For the purposes of this study, a reactive expression is defined as a short non-floor-taking
phrase or lexical word produced by a recipient. Reactive expressions differ from
backchannels in that backchannels only take the form of non-lexicalised vocalic sounds,
whereas reactive expressions are not semantically empty, but contain some definite semantic
content. Similar to backchannels, reactive expressions serve two basic functions:
acknowledgement tokens and continuers. The way in which Mandarin recipients employ
reactive expressions will be shown with illustrations below.
hao at CTRPs: acknowledgement tokens
In the data, hao ‘good’ as well as its variation haode has been found to be the most
frequently employed reactive expression. Biq (2004: 75) notes that a freestanding hao can
accomplish diverse conversational actions such as expressing the speaker’s acknowledgement
or agreement in relation to what the floor-holding speaker has said. In her spoken data of
Taiwan Mandarin, she finds that about 100 freestanding hao tokens are employed as a
response to a request or a marker for a topic transition. Fragment 4.11 below illustrates that
hao serves as a convergence token in relation to the prior turn containing the negotiation.
Fragment 4.11, from Turns 9 and 10, Group 1, 2006
9 X: [‘沙岸’。 uh, 就 是， 这 张 纸，
sandy:shore uh just COP this CLF paper
Sandy Shore, uh, that is, this piece of paper,
这 张 纸 的 上面，
zhe zhang zhi de shangmian
this CLF paper MM top
the top of this piece of paper
就 算 是 北面。 -- Pre-token TCU
jiu suan shi beimian
just consider COP north
can just be considered as the north.”
(0.3)
10 → J:好。 -- RT (Reactive Expression)
hao
good
“Good.”
The statement at the end of Turn 9 as the final TCU can be seen as the Pre-token TCU or
the primary speaker’s invitation of eliciting responses from the recipient as the first pair part
in the adjacency pair sequence. The key word here is suan ‘consider’, implying negotiation
in Mandarin Chinese. This statement implicitly indicates that the reactive token is
anticipated and projected in the next relevant slot. As expected, J sends out the reactive
space specification. This token can be considered as action-related (i.e., doing
acceptance/rejection), treating the immediately prior talk as adequate and unproblematic. In
terms of the topic organization, hao ‘good’ (Turn 10) emerges for the purpose of topic
initiation regarding the landmark labelled sha’an “Sandy Shore”.
In summary, a typical two-turn sequence (AB pattern) has been identified in an
agreement-relevant environment in the data: (i) the speaking turn with propositional content
ends at the CTRP, and (ii) a recipient produces the reactive expression as a “second” to secure
mutual understanding, treating the immediately prior talk as sufficient and unproblematic.
In addition, J has been shown to place the reactive token at the CTRP. There is a gap of 0.3
seconds between the Pre-token TCU as the initiation and the linguistic production of a
reactive token as the structurally preferred action.
hao at non-TRPs: continuers
Similar to backchannels, reactive expressions can emerge as continuers in the midst of
the construction of TCUs-in-progress within constituents, such as noun phrases, in unfinished
turns. Fragment 4.12 below illustrates that hao ‘good’ serves as a continuer.
Fragment 4.12, from Turns 169 to 172, Group 1, 2006
169 X: mh, 然后， 经过 了 ‘岩崩’ 这 个 图标 的
mh ranhou jingguo le yanbeng zhe ge tubian de
mh subsequently pass ASP rockfalls this CLF landmark MM
“Mh, subsequently, pass the left of the landmark labelled ‘Rockfalls’
zuobian zhihou
left:side after
so (you)
(1.8)
这样 就 到 了，
zheyang jiu dao le
so just reach ASP
just reach,
就 是 刚才 我们 这 个 单 实线 图 的，
jiu shi gangcai women zhe ge dan shixian tu de
just COP just:now 1PP this CLF single solid:lines map MM
that is, the single solid lines on our maps just now,
最 下 角。 就 是 像 一 个，
zui xia jiao jiu shi xiang yi ge
most bottom angle just COP like one CLF
the angle at the bottom. That is, (it is) like one,
就 像 南 非 的 那 个， 那 个, -- Pre-token TCU
jiu xiang nan fei de na ge na ge
just like south Africa MM that CLF that CLF
just like (that) in South Africa, that, that,
(0.1)
hao good “Good.” 171 X: =hehe, 角 似 的。 Uh jiao si de angle sort:of MM
(sort of) angle. Uh”
172 → J: 是。 -- RT (Reactive expression)
shi
COP
“Yeah.”
