Kim, Kyu-hyun. (2023). “Question Tags in Korean Conversation: Displaying and Soliciting Empathy for Managing Delicate Action”. The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea, 31(4), 149-173. From the perspective of conversation analysis, this study analyzes utterances formatted with a question tag constructed as the tag-type clause kuci, “Isn’t it?.” Based on an examination of naturally occurring talk-in-interaction, it is argued that question tags, though generally intended to be a recipiency-mobilizing resource, serve primarily as a resource for empathy display and are geared toward retroactively managing the various “delicate” actions that their host utterance implements. Formulated as post-predicate elements, their use indicates the speaker’s trust that the recipient will provide an affiliative response by sharing the empathic stance exhibited in their host utterance. The kuci-speaker’s orientation toward soliciting the recipient’s affiliative uptake is frequently reciprocated by the recipient, who registers the “delicate character” of the kuci-marked utterance’s action by producing variously “nuanced” responses, for example, in a way that is empathically other-attentive, obliquely affiliative, or mildly resistant.

From a conversation-analytic perspective, this paper analyzes the “committal” suffixes ci and cianha used as “pseudo-tags” in Korean conversation, which render the utterance they mark a request for confirmation (RfC) formatted in the form of a polar declarative question. The focus is given to examining differences ci and cianha as constitutive of mutually related but distinct forms of RfC, particularly in terms of the ways in which the confirmable is formulated and intersubjective understanding is solicited and negotiated. It is proposed that the RfC formatted with the pseudo-tag ci indexes the speaker’s orientation towards having the recipient help him/her “raise commitment” to the factually ascertainable character of shared information. Its use organizes recipiency in such a way that the recipient’s confirmation is solicited collusively. The RfC formatted with cianha, by contrast, furnishes the speaker with a discursive resource for engaging the recipient in a negotiatory process, prodding him/her to raise his/her “momentarily latent” commitment. With the confirmable grounded in general/shared knowledge, the use of cianha has the import of organizing a range of “attendant activities”, such as appeasing, whining, rebuking, etc.

In this paper analyzed the features of how native Korean speakers (K) and native Vietnamese Korean learners (VKL) organize the Apology conversation, focusing on the functional phase. Based on the discourse analysis, a role play was conducted to collect data. In order to investigate the influence of social variables (social status, intimacy), learners' mother tongues and learners' Korean proficiency, different social variables were given in role-play situations, and learners' Korean proficiency was limited to intermediate and advanced levels. The results of analyzing conversations focusing on ‘Error Checking–Apology-Apology Acceptance’, which is the intermediate phase of Apology conversation, are as follows. First, in the Error Checking Phase, K tended to make indirect or preliminary remarks. In contrast, VKL immediately presented communication purposes, and advanced VKL tended to use indirect speech and additional statement. Second, in the Apology phase, the higher social status the other party has and the lower intimacy the two speakers has, the more passive K were. Interestingly, VKL showed the same pattern. For intermediate-level VKL, it was observed that the dialogue sequences were not completed. Third, in the Apology Acceptance phase, K repeatedly expressed apologies through complex dialogue sequences. However, VKL performed a concise conversation by simple dialogue sequences, and the intermediate-level VKL expressed ‘relief’ and ‘gratitude’.

The purpose of this study is to investigate university students’ perceptions on their English conversation classes taught by native English speakers. Its focus is on finding out how well the students understand and how actively they participate in class, what causes difficulty in their understanding or participation in class, and whether their class helps them in terms of affective aspects and English skills. A survey was conducted on a total of 465 university students in Korea, and the collected data were analyzed to compute basic descriptive and inferential statistics. Some of the important findings are 1) over 50% of the students understand their classes well; 2) a little over 30% actively participate in class; 3) about 30~50% of the students perceive their class help them affectively; and 4) about 50% of the students perceive their class help them improve their English skills in general. These results are discussed along with other findings related to the causes of the difficulties that the students experienced. Suggestions are provided on the basis of the results and their implications.

By using the methodological framework of conversation analysis, this study combines a grounded study of interactional linguistics focusing on L2 speakers' interactional competence in the use of Korean sentence-ending suffix -ketun. Based on the previous studies which examined the use of -ketun in L1 Korean speakers’ conversation, this study analyzes data taken from different levels of Korean language classroom interactions, with close attention to the learner's usage of the target suffix in formulating a dispreferred response. The findings of the study demonstrate that the L2 advanced students' use of -ketun is much closer to that for L1 speakers in constituting a dispreferred response while claiming epistemic primacy. On the other hand, extremely low frequency in the use of -ketun is a distinctive linguistic-pragmatic features that characterizes use of -ketun by L2 speakers at lower levels of competence. The advanced students' diversification may be an indicator of their more adaptive, context-sensitive conduct, suggesting an increased interactional competence. Close scrutiny of the use of -ketun in this study aids to reveal whether and to what extent its interactional use by L2 speakers of different proficiency levels approaches that of L1 speakers.

