| Abstract: |
The fact that people with minimal linguistic skill can manage in unfamiliar or
reduced linguistic environments suggests that there are universal mechanisms of
meaning construction that operate at a level well beyond the particular structure or
semantics of any one language. The authors examine this possibility in the domain
of discourse by focusing on how gaps arising at the juncture between 2 persons’
turns-at-talk (inter-turn silences) are evaluated by speakers of typologically distinct
languages: English, Italian, and Japanese. This cross-linguistic design allows the
testing of both universal and relative aspects in orientation to silence. For this
study, the effects of inter-turn silence are tested using study participants’ ratings
of speakers’ willingness to comply with requests or agree with assessments that
were embedded in conversations. In a 3 2 3 between-groups design, 3 silence
lengths (0 ms, 600 ms, or 1200 ms) were crossed with 2 speech act types (requests and assessments) in manipulations of telephone conversations that were modeled
on an actual telephone call between friends. Native-speaking study participants, in
their home countries, provided ratings on Likert-type scales. Ratings significantly
decreased within each language group at longer inter-turn silences, indicating a
generalized response to the gaps; however, means were also significantly different
between groups, indicating different expectations for agreement. |