US·China EducationReviewA 3(20111 355—368
Earlier title:US··China Education Review,ISSN 1548-·6613
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“I W ant t o Tal k but I t Is Not Poss i bl e! ”Di nner t i me Ar gum ent at i on i n Sw i ss and I t al i an Fam i l i es
Francesco Arcidiacono
University ofNeuchfitel,Neuchfitel,Switzerland
Antonio Bova
University of Lugano,Lugano,Switzerland
This paper investigates to what extent Swiss and Italian family members engage to resolve differences of opinion during their everyday conversations at home.The goal is to point out the importance of the context in the an alytical reconstruction of argum entation carried out by parents and children at dinnertime and to highlight the similarities and differences among different strategies.By means of case studies,we intend to an alyze qualitatively how
argum entation shapes the communicative practices of Swiss an d Italian family members and how it can foster a critical attitude in their processes of decision-m aking.W e integrate two theoretical an d methodological approaches.
The first one is the model of the critical discussion,derived from the pragm a-dialectical perspective.It represents an ideal argumentative discussion against which real-life interaction can be analytically reconstructed and evaluated.
The second one is the conversational an d discursive approach that aims at identifying the sequential patterns of discourse produced by participan ts.W ithin conversations at dinnertime,we rely on insights from those approaches in order to interpret context-bound communicative and argumentative moves am ong family members.The results of this study show that,within the particular setting of dinnertime conversations,the pragma-dialectical and conversational analyses are powerful m ethods to understand how argumentation fosters a critical attitude in the process of building the family consent.Families show different ways through which children are socialized to argue and to discuss with adults,developing specific strategies an d conversational devices within this kind of activity.
The findings of this study open a large space for investigation about the management of family debates in different situations,taking into account a double perspective on argumentation.
Keywords:family,argumentation,discursive interaction,critical discussion,parent—child conversation
Introduction:Argum entation as an Everyday Activity
During everyday lives of people, argumentation is a very relevant mode of discourse in which interlocutors are committed to reasonableness,i.e.,they accept the challenge of reciprocally founding their
posi t i ons on t he bas i s of r e as ons( Ri got ti& Gr e co Mor as s o,2009).Tr a di t i onal l y,t he s t udy of a r gument a t i on
has been developed with respect to some forms of specific institutionalized interactions.Political and mediadi s c our s e( Ri got t i ,2005;Rocci ,2009) ,j ur i di c al j us t i f ic at i on( Fet e r i s ,2005;Wal t on,2005) ,conf li ct r e s ol u t i on pr ac t i c e of me di a t i on( Gr eco Mor a ss o,2008,i n pr es s )a nd f inanci al pr opos al( Pal mi e r i ,2008,2009)ha ve bee n
recognized,among others,as the m ain contexts in which argumentation plays an essential role.Argumentation relates to a set of interpersonal and social practices of interaction that are framed by a context that perm itsFrancesco Arcidiacono,Ph.D.,Institute of Psychology and Education,University ofNeuchfitel Antonio Bova,Ph.D.can didate,Institute of Linguistics an d Semiotics,University of Lugano.
356 “I W ANT TO TALK BUT IT IS N0T P0SSIBLE!”DINN ERTIM E ARGUM ENTATION
participants to recognize at every time what they Argumentation is a complex activity that is com municative moves.
are doing and what they have to do with their interlocutors.
continuously co-constructed by means of participants’
In this paper,we intend to focus on the context of fam ily interactions,in particular the specific situation of dinnertime conversations. In relation to other more institutionalised argumentative contexts, family is characterized by a large prevalence of interpersonal relationships and a relative freedom concerning issues that can be tackled.In this specific study,our goal is to analyze to what extent family members engage in resolving differences of opinions during their every day interactions at home.By the presentation of case studies,we aim a
t highlighting how argumentation shapes the communicative practices of Swiss and Italian family members and how it can foster a critical attitude in their decision—making processes of every day lives.
