribed below  Q1 Question  & And VII  (( )) ―some phenomenon that the transcriber does not want to wrestle with‖ or some non-vocal action, etc  hh an audible out-breath, hh an in-breath  S Speaker  H Hearer VIII c ‘Token Yes’ Because of its characteristic, ‗token yes‟ is mainly deployed as a useful tool to make a refusal to an invitation and a disagreement to an assessment To produce a ‗token yes‟, the second S can say ‗yeah‘, ‗yes‘, ‗I‘d love to‘, ‗that‘s great‘, etc or tell something pleasant to appreciate the first S‘s invitation with the purpose of reducing the negative effect of their disagreement after that [26] F: Would you like to join our study club tonight? It's a great way to improve your grades M1: Sounds like a great idea, but I have to take care of my baby sister (Broukal, 1994: 151) [27] F: Look, they're advertising the Sports Show at the Convention Center Would you care to go? M1: I'd love to, but I'm working overtime this week (Broukal, 1994: 167) [28] F: Look at the lion! Isn't it majestic? M1: Yes it is, but I enjoy the elephants more Let's go see them again (Broukal, 1994: 172) [29] F: Your football team didn't play very well M: That's true, but at least we won the game (Le, 2006: 94) 29 d ‘Use mitigators’ This linguistic feature can be used in all the patterns of dispreferreds in Part A Listening Comprehension Section of TOEFL PBT It, however, can be found in very a few dialogs and it is often the word ‗just‘ as we can see in the following instances: [30] F: Would you care to conduct the orchestra at our performance on Saturday? M1: I'd love to, but I just don't think I have enough experience (Broukal, 1994: 168) [31] F: You hate this cold, snowy weather, don't you? M1: Not at all It just means better conditions on the ski slopes (Broukal, 1994: 171) [32] M1: Julie certainly seems to like classical music F2: She doesn't like just any classical music (Rogers, 2000: 465) e ‘Preface’ The results reveals that the two ways of making ‗preface‘, i.e ‗well‘ and ‗actually‘, are only used in assessment - disagreement They always come at the very beginning of the second S‘s utterance and before his/her account or explanation for disagreeing [33] F: Nancy didn't try out for the play, and now they've given the lead role to someone else M1: Actually, she did try out but didn't make the cut (Broukal, 1994: 151) [34] F2: Have you seen Shelly recently? The last time I spoke to her she said she hadn't been feeling too well M1: Well, when I saw her this morning, she was a picture of health (Rogers, 2000: 466) 30 [35] M1: In this photograph, Gordon looks like the youngest person in your group F1: Actually, he's the second oldest (Rogers, 2000: 484) [36] F1: Don't you think it's strange that we haven't started receiving any mail here yet? F2: Well, sometimes it takes awhile for the post office to forward it I'm sure it'll come soon (Le, 2006: 50) f ‘Delay/hesitate’ This linguistic element appears in all patterns of dispreferreds in the form of an ‗insertion sequence‘ or a question that does not need an answer in order to hedge the second S‘s disagreement with the first S‘s utterance [37] F: Jonathan, wouldn't you like to come to the cafe with us? M1: Are you kidding? I'm swamped with homework (Broukal, 1994: 150) [38] F: It's chilly outside Why don't you wear the plaid jacket your aunt gave you for your birthday? M1: Are you kidding? I wouldn't be caught dead in that jacket (Broukal, 1994: 151) [39] M1: Would you like a piece of cake? I baked it for you F: Why did you that? You know I'm trying to lose weight (Broukal, 1994: 173) [40] F: Do you want to go on a trip with us to Florida this spring? It will cost about three hundred dollars a person M: Three hundred dollars! Do you think I just inherited a fortune? (Le, 2006: 93) 31 g ‘Apology’ The feature „apology‟ is mainly employed in the adjacency pair ‗request - refusal‘ to create formal politeness before making a negative utterance to the first S‘s wishes [41] M1: May I have two seats in the orchestra section for next month's opening performance? F: I'm terribly sorry, sir, but all the orchestra seats are sold out for opening night We have several nice seats in the balcony, however (Broukal, 1994: 155) [42] M1: My zoom lens isn't working properly Can you repair it? F: I'm sorry We only sell photography equipment However, there's a repair shop just down the street (Broukal, 1994: 158) [43] M: I need to get a copy of my birth certificate F: Sorry, but we can only accept requests by mail now (Le, 2006: 95) h ‘Express doubt’ The use of this element is very infrequent It is often used to indicate a refusal to a request or an invitation in Part A - TOEFL PBT Listening Comprehension Section with the purpose of telling the first S the second S‘s uncertainty about the problem This feature is often some kind of expressions such as ‗I‘m afraid‘ or ‗I‘m not sure‘ [45] M1: Would you mind giving these books to Professor Hata for me? He loaned them to me F: I'm afraid I won't be seeing him today, since classes have been cancelled due to the snow storm (Broukal, 1994: 151) 32 [46] M1: Would you mind lending me your book on