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Reference recalibration repairs: adjusting the precision of formulations for the task at hand

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journal contribution
posted on 2014-07-21, 11:19 authored by Gene H. Lerner, Galina B. Bolden, Alexa Hepburn, Jenny Mandelbaum
This report examines what is involved when a speaker overtly selects one formulation over another by employing a repair operation that reformulates a reference in a way that adjusts or recalibrates it, rather than abandons the original reference altogether. Focusing primarily on references to persons, we show that beyond the narrowing of a reference – increasing its precision – that results in an improved fit between a person reference and other components of a turn-at-talk, these reference recalibration repairs can be used to do such things as meeting the requirements of a story’s telling, upgrading the credibility of an information source, and justifying a rejection. This ties speakers’ overt concern with calibrating a categorical reference to the formation of action in their turn-at-talk. By contrast, we then show how broadening a reference – decreasing its precision – can be used as a method for displaying uncertainty and thereby recalibrating a reference to fit the manifest knowledge state of the speaker (or a recipient).

History

School

  • Social Sciences

Department

  • Communication, Media, Social and Policy Studies

Published in

RESEARCH ON LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL INTERACTION

Volume

45

Issue

2

Pages

191 - 212 (22)

Citation

LERNER, G.H. ... et al., 2012. Reference recalibration repairs: adjusting the precision of formulations for the task at hand. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 45 (2), pp. 191-212.

Publisher

© Taylor & Francis Group

Version

  • AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Publication date

2012

Notes

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Research on Language and Social Interaction on 17-05-2012, available online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08351813.2012.674190.

ISSN

0835-1813

eISSN

1532-7973

Language

  • en