Dialogue in Communication: Features, Styles and Language

Dialogue: Communication, Features and Language

Dialogue

Dialogue

The dialogue is a communicative process in which two or more partners take turns using words.

The two most important qualities of dialogue are succession and hierarchy. Succession refers to the exchange of turns in speech. Hierarchy indicates that each intervention depends on the previous one.

In a dialogue, the partners are interested in exchanging information and being accurate. Frequently used are the phatic function of language and the expressive function: the transmitter shows subjectivity, and each party often seeks the appellative function to draw the other's attention and influence behavior.

Features of Dialogue

• Path of return

Return path. For there to be dialogue, the transmitter and receiver(s) must exchange roles alternately. If communication is unidirectional, although the receiver understands the message, there is no dialogue.

• Dialogic tension

Dialogic tension. Dialogue is initiated and maintained through dialogic tension, i.e., the motivation that drives two or more partners to establish a communicative exchange. If there is no tension, there is no dialogue.

The tension sets the structure of the dialogue as follows:

• Power connection. To initiate a dialogue between two parties there must be a starting point that allows contact.
• Informative tension. This maintains the conversation and leads to progress or breakthroughs.
• Silence. Silence often marks the end of the dialogue.

• Consistency

Consistency. In dialogue, all interventions must be coherent. Each piece of information should connect to the previous one.

Dialog Classes

Direct style. This style transcribes the words of each partner literally. It is commonly used in theatrical texts and in direct quotations within narratives.

The direct style within narrative can be represented in different ways. The most frequent interventions are introduced by dashes or quotation marks.

Indirect style. In the indirect style, a narrator reports personal interventions using subordinate clauses introduced by conjunctions.

The Language Used in Dialogue

Lexical features

Lexical features. A notable lexical feature is the use of verbs of language and thought to introduce the characters' actions and mental states.

Morphological traits

Morphological traits. The most prominent feature is the use of the indicative mood. The most common verb tenses are the present, the past, and the present perfect, typically in the indicative.

Syntactic features

Syntactic features. The main syntactic characteristics include:

• Prevalence of interrogative and exclamatory sentences, interjections, and vocatives.
• More spontaneous language: often sentences are left unfinished or the logical order of elements is altered because of the natural use of spoken language in dialogue.

Textual features

Textual features. The most important textual features in dialogue are related to cohesion: lexical repetition, use of pronouns and other deictic elements, anaphoric and cataphoric processes, and the use of discourse connectors.