Zara Janniere

620130965

LING2501 – LANGUAGE, GENDER AND SEX

Final Paper

Features: Code Switching and Conversation Fillers

Code-switching is defined as the “process of shifting from one linguistic code (a language or

dialect) to another, depending on the social context or conversational setting” by Carlos D.

Morrison. As linguistic students, we are interested in assessing the reasons why and the

conditions under which an interlocutor may utilize this conversational feature. This feature is

often used by immigrants to maintain their identity and by minority groups to assimilate into

their new environments.

According to Alex Tamulis, a conversational filler “is a sound or word that is spoken in

conversation by one interlocutor to signal to others a pause, a hesitation, a transition, or even a

placeholder. They fill a beat in the flow of sounds. … In English, the most common filler sounds

are “uh” /ʌ/ and “um” /ʌm/. Among speakers, the fillers "like”, “you know", "I mean", "okay",

"so", "actually", "basically", and "right" are among the more prevalent.”

Deborah Tannen (1984) asserts that there are two types of conversational styles, high

involvement and high considerateness styles which are thought to reflect the conversational

styles employed by men and women. Women lean more toward the use of a high-involvement

style and men gear more towards a high-consideration style. The high- consideration style entails
slower speech which could possibly be facilitated by fillers that give the interlocutor more time

to be intentional and think about what they are about to say.

Fillers are sounds or words used to fill the gaps within speech while the speaker considers what

they are about to say next. Examples of these are “uh” and “um”. There are four types of fillers,

one of which is discourse markers. Gloria Cappelli asserts that “Filled pauses are hesitation

sounds that speakers employ to indicate uncertainty or to maintain control of a conversation

while thinking of what to say next.” Fillers can also act as

The interviewer employs the feature, fillers, during her interview with Ron. She begins her

interview by introducing Ron and then asking him a question that directs the conversation. For

the rest of the duration of the interview, the interviewer goes back and forth between other

questions for Ron to answer and fillers in the form of backchannels that encourage her

interviewee by letting him know that she is engaged and other questions for Ron to answer.

Eg. (A: mhmmm? , A: Hhhhhh)

Ron employs code-switching quite often during this interview. He initially attempts to use

standard English when answering the first question, “Well I am me so um about myself well I

was born in white house Westmoreland and my earliest memory one thing I remember about

myself um well I remember like where I grew up up in the hills and there was like a bar next

door to my house so the bigger people there they used to tell me…” but then switches to

Jamaican creole as he recounts memories from his childhood which could be for the purpose of

connecting with listeners that may share similar experiences. “Bobrick used to say like bwoy le

wi go daydream so we used to si dung and dreamlike but we used to always dream about houses

and car when we would grow up but there was no career path but unfortunately bobby died a few
years ago but rest in peace we used to call her big gyal but she was a big influence in my life she

was like a next door ( like a sister to me)”

Ron also employs a variety of fillers in his speech like, “um”, “uh” and “ahh” to indicate that he

is actively thinking about what he is saying and how he is answering the interviewer's questions.

This aligns with the claims Tannen makes about males employing a high-consideration style of

communication. He takes his time to think about what he is saying and talks slowly and makes

pauses when necessary to allow for that.

The interviewer who is a female speaks at almost double the speed of Ron who she is

interviewing, employed what is called cooperative laps by repeating words that Ron says like

“house” and employing backchannels that indicate to him that she is actively listening. These are

all indicators that she employs a high-involvement conversational style which Tannen has

asserted primarily women do.

Tamulis, Alex (January 2017) Conversational Fillers and Linguistic Identities

Retrieved from

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/

313613730_Conversational_Fillers_and_Linguistic_Identities

Morrison, Carlos. D (November 2022) Code-Switching

Retrieved from

https://www.britannica.com/topic/code-switching

Cappelli, Gloria (2009) Fillers (Discourse Markers & co.) and Backchannels

Retrieved from

https://www.gloriacappelli.it/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/lesson04-05.pdf

Tannen, Deborah (1993) The Relativity of Linguistic Strategies: Rethinking Power and

Solidarity in Gender and Dominance

Retrieved from

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5523ffe4e4b012b2c4ebd8fc/t/

56d73e382eeb81e5306a35dc/1456946744873/The+Relativity+of+Linguistic+Strategies-

+Rethinking+Power+and+Solidarity+in+Gender+and+Dominance.pdf

Zara Janniere
 620130965
Assignment 1
The Ron Muschette Story Part 1
105.1
Host: Tamara McKayle
Guest: Ron Muschette
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S76Iz41uhJA&t=436s
Time: 3:40 - 8:40

