Openings and closings in human-human versus human-spoken dialogue system conversations
Date
2024-06-01
Contributor
Advisor
Department
Instructor
Depositor
Speaker
Researcher
Consultant
Interviewer
Narrator
Transcriber
Annotator
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center
Center for Language & Technology
Center for Language & Technology
Volume
28
Number/Issue
2
Starting Page
32
Ending Page
61
Alternative Title
Abstract
Although conversation openings and closings are ritualized speech acts (House & Kádár, 2023), they do require interactional work (Schegloff, 1986). Thus, they are important elements of interactional competence (Roever, 2022) and have been studied extensively in L2 interactions, including various types of technology-mediated communication contexts (e.g., Abe & Roever, 2019; 2020). However, to our knowledge, no research on openings and closings has been conducted with newer technologies such as spoken dialogue systems (SDS). To address this gap, this study compares conversation openings and closings across two modalities: a role-play with a human interlocutor versus with a fully automated agent. We analyzed interactional data from 47 tertiary-level learners of English. A quantitative (e.g., number of turns) and a qualitative, discursive analysis rendered several key findings: 1) learners were more transactionally oriented in SDS modality, but tended to engage in relational discourse with a human interlocutor; 2) humans adapted to the emergent discourse in both modalities; 3) despite training, the human interlocutor was inconsistent in displaying transactional versus interactional patterns with different participants, while the SDS followed the same dialogue structure in each interaction. Findings will be discussed in terms of specific affordances of the two modalities for interactional competence.
Description
Keywords
Openings Closings, Interactional Competence, Artificial Intelligence, Spoken Dialogue Systems
Citation
Dombi, J., Sydorenko, T., & Timpe-Laughlin, V. (2024). Openings and closings in human-human versus human-spoken dialogue system conversations. Language Learning & Technology, 28(2), 30–58. https://hdl.handle.net/10125/73571
Extent
58
Format
Geographic Location
Time Period
Related To
Related To (URI)
Table of Contents
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Rights Holder
Local Contexts
Email libraryada-l@lists.hawaii.edu if you need this content in ADA-compliant format.