I thoroughly enjoyed the Agar article. I find it fascinating to read about other cultures and to see you what seems normal to me, is foreign and odd to someone else. It's amazing how people from two different cultures can interpret a pause so differently.
I loved the concept of Garfinkeling! I can think of people who Garfinkel and throw me off from the normally expected structure of a conversation. Actually, one of my good friends just called me and she Garfinkeled on the phone. I said hello and she immediately went off into her own thought and story. It always throws me off guard for a second, but since we are so close and I know her, it doesn't really bother me. It's funny how Garfinkeling is more acceptable with people you know well. If a stranger Garfinkeled, it would take me a much longer time to recover. I used the opportunity to explain to her the concept of Garfinkeling. Now we are keeping score to see who Garfinkels the most.
I found Agar to be an easy read, but very informative at the same time.
Tannen's article was also informative, but I didn't find it as interesting as Agar's. I think part of why I had a hard time being as interested was because I couldn't grasp how the conversation truly went since I was reading a transcript. I'm such an aural learner, that reading a conversation just doesn't do it justice. I wish technology was at a point where sound files could be embedded in an article or book and one could listen while reading the transcript. That would be wonderful! I have a feeling we will get to this point soon.
It was interesting to read Tannen's analysis of the conversation and learn about the various cultures of American conversation structure. One thing that stood out to me was her analysis of overlapping. I could relate it to the transcript of my own conversation. For Tannen, the overlapping was a sign of enthusiasm, interest in the topic, and sign of good rapport (p. 77). I think the same is true of my conversation. The overlapping was a sign of enthusiasm, interest, and rapport between both speakers.
I did struggle with Schegloff and Sacks. I understood it better than I thought I would, but still felt there were times of "too much information." It did cause me to reflect on my own conversation closing techniques. I know closing a conversation "properly" is very important in my conversation structure. For example, I told the story in class about how I called a friend back just to say goodbye. We had been talking and were coming to the closing comments when the call was dropped. I called her back, literally, just to say goodbye. I couldn't let the conversation end without those words. I didn't want her to think I had hung up on her or had been mad. I just had to say goodbye.
While reading Schegloff and Sacks' article, I couldn't help but do some reflection and think more about how I close a conversation. There are lots of times when I say, "I gotta go." I feel that directly lets the other person know that the conversation needs to end. I also recall times where I feel like I've run out of things to say and immediately go to, "Well, OK...... So I guess I'll talk to you later." I think I'm curious to know more about how people close a conversation when they are having a conversation with a person they really don't want to be talking to. Sometimes I run into people at the store and I say hello to be polite, but I don't really want to talk. That usually ends up being the person who jumps into some long, drawn out story and wants to chat for a while. My mind is always quickly racing for closing statements in order to get out of the conversation. I am curious to know more about how closing comments might be different for people in the "flight" mode compared to people who are enjoying the conversation.
Overall, very interesting readings and I look forward to discussing them in more detail in class.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Thoughts about my informal conversation
(I'm still figuring out how this blog works, so you will find the transcript posted below this posting.)
Even with the tediousness of creating a transcript, I thoroughly enjoyed this assignment. I have complete sympathy for people who spend many hours transcribing audio or video files!
It was so much fun to listen to this conversation over and over and think about all that occurred. First of all, I think I shocked myself with the things I discovered about this conversation. For example, I really couldn't believe how much interrupting and overlapping there was. (Should I be ashamed that most of it was me?!) Yet it was completely acceptable in this situation. No one was upset and no one certainly stopped contributing to the conversation because of it.
The greatest difficulty I had in transcribing the conversation was how the physical movements, facial expressions, and body language were nearly impossible to replicate in the transcript. Now, if I had many more hours and a detailed system (as Agar used in his article), I might have been able to be more accurate, but it would have taken another page of writing to explain all the symbols. The one element I could not put into the transcript was voice tone. There were times when sarcasm was used and I couldn't quite figure out how to represent that. So I know the transcript doesn't do the conversation justice.
I found many adjacency pairs in our conversation. When D was asking me questions about the parking meter, I always gave an answer to her question and vice versa. That structure was certainly present. Both structures that Agar mentions are present in this conversation--shift of topic and turn taking. Our turn taking was predictable and when the topic shifted we both went with it. No one seemed offended or upset if a prior topic was never revisited.
