2015 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Negotiation Strategies in cross-cultural communication
| Project/Area Number |
15K16778
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| Research Institution | Sugiyama Jogakuen University |
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Principal Investigator |
池 沙弥 椙山女学園大学, 国際コミュニケーション学部, 講師 (10738214)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
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| Keywords | backchannel / collaborative strategy / backchannel sequence / backchannel cue / turn negotiation |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
The collected conversational data consist of a total of approximately six hours of video-recorded dyadic conversations (5 JE-JE, 7 AusE-AusE, 9 JE-AusE). The data were then transcribed for speech, nodding, eye gaze, and head/body movement using ELAN.
A significant achievement this year is the establishment of a framework to conceptualise backchannel instances through multi-modal ELAN analysis. A BC instance was defined as an optional “BC Cue” plus one or more BCs. A range of prosodic and non-vocal elements was identified as a BC Cue, and a BC instance (BC Cue + BCs) was termed “Speaker-elicited BC instance (S-BC)". Meanwhile, listeners may orient to the end of an intonation unit (IU) to produce a BC without BC Cues, and such case was termed “Listener-initiated BC (L-BC)”. An instance with one or more exchanges of BCs was re-analysed as “BC sequence (BC-Seq)”, as it displays phases of different functions (acknowledgement, rapport establishment, encouragement, and turn negotiation). The analysis of BC functions was presented at the 21st International Conference of International Association of World Englishes (IAWE) in Istanbul, Turkey.
Furthermore, cross-varietal comparison shows that the BC behaviour of JE speakers is characterised by L-BC as well as S-BC whereas that of the AusE speakers is restricted to predominantly S-BC. The framework was presented at the 18th Annual Conference of Pragmatics Society of Japan, and a paper summarising the framework was submitted to the Proceedings of the 18th Annual Conference of the Pragmatics Society of Japan (PSJ) (Vol.11).
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
A focus was placed on establishing a reliable framework of backchannel analysis and testing it with the conversation data. The characteristics of backchannel behaviour in Australian English and Japanese English have become salient. As a result, however, the transcribing process, as well as the additional EIL data collection, has been delayed to some extent and needs to be completed next year.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
Developing analysis using the framework, a focus next year will be placed on EIL communication between AusE speakers and JE speakers. All the BC instances will be identified and analysed, with particular attention to the BC types (S-BC, L-BC, BC-Seq) and the range of BC Cues. As the frequency differences, as well as the type differences, between the two varieties have already been demonstrated, the negotiation and accommodation strategies by both AusE speakers and JE speakers in order to overcome the BC behaviour differences in EIL communication will be analysed and characterised. Instead of testing the hypotheses of negotiation/accommodation strategies as originally proposed, the analysis framework will be used to characterise such strategies. The established framework will then be tested with further conversational data, which will also be collected during the year.
The research progress will be presented at the 9th International English as a Lingua Franca (ELF9) and the 19th Annual Conference of Pragmatics Society of Japan. Furthermore, the backchannel behaviour in two varieties of English as a collaborative interactional management strategy will be summarised and published in collaboration with a research collaborator Dr. Jean Mulder at the University of Melbourne.
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| Causes of Carryover |
Transcribing process has been delayed and thus Personnel Expenditure budget was not used.
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| Expenditure Plan for Carryover Budget |
It will be used for Personnel Expenditure on transcribing process.
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Research Products
(6 results)
