Making suggestions in business meetings
In problem solving and decision making discussions, proposals and suggestions are crucial elements of the interaction. In analysis it is not a straightforward task to identify the acts of âsuggestingâ. Traditional speech act typologies are inadequate because they tend to assume that categorical boundaries exist between different act types. In this thesis, therefore, I first establish a method of identifying SUGGESTIONS. I suggest that we use a system network in which different copatternings of paradigmatic choices constitute different types of directive acts. From the potential choices in the network, SUGGESTIONS are defined as acts in which the speaker proposes a future action which is optional and presented as beneficial or desirable to the addresses, the group, or the company in general (often all three at the same time). Next, I investigate how these elements, in particular the evaluative meanings of benefit and desirability, are marked linguistically. The indicators are primarily lexical while some coincide the modal expressions indicating other modal meanings (e.g. Necessity, Obligation, Ability, etc.). The modal meanings of Benefit/Desirability and other modal meanings conflate, modifying the latter
Sode-Woodhead, Karin
Making suggestions in business meetings. In problem solving and decision making discussions, proposals and suggestions are crucial elements of the interaction. In analysis it is not a straightforward task to identify the acts of âsuggestingâ. Traditional speech act typologies are inadequate because they tend to assume that categorical boundaries exist between different act types. In this thesis, therefore, I first establish a method of identifying SUGGESTIONS. I suggest that we use a system network in which different copatternings of paradigmatic choices constitute different types of directive acts. From the potential choices in the network, SUGGESTIONS are defined as acts in which the speaker proposes a future action which is optional and presented as beneficial or desirable to the addresses, the group, or the company in general (often all three at the same time). Next, I investigate how these elements, in particular the evaluative meanings of benefit and desirability, are marked linguistically. The indicators are primarily lexical while some coincide the modal expressions indicating other modal meanings (e.g. Necessity, Obligation, Ability, etc.). The modal meanings of Benefit/Desirability and other modal meanings conflate, modifying the latter
making suggestion business meeting problem_solve decision_making discussion proposal suggestion crucial_element interaction analysis straightforward task identify act suggest traditional speech_act typology inadequate tend assume categorical boundary exist different act type therefore first_establish method identify suggest use system network different paradigmatic choice constitute different_type directive act potential choice network define act speaker propose future action optional present beneficial desirable address group company general often time next investigate element particular evaluative meaning benefit mark linguistically indicator primarily lexical coincide modal_expression indicate modal meaning necessity obligation ability etc modal meaning benefit modal meaning conflate modify latter