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This qualitative study aims to describe some interactional uses of "öh" [ø], a commonly used particle both in Italian and in other Italian-Romance varieties, from the perspective of conversation analysis (Schegloff, 2007). The research is based on a corpus of 59 instances from informal phone calls between friends, face-to-face conversations, and interviews in standard and regional Italian. The analysis shows that "öh" appears in responsive turns both as a free-standing turn-constructional unit and as a turn preface, either alone or in combination with other words. In the sequential context analyzed here - the response to a polar question, a "B-event" statement (i.e., a statement that indicate privileged, first-hand knowledge to a topic by the interlocutor, and which is usually treated as request for confirmation; cf. Labov and Fanshel, 1977: 100) or other types of informational turns - "öh" is used by participants to confirm from an epistemically qualified position. Finally, "öh" can take on distinct prosodic contours, lending itself to remarkable modulations that can emphasize the participant’s stance (cf. Gardner 2001)., Depto. de Estudios Románicos, Franceses, Italianos y Traducción, Fac. de Filología, TRUE, pub

This study focuses on the discursive characterization of additional language speakers in the interactions featured in a number of Spanish as a foreign language textbooks. The analysis of the interactional repertoires that characterize their interventions shows that additional language speakers display a type participation inherent to native speakers of Spanish as L1, that is to say, hardly plausible in the communicative contexts in which it emerges. The results of this study give us the opportunity to understand interactions in listening comprehension materials as divergent models of the target language. In such a context, additional language speakers tend to behave in ways that are divergent in terms of authenticity from those observable in natural-occurring circumstances., Este estudio focaliza su atención en la caracterización discursiva de los hablantes de lenguas adicionales en las interacciones orales que aportan una serie de manuales de español como lengua extranjera. El análisis de los repertorios interaccionales con los que se construyen sus intervenciones determina que los hablantes de español como lengua adicional mantienen una participación más propia de los hablantes de español como L1, así como impropia de los contextos comunicativos en los que se sitúan las interacciones aportadas. Los resultados del estudio nos llevan a comprender las interacciones orales aportadas en las comprensiones auditivas como muestras de lengua alejadas de la realidad extrapedagógica, cuya participación de los hablantes de lenguas adicionales mayoritariamente no se corresponde con el uso real de la lengua en términos de autenticidad.

This case study adopts the theory and method of conversation analysis to examine recorded dialogues in three textbooks for Spanish as a Foreign Language used in Swedish secondary education. The analyses of these conversations reveal some problematic patterns regarding the sequence of actions, the systematic presence of gaps between turns at talk, and a frequent lack of coordination between co-participants. Other phenomena that are typical of spontaneous interactions, such as overlaps between turns, repair sequences or co-constructions, are completely missing in the analyzed materials. From the perspective of communicative and action-oriented language teaching, the article maintains that in the preparation of this type of pedagogical supports, the authors should consider the close relationship between spoken language and social action.

This conversation analytic study describes the interactional uses of ciò [ʧɔ], a pragmatic particle that is used both in the regional Italian spoken in Veneto (a region of northeastern Italy) and in Trevigiano (Trevixàn [trevi’zaŋ]), an Italo-Romance variety widely used in the Treviso area. Preliminary results show that ciò (derived from the imperative form of the verb ciór/tòr ([ʧor]/[tɔr] ‘to take’) is mostly used as a preface in responsive position and is frequently preceded by the particle eh. In our data, the (eh) ciò-prefaced turns are designed as general, objective, obvious contributions through which participants provide a wider perspective on the topic while treating the preceding talk as defective or not dealing with relevant aspects of the subject under discussion. This study contributes to the documentation of linguistic forms that are used by speakers of an Italo-Romance variety as conversational resources in talk-in-interaction.

