Prosodic Convergence, Divergence, and Feedback: Coherence and Meaning in Conversation
Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: Human language provides an especially cogent platform for studying the phenomenon of imitative and convergent behaviors in human communication, as speech communication integrates a complex mix of cognitive, emotional, and interactive social processes that are expressed in a number of different forms: the language specific choice of lexical items to communicate meaning, visuallybased information exchange of gestures and facial expressions, and the shaping of the oral and aural environment through variations in prosodic flow. Scientific studies have shown convergent behavior in body movements and gesturing in conversation (Condon and Sander, 1974; Nagaoka, et al., 2007, Campbell and Stefan, 2010), and in speech (Gratch, et al., 2007; Jonsdottir, et al., 2007, Buschmeier, et al. 2011, Lelong and Bailly, 2011; Heylen, et al., 2011; Ward, 2006), and focused on their role in creating harmony and rapport between conversational participants through the use of feedback markers, and through timing and frequency of non-verbal facial and movement gesturing (Lelong and Bailly, 2011; Heylen, et al., 2011). Spontaneous conversation is multi-functional in both its goals and processes: the most evident goal of transmitting information simultaneously carries a social goal of building rapport and the sharing of attitudes and emotions towards the information transmitted. In the conversational process, speakers provide propositional and emotional and information through prosody, gesturing, and feedback, and engage in interactional probing to build a shared knowledge state and guide topic in a mutually desired direction. Prosody plays a key role in this process, as it provides a powerful and informative resource to communicate multiple levels of coherence and meaning by providing a direct and immediate link to fundamental expressive states.
Author: Li-chiung Yang
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W891834313