Park Jae-eun. 2013. On prolonging in Korean conversation. The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea 21(3). This paper explores the systematic retardation of turn progression in Korean conversation, focusing on the phenomenon of prolonging. Prolonging is defined as a practice whereby speakers suspend the progression of a turn toward a possible completion particularly by drawing on sound stretches as a primary resource. The analysis of data shows that prolonging, observed at a point where the action is more or less recognizable, is used to reinforce the speaker's epistemic or affective stance as well as to project dispreferredness in a way that delays the arrival of a transition-relevance place. I argue that prolonging can be employed at any word boundary as long as the emergent action is recognizable and that it serves as a basis for understanding how readily a turn can be manipulated in the service of practical social actions in Korean conversation. (137 words)

본 논문은 대화분석적 측면에서 한국어 대화에서 나타나는 재언급을 살펴본다. 말차례나 순서를 닫는 역할을 하는 재언급을 크게 두 가지, 즉 반복 재언급과 대용형 재언급으로 분류하여 분석한다. 자연스럽게 일어나는 대화 자료를 분석한 결과에 의하면 두 가지 타입의 재언급은 모두 말차례나 연속체를 끝맺음하는 기능이 있으며, 끝맺음은 다음 화자가 신속하게 새로운 말차례를 발화하거나 현재 화자가 새로운 말차례를 발화하여 주제의 전환을 이끌어냄으로써 표시되는 것을 볼 수 있다. 분석 결과에 의거하여 재언급이 여러 차례 반복적으로 나타나는 현상 및 대용형 재언급이 끝맺음 최후 통첩을 위한 자원으로 활용되는 현상에 대하여 논의한다.

This study aims to explore the forms of negative yes/no interrogatives and the social actions they perform in task-oriented conversations in Korean and English. The data consist of 20 Korean and 22 English pairs interacting with each other whiJe arranging a series of 15 pictures. It seems that negative yes/no interrogatives are used more extensively in Korean conversation than in English, and that they have different interactionaJ functions in the two languages. AnaJyses of the data suggest that negative yes/no interrogatives in English are used to perform a very specific function in interaction, making an assertion in a disaligning situation while seeking agreement from the addressee. On the other hand, it is shown that negative yes/no interrogatives in Korean are used as an important interactionaJ device between conversationalists. It seems that the ch미ce of the two types of negative yes/no interrogatives in Korean is largely dependent on the speaker’s estimation of the following two factors: (a) the degree of certainty about the information conveyed, and (b) the degree of common ground with the addressee. (Hanyang University, 마1san)

This study examines the use of kulay(yo) as a response token in spontaneous Korean conversation. The data for the study include approximately five hours of Korean casual conversation and the analytic framework is conversation analysis. Based on its cooccurring prosody patterns, the use of kulay(yo) is divided into two types: the one with falling or continuing intonation and the other with upward intonation. The former type mainly occurs in acknowledgements, the identification and recognition sequence of phone openings, and phone preclosings and closings. The latter type is found in contexts such as informings, counterinformings, and interactionally delicate action sequences mainly as news receipts. The results show that kulay(yo) is used in various interactional contexts, reflecting how the recipient of the prior turn's talk deals with delicate actions and carefully marks his/her stance with it.

From the perspective of conversation analysis, this study aims to explore the interactional aspects of the Korean wh-words mwe and way with reference to their functions as discourse markers. The examination of conversation data reveals that the discourse markers mwe and way can be used as conversation fillers, filling in a necessary interactional space when the speaker encounters trouble in producing the next item due; way is found to more actively solicit the hearer's involvement or uptake than mwe. The discourse markers mwe and way are also found to be employed as a hedging device and a boosting device respectively often in disaffiliative actions. Mwe helps to mitigate the import of the statement by virtue of its sense of underestimation or downtoning while way helps to increase the force of an utterance while introducing a negative tone. The various interactional functions of mwe and way are claimed to be derived from their distinctive referential meanings; mwe as signifying that ‘something is uncertain to the speaker’, and way as signifying that 'something is questionable, problematic, unexpected, and extraordinary to the speaker'.

Suh, Kyung-Hee. 2004. Interactional Functions of Way in Korean Conversation. The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea, 12(2). This study aims to explore the interactional aspects of the Korean wh-word way and the kinds of action undertaken by this marker from the perspective of conversation analysis. Examination of conversation data reveals that the non-interrogative way is associated less with information and more with emotional expression. In this vein, way in non-interrogative contexts is analyzed as a Discourse Modality Indicator, which is used to index the speaker's cognitive, affective, and interactional stance towards the proposition, the speech acts or the addressee. More specifically, I argue that the functions of way expressing recognition, criticism, challenge and exclamation as well as filling in a necessary interactional space is derived from its referential meaning signifying that 'something is questionable, problematic, unexpected, and extraordinary to the speaker'. Depending on how the speaker handles such doubtful situations, way functions at one of the three levels of communication - cognition, affect and interaction in conversational discourse.

