Radio Talkback Analysis

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This text is a conversation broadcast on local ABC radio between the host, Richard Stubbs, and two callers discussing the issue of pets being allowed in their owners’ beds at night. This text has several purposes. The purpose of the host, Stubbs, is to establish and build rapport with the callers in order to encourage them to chat about their experiences and opinions on the topic. The wider social purpose of the conversation is to both inform and entertain the listening audience, members of the general public. The register is informal which is appropriate given the personal topic of conversation and which also reflects the nature of spontaneous spoken language. The prosodic features play an important function in the discourse in adding meaning to the discussion. The use of stress and lengthened sounds emphasises key words and concepts for the participants. Mary does this to contradict Richard and affirm how much her husband ‘lo=ves’ their cat. Between lines 46-50 the stress on ‘between’, ‘feet’ and ‘that’ brings into sharper focus the core question of a pet’s place in an owner’s bed. This is also achieved by the lengthened sounds in lns 7 and 34. This emphasis is also achieved through the use of volume and tempo (ln 20). Richard, for example, uses a louder voice in ln 22 to introduce into the conversation his slang expression ‘thunder buddies’ and a softer voice in lns 67 and 85-86 when he is alluding to the presence of pets in beds possibly preventing intimacy between couples. Lengthened sounds, such ‘Hi=’ in ln 42, and the vocal effect of laughing (lns 25, 54, 62) add to the lively, friendly and casual tone of this interaction. The prosodics also play an important role in the topic management and turntaking in this discourse. As radio host, Richard signals to both the listening audience and to the callers that they are now on air in the

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