Assignment 4 properties of human conversation
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Assignment 4: properties of human conversation
University of the Cumberland
Natural Language Processing (MSDS-630-M52)
Ashim Neupane
12/10/2023
Properties of human conversation
Introduction
Humans communicate naturally and instinctively through language. Conversation is a vital part of everyday interactions, allowing people to advance ideas, express opinions, or simply
build meaningful social connections. Understanding the properties of human conversation is essential for developing a general insight into the meaning of spoken language. This paper will describe six of the fundamental properties of human conversation: turns, speech acts, grounding, subdialogues and dialogue structure, initiative, and inference and implicature. Turns
Turns, the first property of human conversation, are the division of a conversation between two or more speakers. They are defined as “the unit of division for a conversation,” with
each turn taken by an individual speaker as the conversation progresses. Conversations are composed of alternating turns between two or more speakers, or “turn taking.” An example of turns can be seen in the following conversation: Speaker A: “Where are you from?” Speaker B: “I’m from Detroit.” Speaker A: “Oh, I’ve never been there. What do you like about it?” Speaker B: “The people, mostly. They’re very friendly.”
In this example, the conversation is divided into segments by each speaker, resulting in two turns of dialogue. Speech
Speech acts are another property of human conversation that can be seen in the example conversation. Speech acts refer to a speaker’s purposeful use of language, and the listener’s interpretation of that language (Geurts, 2019). Language is not always literal, but is instead interpreted in different ways based on context. The purposeful use of language is known as a speech act, and allows for nuances of meaning that are not necessarily provided by the literal meaning of the words. In the example conversation, Speaker A is asking a question as a speech act; the utterance carries a meaning beyond the literal meaning of the words. Speaker A is not truly asking for an information answer, but rather allowing Speaker B the opportunity to discuss their hometown and their opinions in a conversational way. Grounding
Grounding is the third property of human conversation. This is when a speaker uses language to ensure that the listener has understood them correctly, or “grounded” their communication. In the example conversation, Speaker A could be understood to be implying that
they do not have any firsthand knowledge of the city, so Speaker B may use language to ensure their understanding. This may be done by providing a direct answer to the question or through a combination of nods and other nonverbal cues that convey understanding. Subdialogues and dialogue structure
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Subdialogues and dialogue structure are two related properties of human conversation. Subdialogues are “mini-conversations” that exist within a larger dialogue (Carrasco Cando et al., 2023). Dialogue structure is the way conversations are organized, with certain sections created for specific functions, such as introducing oneself or resolving disagreements. In the example conversation, there are two subdialogues; first, Speaker A introduces the topic of conversation (where are you from?) and Speaker B answers, and then Speaker A follows up with a more specific question about the city that allows Speaker B to discuss the people. Initiative
Initiative is the fifth property of human conversation, and refers to the leadership of a dialogue (Paranjape et al., 2020). Initiative involves taking the lead in the conversation, letting the other speaker know what the conversation will be about, and guiding the flow of conversation. In the example conversation, Speaker A takes the initiative by introducing the topic
and asking questions to lead to a more specific discussion. Inference and implicature
The last property of human conversation is inference and implicature. This is the ability to infer meaning from the context of conversation, even when it is not directly stated. Implicature
can be seen in the example conversation in two different ways. First, Speaker A’s question does not specify the location of “where”; instead, it is implied that they are asking for a general idea of what city or region Speaker B is from, which allows Speaker B to give a more detailed answer
about the city they are talking about. Additionally, Speaker B’s comment about the people “being
friendly” can be inferred to mean that they have a positive view of the city and its people. Conclusion
In conclusion, understanding the properties of human conversation is essential for developing insight into the meanings of spoken language. This paper has discussed six of the fundamental properties of human conversation: turns, speech acts, grounding, subdialogues and dialogue structure, initiative, and inference and implicature. Understanding these properties can help people effectively communicate with each other and build meaningful social connections.
References
Carrasco Cando, D. S., & Gómez Ramírez, Y. E. (2023).
Pronunciation learning strategies (pls) used in efl third-year high school students and the perceptions regarding the role of pronunciation in English Learning
(Bachelor's thesis, Ecuador: Pujilí: Universidad Técnica de Cotopaxi (UTC)).
Geurts, B. (2019). Communication as commitment sharing: speech acts, implicatures, common ground.
Theoretical linguistics
,
45
(1-2), 1-30.
Paranjape, A., See, A., Kenealy, K., Li, H., Hardy, A., Qi, P., ... & Manning, C. D. (2020). Neural
generation meets real people: Towards emotionally engaging mixed-initiative conversations.
arXiv preprint arXiv:2008.12348
.
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