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However, since the structure of adjacency pair contains of initiating acts and responding acts, it is not really necessary to include the identification of
follow-up acts in the analysis.
H.
Elicitations
1. The Definition of Elicitations
Utterances that realize elicitations have often referred to as ‘questions’. However the term question itself has never been clearly defined. It has been used
as a semantic category, as an illocutionary act and as a kind of request or directive. Sometimes an utterance is identified as a question because it is in
interrogative form, and sometimes because it expects an answer or some verbal performance from the addressee. According to Tsui 1994: 80 “utterances, which
elicit solely a verbal response is categorized as elicitations”. The term ‘elicitation’ itself is first introduced by Sinclair and Coulthard in Tsui, 1994: 80.
An elicitations is an act the function of which is to request a linguistic response-linguistic, although the response may be a non-verbal surrogate
such as a nod or raised hand. Sinclair and Coulthard 1975: 28
Hence, the term elicitation as a discourse category in this research is meant to describe any utterance, which functions to elicit an obligatory verbal
response or its non-verbal surrogate. The term elicitations are related to ‘pragmatic presuppositions’.
According to Stalnaker in Tsui, 1994: 162 ‘pragmatic presuppositions’ refer to the background belief of the speaker; that is, propositions that the speaker takes
for granted to be true in making the utterance’. In this sense, the speaker or the
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sender should already have presuppositions in employing the elicitations regarding to the response that they prospect. In conclusion, the term
presuppositions here are something to be the case prior for the speaker or sender in delivering the elicitations.
2. Elicitations Dealing with Quirk et al. s Study of Questions
Elicitations can be identified having the same characteristic as ‘questions’ occurring in discourse. Quirk et al. in Tsui, 1994: 65 define questions as a
semantic class which is primarily used to seek information on a specific point. They propose that there are three major classes of question according to the
answer they expect: a.
YES-NO questions This kind of questions expects affirmation or negotiation. There are three
types of questions, which fall under YES-NO questions they are: YES-NO questions, Tag questions and Declarative Questions.
1. YES-NO questions: this type of questions is usually formed by placing the
operator before the subject and using question intonation-that is, a rise or fall- rise. A yes-no question can be biased towards a positive or a negative answer.
The example taken from ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ is as follows:
Jack Hall : Did you tell him that?
2. Tag questions: these types of questions are considered a further type of yes-no
question, which conveys negative or positive orientation. Thus, although both types of tag question expect a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer from the addressee, the
functions that they realize are different. While a rising tag realizes a
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confirmation, a falling tag realizes an agreement. The example taken from The Day After Tomorrow is as follows:
Jack Hall : Oh, thank you. Thats what were here for, right? Put on a
good show?
3. Declarative questions: this type of question falls under yes-no questions since
declarative questions are items which are identical lexico-grammatically to declaratives but function as question because they are spoken with rising
intonation. Declarative questions are said to invite the hearer’s verification; that is, either a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ answer. The example taken The Day After
Tomorrow is as follows:
Jack Hall : Sam joined the team?
b. Wh-questions
This second class of questions is information seeking. They are realized by wh-words, usually spoken with falling intonation, and the answer expected is the
missing piece of information denoted by the wh-word. The example taken from The Day After Tomorrow is as follows:
Jack Hall : How’d he take it?
c. Alternative questions
This third class of questions is divided into two types. The first type resembles a yes-no question and the second a wh-question. The first type is said to
differ from yes-no question only in intonation. Instead of the final rising tone, it contains a separate nucleus for each alternative; that is, there is a rise on each item
except for the last one where a fall occurs, indicating that the list is complete Quirk et. al 1985: 823; in Tsui 1994: 75. The second type is a compound
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question: a wh-question followed by an elliptical alternative question. The example taken from The Day After Tomorrow is as follows:
Brian Parks : what, one in a billion? Or is it a million? 3.
Intonation in Questions
Intonation or tone is the variation of pitch
when speaking http:en.wikipedia.orgwikiIntonation_linguistics
. It is a paralinguistic device in vocal communication, and it is an indispensable part of speech. Tones are
important discourse strategies to communicate effectively; simply, it is not what you say, it is how you say it. However, in a real communication there is no
obligation to mark interrogation intonationally in one way or another, but the speaker is free use the tone he finds pragmatically appropriate in a given context
http:www.univ-pau.frANGLAISalaesblum.htm What makes a tone a rising or falling or any other type of tone is the
direction of the pitch movement on the last stressed tonic syllable. http:www.followtalk.cominformation2005112395522.htm
. Rising intonation means the pitch of the voice increases over time. Falling intonation means that the
pitch decreases with time. http:en.wikipedia.orgwikiIntonation_linguistics
A rising tone is used in genuine ’YesNo’ questions where the speaker is sure that he does not know the answer, and that the addressee knows the answer.
Such YesNo questions are uttered with a rising tone. If the tonic stress is uttered with extra pitch height, it means that the speaker asks for a repetition,
clarification, or indicating disbelief. Meanwhile, wh-questions can also be uttered in a rising tone, which means the speaker asks for confirmation, clarification or
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repetition. In addition, the declarative questions also often have a rising intonation. The examples are as follows:
A : I’m taking up TAxidermy this autumn.
B :
Taking up WHAT? clarification A
: She passed her DRIving test. B
: She PASSED? disbelief
Meanwhile, falling tone is by far the most common used tone of all. It signals a sense of finality, completion, belief in the content of the utterance, and
so on. A speaker, by choosing a falling tone, also indicates to the addressee that that is all he has to say, and offers a chance turn-taking to the addressee to
comment on, agree or disagree with, or add to his utterance. A fall tone can be followed by another fall tone when the speaker expects or demands agreement as
in tag questions. Thus, most of questions that begin with wh-questions expecting information and an agreement are generally pronounced with a falling tone.
YesNo questions seeking or expecting confirmation or agreement can be uttered with a falling tone; and, the response to it may be lengthened. In a YesNo
question structure, if the speaker uses a falling tone, it means that he already knows the answer, or at least he is sure that he knows. Meanwhile, the purpose of
asking the question, as far as the speaker is concerned, is to put the answer on record. In the following exchange, the speaker is sure to get a ’Yes’ answer from
the addressee:
A :
Have you MET him? B
: YES.
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http:www.followtalk.cominformation2005112395522.htm From the explanation of the influence of intonation in questions, it is clear
that the use of the elicitations also have a strong relation with the application of the tone. Meanwhile, the use of certain tone also shows that it has a relation with
the speaker’s intention to get the prospected response from the addressee.
4. The Subclasses of Elicitations
