Small talk
Small talk is an informal type of discourse that does not cover any functional topics of conversation or any transactions that need to be addressed.[1] In essence, it is polite and standard conversation about unimportant things.[2]
The phenomenon of small talk was initially studied in
Purpose
In spite of seeming to have little useful purpose, small talk is a
Small talk is closely related to the need for people to maintain a positive
- Conversation opener: when the speakers do not know each other, it allows them to show that they have friendly intentions and desire some sort of positive interaction. In a business meeting, it enables people to establish each other's reputation and level of expertise. If there is already a relationship between the two talkers, their small talk serves as a gentle introduction before engaging in more functional topics of conversation. It allows them to signal their own mood and to sense the mood of the other person.
- At the end of a conversation: suddenly ending an exchange may risk appearing to reject the other person. Small talk can be used to mitigate that rejection, affirm the relationship between the two people, and soften the parting.
- Space filler to avoid social animals, silence is a communicative sign of potential danger.[9]
In some conversations, there is no specific functional or informative element at all. The following example of small talk is between two colleagues who pass each other in a hallway:
- William: Morning, Paul.
- Paul: Oh, morning, William, how are you doing?
- William: Fine, thanks. Have a good weekend.
- Paul: Yes, thanks. Catch you later.
- William: OK, see you.
In that example, the elements of
The need to use small talk depends upon the nature of the relationship between the people having the conversation. Couples in an intimate relationship can signal their level of closeness by a lack of small talk. They can comfortably accept silence in circumstances that would be uncomfortable for two people who were only casual friends.[10]
In workplace situations, small talk tends to occur mostly between workers on the same level, but it can be used by managers as a way of developing the working relationships with the staff who report to them. Bosses who ask their employees to work overtime may try to motivate them by using small talk to temporarily decrease their difference in status.[11]
The balance between functional conversation and small talk in the workplace depends on the context and is also influenced by the relative power of the two speakers. It is usually the superior who defines the conversation because they have the power to close the small talk and "get down to business."[12]
Topics
The topics of small talk conversations are generally less important than their social function.[13] The selected topic usually depends on any pre-existing relationship between the two people, and the circumstances of the conversation. In either case, someone initiating small talk will tend to choose a topic for which they can assume a shared background knowledge, to prevent the conversation from being too one-sided.[12]
Topics can be summarised as being either direct or indirect.
Typically the level of detail offered avoids overstepping the bounds of interpersonal space. When asked "How are you?" by an acquaintance they do not know well, a person is likely to choose a simple, generalized reply such as "I am good, thank you." In this circumstance, it would usually not be appropriate for them to reply with a list of symptoms of any medical conditions they were suffering from.
Conversational patterns
A study of small talk in situations that involve the chance meeting of strangers has been carried out by Klaus Schneider.[16] He theorizes that such a conversation consists of a number of fairly predictable segments, or "moves". The first move is usually phrased so that it is easy for the other person to agree. It may be either a question or a statement of opinion with a tag question. For example, an opening line such as "Lovely weather, isn't it?" is a clear invitation for agreement. The second move is the other person's response. In functional conversations that address a particular topic, Grice's maxim of quantity suggests that responses should contain no more information than was explicitly asked for.[17] Schneider claims that one of the principles of small talk contradicts the maxim of quantity. He suggests that politeness in small talk is maximised by responding with a more substantial answer. Going back to the example of "Lovely weather, isn't it?", to respond factually by just saying "Yes" (or even "No") is less polite than saying, "Yes, very mild for the time of year". Schneider describes that subsequent moves may involve an acknowledgement such as "I see", a positive evaluation such as "That's nice", or what's called "idling behaviour", such as "Mmm", or "Really?".
Gender differences
Speech patterns between women tend to be more collaborative than those of men, and tend to support each other's involvement in the conversation. Topics for small talk are more likely to include compliments about some aspect of personal appearance. For example, "That dress really suits you." Small talk between women who are friends may also involve a greater degree of
By contrast, men's small talk tends to be more competitive. It may feature
Cultural differences
Small talk varies country to country and people to people. Southern Europeans, for example, are said to be very good at using lots of words to convey very little information.[15]
Also, small talk rules and topics can differ widely between
Differences among members of various cultural groups in aspects of their attitudes to small talk and ways of dealing with small talk situations are considered to be rooted in their socioculturally ingrained perception of interpersonal relationships.[20][21][22][23] In many European cultures it is common to discuss the weather, politics or the economy, although in some countries personal finance issues such as salary are considered taboo.[24][25]
Finland and Sweden have been cited as countries where there is little culture of small talk and people are more comfortable with silence.[26][27]
See also
- Active listening
- Cheap talk (game theory)
- Contact call
- Social lubricant
- Sociolinguistics
- Transactional analysis
- Phatic expression
- Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka by Johann Strauss II, from the German for "chit-chat"
References
- ^ "dummies - Learning Made Easy". www.dummies.com. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
- ^ "small-talk noun - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com". www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com. Retrieved 2019-12-27.
