
Displaying Recipiency
Reactive tokens in Mandarin task-oriented interaction
Jun Xu(Author)
John Benjamins Publishing Co
Published on 3. October 2016
Book
Hardback
198 pages
978-90-272-0186-7 (ISBN)
Description
This book is intended to address students, researchers and teachers of spoken language. It presents an empirical study of task-oriented language data in which coparticipants display levels of recipiency through reactive tokens. An in-depth investigation of displaying recipiency is of interest primarily to conversation analysts and pragmaticians involved in the research on talk-in-interaction in general and Mandarin Chinese conversations in particular. The communicative aspect makes this book relevant to the areas of language use. While previous research has shown that one single reactive token has different discourse functions in different conversational environments, this study shows that participants' collaborative orientation to each other's status of displayed recipiency seems decisive for the selection of reactive tokens, rather than one specific reactive token being employed for specific conversational purposes in varying interactional contexts. This book also contributes to fields in linguistics, pragmatics, and sociology which specialize in the investigation of spontaneous human communication.
Reviews / Votes
The contributions of this book are multifaceted. Its theorizations of reactive tokens and recipiency are inspiring to conversation analysts. Its qualitative, context-based approach to reactive tokens provides a necessary complement to the popular quantitative approach. The explorations into the forms and functions of Mandarin reactive tokens and the factors conditioning their use contribute to Chinese conversation studies, and the similarity shown between Mandarin and English reactive tokens is also a contribution to comparative linguistics and intercultural communication studies. The highlight of the recipient's role in conversation provides a good complement to speaker-oriented conversation analysis studies and provides insights into the interactional nature of human language. -- Liangtao Lai, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, in Discourse Studies Vol. 19, No. 5 (2017)More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Amsterdam
Netherlands
Target group
College/higher education
Weight
490 gr
ISBN-13
978-90-272-0186-7 (9789027201867)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
10/2016
1st Edition
John Benjamins Publishing Company
€123.99
Available for download
Person
Content
1. Acknowledgements; 2. Abbreviations; 3. List of tables; 4. List of figures; 5. List of graphics; 6. Chapter 1. Introduction; 7. Chapter 2. Reactive tokens in English and Mandarin conversation; 8. Chapter 3. Data and approach; 9. Chapter 4. A sequential analysis of reactive tokens in Mandarin; 10. Chapter 5. Displaying levels of recipiency through reactive tokens; 11. Chapter 6. Selection of reactive tokens in information mismatch sequences; 12. Chapter 7. Conclusion; 13. References; 14. Appendix; 15. List of Names; 16. List of Subjetcs