Spoken Discourse: Phone Openings

For myself, phone openings tend to vary A LOT depending on who it is, what time it is, and where I am.
For the most part, I like to be a very social and polite person on the phone although is always isn't the case.

Strange enough as it is, when starting a conversation on the phone, I always try to fit in a couple routine questions before the actual conversation starts. Questions such as, "where are you?", "how have you been?", and "what have you been up to?"
I will even ask the questions if I don't care about the answer at all. Does that make me a terrible person? haha
Does anyone else do the same thing?

However there are instances where all my social phone behavior goes right out the window. When I get a call early in the morning or when I'm out at night with my friends I tend to skip the introduction questions and try to get the conversation over with as fast as possible so that I can get back to what I was doing. In other cases, I will skip a phone opening if I was just talking to the person a minute ago or if I'm in a rush.

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, my phone behavior and phone openings completely change when I am on the phone for a job interview. It's almost like I'm a new person and have complete interest in EVERYTHING the other person has to say. I am very attentive and respond with a listener response after almost every sentence. I wonder whether phone interviewers know that I'm not being myself 100%? and if they even take into consideration my extreme politeness and attentive behavior?

Do you guys do the same, and have several different "personalities" or behaviors on the phone depending on certain situations?
or... am I the only one?

Speech Events - The Lack of Speech

hey guys, check out this video,
i thought it video was really interesting and connected to our lecture we had last week!

watch from 2:00 minutes - 4:00 minutes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hzCfOvsq64

To summarize, this clip shows how even without speech in communication, speech events are still governed by rules. This clip also demonstrates that without speech, communication can still be accomplished with gestures.

This video demonstrates the offer/appeal of a good, the acceptance of a good, and a thank you all through gestures.

At 3:05, Creature "5" gives creature "9" a light bulb and is able to demonstrate that he is giving "9" a gift and insists that he/she accepts it.

At 3:30, "5" again is able to alert "9" and make sure that he/she takes cover for safety as "5" will protect them.

As I watched the video, I could imagine the exact words that would have been spoken, even though no words were spoken at all. I guess this video goes to show that even when speech is not used in communication, speech norms are still followed through a series of gestures.

To end this post, I would like to challenge some of you to go out and try to converse with someone without speech and use only gestures, but at the same time follow the norms of speech events as we have learned in class.

Speech Acts

As a Canadian (North American) in Singapore, I have to somewhat agree with the research done on the speech acts/responses from Singaporeans and Americans (Westerners). From what I’ve experienced so far in Singapore, I find that the a lot of Singaporeans are conservative and try to “save face.” I often get confused, awkward responses from locals after giving a simple complement. Earlier this week, I complimented a fellow student on his haircut and asked where he got it from. In return, I was given an awkward stare like I was invading his personal face. After an awkward pause, he uneasily muttered out the name of the barber shop/salon. In another case, I complimented a girl on her outfit for the night, and in return the girl turned away from me, looked down and quietly thanked me. I’m not sure if I have been conversing with the small population of Singapore that is shy or if that is the more actually the more common response I will get.

In North America, complimenting people is taken very well. People will often respond with an enthusiastic thank you, and return the compliment or agree with the one you made. Rarely will a compliment be turned down or unnoticed.

Please do tell me if I am “judging” Singapore by the wrong individuals! haha