This conversation analytic study describes the uses of ciò ([ʧɔ]) in talk-in-interaction. This discourse marker is documented as a linguistic resource in several Venetan Italo-Romance varieties still widely spoken in the Veneto region, and it is also frequently used in the regional Italian spoken in that area. The data come from informal telephone calls and from family dinner conversations in both Italian and Trevigiano ([trevi'zaŋ]), which is a dialect spoken in the Treviso area. Preliminary results show that ciò (derived from the imperative form of the Venetan verb ciór / tór / tòr ([ʧor] / [tor] / [tɔr], ‘to take’)) is mainly mobilized as turn preface, often preceded by other particles. However, ciò is also found within the turn and, in a limited number of cases, in turn-final position. From a sequential point of view, in our data ciò occurs almost exclusively in responsive turns. This study shows that a conversation analytic approach yields a much more comprehensive understanding not only of specific structures of spoken languages but also of the complex relations existing between different linguistic varieties in Italy, Basato sui principi teorici e metodologici dell’analisi della conversazione, questo studio descrive gli usi in interazione di ciò ([ʧɔ]), un segnale discorsivo presente in diverse varietà italo-romanze ancora ampiamente diffuse in Veneto, ma frequente anche nell’italiano regionale parlato in quest’area. I dati provengono da telefonate informali e da conversazioni in famiglia, in italiano e in dialetto trevigiano ([trevi'zaŋ]). I risultati preliminari mostrano che ciò (dalla forma imperativa del verbo veneto ciór / tór / tòr ([ʧor] / [tor] / [tɔr], ‘prendere’) è usato principalmente all’inizio del turno di parola, spesso preceduto da altre particelle. Tuttavia ciò si trova spesso all’interno e, in un numero limitato di casi, anche alla fine del turno. Dal punto di vista sequenziale, nei nostri dati la presenza di ciò è riscontrabile in maniera pressoché esclusiva in turni di risposta. Questo studio dimostra che un approccio metodologico di tipo analitico conversazionale può dare un utile contributo alla comprensione non solo di strutture e fenomeni caratteristici del parlato ma anche delle complesse relazioni esistenti tra varietà linguistiche diverse in Italia.

Questo studio analitico-conversazionale esplora il modo in cui tre gruppi di studenti liceali di spagnolo come lingua straniera svolgono un compito chiamato "sciarada". In particolare, il presente contributo esamina come i partecipanti portano progressivamente a termine il compito attraverso l'uso di varie risorse semiotiche. Nella sciarada, ogni gruppo di studenti riceve un mazzo di cartoncini, ciascuno con una frase in spagnolo. Gli studenti, a turno, scelgono un cartoncino e ne mimano la frase, in modo da farla indovinare ai compagni. La ricerca qui presentata si concentra su come i partecipanti rispondono alle soluzioni proposte e, più in generale, all'interpretazione del compito adottata dai compagni. In particolare, l'analisi mostra come l'accettazione e il rifiuto delle ipotesi dei partecipanti e delle loro interpretazioni si realizzano con diverse configurazioni di risorse linguistiche, prosodiche e gestuali, configurazioni distribuite lungo un continuum di intensità emotiva. Questa ricerca contribuisce allo studio dell'insegnamento basato sui compiti (task-based instruction ) nel campo dell'analisi della conversazione applicata all'insegnamento delle lingue seconde attraverso l'analisi del ruolo delle emozioni esibite dai partecipanti nella realizzazione di compiti intesi come attività (tasks-as-activities ).

Questo studio pilota adotta la metodologia dell’Analisi della Conversazione per esplorare il tipo e la funzione dei segnali di risposta usati da studenti svedesi di italiano LS impegnati in un’attività didattica in classe. L’interesse nei confronti di queste risorse linguistiche risiede nel fatto che esse sono una delle componenti centrali di ciò che definiamo competenza interazionale, ovvero l’abilità da parte del parlante di produrre attraverso i propri turni delle azioni socialmente riconoscibili, che rispondano in modo adeguato e in tempo reale a quelle prodotte dai copartecipanti all’interazione

This case study, inspired by the principles of conversation analysis, examines two recorded conversations from a manual for teaching Italian as a second language. It analyzes certain salient characteristics of these conversations based on what we know about spontaneous speech from conversation analysis studies (Schegloff, 2007). The detailed analysis of the conversations highlights their problematic nature, especially with regard to the sequentiality of actions, which results in the frequent absence of coordination between conversation shifts. Other phenomena typical of spontaneous verbal interaction, such as overlaps and reparations, are often absent. In essence, these are conversations that are not suitable for instructional approaches that encourage learners to reflect on the details of spoken interaction. The article proposes an analysis model of these audio scripts that takes into consideration the close relationship between language, the sequential structure of speech, and social interaction.

