Chapter 8. Code-switching, agency, and the answer possibility space of Spanish-English bilinguals
-
Chase Wesley Raymond
Abstract
The present study addresses the implicit monolingual bias in our understanding of polar question-answer sequences by examining them in bilingual conversation. Drawing upon a corpus of naturally-occurring conversational data amongst native Spanish-English bilinguals in the southwestern United States, I target and explore the ‘fit’ between polar questions and answers in this community of practice. In this report, I focus specifically on the dimension of language (non-)concordance between particle answers and the questions they address. Evidence is offered that speakers produce response particles that are concordant with the language of the question as the pragmatically unmarked answer format, whereas response particles that are non-concordant with the language of the question (i.e., ‘code-switched’) are marked, produced agentively and for cause, routinely indexing an emergent stance that is at variance with the terms established by the question. Some possible avenues for future comparative work on the expression of agency in question-answer sequences are explored in the Conclusion.
Abstract
The present study addresses the implicit monolingual bias in our understanding of polar question-answer sequences by examining them in bilingual conversation. Drawing upon a corpus of naturally-occurring conversational data amongst native Spanish-English bilinguals in the southwestern United States, I target and explore the ‘fit’ between polar questions and answers in this community of practice. In this report, I focus specifically on the dimension of language (non-)concordance between particle answers and the questions they address. Evidence is offered that speakers produce response particles that are concordant with the language of the question as the pragmatically unmarked answer format, whereas response particles that are non-concordant with the language of the question (i.e., ‘code-switched’) are marked, produced agentively and for cause, routinely indexing an emergent stance that is at variance with the terms established by the question. Some possible avenues for future comparative work on the expression of agency in question-answer sequences are explored in the Conclusion.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
- Chapter 2. Repetitional responses to polar questions in Russian conversation 40
- Chapter 3. Responding to polar questions in Brazilian Portuguese 76
- Chapter 4. Responses to polar questions in Polish 109
- Chapter 5. Three practices for confirming inferences in French talk-in-interaction 139
- Chapter 6. Complexities of responding 179
- Chapter 7. The division of labor between the particles jah and jaa ‘yes’ as responses to requests for confirmation in Estonian 210
- Chapter 8. Code-switching, agency, and the answer possibility space of Spanish-English bilinguals 239
- Chapter 9. Post-confirmation modifications 272
- Chapter 10. Responding to polar questions without a polarity item ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in Finnish 301
- Chapter 11. Renewing a social action in US primary care 328
- Chapter 12. Do English affirmative polar interrogatives with any favor negative responses? 350
- Appendix. Transcription conventions and symbols for glossing 377
- Subject index 381
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
- Chapter 2. Repetitional responses to polar questions in Russian conversation 40
- Chapter 3. Responding to polar questions in Brazilian Portuguese 76
- Chapter 4. Responses to polar questions in Polish 109
- Chapter 5. Three practices for confirming inferences in French talk-in-interaction 139
- Chapter 6. Complexities of responding 179
- Chapter 7. The division of labor between the particles jah and jaa ‘yes’ as responses to requests for confirmation in Estonian 210
- Chapter 8. Code-switching, agency, and the answer possibility space of Spanish-English bilinguals 239
- Chapter 9. Post-confirmation modifications 272
- Chapter 10. Responding to polar questions without a polarity item ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in Finnish 301
- Chapter 11. Renewing a social action in US primary care 328
- Chapter 12. Do English affirmative polar interrogatives with any favor negative responses? 350
- Appendix. Transcription conventions and symbols for glossing 377
- Subject index 381
