Chapter 4 Results
4.2 Hao in different structures of discourse
4.2.2 Hao as a marker in the exchange structure
國
立 政 治 大
㈻㊫學
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N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
evaluation towards previous moves in order to achieve shared information between the speaker and hearer. In addition, since it is this original meaning of hao, which is related to the information state, each token of hao is considered multifunctional in the information state.
4.2.2 Hao as a marker in the exchange structure
In the present data, hao functioned predominately in the exchange structure in Mandarin-speaking children’s peer interaction. According to previous studies, in the exchange structure, hao serves as a marker of agreement/acceptance, a marker of appreciation of assertion, or a turn-grabbing device. Mandarin-speaking 5-year-olds in the current study used hao in the exchange structure mainly as a marker of agreement/acceptance to others’ suggestions and requests. Excerpt 3 is an example of how Mandarin children used hao to show their agreement with others. In this excerpt, LIN and NIN were planning to build a house. NIN suggested they use the blocks in the back of the playroom to make it. LIN soon expressed her agreement by saying hao
‘okay’. Excerpt 4 also shows the children’s use of hao as a marker of agreement. In this excerpt, both JUN and CAI gave each other a suggestion or a request. JUN at the beginning of the excerpt proposed that they have a contest of playing yoyos next Tuesday. CAI agreed by answering hao. After that, he then requested JUN not to hit his head with the door again. JUN also answered hao to express his compliance. In both excerpts, the children used hao as an agreement marker to show their positive evaluation and supportive attitude towards their peer’s suggestions. It demonstrated the children’s intention to collaborate and may further help them maintain their relations with peers.
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Excerpt 3. LIN and NIN plan to build a house together.
*LIN: 來 吧.
%act: pointing at the blocks in the back of the room
*LIN: 好. ß
hao okay Okay.
Excerpt 4. JUN and CAI are playing with some blocks. Before the conversation, JUN tried to put the toy door onto the block. But the door fell down and hit CAI’s head.
JUN found it very funny, so he used the toy door to hit CAI’s head again.
*JUN: 那 下個 禮拜二 我們 來 比賽 溜溜球.
na xiage libai’er women lai bisai liuliuqiu then next Tuesday we come race yoyo Next Tuesday let’s have a game of yoyos.
*CAI: 好. ß
hao okay Okay.
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So don’t you hit my head again (with the door).*JUN: 好. ß
hao okay Okay.
When hao functioned as a marker of agreement, Mandarin-speaking children sometimes combined it with particle la. According to Biq (2004), although adding no additional propositional content, hao combining with particles expresses a wider range of interactional functions. When hao co-occurs with particle la, hao la indicates a reluctant agreement, which shows that the speaker is unwilling to agree with the previous speaker. Excerpt 5 demonstrates how Mandarin 5-year-old children use hao la to express his unwillingness to agree with the previous speaker. In this example, CAI was distracted from building a house because some kids outside the playroom were calling him. LIN was annoyed by CAI’s distraction and asked CAI to focus on building the house. CAI felt a little embarrassed to be found distracted. Therefore, instead of saying hao, he added particle la with hao to indicate his unwillingness to accept LIN’s demand. He reluctantly accepted LIN’s suggestion in one hand to conceal his embarrassment and in the other hand to imply his collaborative stance.
CAI’s use of hao la demonstrated his intention to maintain the alliance between LIN and himself. Excerpt 6 also illustrates Mandarin-speaking children’s use of hao with particle la to express the additional interactional information of the agreement. JUN in this example found some blocks in the playroom and claimed they were money. CAI requested JUN to give him some money. JUN agreed with hao la, which implied that
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even though he was not willing to do so, he still did it because of some reasons, for example, to maintain their alignment and social relations.
Excerpt 5. LIN and CAI are playing blocks together in the playroom. Some children outside the room are calling CAI and CAI is distracted.
*LIN: 做 房子 啦. Hurry up make up the house.
*CAI: 好 啦. ß
hao la
okay PRT
Okay.
Excerpt 6. JUN and CAI are looking for toys to play together.
*JUN: 喂 我 找到 錢 [= 積木] 了.
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children’s conversation as a marker of acceptance in the exchange structure. Excerpt 7 demonstrates this function of hao in the present data. In excerpt 7, though pretending, JUN offered ZHI some rice. ZHI accepted the offer using the marker hao.Excerpt 7. ZHI and JUN pretend they are having breakfast together.
*JUN: 給 你 吃 米.
Rice can not be the breakfast.
*ZHI: 只 能 吃 飯飯 喔.
zhi neng chi fanfan o
only can eat steamed rice PRT
(We) could only eat steamed rice.