This conversation-analytic study investigates the use of code switching (henceforth CS) in three Italian L2 classrooms in Sweden. Specifically, when and why do teachers code switch in their questions? Is the language choice pedagogically motivated? Does the teachers’ language choice have an influence over the students’ language choice in their answers? The data were collected from three beginner-level Italian lessons in two Swedish High Schools. Transcripts of questions in which CS occurred were analyzed using a conversation analytic approach with a focus on sequentiality in relation to the organization of turn allocation, to understand when and why the CS occurs in both questions and answers. In our data teachers use CS when posing questions to the class in two major occasions, namely when the question is followed by a significant silence but also when no discernible silence follows a question. Furthermore, regardless of the language used by the teacher, the students answer in Italian when the questions are task-based, and in Swedish when the questions are off-task.

"L'idea iniziale di questo volume è nata in contesto scandinavo, grazie al simposio 'Paese che vai, manuale che trovi' organizzato da Entela Tabaku Sörman presso il Dipartimento di lingue romanze e classiche dell'Università di Stoccolma nell'autunno del 2016. Tuttavia, le riflessioni delle autrici e degli autori qui rappresentati travalicano i confini dell'Europa settentrionale per restituire il ritratto complesso di uno strumento didattico che attraversa una fase di ridefinizione del proprio ruolo e dei propri contenuti. Che cos'è dunque, oggi, il manuale di italiano?..."

This dissertation examines mealtime conversations between parents and children in eight Swedish and eight Italian middle class, dual-earner households, exploring the ways in which children are engaged in the cooperative construction of social order. The study is part of an international project (cf. Aronsson & Pontecorvo, 2002), coordinated with prior work in the US (cf. Ochs & Kremer-Sadlik, 2013). Study I explores how children’s accounts work during family dinner conversations. So called proto-accounts (laments, multiple repeats, want-statements) and varied verbal accounts are analyzed in relation to age class or prior language socialization experiences. Study II focuses on the use of endearment terms in directive sequences between parents and children. The findings show an asymmetrical distribution of endearment terms, in that only parents make use of them when interactional problems – children’s non-compliance with parental requests in particular – arise. Study III examines the ways in which Italian parents deploy the discourse marker dai (‘come on’) in directive sequences. This is a flexible linguistic resource that is employed by parents as a cajoling token when children fail to comply with parental requests, hindering the advancement of the in-progress activity. This thesis describes family mealtimes as parent-directed activities where sociality, morality and local understandings of the world (Ochs & Shohet, 2006) are collaboratively re-created and enacted. This confirms the crucial role of everyday family meals as rich cultural sites (Ochs & Shohet, 2006) for reasserting moral attitudes of the family: participants learn moment by moment how to be competent actors that are able to choose between alternative courses of action and that can therefore be held accountable for their actions (Bergmann, 1998: 284). From this point of view, a dinner is paradigmatic of the deep moral sense that permeates the making of a family.

This chapter illuminates how accountability is a core aspect of the intergenerational argumentation by family members during social interaction at dinnertime. First, an introduction to the concepts of social accountability and language socialization will be provided. Some prior work has focused on mutual apprenticeship (Pontecorvo, Fasulo & Sterponi, 2001), but not much work has problematized how children deploy what we will call proto-accounts (laments, multiple repeats, want-statements) on the one hand, and varied verbal accounts, on the other, in relation to age class or prior language socialization experiences. Second, we will present our study on argumentation, exploring how children’s accounts work during family dinner conversations. Argumentative resources used by parents and children will be discussed in the final part of the chapter in terms of social accountability and the relevance that these strategies have as truly interactional accomplishments., CELF, UCLA Center on Everyday Lives of Families

The focus of this study is on the use of endearment terms and affective resources (including other address terms, as well as nonverbal calibration) in requests sequences in inter-generational interaction, expanding prior work on requests as social action. This study documents verbal and embodied practices in dinnertime talk (30 hours of video) deployed by both parents and children in order to get things done. The analyses show ways in which endearment terms were recurrently deployed in request sequences, marking both trouble and social intimacy. Moreover, the data show that endearment terms were exclusively deployed by the parents, but not by their children. The adults and children drew on different repertoires of affective resources: the children deployed an array of nonverbal and nonvocal means to display their affective stances. In addition, the parents resorted to endearment terms, nicknames, and diminutives, as lexical devices invoking intimate bonds in a context where social solidarity might be at stake. Finally, while children’s requests target an immediate action concerning food and food-related activities rooted in the here and now of the interaction, parental requests can be often analyzed as redressive actions, prompted by the child’s (troublesome) behavior., CELF, UCLA Center on Everyday Lives of Families