One thing stands out to me about how this informal conversation is different from more formal ones. I first need to state that the beginning portion of this conversation was taking place in a car. D was driving and I was in the front seat. You will notice very quickly that we are looking for a parking space. The rest of the conversation then took place on the sidewalk by the parking meter. Something that stands out in my mind about this conversation is the small amount of eye contact that took place. Now when she was driving, of course there was good reason for her to not constantly look over at me. Yet even when we had exited the car, there still was not constant eye contact like you might expect to find in some conversations, such as an interview. We were very comfortable looking at other things, such as the coin purse or umbrella, instead of each other. Yet we still knew that the other was paying attention and was very involved in the conversation. In no way do I believe either of us were being rude, it just came with the fact that we were so comfortable with each other.
Another thing that amazed me was how many sentences were never completed, yet we both knew what the other was saying or would have said anyway. The meaning was never lost. Again, I believe in a more formal setting, this would not have happened or would have at least occurred very rarely.
Timing was also a unique facet of the conversation. I was amazed at how long some of the pauses were in the middle of a thought. I know that some of the pauses were because D was busy digging out change from her coin purse. Yet the pauses didn't make her lose her train of thought or prevent me from understanding what she was trying to say. The pauses were much more noticeable and annoying when I was listening to the recorded conversation.
I feel like I'm much more aware of my conversational habits and can see how informal conversations differ from more formal ones. I look forward to reading your comments.
Even with the tediousness of creating a transcript, I thoroughly enjoyed this assignment. I have complete sympathy for people who spend many hours transcribing audio or video files!
It was so much fun to listen to this conversation over and over and think about all that occurred. First of all, I think I shocked myself with the things I discovered about this conversation. For example, I really couldn't believe how much interrupting and overlapping there was. (Should I be ashamed that most of it was me?!) Yet it was completely acceptable in this situation. No one was upset and no one certainly stopped contributing to the conversation because of it.
The greatest difficulty I had in transcribing the conversation was how the physical movements, facial expressions, and body language were nearly impossible to replicate in the transcript. Now, if I had many more hours and a detailed system (as Agar used in his article), I might have been able to be more accurate, but it would have taken another page of writing to explain all the symbols. The one element I could not put into the transcript was voice tone. There were times when sarcasm was used and I couldn't quite figure out how to represent that. So I know the transcript doesn't do the conversation justice.
I found many adjacency pairs in our conversation. When D was asking me questions about the parking meter, I always gave an answer to her question and vice versa. That structure was certainly present. Both structures that Agar mentions are present in this conversation--shift of topic and turn taking. Our turn taking was predictable and when the topic shifted we both went with it. No one seemed offended or upset if a prior topic was never revisited.
One thing stands out to me about how this informal conversation is different from more formal ones. I first need to state that the beginning portion of this conversation was taking place in a car. D was driving and I was in the front seat. You will notice very quickly that we are looking for a parking space. The rest of the conversation then took place on the sidewalk by the parking meter. Something that stands out in my mind about this conversation is the small amount of eye contact that took place. Now when she was driving, of course there was good reason for her to not constantly look over at me. Yet even when we had exited the car, there still was not constant eye contact like you might expect to find in some conversations, such as an interview. We were very comfortable looking at other things, such as the coin purse or umbrella, instead of each other. Yet we still knew that the other was paying attention and was very involved in the conversation. In no way do I believe either of us were being rude, it just came with the fact that we were so comfortable with each other.
Another thing that amazed me was how many sentences were never completed, yet we both knew what the other was saying or would have said anyway. The meaning was never lost. Again, I believe in a more formal setting, this would not have happened or would have at least occurred very rarely.
Timing was also a unique facet of the conversation. I was amazed at how long some of the pauses were in the middle of a thought. I know that some of the pauses were because D was busy digging out change from her coin purse. Yet the pauses didn't make her lose her train of thought or prevent me from understanding what she was trying to say. The pauses were much more noticeable and annoying when I was listening to the recorded conversation.
I feel like I'm much more aware of my conversational habits and can see how informal conversations differ from more formal ones. I look forward to reading your comments.
Informal Conversation Transcript
Below you will find the transcript of a three minute informal conversation I had with a friend on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2007 at 12:37pm.
E: Well how were you’re . . . did both sons call you or just
D: Actually, they, yes, both ended up
E: How are they?
D: Um.. Ben I actually got to talk to. Matthew, he called as I was trying to get ready and I said, “Honey I gotta go.” I’m gonna be late. (Pause) Umm
E: (interrupting) Well everyone’s down here.
D: Uh-huh. (Pause) Uh (9 second pause ) So (5 second pause)
E: There’s one.
D: I guess we’ll park here. What does it say, Elizabeth?
E: Uh…(3 secs) I don’t know. I think….
D: (2 sec pause) Does it say three hours?
E: (pause) Probably. Aren’t all these meters three hours?
D: I don’t know.
(2 second pause)
E: There’s the Stephen F. Austin building wasn’t that what that guy was looking for? (laughing)
D: Yes! How interesting.
