Pauses and Hesitations in Drama Texts

Abstract

Pauses and hesitations are phenomena that can be found in speech. They can help both the speaker and the hearer, due to the functions they have in a dialogue. Their occurrence in speech has a value that they make it more understandable. In this regard, the researchers intend to critically examine the pauses and hesitations used in the two texts as well as their functions. The present paper aims to identify the types of pauses and hesitations used by Pinter's The Homecoming and Baker's Circle Mirror Transformation as well as the functions they serve and to compare both playwrights in this regard. To do so, the sequential production approach of turn taking, in combination with the contributions of some scholars who state the multifunctional use of pauses and hesitations, has been used. The findings of the present study show that pauses and hesitations do not exist arbitrarily in speech but they are found to serve certain functions depending on the context in which they occur. Regarding the two selected extracts, it is noticed from the comparison that the two writers do not use pauses and hesitations equally. Baker uses them more frequently than Pinter due to the context in which they are used which requires using pauses to aid comprehension.

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“…The use of pause and hesitation to demonstrate politeness is the seventh function of these phenomena under study. This function has also been identified by Abbas, Jawad and Muhi (2018). The function of hesitation in the form of lengthening to indicate certain feelings or emotions is the last one identified in this research.…”

“…Apart from speech, human beings pass across both intentional and unintentional messages through interjections (Amaka, 2006;Taavistsainen, 1993;Olateju, 2006;Nforbi, Konesso and Moko, 2016;Mao, 2017;Omotunde and Agbeleoba, 2019), through vocalisers like laughing, smiling and chuckling (Keltner and Bonanno, 1997;Mikael, 2014;Li-Chi Lee Chen, 2016;Omotunde and Bamigboye, 2020) and through pauses and hesitations (Cenoz, 2000;Abbas, Jawad and Muhi, 2018;Swertst, Wichmann and Beun 1996;Ralph, 1998) which are the subjects of this study. In other words, it is not only through organised sounds made by human beings in the form of speech that communication takes place.…”

“…Ralph's (1998) study is on the communicative value of filled pauses in spontaneous speech. Abbas, Jawad and Muhi (2018) examine some functions of pauses and hesitations in selected two drama works. Watanabe and Rose (2010) investigate the production and perception of pauses and hesitations in second language acquisition.…”

Functions of Pauses and Hesitations in Ola Rotimi’s Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again

“…Apart from speech, human beings pass across both intentional and unintentional messages through interjections (Amaka, 2006;Taavistsainen, 1993;Olateju, 2006;Nforbi, Konesso and Moko, 2016;Mao, 2017;Omotunde and Agbeleoba, 2019), through vocalisers like laughing, smiling and chuckling (Keltner and Bonanno, 1997;Mikael, 2014;Li-Chi Lee Chen, 2016;Omotunde and Bamigboye, 2020) and through pauses and hesitations (Cenoz, 2000;Abbas, Jawad and Muhi, 2018;Swertst, Wichmann and Beun 1996;Ralph, 1998) which are the subjects of this study. In other words, it is not only through organised sounds made by human beings in the form of speech that communication takes place.…”

“…Ralph's (1998) study is on the communicative value of filled pauses in spontaneous speech. Abbas, Jawad and Muhi (2018) examine some functions of pauses and hesitations in selected two drama works. Watanabe and Rose (2010) investigate the production and perception of pauses and hesitations in second language acquisition.…”