Note that X is in the process of providing an analogy (i.e., the shape of the landmark
resembles haowangjiao “Cape of Good Hope” in South Africa). The articulation of nage16
(Turn 169) ‘that’ seems to display that she is in the process of recollection and still struggling
in a word search. Further, there is no noticeable gap (only 0.1 second) between the
demonstrative pronoun as the Modifier and the anticipated noun as the Head.
Before X finds the target word, J inserts the reactive expression hao ‘good’ (Turn 170).
Apparently, X has not reached the potential CTRP, and hao ‘good’ here serves as a continuer.
Through the use of hao, J signals that X can resume her lengthy informings, because she
16 In Mandarin Chinese, intuitively, nage ‘that’ is a common expression used as a floor-holding cue in
addition to being a demonstrative pronoun, indicating uncertainty and hesitancy in discourse. The reactive token (Turn 170) is made relevant not simply because of the use of the demonstrative pronoun nage. It is more like the hesitation displayed by the repeated use of the demonstrative pronoun that engenders the use of the reactive expression as a continuer. Typically, a single demonstrative pronoun is not enough to make a reactive token relevant in Mandarin conversation.
might have some difficulty in producing the proper target name herself. Figure 4.4 below
illustrates the placement of this continuer within the syntactic construction.
By recipients By speakers By speakers + + Continuer Noun Demonstrative Pronoun Noun Phrase
nage ‘that’ hao ‘good’ jiao ‘angle’ side Figure 4.4 The placement of hao as a continuer by the native speaker within constituents
Figure 4.4 above shows that the locus of the reactive expression hao ‘good’ is not
random at all. As Jefferson (1974) notes, the term “a recognition point” refers to a
legitimate and expectable place for a recipient to produce a response in the ongoing
conversation. In this regard, the point after the demonstrative pronoun can be seen as a
legitimate place for a recipient to come in and insert a reactive token. Alternatively, in the
same syntactic position, J can employ a collaborative production by providing the projected
target noun phrase for X as a candidate understanding, provided that J knows the target name.
This observation can be further evidenced by X’s completion of her word search (Turn
171) after producing a laughter token singly, when she is in the trouble of searching for the
target word. She finishes her paraphrase in the end, followed by a post-completion
vocalization ‘uh’. Finally, J alters the token shape of reactive expressions to shi ‘yeah’ to
acknowledge her full understanding of X’s paraphrase. It is interesting to note that Speakers
X and J fail to obtain the target name in their word searches. In terms of topic organization,
purpose of topic completion in relation to the target label of the landmark.
To summarize, in this fragment, J has been shown to display her awareness of being a
recipient in the form of two reactive expressions: one is placed at the non-TRP and the other
emerges at the CTRP. These two reactive expressions are fitted in terms of sequential
placements. This instance also shows that Mandarin recipients orient to reactive expressions
as continuers in unfinished turns prospectively and reactive expressions as acknowledgement
tokens in finished turns retrospectively in the data. Thus, reactive expressions can be treated
as part of the human communicative repertoire, and they are produced and interpreted in situ
by participants themselves.
Table 4.1 below illustrates various forms of reactive expressions produced by Mandarin
recipients and their frequency and distribution in descending order.
Table 4.1 Reactive expressions by native speakers
Chinese Pingyin English Frequency Percentage
好 hao Good 15/23 65%
好的 haode Good 2/23 9%
Subtotal 17/23 74%
对 dui Right 2/23 9%
对, 对 dui dui Right, right 2/23 9%
对, 对, 对, 没错, 没错
dui dui dui meicuo, meicuo
Right, right, right. You are not
wrong. You are not wrong. 1/23 4%
Subtotal 5/21 22%
是 shi Yes 1/23 4%
by Mandarin recipients (74 per cent), and dui ‘right’ ranks the second (22 per cent), and shi
‘yes’ comes the last in the list (4 per cent). Once again, it could be argued that the
preference of one form of reactive expression over another might result from individual
variations and such factors as age, gender, power, amongst others, which are not considered in
this study. In the literature, dui ‘right’ is reported as the most frequent lexical reactive
expression in ordinary conversation (e.g., Clancy et al. 1996). The preference for hao/haode
in Mandarin map task conversations could be due to the function of hao for task-oriented
conversational interaction.
Further, the three-part sequence (ABA pattern) has been found to be typical of
employment of reactive expressions and backchannels in terms of their sequential contexts in
the agreement-relevant environment:
(i) A: A new topic is initiated at the CTRP.
(ii) B: A recipient produces a reactive token.
Or:
(iii) A: The third turn confirmation is articulated.