*JUN: 給 你 吃 飯.
gei ni chi fan
give you eat steamed rice
Give you some steamed rice to eat.
*ZHI: 好. ß
hao okay Okay.
Besides followed by particle la, hao in the exchange structure sometimes appeared after the A-not-A question hao-bu-hao in Mandarin-speaking children’s peer interaction. Hao-bu-hao and hao formed a question-answer pair in Mandarin children’s peer conversation. The A-not-A question hao-bu-hao was used to ask for the hearer’s evaluation, opinions or permission. According to Liu (2008), hao-bu-hao
• 國
立 政 治 大
㈻㊫學
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N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
in spoken Mandarin is now more than just a tag question but a discourse marker indicating refutation, directive, elicitation, and comforting. Hao as a preferred second pair part expressed the speaker’s positive evaluation toward the previous proposition.
The appearance of this question-answer pairs showed that Mandarin-speaking 5-year-olds had the ability to take other people’s opinions into consideration. With the preferred second pair part hao, it helped Mandarin-speaking children to build up the alignment with their peers. Also, as previous researcher suggested, through the interactions with peers, children could have more opportunities to examine their ideas, to negotiate and to discuss with others from various perspectives (Piaget, 1932;
Rogoff, 1990). The examples are given in excerpt 8 and 9. In excerpt 8, the children were playing with the toys they pretended to be their treasure. JUN suggested that they hide their treasure. He added hao-bu-hao at the end of his utterance to ask for CAI’s opinion. CAI then expressed his agreement by saying hao. Similarly, in excerpt 9, when the children were pretending to be postmen, LIN proposed that they send out the mails at night and used hao-bu-hao to seek NIN’s opinion. NIN showed his positive evaluation by hao. In this excerpt, that LIN’s announcement of the setting and the A-not-A question hao-bu-hao were separated in two utterances may indicate LIN’s thinking process. She might not think of asking for NIN’s opinion at first but she then remembered that it would be more polite to consider other people’s thoughts.
Therefore she added hao-bu-hao at the end of her turn. The use of hao-bu-hao to ask for other people’s opinion and the preferred answer hao may help Mandarin children construct the alignment between peers more easily. This result may also imply that Mandarin-speaking children at age five have acquired to pay attention to other people’s thoughts and feelings. This perspective-taking ability, as previous researcher claimed, would be acquired in children’s interactions with peers (Sullivan, 1953).
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Excerpt 8. JUN and CAI are playing with some toys. They both assume that the toys are their treasure.
*JUN: 我們 把 我們的 寶藏 藏 在 +…
women ba womende baozang cang zai +…
we BA our treasure hide PREP
How about we hide our treasure in…
*JUN: 藏 在 某 一 個 地方 好不好? ß
Excerpt 9. LIN and NIN pretend to be the postmen. They are discussing when they should send the mails.
*LIN: 晚上 送 信.
wanshang song xin
night deliver mail
(We are going to) deliver the mails at night.
*LIN: 好不好? ß exchange structure was also found to express acknowledgement in Mandarin-speaking children’s peer interaction. Excerpt 10 and 11 illustrate how these children
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use hao to acknowledge others’ assertions. In excerpt 10, JUN announced that he was going out. ZHI acknowledged her receipt of JUN’s announcement by saying hao.
Other than showing acknowledgement only, ZHI further said good-bye to imply her approval to JUN’s announcement. Similarly in excerpt 11, CAI and LIN were building roads for their toy cars. CAI found a set of built-up tracks on the shelf and was very excited. He immediately showed those tracks to LIN. LIN said hao to acknowledge her receipt of this information.
Excerpt 10. Some children outside the playroom are calling to JUN. JUN wants to go out and talk to them.
Excerpt 11. CAI and LIN are playing with toy cars. CAI has found a set of railway that was already linked together on the shelf.
*CAI: 哇 -: .
• 國
立 政 治 大
㈻㊫學
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N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
*LIN: 0 [=! screaming].
*LIN: 好. ß
hao okay Okay.
Briefly speaking, in the exchange structure, Mandarin-speaking children tended to use the discourse marker hao to show their agreement and acceptance to their partners’ suggestions, and also to acknowledge their receipt of information. They sometimes combined hao with other discourse particles such as la to imply their unwillingness to agree. Sometimes hao in Mandarin-speaking children’s conversation served as a preferred answer to an A-not-A question hao-bu-hao, which is used to ask for the addressee’s opinion or assessment. The above-mentioned functions of hao in the exchange structure illustrated how Mandarin children forged an alliance with their peers by showing their collaborative stances, and how they intended to maintain the relationships with peers.