Interaction in Korean Conversation. The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea, 12(1). Among many topics in interactional linguistics, the research on reactive tokens has explored complex processes in which participants collaborate and develop each other's talk in a moment-by-moment fashion. The present study investigates properties of backchannels as tokens of social interaction in Korean conversation by adopting methodology of frequency analysis and conversation analysis. Through a frequency analysis of backchannels such as 'e', 'a', 'um', and 'ung', this research shows that backchannels most frequently occur at complex transition-relevance places where turn-constructional units and intonation units converge. Examination shows that major functions of backchannels in conversation can be summarized as in the three categories: (i) to signal passive recipiency of the on-going turn, showing attentiveness or acknowledging what is being talked about, (ii) to signal that the recipient is in agreement or of the same opinion with the current speaker, and (iii) to express recipient's affiliative or emotional attitudes such as sympathy toward the information provided, among others. Finally, this research shows that interaction-based study of backchannels in their interactional contexts can provide a better way of understanding communicative strategies and the relationship between conversation and grammar than do other traditional or formal approaches to grammar.

Kim, Kyu-hyun. 2004. A Conversation Analysis of Korean Sentence-Ending Modal Suffixes -ney, -kwun(a), and -ta: Noticing as a Social Action. Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea, 12(1). Drawing upon H. S. Lee's (1993) cognitively-oriented research on the functions of three sentence-ending modal suffixes in Korean that are used to express newly perceived information, -ney, -kwun(a), and -ta, this study analyzes the distinct meanings of these suffixes from a conversation-analytic perspective (Sacks et al. 1974). The suffix -ney is used in the context in which the speaker notices a referent/event and makes an assessment on the spot in such a way that the speaker's stance displayed through the action is formulated as something that is to be immediately oriented to and contingently taken up by the hearer. In contrast, the suffix -kwun(a) is used when the speaker is mainly oriented to displaying a stance congruent with the prior talk. The action it organizes is often limited to acknowledging a point of the prior talk or having the hearer acknowledge the speaker's observation, often with a salient topic-curtailing and sequence-terminating import. The suffix -ta tends to orient the hearer to the next stage of the speaker's action (e.g., suggestion, warning, offer, etc.) to whose directive force the hearer is variably implicated as a beneficiary/facilitator. The interactional account offered in this paper is shown to complement Lee's cognitive account, with emphasis placed on examining the ways in which these suffixes are used as resources for organizing distinct types of social action.

이 연구는 Skype를 활용하여 일본인 고급 학습자의 구어 오류 양상을 분석하고 교육적 의의를 제시하는 것을 목적으로 한다. 학습자 발 화 2,947어절을 대상으로 오류 양상을 분석하였다. 그 결과 문법 오류가 34건으로 가장 많았으며 어휘(26건), 발음(22건), 담화(4건) 오류 순으로 나타났다. 이로써 알 수 있는 것은 첫째, 고급 학습자임에도 불구하고 모국 어 간섭의 영향을 여전히 받고 있다는 점. 둘째, 어휘 오류에서는 학습 어휘량이 많아지면서 유사 어휘에 의한 오류가 많이 나타난 점. 셋째, 두 언어의 문법 체계가 비슷하다고는 하지만 그럼에도 문법 오류가 가장 많이 발생했다는 점이다. 향후 일본인 학습자를 대상으로 교수를 할 때 이런한 점을 고려하여 이루어져야할 것이다.

The present study investigates the speech acts (Searle 1979) of the four forms of the kkunhta exchange (i.e., kkunhnunta, kkunhulkey(yo), kkunheya(ha)keyssta, and kkunhca) in telephone conversation closings in Korean. It demonstrates that the four cannot be simply lumped together with kkunhe(yo) let alone the annyeng exchange. First, kkunhnunta in telephone conversation closings serves either as an assertive or a commissive (the latter being far more likely). Its subject restriction and sentence type prevent it from functioning as a directive. Second, kkunhulkey(yo) serves only as a commissive. Its subjection restriction and sentence type as a “promissive-assurance” define its speech act as such. It thus formes the “notice/commissive-(silent) acceptance” pair or the “inform-(silent) acknowledge” pair. Third, kunheya(ha)keyssta operates either as a commissive when the elliptical subject is the speaker or as a directive when it is the addressee, bearing some resemblance to kkunhe(yo). However, even as directives, their functions are not identical. Last, kkunhca as a terminal proposal lies between a directive and a commissive. Also, even as a directive, its subject restriction (i.e., first-person plural) differs from that of kkunhe(yo), and accordingly, the adjacency pairs that it belongs to differs from those that kkunhe(yo) does. Overall then, the present study illustrates that the four forms of the kkunhta exchange are functionally distinct from the kkunhe(yo) and annyeng exchanges. Each of them performs different speech acts and belongs to different adjacency pairs.