Mmm, that’s not really where I’m coming from. There is an aggressively empirical research tradition in applied linguistics called “conversation analysis”, which analyzes how language is actually used in real-world interaction. The raw data is actual recordings, usually with video so that the physical embodiment of the interaction and the gestures and facial expressions can be captured. The data is transcribed frame-by-frame at 1/30th of a second intervals, and includes gesture as well as vocal non-words (uh-huh, um, laugh, quavery voice, etc) to get a more complete picture of the actual construction of meaning in real time.
So my question was actually an empirical one. It’s one thing to guess at an analytical level that “God” might be a stop-signal in religious debates or in question chains involving children. But is the term really used that way? Has anyone got any unedited video recordings of such conversations that we could analyze?
After making very many errors of my own based on expectation rather than actual data, I tend to be skeptical of any statement that says “language IS used in manner X”, when that manner is not demonstrated in data. Language CAN be used in manner X, yes, but is that the normative use in actual practice? We don’t know until we do the hard empirical work needed to find out.
Mmm, that’s not really where I’m coming from. There is an aggressively empirical research tradition in applied linguistics called “conversation analysis”, which analyzes how language is actually used in real-world interaction. The raw data is actual recordings, usually with video so that the physical embodiment of the interaction and the gestures and facial expressions can be captured. The data is transcribed frame-by-frame at 1/30th of a second intervals, and includes gesture as well as vocal non-words (uh-huh, um, laugh, quavery voice, etc) to get a more complete picture of the actual construction of meaning in real time. So my question was actually an empirical one. It’s one thing to guess at an analytical level that “God” might be a stop-signal in religious debates or in question chains involving children. But is the term really used that way? Has anyone got any unedited video recordings of such conversations that we could analyze? After making very many errors of my own based on expectation rather than actual data, I tend to be skeptical of any statement that says “language IS used in manner X”, when that manner is not demonstrated in data. Language CAN be used in manner X, yes, but is that the normative use in actual practice? We don’t know until we do the hard empirical work needed to find out.