Hemingway? I need it to write my paper for American literature class F: I'm afraid I've already donated it for the charity book sale (Broukal, 1994: 167) [47] F: Do you feel like having seafood tonight? M: After that lunch, I'm not sure I can eat anything! (Le, 2006: 48) Three remaining elements signaling dispreferreds in Part A - TOEFL Listening Comprehension Section including ‗appeal for understanding‘ (you see, you know); ‗mention obligation‟ (I must/ have to X, I‘m supposed/ expected…in Y) and ‗make it non-personal‘ (out there, everyone, everybody) are found in a small quantity Concluding remarks So far, this chapter has discussed the subjects, the methodology of the study and the procedure to carry out it Then, the common patterns of dispreferred second response in Part A - Listening Comprehension of TOEFL PBT are also presented Of all the five patterns, assessment - disagreement ranks the most common one Additionally, eight frequently-used linguistic features indicating dispreferreds are also pointed out and discussed in detail 33 PART III CONCLUSION Recapitulation This research has been designed with the objectives of discovering the common patterns of dispreferred second acts often used in Part A - Listening Section of TOEFL PBT and the linguistic features frequently employed to denote these dispreferreds The results of the study can be summed up as follows: 1.1 The common patterns of dispreferreds The results of the data analysis shows that all the five focused patterns of dispreferred second responses including assessment - disagreement, invitation - refusal, offer decline, proposal - disagreement and request - refusal are used in Part A - TOEFL PBT Listening Comprehension Section Among them, the most common one is assessment - disagreement Following this pattern is the use of the two adjacency pairs invitation - refusal and request - refusal The least used pattern falls into offer declination 1.2 The linguistic features signaling dispreferreds The paper also reveals the major linguistic features indicating dispreferred seconds turns in Part A - TOEFL Listening There are eight linguistic elements of dispreferreds commonly used in Part A, namely ‗give an account‟, ‗hedge the negative‟, ‗token yes‟, ‗use mitigators‟, „preface‟, ‗delay/hesitate‟, ‗apology‘ and ‗express doubt‟ Of all the elements, ‗give an account‟ is the most popular one In contrast, three remaining elements, i.e ‗appeal for understanding‟, ‗mention obligation‟ and ‗make it nonpersonal‟ appear with a very small frequency 34 Several significant findings about how the eight common features work in the five patterns to create dispreferreds are also revealed: First, the feature ‘give an account’ can be found in all the kinds of paired utterances of dispreferred second turns This element used to give the reason why the second S does not agree with or accept the first S‘s utterance It appears in a great number and often begins with the conjunction ‗but‘ Second, the element ‘hedge the negative’ like ‗not at all, not really, not necessary‘ only turns up in the two patterns offer - decline and assessment - disagreement It appears before the second S gives the reasons for disagreeing Third, as regards ‘token yes’ such as ‗that‘s true, it may look like that, yeah, yes it is, I‘d love to, that‘s great‘, we can see that this feature is only applied to create token appreciation or token agreement before the S refuses to an invitation and disagrees with an assessment Fourth, the feature ‘preface’ like ‗actually, well‘ is often employed by the second S to give an account for disagreeing with an assessment Fifth, some delays/hesitations in the interrogative form, for example ‗are you kidding?‘ or ‗why did you that?‘, are likely to be applied by the second S in making the two paired utterances invitation - refusal and proposal - disagreement Sixth, a formal ‘apology’ is usually made by the second S before he/she gives the reasons or explanations for his/her refusal so as to avoid negative attitudes or to get sympathy from the first S who makes a request 35 Seventh, the feature ‘express doubt’ is often found in the two patterns of dispreferreds ‗request - refusal‟ and ‗invitation - refusal‟ Finally, the element ‘use mitigators’ is also found in all kinds of dispreferred second turns in Part A - Listening Comprehension Section of TOEFL PBT However, it is less used than the seven other features Suggested tips for TOEFL PBT learners or potential test-takers Based on the results, some tips for learners and test-takers are recommended below: First, take a quick look at the four answer choices in order to guess what kinds of questions are (meaning questions, inference questions, questions about opinions or questions about future actions) Next, listen to the tape carefully to catch the main ideas of the dialogs Especially, pay close attention to the second S‘s utterances that often contain the answers to the questions of the dialogs Then, if they are questions related to SAs such as invitation, offer, request, proposal and assessment or agreement-disagreement for short; try to remember the linguistic features