Your browser does not support the PubReader view.
Go to this page to see a list of supporting browsers.
The Korean Association for the Study of English Language and Linguistics
[ Article ]
Korea Journal of English Language and Linguistics - Vol. 21, No. 0, pp.392-413
ISSN: 1598-1398 (Print) 2586-7474 (Online)
Print publication date 31 Jan 2021
Received 06 Apr 2021 Revised 26 Apr 2021 Accepted 28 Apr 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15738/kjell.21..202104.392

The Role of Other-repair in English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) Communications

Kanghee Lee
Visiting Professor, University of Seoul, Tel: 82-2-6490-5224 kangheelee0919@gmail.com


© 2021 KASELL All rights reserved
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

The present paper aims to explore other-repair strategies in ELF communication and to identify sequential features and patterns of other-repair practices used to initiate the negotiation of meaning. The data are based on naturally occurring ELF conversations among the international students at a university in the U.K., and Conversation Analysis (CA) approach was adopted to identify and analyse mechanisms of other-repair strategies in the data. The findings suggest that ELF speakers engage in diverse clarification and repair strategies to clarify unclear messages of the others’ talk and to offer elaboration and support in co-construction of meanings. The participants are found to employ other-repair strategies of lexical replacement, interpretive summarising, and lexical supporting. The ELF speakers in the data display and confirm their own understanding to the others by replacing and modifying troublesome items for explicitness and attempt to resolve ambiguity and uncertainty to achieve mutual understanding. Repair is not limited to rectify linguistic perturbation, but it is extended to comprehensible clarity and explicitness in a broader sense. The result of the study supports that ELF speakers do not take understanding for granted, but they work hard to achieve it by pre-empting understanding troubles before the occurrence and promoting explicitness.

Keywords:

other-repair, English as a lingua franca (ELF), candidate understanding, clarification, support, let-it-pass, pre-empting strategy