The Relevance of Fam ily Argum entation
Research into children’s argumentation has been focused primarily on peer interactions and based on conversation sam ples elicited either in experimental clinical settings or in semi formal pedagogic contexts
( Mayna r d,1 985;Benoi t ,1 992;Fel t on& Kuhn,2001) .However ,i n r ecent year s ,al ongs i de a gr owi ng number
of studies which highlight the cognitive an d educational advantages of reshaping teaching and learning
a ct i vi t i e s i n t er ms of a r gument a t i ve i nt e r a ct i ons( Pont ec or vo,1 993;Gr os s en& Per r et . Cl er mont ,1 994;Mer c er ,
2000;Schwar z,Perret-Clerm ont,Trognon,& M arro,
dynamics which are involved in the fam ily context is social sciences.
2008) ,t he i mpor t ance of t he s t udy of ar gument at i ve
gradually emerging as a relevant field of research inIndeed,the family context is showing itself to be particularly significant in the study of argumentation,as the argumentative attitude learnt in the fam ily,in particular the capacity to deal with disagreement by means of
r ea s ona bl e ve r bal i nt er ac t i ons ,c a n be cons i der e d t he mat r i x of al l ot her f or m s of a r gument a ti on( Mul l er - Mi r z a
& Per r et - Cl er m ont ,2009) .Fur t he r m or e ,des pi t e t he f ocus on nar r a t i ve s as t he f ir s t genr e t o a ppea r i n
com munication with small children,caregiver experiences as well as observations of conversations between parents and children suggest that fam ily conversations can be a significant context for emerging argum entative
s t r a t e gi es( Pont e cor vo& Fa s ul o,1 997) .
Family encounters including children should deserve more attentions as an im portant context of a
rgumentative development in empirical as well as theoretical investigation.As suggested by Pontecorvo and
Ar ci di a cono( 20 1 0) ,t he r ol e of l a nguage ca nnot be s e par a t e d f r om t he over al l s oci o— cul t ur al knowl edge i n t he
study of argumentation.Children learn progressively a complex set of relations between contexts of use and linguistic features.Every interaction,especially in the family context,is potentially a socializing experience
( Pont e cor vo,Fas ul o,& St e r poni ,1 998) .I n c onver s a t i on wi t h c hi l dr en,pa ren t s us e l angua ge i n or de r t o convey
norm s and rules governing linguistic,social an d cultural behavior.For example,by focusing on Swedishf ami l y’ s di n ner t a bl e conve r sa t i ons ,Br uma rk( 2007)r e ve al e d t he pr e s ence of c er t ai n r ecur r e nt ar gume nt a ti ve
features,showing how some argumentative structures may differ depending on the ages of children.M ore recent works showed how specific linguistic indicators may favor the beginning of argumentative debates in the
f ami l y cont ext( Ar ci di ac ono& Bova ,20 1 0;Bova,n.d. ) ;t he y al s o demons t r a t ed t he r el evance of a n ac cur a t e
knowledge of the context in order to evaluate the argumentative dynamics of the family conversations at
di nner t i me( Ar ci di ac ono,Pont e cor vo,&Gr eco Mor a ss o,2009) .
It is importan t to emphasize that argumentation constitutes an intrinsically context-dependent activity
“I W ANT TO TALK BUT IT IS NOT POSSIBLE!”DINNERTIM E ARGUM ENTATION 357
which does not exist unless it is embedded in specific domains of human sociallife.Argumentation cannot be reduced to a system of form al procedures as it takes place only embodied in actual communicative and non.communicative practices and spheres of interaction(Rigotti& Rocci,2006;Eemeren van,Greco M orasso,
Gr oss e n.Per r e t — Cl er m ont ,& Ri got t i ,2009) .Thus,whe n we ha ve t o wor k wi t h f ami l y c onve r s a t i ons ,t he
knowledge of the context has to be integrated into the argumentative structure itself in order to properly understand the argum entative moves adopted by family members.Accordingly,the apparently irregular,i l l ogi ca l a nd i ncoher e nt s t r uc t ur es eme r gi ng i n t hes e na t ur a l di s cour s e s i t ua t i ons( Br uma r k,2006)r equi r e a
“nor m at i ve”modeI of a nal ys i s as wel l a s a s peci f ic“e mpa t hy”t owa rds t he ob je ct of r e s ea rch,s i nc e bot h of
these elements are necessary to properly analyze the argumentmive moves which occur in the family context.