E: (overlapping) The guy who thought I looked like I…..had been here a long time.
D: I loved it!
E: (interrupting) Do I, do I really look like…..you know?
D: No, (E: I just find that hilarious.) but I loved it!
E: (overlapping) It’s so funny. I was crackin’ up. Just like yesterday at the school….I walked in, um, and this little girl looks at me and she said, “Are you so and so’s grandmother?”
(D and E laughing, 4 seconds)
D: Is that precious or what?
E: And I was like, uh…, no
D: Is that precious or what?
(Lots of background noise. D and E are getting out of the car, 5 secs)
D: Ok
(8 second pause. D and E close car doors.)
E: You and your little bag. (2 second pause) Your little coin bag.
D: (overlapping) It doesn’t say but I’m sure it is. (Pause) Let’s just see how OH that was another thing I did yesterday. I kept putting quarters in reah…after I don’t know how many quarters I put in, I realized that I was in a thirty minute limit
E: (interrupting) Oh no, it didn’t give you your quarters back?
D: (pause) No-oh (drawn out and your face had the expression, You’ve got to be kidding me)
E: That’s horrible.
D: No, it just kept taken’em.
E: Talk about highway robbery.
D: I mean, I, but I couldn’t believe how stupid… but it never occurred to me (pause) and then I looked and I went “Thirty! I know I’ve put in (pause) a ton (pause) of money!
(Pause, you can hear coins dropping into the parking meter)
E: (laughing) Look at you!
D: I know (pause) I know. (pause) And I robbed Steve’s (pause) change. (pause) As a matter of fact
E: (interrupting) Oh will it take everything?
D: It takes everything but pennies.
E: Oh.. that’s good to know.
D: Yeah
E: I thought it was just a quarter
D: Noooo….oh no, thank god
E: (overlapping) Oh good.
D: Now let’s see.
E: I was gonna say I have some
D: (interrupting) Nope that’s it, that’s all it will do.
E: Well how were you’re . . . did both sons call you or just
D: Actually, they, yes, both ended up
E: How are they?
D: Um.. Ben I actually got to talk to. Matthew, he called as I was trying to get ready and I said, “Honey I gotta go.” I’m gonna be late. (Pause) Umm
E: (interrupting) Well everyone’s down here.
D: Uh-huh. (Pause) Uh (9 second pause ) So (5 second pause)
E: There’s one.
D: I guess we’ll park here. What does it say, Elizabeth?
E: Uh…(3 secs) I don’t know. I think….
D: (2 sec pause) Does it say three hours?
E: (pause) Probably. Aren’t all these meters three hours?
D: I don’t know.
(2 second pause)
E: There’s the Stephen F. Austin building wasn’t that what that guy was looking for? (laughing)
D: Yes! How interesting.
E: (overlapping) The guy who thought I looked like I…..had been here a long time.
D: I loved it!
E: (interrupting) Do I, do I really look like…..you know?
D: No, (E: I just find that hilarious.) but I loved it!
E: (overlapping) It’s so funny. I was crackin’ up. Just like yesterday at the school….I walked in, um, and this little girl looks at me and she said, “Are you so and so’s grandmother?”
(D and E laughing, 4 seconds)
D: Is that precious or what?
E: And I was like, uh…, no
D: Is that precious or what?
(Lots of background noise. D and E are getting out of the car, 5 secs)
D: Ok
(8 second pause. D and E close car doors.)
E: You and your little bag. (2 second pause) Your little coin bag.
D: (overlapping) It doesn’t say but I’m sure it is. (Pause) Let’s just see how OH that was another thing I did yesterday. I kept putting quarters in reah…after I don’t know how many quarters I put in, I realized that I was in a thirty minute limit
E: (interrupting) Oh no, it didn’t give you your quarters back?
D: (pause) No-oh (drawn out and your face had the expression, You’ve got to be kidding me)
E: That’s horrible.
D: No, it just kept taken’em.
E: Talk about highway robbery.
D: I mean, I, but I couldn’t believe how stupid… but it never occurred to me (pause) and then I looked and I went “Thirty! I know I’ve put in (pause) a ton (pause) of money!
(Pause, you can hear coins dropping into the parking meter)
E: (laughing) Look at you!
D: I know (pause) I know. (pause) And I robbed Steve’s (pause) change. (pause) As a matter of fact
E: (interrupting) Oh will it take everything?
D: It takes everything but pennies.
E: Oh.. that’s good to know.
D: Yeah
E: I thought it was just a quarter
D: Noooo….oh no, thank god
E: (overlapping) Oh good.
D: Now let’s see.
E: I was gonna say I have some
D: (interrupting) Nope that’s it, that’s all it will do.
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