expressing these ones to know whether it belongs to preferreds or dispreferreds Being a dispreferred, it will be often indicated by the aforementioned eight linguistic features and usually goes together with the conjunction ‗but‘ After that, infer the second S‘s utterances in order to work out their implied purposes, attitudes and intentions to opt for the correct answer 36 Implications for English language learning and test taking In order to achieve effectiveness in taking Part A - TOEFL PBT Listening tests, the following points should be paid due attention to: Learners and potential test-takers should have insights into the general patterns of dispreferreds and the common linguistic features in dispreferred expressions For dispreferred expressions in dialogs in Part A, the second S‘s disagreement or refusal to the first S‘s utterance is often not directly stated It is usually expressed by means of implicature, reason & explanation for the second S‘s business or a question that hedges the negative Therefore, potential test-takers and learners must listen carefully to catch the S‘s implicit intentions, purposes, attitudes and decide the correct answer choice To deal with questions associated with dispreferred second acts, teachers should create more favorable opportunities for learners to use and test the knowledge of preference structure - its patterns and linguistic features signaling it- as well as provide them with various effective speaking topics in which they can practice the taught knowledge Teachers can help learners develop their listening skills by means of encouraging them to enrich their vocabulary by studying deeply into idioms and implicature that always appear in the second S‘s utterance Learners are also expected to take full responsibility for their own learning and become aware of their own strategies, using meta-cognition to assist them in improving their own learning endeavors 37 Concluding remarks To sum up, knowledge of pragmatics and CA is crucial for language performance It is clear that learners‘ ability to communicate in listening will be better if they are taught the way to cope with preference organization in particular and other aspect of pragmatics and C.A in general effectively It is believed that the study usefully makes teachers and learners of English be more aware of the importance of preference structure, and it also suggests that text-book writers develop effective listening syllabi and textbooks for learners In addition, listening skill should be learned and efficiently practiced through speaking skill Practicing communicating in English language in natural speech and listening to authentic materials are considered appropriate preparations for learners whose primary objective is to pass the TOEFL PBT with flying colors 38 Limitations of the research Due to the limitation of length and time constraints, this work still has some certain restrictions The first limitation is that the data of the research have been taken from a small sample, namely 50 dialogs that contain dispreferrreds selected from 10 complete tests provided in the three chosen TOEFL PBT books As a result, the findings of dispreferred-second-turn expressions could not be abundant In addition, the study just evaluated dispreferred-second-response patterns and linguistic features indicating them based on the theoretical framework by Yule (1996) Therefore, the data of the study might not be large enough to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion Last, in real-life interactions, the non-verbal linguistic units such as facial expressions, postures, gestures, laughers and eye contacts are of great importance Moreover, the prosodic features like intonation, pitch and silence are also crucial in communication However, the data of this research is only taken from transcripts of TOEFL PBT and it leaves the two later ones untouched 39 Suggestions for further research Preference structure in particular and pragmatics & C.A in general are considered a very broad research area They are of paramount importance to questions associated with language functions in TOEFL PBT as well as in real-life communication Thus, other aspects related to pragmatics and C.A like implicature, implication, reference, pause, silence, turn-taking, etc should deeply be dug into in order to help potential test-takers and learners of English get full consciousness of these issues Second, the two social acts dispreferreds & preferreds, the same as agreement & disagreement, are considered as two side of a coin as stated by Kieu, T.T.H (2006:200): the process of ‗opinion-negotiation‘ involves disagreeing and agreeing, considered two sides of a coin, and one cannot exist without the other…Very often, it is hard to distinguish the subtle border between agreements and disagreements in face-to-face talk A ‗yes‘ may mean ‗no‘, and on the contrary, a ‗no‘ may have an opposite meaning Thus, it is more interesting for the present researcher (and other researchers) to study these two acts in parallel Third, studies on preference structure, 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