COMMUNICATIVE STRATEGY VI: REPETITION

Hello everybody!

This week strategies are repetition and ellipsis.

When a listener does not understand or hear what the speaker has just said, s/he normally asks the speaker to repeat the missing information questioning:
Pardon? Pardon me? Sorry? Eh? What? (in an informal context) or can you repeat that again, please?...
However, speakers also repeat words, phrases or sentences  to solve misunderstandings in communication. This kind of repetition is used:

• as a backchannel, that is, to show the speaker you are listening to him/her and understanding what is being said. 

E.g.:  
A: I lost my glasses in the swimming pool, so I went to lost and found. I did't find the glasses but there was...
B: There was...

• to reduce hesitation time in a natural way using false starts.

E.g.: 
A: Do you like the house?
B: Yeah...it's.....it's -it's different

• to check if you have understood correctly:

E.g.:
A: I was driving through the tunnel over the speed limit when the policed appeared,so...
B: You were driving through a tunnel? or You were driving through a.../what? or ..a tunnel?

• to show irony or humour:

E.g.:
Tim: Mary won't tell her the secret, but John will do...
John: No I won't. I'm not that kind of person...
Ben: Yeah.... "you're not that kind of person"

• to draw listeners' attention to your speech or to change the topic:

E.g.:
A: We have to decide what to buy Ben for his birthday
B: (says nothing)
A: We have to decide what to buy Ben for his birthday ( louder)
B: oh, yes..
----------
B: I'll play tennis with you tomorrow.
C: Great!
A: We have to decide what to buy Ben for his birthday...
B: what about 11 am?
C: OK
A: we have to decide what to buy Ben for his birthday (louder)
B and C:  Oh, yeah..
A: I've thought of buying him a t-shirt...