2 research outputs found
Function of intonation in task-oriented dialogue
This thesis addresses the question of how intonation functions in conversation.
It examines the intonation and discourse function of single-word utterances in
spontaneous and read-aloud task-oriented dialogue (HCRC Map Task Corpus
containing Scottish English; see Anderson et al., 1991). To avoid some of the
pitfalls of previous studies in which such comparisons of intonation and discourse
structure tend to lack balance and focus more heavily on one analysis at
the expense of the other, it employs independently developed analyses. They
are the Conversational Games Analysis (as introduced in Kowtko, Isard and
Doherty, 1992) and a simple target level representation of intonation. Correlations
between categories of intonation and of discourse function in spontaneous
dialogue suggest that intonation reflects the function of an utterance. Contrary
to what one might expect from reading the literature, these categories are in
some cases categories of exclusion rather than inclusion.
Similar patterns result from the study of read-aloud dialogue. Discourse
function and intonation categories show a measure of correlation. One difference
that does appear between patterns across speech modes is that in many
instances of discourse function intonation categories shift toward tunes ending
low in the speaker's pitch range (e. g. a falling tune) for the read-aloud version.
This result is in accord with other contemporary studies (e. g. Blaauw, 1995).
The difference between spontaneous and read results suggests that read-aloud
dialogue - even that based on scripts which include hesitations and false starts
- is not a substitute for eliciting the same intonation strategies that are found
in spontaneous dialogue