A way of speaking that uses terminology from academic disciplines as well as drawing on the grammar of Standard English. It is a register in linguistic terms and it is used in speaking and writing.
Accent
A way of pronouncing words or phrases. Everyone has an accent because we all have particular ways of pronouncing words and using intonation in our varieties of English (or any other language). Linguists see pronunciation and intonation as part of dialects and styles.
Agency
Having the power or capacity to act. In seminar this means having a voice in the conversation.
Argument to persuade
An argument used in academic discourse, both spoken and written, which states a claim and provides evidence from well documented sources. The point is to persuade.
Argument to win
An argument used mostly in everyday conversation which states a claim with evidence that usually from personal opinion, personal experience, or hearsay. The point is to win.
Brainstorming
Students generate lists of ideas. The goal is to make a long list and to be inventive. No judgment or criticism is permitted. Building on others’ ideas is useful.
Code-switch
Changing from one style to another, one dialect to another, or one language to another. It is a common phenomenon.
Community of practice
Lave and Wenger (1991), who coined this phrase discuss “legitimate peripheral participation” as a crucial part of any learning. Learning is a social experience similar to an apprenticeship. The apprentice participates in a particular practice and also observes. They reject the notion that learning is a purely cognitive experience.
Conversational moves
We are always doing something with our words. In seminars, for example, we ask or answer a question, agree or disagree, clarify or ask for clarification, apologize, invite responses, and compliment.
Creaky voice
A style of speaking that women currently use more than men possibly to signal authority. It is also called vocal fry. One way to produce it is to pronounce the word “button” without pronouncing the “t.” The raspy sound you produce instead of the “t” can be prolonged.
Cultural models
These are simplified theories or stories that we use to quickly understand and make sense of the world. We have an idea of “vacation” of “classroom” of “running for office” and each of these is a cultural model based on our socialization. We can have these models even if we never engage in a particular activity because they are part of our culture. Examining them reveals the patterns that create the model.
Dialect
A dialect is a variety of a language with a complete set of grammatical rules, vocabulary or lexicon, and way of pronouncing words. It is the same as a language, then, except that its speakers do not hold political and social power. Some dialects may not have a written grammar and dictionary and literature.
Face
The positive value each person holds of their public persona. We negotiate our face and others’ faces in each conversation. Our face can change according to the situation, other speakers, and goals.
Face threat
We can threaten someone’s face by being direct as in giving a command or order or being impolite. The context, which includes the situation, place, who can overhear, the relationship between the speakers, and their status all play a role in determining whether or not someone’s words constitute a face threat to another person. Face threats usually cause a problem such as loss of face.
Facework
The activities we use in conversation to maintain enough harmony to complete them. We need to show common ground and courtesy to others so that they maintain our face as well as theirs.
Gender binary
The ideology that there are only two genders, male and female. It leaves out transgendered people as well as others who question their gender in various ways.
Hedge
Words and phrases that mitigate or soften the force of a statement. Possibly, maybe, it seems, sort of, and in some ways are all hedges that are widely used. Hedges can soften a disagreement, express uncertainty, or indicate that the next word is not the exact one.
Heteronormativity
An ideology that heterosexuality is the norm and should be the norm. We call up this ideology by referring to gender as being composed of just two types, male and female.
High-Considerateness Style
A style speakers use that allows about a half a second or more between turns.
High-Involvement Style
In this style, speakers often overlap in order to show rapport or solidarity, they use machine-gun questioning, and they find pauses uncomfortable.
Identity
I use the term “social identities” to refer to the many factors that influence the way we talk, move, dress, behave, and the values we hold. These factors include gender, race, ethnicity, class, education, age, sexual orientation, nationality, geographic region, religion, etc. In conversations we produce social identities. They are not fixed and stable features; in addition, we can position others and they can position us to focus on just one of these identities.
Ideology
The often unspoken beliefs that seem commonplace and that order our social worlds.
LGBTQ
This abbreviation usually refers to a community of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, queer, and questioning people. Those who are questioning are not yet sure of their identity in this community.
Linguistic repertoire
Ways of talking including dialects, registers, styles, lexicon, borrowed phrases, and phrases to maintain face. It also includes all of the intonation patterns, tones of voice, voice quality (breathiness, creaky voice), and other musical features of language including timing in conversations.
Mainstream English
The English of the government, schools, and written news media. It is close to Standard English, but includes informal as well as formal English practices.
Marginalization
Students can feel intimidated by other students in the seminar and so they either do not participate at all or only participate minimally. Their voices, then, are pushed to the margins of the conversation instead of being heard and carefully considered.
Microaggression
The subtle slights and insults that privileged speakers may not be aware of. Privileged speakers are those who are not in a minoritized group and they often do not realize that they have privilege and power.
Minoritized groups
Social groups that are devalued. Traditionally these groups have been called “minorities” but “minoritized” captures the dynamics that are always present in social interactions and signals that a group’s status is not always related to how many people are in it.
Positioning
Placing someone or ourselves in a particular social category in a conversation. This can be done with words or by ignoring someone, positioning them as an outsider.
Power in conversation
Having power in conversation means having agency—you can express your ideas. Other moves we associate with power are dominating the conversation either by controlling the floor or talking a lot. Students can also gain power by making controversial statements, using debate techniques, arguing to win, or using derisive tones that silence others. Taking a stance of authority, using academic discourse, and articulating new ideas are all ways of gaining power as well. Power shifts in conversations, and it must be granted to speakers by others.
Register
A set of terms and phrases that we learn at work, in college, and through the media. Softball players, government workers, hair dressers, and engineers all have particular terms they use. Many people are familiar with the register of a barista, for example, when they order coffee successfully at a specialized coffee shop. Academic English is a register. All disciplines have registers.
Reported speech
We interject what someone else said or might have said or thought into our own utterance. This can be a direct quote and it can be in the voice of that other person so that we are mimicking that person. Students introduce these quotes using she said, she’s like, she goes, she’s all. We can also report ideas that we had prior to the current conversation (I was thinking at the time, what does that mean?). Reported speech is useful to interject spontaneity, humor, or the flavor of another conversation. In seminars, it is mostly used to be indirect.
Standard English
The English that is taught in textbooks but that no one actually uses all of the time. The grammar rules, lexicon, and pronunciation are codified in grammar books and dictionaries and these do not change very rapidly, unlike the grammar and lexicon and pronunciation of mainstream English. It is primarily used in writing.
Stance
a speaker’s attitude, belief, or assessment of what they are saying. In English we do not have to indicate a stance, but some ways that we do are I think, I guess, I heard, the author writes. A stance can provide a speaker with authority in seminar.
Transition moments
These are moments for a listener to take a turn. These occur when a speaker may invite a response from another by using their name or addressing a comment directly to them; or the other speaker may take a turn when the first speaker completes a sentence or clause, a phrase, or a word, or uses intonation in a way to indicate a complete thought.
Vocal fry
Also called creaky voice, it is a phenomenon of lowering the voice by vibrating the vocal chords at one end. One way to produce it is to pronounce “button” without pronouncing the “t.” The raspy sound you produce instead of the “t” can be prolonged.