The Argum entative M odel of the Critical Diseussion
In order to properly an alyze the argumentative sequences occurring in the family context,we use the
model of t he Cr i t i c al Di s cus s i on devel oped by Ee me r en van a nd Gr oot e ndor s t(1 984).Thi s mode l wor ks as a
norm ative tool to evaluate whether a real-life argumentative discussion proceeds in such a way as to correctly produce sound argumentative discourse.In fact,the procedure can be thought of as representing a“code ofconduc t ”f or r a t i onal di s cus s ant s who ai m t o a chi eve t hei r a rgument a t i ve goal s i n a r eas ona bl e way( Ee mer en van& Gr oot e ndor s t .2004) .
The pragma.dialectical model of the critical discussion foresees four ideal stages,which do not mirror the actual temporal proceedings of the argumentative discussion but rather the essential constituents of the reasonable,i.e.,critical an d discussion.The first step is the confrontation stage in which a difference of opinion emerges:“It becom es clear that there is a stan dpoint that is not accepted because it runs up against doubt or
cont r adi c t i on”( Eeme r en van& Gr oot e ndor s t ,2004,P.60) .I n t he openi ng s t a ge,t he pr ot agoni s t a nd t he a
nt a goni s t t r y t o f ind out how muc h r e l evant common gr ound t hey sha re( a s t o t he di s cus si on f or m at ,ba ckgr ound k
n owl edge,val ue s and s o on)i n or de r t o be abl e t o de t er mi ne whet her t hei r pr ocedur a l a nd s ubs t a nt i ve z one of
agreement is suffi ciently broad to conduct a fruitful discussion.In the proper argumentation stage of critical
di s cus si on,ar gume nt s i n suppo ̄t o t he s t a ndpoi nt ( s )ar e adva nced and cr i t i c al l y t es t ed. Fi na l l y, i n t he c oncl udi ng
stage,the critical discussion is concluded,“in agreem ent that the protagonist’s standpoint is acceptable and the
ant agoni s t ’ s doubt mus t be r e t r ac t ed,or t hat t he s t a ndpoi nt of t he pr ot agoni s t mus t be r e t r a ct e d’ ’ ‘( Eemer e n va n
& Gr oot e ndor s t ,2004,PP. 60— 6 1 ) .
In order to fully understand the logics of the m odel,it is necessary to refer to the notion of strategic
manoe uvr i ng( Ee mer e n va n& Hout l os s er ,2002;Ee mer e n va n.201 0) .I n e mpi r i c al r ea l i t y,di s c us s a nt s do not j us t ai m a t per f or m i ng s peec h act s t ha t wi l l be cons i de r e d r eas ona bl e by t he i r f el l ow di s cus s ant s( di a l ec t i cal ai m) ,but t he y al s o di r ec t t hei r c ont r i but i ons t owa r ds gai ni ng S ucc es s ,t ha t i s t o s a y,ac hi e vi ng t he pe r l ocut i ona r y ef f e ct of acc ept ance( r he t or i cal ai m) .I n ot he r wor ds ,t he par t i es i n a n a rgume nt a ti ve di s cus s i on at t empt t o be per s ua si ve ( have t hei r s t andpoi nt ac ce pt e d) whi l e obs er vi ng t he c r i t i c al s t andar ds f or
Standpoint is the analytical term used to indicate the position taken by a party in a discussion on an issue.Stan dpoint is a synonym of the Aristotelian term “prbblema'’,in expressing the fact of taking a position.As Rigotti an d Greco Morasso(2009)put it.“a standpoint is a statement fsimple or complex)for whose acceptance by the addressee the arguer intends to argue”(P.44).