References

  • Aleksius, M. 2017. A model of incorporating other-initiated repair strategies in teaching speaking to EFL learners. International Journal of English and Education 6(4), 123-135.
  • Amin, B. A. 2019. A discourse analysis of repair in selected English conversations. Journal of the University of Garmian 6(3), 245-261. [https://doi.org/10.24271/garmian.196352]
  • Antaki, C. 2012. Affiliative and disaffiliative candidate understandings. Discourse Studies 14(5), 531-547. [https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445612454074]
  • Benjamin, T. 2012. When problems pass us by: Using “you mean” to help locate the source of trouble. Research on Language & Social Interaction 45(1), 82-109. [https://doi.org/10.1080/08351813.2012.646742]
  • Beuter, K. 2019. Repair in English as a lingua franca interactions between Tanzanian and German school students: A qualitative approach. In H. Lenk, J. Härmä, B. Sanromán and E. Suomela-Härmä, eds., Studies in Comparative Pragmatics, 199-214. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
  • Björkman, B. 2014. An analysis of polyadic English as a lingua franca (ELF) speech: A communicative strategies framework. Journal of Pragmatics 66, 122-138. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2014.03.001]
  • Björkman, B. 2017. PhD supervision meetings in an English as a lingua franca (ELF) setting: Linguistic competence and content knowledge as neutralizers of institutional and academic power. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca 6(1), 111-139. [https://doi.org/10.1515/jelf-2017-0005]
  • Bolden, G. B. 2011. On the organization of repair in multiperson conversation: The case of “other”-selection in other-initiated repair sequences. Research on Language & Social Interaction 44(3), 237-262. [https://doi.org/10.1080/08351813.2011.591835]
  • Boström, M. 2021. Other-initiated repair as an indicator of critical communication in ship-to-ship interaction. Journal of Pragmatics 174, 78-92. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2021.01.007]
  • Cogo, A. and M. Dewey. 2012. Analysing English as a Lingua Franca: A Corpus-driven Investigation. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
  • Deterding, D. 2013. Misunderstandings in English as a Lingua Franca: An Analysis of ELF Interactions in South-East Asia (Vol. 1). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. [https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110288599]
  • Dingemanse, M., J. Blythe and T. Dirksmeyer. 2014. Formats for other-initiation of repair across languages: An exercise in pragmatic typology. Studies in Language 38(1), 5-43. [https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.38.1.01din]
  • Dingemanse, M. and N. J. Enfield. 2015. Other-initiated repair across languages: Towards a typology of conversational structures. Open Linguistics 1, 96-118. [https://doi.org/10.2478/opli-2014-0007]
  • Dörnyei, Z. 1995. On the teachability of communication strategies. TESOL Quarterly 29(1), 55-85. [https://doi.org/10.2307/3587805]
  • Farley, S. D. 2008. Attaining status at the expense of likeability: Pilfering power through conversational interruption. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 32(4), 241-260. [https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-008-0054-x]
  • Firth, A. 1996. The discursive accomplishment of normality: On ‘lingua franca’ English and conversation analysis. Journal of pragmatics 26(2), 237-259. [https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(96)00014-8]
  • Goodwin, C. and J. Heritage. 1990. Conversation analysis. Annual Review of Anthropology 19(1), 283-307. [https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.an.19.100190.001435]
  • Hanusková, M. 2019. Interactive repair among English as a lingua franca speakers in academic settings. Brno Studies in English 45(2), 35-52. [https://doi.org/10.5817/BSE2019-2-2]
  • Inkpen, D. and G. Hirst. 2006. Building and using a lexical knowledge base of near-synonym differences. Computational linguistics 32(2), 223-262. [https://doi.org/10.1162/coli.2006.32.2.223]
  • Jamshidnejad, A. 2011. Functional approach to communication strategies: An analysis of language learners’ performance in interactional discourse. Journal of Pragmatics 43(15), 3757-3769. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2011.09.017]
  • Jenkins, J., A. Cogo and M. Dewey. 2011. Review of developments in research into English as a lingua franca. Language Teaching 44(3), 281-315. [https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444811000115]
  • Kalocsai, K. 2011. The show of interpersonal involvement and the building of rapport in an ELF community of practice. In A. Archibald, A. Cogo and J. Jenkins, eds., Latest Trends in English as a Lingua Franca Research, 113-138. Newcastle Upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
  • Kasper, G. 2004. Participant orientations in German conversation‐for‐learning. The Modern Language Journal 88(4), 551-567. [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0026-7902.2004.t01-18-.x]
  • Kaur, J. 2011. Intercultural communication in English as a lingua franca: Some sources of misunderstanding. Intercultural Pragmatics 8(1), 93-116. [https://doi.org/10.1515/IPRG.2011.004]
  • Kaur, J. 2016. Conversation analysis and ELF. In M. L. Pitzl and R. Osimk-Teasdale, eds., English as a Lingua Franca: Perspectives and Prospects: Contributions in Honour of Barbara Seidlhofer (Vol. 24), 161-171. London: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.
  • Kaur, J. 2020. Other-correction in next position: The case of lexical replacement in ELF interactions in an academic setting. Journal of Pragmatics 169, 1-12. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2020.06.013]
  • Kendrick, K. H. 2015. Other-initiated repair in English. Open Linguistics 1, 164-190. [https://doi.org/10.2478/opli-2014-0009]
  • Kirkpatrick, A. 2010. English as a Lingua Franca in ASEAN: A Multilingual Model. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. [https://doi.org/10.5790/hongkong/9789888028795.001.0001]
  • Kitzinger, C. 2013. Repair. In J. Sidnell and T. Stivers, eds., The Handbook of Conversation Analysis, 229-256. Malden: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. [https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118325001.ch12]
  • Kurhila, S. (2001). Correction in talk between native and non-native speaker. Journal of Pragmatics 33(7), 1083-1110. [https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(00)00048-5]
  • Lee, K. 2016. Promoting cooperativeness through utterance completion in English as a lingua franca. Korean Journal of Applied Linguistics 32(2), 59-86. [https://doi.org/10.17154/kjal.2016.6.32.2.59]
  • Lerner, G. H. 1993. Collectivities in action: Establishing the relevance of conjoined participation in conversation. Text 13(2), 213-246. [https://doi.org/10.1515/text.1.1993.13.2.213]
  • Lilja, N. 2014. Partial repetitions as other-initiations of repair in second language talk: Re-establishing understanding and doing learning. Journal of Pragmatics 71, 98-116. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2014.07.011]
  • Lichtkoppler, J. 2007. ‘Male. Male.’ − ‘Male?’ − ‘The sex is male.’ The role of repetition in English as a lingua franca conversations. Vienna English Working Papers 16(1), 39-65.
  • Mauranen, A. 2006. Signalling and preventing misunderstanding in English as lingua franca communication. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 177, 123-150. [https://doi.org/10.1515/IJSL.2006.008]
  • Mauranen, A. 2012. Exploring ELF: Academic English Shaped by Non-native Speakers. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
  • Murata, K. 1994. A Cross-cultural Approach to the Analysis of Conversation and Its Implications for Language Pedagogy. Tokyo: Liber Press.
  • Pietikäinen, K. S. 2018. Misunderstandings and ensuring understanding in private ELF talk. Applied Linguistics 39(2), 188-212.
  • Schegloff, E. A. 2000. When ‘others’ initiate repair. Applied Linguistics 21(2), 205-243. [https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/21.2.205]
  • Svennevig, J. 2003. Echo answers in native/non-native interaction. Pragmatics 13(2), 285-309. [https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.13.2.04sve]
  • Svennevig, J. 2004. Other-repetition as display of hearing, understanding and emotional stance. Discourse Studies 6(4), 489-516. [https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445604046591]
  • Svennevig, J. 2008. Trying the easiest solution first in other-initiation of repair. Journal of Pragmatics 40(2), 333-348. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2007.11.007]
  • Szczepek, B. 2000. Functional aspects of collaborative productions in English conversation. InList 21, 1-36.
  • Tsuchiya, K. and M. Handford. 2014. A corpus-driven analysis of repair in a professional ELF meeting: Not ‘letting it pass’. Journal of Pragmatics 64, 117-131. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2014.02.004]
  • Varonis, E. M. and S. Gass. 1985. Non-native/non-native conversations: A model for negotiation of meaning. Applied Linguistics 6(1), 71-90. [https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/6.1.71]
  • Wong, J. 2000. Delayed next turn repair initiation in native/non-native speaker English conversation. Applied Linguistics 21(2), 244-267. [https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/21.2.244]
  • Wong, J. and H. Z. Waring. 2020. Conversation Analysis and Second Language Pedagogy: A Guide for ESL/EFL Teachers. Routledge: London. [https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429488023]