This chapter illuminates how accountability is a core aspect of the intergenerational argumentation by family members during social interaction at dinnertime. First, an introduction to the concepts of social accountability and language socialization will be provided. Some prior work has focused on mutual apprenticeship (Pontecorvo et al. 2001), but not much work has problematized how children deploy what we will call proto-accounts (laments, multiple repeats, want-statements) on the one hand, and varied verbal accounts, on the other, in relation to age class or prior language socialization experiences. Second, we will present our study on argumentation, exploring how children’s accounts work during family dinner conversations. Argumentative resources used by parents and children will be discussed in the final part of the chapter in terms of social accountability and the relevance that these strategies have as truly interactional accomplishments.

In this study, we analyze the kind of actions L1 and L2 speakers of Italian perform by prefacing their responsive turns with the discourse marker be’. As a baseline, the article begins with an analysis of how native speakers of Italian use be’. We then carry out a quantitative and a qualitative analysis of the use of be’ in a number of L2 learners at different proficiency levels from three data sets of different types of interactions between students and native speakers of Italian. In the qualitative analysis, we adopt a conversation analytic perspective. The results suggest that both native speakers and L2 speakers, at an intermediate to an advanced level, perform a variety of social actions by be’-prefacing their responsive turns.

A partir de datos observados en conversaciones espontáneas, este artículo ofrece una descripción de algunos usos en la interacción del marcador del discurso italiano be’, una palabra que las gramáticas descriptivas del italiano definen como interjección. La perspectiva que este trabajo adopta es la de la lingüística interaccional, cuyos métodos y planteamiento scientíficos derivan del análisis de la conversación. Después de una breve introducción a la investigación existente en el ámbito pragmático-funcional, en el artículo se analizarán los turnos de palabra introducidos por be’, tanto en posición de respuesta como en otras. El análisisllevado a cabo nos permite caracterizar el marcador discursivo be’ como un recurso utilizado por el hablante tanto para la gestión de las acciones, como de las secuencias y de los tópicos conversacionales.

The Italian discursive signal dai (Eng: come on) in family conversations, between saying and requesting This paper analyzes the use of the Italian discourse marker ‘dai’ (English idiomatic translation : “come on”) in directive sequences between parents and children collected during family mealtime interactions. The work shows how this pragmatic device inhabits sequential contexts in which the recipient is not oriented toward the course of action to which the request refers, that is, when participants do not share the participatory framework and when resistance can be anticipated from the recipient. The paper shows the extent to which the ‘dai’ marker works as a modulator of affect (from encouragement to critique) and, at the same time, how it can open a negotiation space between parents and children as regards the management of individual responsibilities. The paper finally considers the findings in light of practices of socialization, and proposes that the marker supports a cultural preference, common in middle-class families in Western contexts, toward acknowledging the child as an agent and willful individual even in contexts in which he/she is asked to comply.

In family life, inter-generational argumentation is a pervasive feature of dinnertime conversations (Aronsson & Gottzén, 2011; Arcidiacono & Bova, 2013; Grieshaber, 1997; Ochs & Beck, 2013; Pontecorvo & Arcidiacono, 2014). The dinnertable is therefore a fruitful site for the study of multiparty argumentation and negotiations, as well as an arena where socialization into local norms takes place (Ochs et al., 1996). In fact, dinnertime conversations are events where many activities occur simultaneously and where participants successively negotiate mutual rights, obligations and accountabilities over time (Aronsson & Cekaite, 2011; Hepburn & Potter, 2011; Bova & Arcidiacono, 2014a; Sterponi, 2003, 2009). More specifically, this paper explores the role of accounts and explanations in inter-generational encounters, extending earlier work on argumentation and accountability (Aukrust & Snow, 1998; Bova & Arcidiacono, 2013; Buttny, 1993; Sterponi & Santagata, 2000). The primary focus is on how both parents and children design complaints and uptake to complaints. The data include ethnographic video-recordings of family life in the homes of sixteen Italian and Swedish middle class, dual-earner families, with at least one elder and one younger child (in total 38 children of 1.5-13 years of age). Each family was filmed during one week, before and after school. The present analyses focus on dinnertime complaint sequences, events that are rich in multiparty conversations, including argumentation between parents and children, and between siblings (Arcidiacono, 2011; Arcidiacono & Pontecorvo, 2009; Bova & Arcidiacono, in press; Drew, 1998; Edwards, 2005). The findings document the pervasive role of accounts (as responses to complaints), designed to fit a local moral and social order, illuminating how accountability is a core aspect of the intergenerational argumentation in complaint sequences by family members during social interactio

