CONVERSATION PAUSES AND FILLERS by Korobova Aksiniya &

CONVERSATION PAUSES AND FILLERS by Korobova Aksiniya & Izotova Irina

PAUSES

Pause may refer to: a rest hesitation temporary stop emphasis It is an interval of silence and may vary in length. The speaker may use pauses to enhance the message delivery or fill the pauses needlessly and distract the audience from the message. Two types: efficient or effective pauses and ineffective pauses.

Efficient and Effective Pauses

Efficient or effective pauses Pause enables the speaker to gather thoughts before delivering the final appeal. Pause creates effective suspense. Pause after an important idea. Pause at the end of a unit. Pause prepares the listener to receive your message.

Ineffective Pauses

Ineffective pauses 1.Speech Disfluencies Speech disfluencies are breaks, irregularities, or non-lexical vocables that occur within the flow of otherwise fluent speech, including false starts (words and sentences that are cut off in the middle), phrases that are restarted and repeated, grunts. 2.Filled Pauses Filled pauses are repetitions of syllables and words; reformulations; or false starts, where the speaker rephrases to fit the representation of grammatical repairs, partial repeats, or searching for words to carry the meaning. 3.Filler Words Filler words are spoken in conversation by one participant to signal to others that he or she has paused to think, but is not yet finished speaking. Different languages have different characteristic filler sounds. 4.Placeholder Names Placeholder names are filler words like thingamajig, which refer to objects or people whose names are temporarily forgotten, irrelevant, or unknown.

FILLERS

In linguistics, a filler is a sound or word that is spoken in conversation by one participant to signal to others that he/she has paused to think but is not yet finished speaking. Different languages have different characteristic filler sounds; in English, the most common filler sounds are uh /ʌ/, er /ɜː/ and um /ʌm/ . Among youths, the fillers "like", "y'know", "so", "actually", "literally", "basically", "right", "I'm tellin' ya" and "you know what I mean?" are among the more prevalent.

In Russian, fillers are called слова-паразиты ("vermin words"); the most common are Э-э ("eh"), это ("this"), того ("that"), ну ("well"), значит ("it means"), так ("so"), как его ("what's it [called]"), типа ("like"), and как бы ("[just] like").

“Well, um, are fillers like okay to use?” Fillers are unnecessary sounds or words that are inserted within our speech during a conversation They are just an element of the human language, as we can’t keep up a highly grammatical and flowing conversation all the time. OR

Functions To signal to other people that “even though I’m not saying anything particular right now, I don’t want anyone else to take over”. It can also mean “difficult question, I have to think about that”. It may denote a number of different things, depending on position, prosody, context etc.

Weather-speak also can be used as a filler ‘Nice day, isn’t it?’

BE CAREFUL! Unfortunately, it is possible to overuse fillers and give people the impression that the speaker is uncertain and weak in their language production. “ I, like, went to, you know, that store that is, like, right down, um, like 5th avenue…”

Eliminate unnecessary use of filler words Organize your thoughts. First think about what you want to say and then say the words. 5 STEPS 3.Pause and take a break. Try to take a break especially if you have a tendency to speak really fast and pause between your sentences. 4. Practice. Make practice in front of the mirror and also record your speech and listen to it. This will give a clear idea of the fillers that you unconsciously use. 2.Say the filler word...but only in your head. Think of the word you want to say and then continue with the rest of your sentence. 5. Keep it Short, Simple and Sweet. Always use simple, neat and precise words that are easy to comprehend and not too complex for the listener.

HAVE A GOOD CONVERSATION!