- ^ Nield, David (7 July 2016). "Here's The Science Behind Why Small Talk Is So Awkward – And So Essential". ScienceAlert. Retrieved 2019-12-27.
- ^ "The Problem of Meaning in Primitive Languages". The Problem of Meaning in Primitive Languages. Retrieved 2019-12-27.
- ^ Malinowski, B. (1923) "The problem of meaning in primitive languages", in: Ogden, C. & Richards, I., The Meaning of Meaning, Routledge, London
- ^ Bickmore, T. (1999) A Computational Model of Small Talk, accessed online at media.mit.edu
- ^ Laver, J. (1975), "Communicative Functions of Phatic Communion", in: Kendon, A. / Harris, R. / Key, M. (eds.), The Organisation of Behaviour in Face-to-Face Interaction, pp.215–238, The Hague: Mouton.
- ^ a b c Holmes, J. (2000) "Doing collegiality and keeping control at work: small talk in government departments", in: J. Coupland, (ed.) Small Talk, Pearson, Harlow UK.
- ^ Joseph Jordania. "Times to fight and times to relax: Singing and humming at the beginning of Human evolutionary history". Kadmos 1, 2009: 272–277
- ^ Jaworski, A. (2000) "Silence and small talk", in: J. Coupland, Small Talk, Pearson, Harlow UK.
- ^ Holmes, J. (1998) "Don't Under-Rate Small Talk", New Zealand Business, 12,9.
- ^ a b c Holmes, J. & Fillary, R. (2000) "Handling Small Talk at Work: challenges for workers with intellectual disabilities", International Journal of Disability 47,3.
- ^ Tracy, K. & Naughton, J. M. (2000) "Institutional identity-work: a better lens", in: J. Coupland, Small Talk, Pearson, Harlow UK.
- ^ Ventola, E. (1979) "The Structure of Casual Conversation in English", Journal of Pragmatics 3: pp.267–298.
- ^ a b George (2020-11-23). "Spanish Small Talk - London Translate English-Spanish Translation - Blog". London Translate. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
- ^ Schneider, K. (1988) Small Talk: Analysing Phatic Discourse, PhD thesis, Philipps-Universität, Marburg, W. Germany.
- ^ Grice, H. P. (1975) "Logic and Conversation", in: P. Cole & J. Morgan (eds.) Syntax and Semantics : Speech Acts, Vol.3, Academic, NY.
- ^ a b Tannen, D. (1992) "How men and women use language differently in their lives and in the classroom", The Education Digest 57,6.
- ^ Hofstede, G. (2000) Culture's Consequences, revised edition, Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
- ^ Cui, X. (2012, October 30). Communicating with Chinese colleagues, not just small talk. The Age.
- ^ Cui, X. (2013, July 30). Tongue-tied. South China Morning Post, pp. A11
- ^ Cui, X. (2012). ‘How are you? – Fine, thanks. How about you?’: A case of problematic social interaction at work between Chinese and Australians. In C. Gitsaki & R. B. Baldauf (Eds.), Future directions in applied linguistics: Local and global perspectives (pp. 373–389). Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
- ^ Cui, X. (2014). Getting to the Source: An Instrument for Examining the Dynamics of Problematic Interactions. RELC Journal: A Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 45(2), 197–210.
- ^ Grzega, J. (2006) EuroLinguistischer Parcours: Kernwissen europäischer Sprachkultur, Frankfurt (Main): IKO.
- ^ Grzega, J. (2008) "Elements of Basic European Language Guide", Journal for EuroLinguistics 5: pp.118–133.
- ^ Studarus, Laura (17 October 2018). "How the Finnish survive without small talk". Retrieved 15 November 2019.
- ^ Nilsson, Björn (13 October 2020). "How the Swedes survive without small talk". Retrieved 13 October 2020.