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Elliptical Responses to Direct and Indirect Requests for Information
Katherine Chia1, Michael P Kaschak1
1Florida State University, USA.
Language and Speech
|June 10, 2023
Summary
Speakers use shorter, elliptical responses for direct information requests. Indirect questions, yes/no answers, and retrieval difficulties reduce ellipsis, especially in polite inquiries.
Area of Science:
- Psycholinguistics
- Cognitive Science
- Linguistics
Background:
- Elliptical responses, where parts of a sentence are omitted, are common in conversation.
- Previous research suggests factors like question directness influence elliptical speech production.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate factors influencing the production of elliptical responses to information requests.
- To examine the impact of question type, response structure, and cognitive load on ellipsis.
Main Methods:
- Reanalysis of existing data and a new experiment involving phone calls to businesses requesting closing times.
- Varying question directness (direct vs. indirect), response format, and introducing linguistic distractors.
Main Results:
- Elliptical responses were more frequent for direct information requests compared to indirect ones.
- Ellipsis decreased with initial yes/no responses, inserted irrelevant content, and signs of retrieval difficulty.
- Retrieval difficulty effects were strongest for highly polite questions.
Conclusions:
- The production of elliptical responses is influenced by the ease of understanding the omitted information (recoverability) and pragmatic factors.
- Cognitive load and politeness interact to shape how speakers use ellipsis in information exchange.
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