The purpose of this report is to analyze the cooperative strategies resorted to by an advanced learner of Italian L2 in a casual conversation with a native speaker, with a focus on discourse markers and other pragmatic and linguistic resources used with mitigating effects., InterIta - High-Level Proficiency in Second Language Use

Oggetto di questa presentazione sono le funzioni svolte in italiano dai segnali discorsivi (SD) dai e va rispetto al turno che aprono o chiudono. Quella dei segnali discorsivi è una categoria ombrello piuttosto eterogenea (cf. Fischer 2006): in generale, tali particelle svolgono una funzione metadiscorsiva, non hanno contenuto proposizionale proprio, possono non appartenere a classi di parole tradizionali e non fanno parte integrale della struttura sintattica dell’enunciato. Possono inoltre essere fonologicamente ridotte e rappresentare unità prosodiche separate (cf. Bolden, frth). L’analisi della conversazione è il quadro teorico e metodologico all’interno del quale questa ricerca si situa: i segnali discorsivi dai e va saranno osservati nell’ambito sequenziale in cui appaiono, fatto che consentirà un’interpretazione locale e situata della loro funzione. I dati sono rappresentati da alcune cene in famiglia facenti parte del corpus iCELF (UCLA Center on Everyday Lives of Families). Secondo le prime osservazioni, dai e va occupano posizioni diverse all’interno dei turni di cui fanno parte: mentre dai si può trovare tanto in posizione prefatoria quanto finale e anche come turno autonomo, va sembra apparire quasi esclusivamente a fine turno. Se dai sembra avere principalmente (ma non esclusivamente) funzione di rinforzo di un atto direttivo, va pare invece mitigare la forza del direttivo, offrendo quest’ultimo come un’alternativa desiderabile – quindi più favorevole – rispetto ad un’altra che tuttavia non viene specificata esplicitamente. Inoltre, nei nostri dati va può chiudere un turno contenente un’esortazione che il parlante rivolge a un soggetto plurale “noi”, anche quando chi è chiamato a compiere l’azione è il parlante stesso. Questo studio è rilevante poiché per la prima volta si analizzano dal punto di vista sequenziale le azioni che i partecipanti svolgono attraverso l’uso di dai e va nel parlato in interazione.

The inspiration for the work reported here came from a simple observation: a particle like be’, so frequent in spoken Italian, has been so far overlooked by researchers in the field of Conversation Analysis. This study aims at giving a description of be’ in its sequential environment and will address the following research questions: - Where and when does be’ appear? - What action/s does the speaker perform through a be’-prefaced turn? The studies dealing with be' are very scarce: Poggi (1981) analyzed be’ in terms of violations of expectations, while Bazzanella (1994) brought together be’ and many other particles under the umbrella term of “discourse marker”, without specifically focusing on it, though. Grammars usually list be’ among interjections. The current research draws on a small corpus (200 minutes) of dyadic conversations between Italian native speakers and very proficient Swedish speakers of Italian L2. The data belong to the InterIta project (Bardel, 2004) and were recorded between the fall term 2008 and the spring term 2010, with sixteen participants involved. From a quantitative point of view, 49 tokens in total were found. In our data, be’ turned out to be a relevant tool in interaction, occupying a strategic turn-initial position and performing a variety of functions. As Schegloff (1987: 71) observed, the beginning of the turn is of great importance due to the fact that it projects the kind of turn that is being implemented, a vital aspect of the turn-taking system in conversation. This position is often filled by various markers that relate what is going to be said by the current speaker to what has just been said in the previous turn by the other participant. be’ seems prototypical in this respect in that it works as both backward- and forward-looking stance marker. Preliminary analysis of our dataset suggests that be’ performs at least three different kinds of action: more precisely, be’ can 1) preface a repair (both self- and o