W e agree wim Vuchinich f l 9901 who pointed out that real-life argumentative discourse does not always lead to one“winner'’ and one “loser”.There m ay even be no consensus on whether there is a winner or a loser,or on who is the winner.Indeed,
frequently ,the parties do not automatically agree on the interpretation of outcomes From . this perspective t, he normative mode of l critical discussion has to be systematically brought together with careful em pirical description.
358 “I W ANT TO TALK BUT IT IS NOT POSSIBLE!’’DINN ERTIM E ARGUM ENTATION
argumentative discourse.This notion allows f0r the reconciliation of a longstanding gap between the dialectical
( e. g. ,t o mai nt ai n a s t andar d of r e as onabl enes s )and t he r he t or i cal( e. g. ,t he des i r e t o wi n t he c ause )a ppr oach t o a r gument at i on( Eemer en van& Hout l os s er ,2005) ,a nd t a kes i nt o acc ount t he a r gue r s’per s onal mot i va t i ons f or
engaging in a critical discussion.
In the present study,the pragma—dialectical model of critical discussion has both a heuristic and a critical function:It will work as a guideline to identify and an alyze relevant moves from the argumentative point of
vi ew( anal yt i c al r e cons t r uct i on)and i t wi l l al l ow t o t he i nt e r pr e t at i on of r ea 1 . 1 i f e i nt er ac t i ons i n t e r ms of t hei r
correspondence to the ideal m odel of the critical discussion.Conversational and Discursive Approaches
The conversation is one of the most ordinary, spontaneous and widespread activities that we know
( Gal i mbe r t i ,l 994) . The not i on of conve r s a t i on,a s t he common di s cur si ve pr a c t i ce i n e ve r yda y i nt er ac t i ons and a pr oce s s of l a ngua ge s oci al i z at i on ( Oc hs,1 988) ,ha s bee n t he t opi c of va ri ous s t udi e s i n ps ychol ogy
an thropology and sociology.The study of conversations“represents a general approach to the an alysis of the
s oci al ac t i on whi ch c a n be appl i ed t o a n ext r emel y va r i e d a r r ay of t opi cs and pr obl e ms ”( Her i t age,1 984,P.29 1 ) . The a ppr oa ches of Conver s a t i on Ana l ys i s( Sacks ,Sche gl oi f,& J ef f er s on,l 974)and Di s cour s e Anal ys i s
( Ant aki ,1 994;Edwar ds ,Pot t e r ,& Mi ddl e t on,1 992)ai m a t anal yzi ng conver s at i ons i n t hei r a ct ual cont ext s i n
order to identify the sequential patterns of discourse produced by participan ts. The main idea is to study social life in situ,in the most ordinary settings,exam ining routines an d everyday activities in their concrete details
( Ps at has ,1 995) .Thes e appr oac he s t r y t o as s ume t he pa r t i ci pant s’own pe r s pe c t i ve .i n or der t o expl or e t he s t r uct ur es of expr e s si ons us ed i n conver s a t i on( s uch as wor ds,s ounds a nd movement s )as wel l as t he s t r uc t ur es of mea ni ngs( ove r al l t opi c,t hei r or ga ni za ti on i n t al k,l ocal pat te r ns of coher ence i n t he s equenc e,i mpl i ca t i on a nd a s s umpt i ons ) .、 vi t hi n t he conver s a t i onaI and di s c ur s i ve a ppr oa ch,t he r e a r e not pr edet e r mi ned anal yt i c al
categories:Participan ts’accounts ar e always occasioned in the context of discourse and address the concerns of people engaged in the interaction.Accounts ar e,thus,not considered as definite facts about people’s lives.but as altern ative versions of their experiences of life,assum ing the participan ts’own perspective fEdwards &
St okoe,2004) .The a ppr oa ches pr opos e t ha t t he or ga ni z at i on of dai l y l i f e i s s uppor te d by a s er i e s of
assumptions shared and continuously confirm ed through social exchan ges.The main idea is that participants construct a mutual understanding in verbal interactions.because the aim “is not to make light on ‘what really happens’during an interaction… but to discover the systematic properties of the sequential organization of
s pe ec h”( Levi ns on,1 983,P.292) .I n par ti cul a r,wi t hi n t he f ra me wor k of f a mi l y c onver s at i ons a nd i ns pi r ed by t he t he or e t i c al pa r a di gm of et hnome t hodol ogy( Ga r f inkel ,1 967) ,t he anal ys i s of t al k. i n— i nt e r ac t i on i nvol ves a
focus not only on structures an d strategies,but also on processes that activate knowledge and different opinionsamong f a mi l y membe r s( Ochs& Tayl or ,1 992;Pont e cor vo,1 996;Pont ecor vo,Fa sul o,& St e r poni ,200 1 1 .
