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Unfinished Utterances in Mandarin Conversation
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- Author(s) / Creator(s)
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SSHRC Awarded IDG 2017: If people learn to speak the same language, can broken communication be avoided? Both research and anecdotal evidence tell us “no”. In contrast to language differences, differences in speaking styles are far more difficult to detect. Although knowledge of different language systems such as English and Chinese is extensive, there is little systematic knowledge of how people—particularly those who speak Chinese—engage in everyday conversation. One unique, though poorly documented, norm in the Chinese speaking style is to leave things unsaid or unfinished. In this research, I will examine how and why Mandarin Chinese speakers use unfinished utterances in everyday conversation. To examine this question, I will qualitatively analyze video-recorded Mandarin conversations. I will document the verbal and nonverbal behaviors associated with the production of unfinished utterances, and elucidate the interactional work that unfinished utterances accomplish in Mandarin conversation. I anticipate that nonverbal behaviors such as gaze, gestures, and facial expressions may be mobilized in producing unfinished utterances with incomplete verbal structures. Further, I predict that unfinished utterances tend to be used in conversations about socially sensitive matters in Mandarin because they express conflict or disagreement without being “on the record”.
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- Date created
- 2017-02-01
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- Subjects / Keywords
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- Media studies
- Linguistics
- 2017
- Non-Verbal Communication
- Cultural Diversity
- IDG
- Successful SSHRC
- Speaking style
- Verbal Behaviour
- Ethnolinguistics
- Ethnic Studies
- Chinese
- Anthropology
- Multiculturalism
- Communications studies
- Communication
- China
- Non-Verbal Behaviour
- Arts and Culture
- Language Interaction
- Unfinished Utterances
- East Asia
- Inclusion
- Mandarin Conversation
- 21st Century
- Canada
- China
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- Type of Item
- Research Material
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- License
- © Li, Xiaoting. All rights reserved other than by permission. This document embargoed to those without UAlberta CCID until 2023.