A: So jumping right into your story I mean you are phenomenal there is no question as to who is
the king of radio in Jamaica. And you have a fine legacy and a lot of persons wanted to know
like where did you really start? Where did all of this come from? Because was this like from
when you were a little boy you always knew that you wanted to be on radio tell me about
yourself

B: Okay tell you about myself=

A: =Yes and how you grew up and a dat

B: Well I am me so um about myself well I was born in white house Westmoreland and my
earliest memory one thing I remember about myself um well I remember like where I grew up up
in the hills and there was like a bar next door to my house so the bigger people there they used to
tell me that when I was little I always go up to the bar and they would always play music and I
guess i was a child that love music so… radio I didn't now anything about radio or anything like
that but my life changed I remember when I was about five six umm me and my friend Bobrick
we used sit down and play this game every time rain fall we used to slide on the veranda and
Bobrick used to say like bwoy le wi go daydream so we used to si dung and dream like but we
used to always dream about houses and car when we would grow up but there was no career path
but unfortunately bobby died a few years ago but rest in peace we used to call her big gyal but
she was a big influence in my life she was like a next door ( like a sister to me)

A: (Mhm)

B: But life really changed when I was about nine umm I was I was shipped off to Montego bay
to go live umm with my brother especially cause my brother he was about twenty-five at the time
he had a job um and he would probably tell my mom that you now I I that my.. I guess he’d
probably tell her that you know I think he can be something if we get him out of White (House)
so

A: (House)
B: I went to live with my brother and umm I remember the first thing I wanted to be was that my
brother always brought me to the airport so I always wanted to be a pilot cause all I did was go to
the airport every day and watch planes I would go back home and draw plane and I just wanted
to be a pilot but then my brother love music and every day he would just play music n the radio..
and I used to just hear people on the radio and stuff I used to like the man name Barry G and
couple other people I used to hear. But then one day my brother came home early and said he
was going to a show or something he and his friend Rock so they brought me out there and there
was this man out there on the mic talking and you know.. and I don’t know I just went home
after that and I just said umm I don’t know

A: You just started practicing=

B: =Yeah I just started practicing and the piloting just started leaving me and I just said that hey=

A: =Wow so because you have such a very unique voice I mean obviously you were

B: oh that's a whole story right there

A: Hhhhhh

B: that's another chapter

A: But you were obviously a young child and (the time)

B: (mhm)

A and I mean even when you mention in terms of daydreaming wow that’s amazing so

B: yeah I was probably about seven eight them time deh

A: So you were a young child and then hearing the likes of Barry G and other radio personalities
like Allan Magnus and all of those people

B: Allan Allan Magnus was I heard Allan more than Barry G because every relative house you
went to you hear Allan Magnus.. Allan Magnus so you used to know Allan Magnus was like the
clock for us as a kid growing up Allan is the greatest you know wah I mean so you know um for
use you hear calypso corner you hear star scope as a little child you know if bbc news come on
and you out a di yard you know you late for school school school starts eight thirty and it's like
half an hour walk from where you live so you bbc news and it catch you know it's over man you
late so um I used to hear Allan more than Barry G but I guess alright let me explain to you what
happened to me growing up it’s like um.. when I when I got to Montego bay um I just knew that
I love music so I used to hear a lot of music and then lieutenant Stichie and Papa San and them
man dere were like so me just dj and so every little concert if you cah get a man fi go talk pon it
like Barry G me ago dj pon it so I had to be in the show so I was a dj and a mc in one

A: Hhhhhh

B: Because of the influences you know cause these are the people that I like so but then when I
started going to high school I started to be more of an mc but then started to listening people on
the radio and um there's one particular gentleman that I still hear on the radio but he made me
change my mind to be who I am today because I remember when I had one walk-man stereo
coming home from school and I used to listen to the radio and I listen Winston Williams Barry G
everybody else and there was one particular man I used hear now and then on the radio like he
would get a little one shift now and again I remember one day going home from school and I
said I don't want to grow up to be like him

A: mhmmm?

B: Me nah call him name but I still hear him because my mom listens to other radio stations so I

still hear him a lot and I think he has improved over time but me nah call him name because I

don't want him to feel disrespected you know so I just said to myself when I grow up I want to be

number one