The Research:M ethOdOlOgical Issues
The pr es ent s t udy i s par t of a l ar ge pr o j ect 3 de vo t e d t o t he s t udy of ar gument a t i on i n t he f a mi l y cont ext
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“I W AN T To TA LK B UT IT IS N OT Po SSIBLE !”D IN NERTIM E A RG UM ENTA T10 N 359
The general aim of the research is to verify the impact of argum entative strategies for conflict prevention and resolution within the dynamics of fam ily educational interactions.The data corpus includes video-recordings of thirty dinnertim e interactions held by five Italian middle class families and five Swiss middle class fam ilies.All participants are Italian·speaking.
In order to minimize the researchers’interferences,the recordings were performed by the families on their
ow n4
.Researchers met the fam ilies in a prelim inary phase to inform participants about the general goals of the research and the procedures,and to get the inform ed consent.Further,families were asked to try to behave“as usual’’at dinnertime in order to offer the researchers an access to their“ordinary”interactions.During the first visit,a researcher was in charge of placing the camera and instructing the parents on the use of the technology
( s uch as t he posi t i on and di r e ct i on of t he ca m er a and ot her t ec hni c al a s pe ct s ) .Fa mi l i es wer e a s ked t o r ecor d
their interactions when all members were present.Each family videotaped their dinners four times,over a four-week period.The length of the recordings varied from 20 to 40 minutes.In order to allow the participants to fam iliarize them selves with the camera,the first videotaped dinner was not used for the aims of the research.I n a f ir s t phas e,a l l di nner ti me conve r s a t i ons wer e f ul l y t r a ns c r i bed us i ng t he CHI LDES( Chi l d La ngua ge Dat a Exc ha nge Sys t e m)( Ma cWhi nney,1 989)and r e vi s ed by t wo r es e a rcher s unt i l a hi gh l e ve l of cons ent( 80%)wa s r e ac hed.Af t er t hi s pha s e,t he r es ea r c he r s j oi nt l y r evi e wed wi t h f a mi l y member s al l t he t r a ns cr i pt i ons at t he i r home.Th r ough t hi s pr oc edur e i t was pos s i bl e t o a sk f ami l y member s t o c l a ri  ̄ s ome unc l ea r pa ss a ge s ,i . e. ,
allusion to events known by family members but unknown to the researcher,implicit language,low level of audio of the video—recordings an d unclear words and so forth.
The Study:Criteria ofAnalysis
In order to analyze the argumentative exchanges,we have selected a number of conversational sequences
occur r i ng i n f a m i l y i nt e r ac t i ons .As s ugge s t ed by Schegl of f ( 1 990) ,‘ ‘ The or gani z a ti on of s e que nce s i s a n
organ ization of actions,actions accom plished thr ough talk-in—interaction,which can provide to a spate ofconduc t cohe r ence and or der whi c h i s anal yt i cal l y di s t i nc t f r om t he not i on of t opi c ”( P.53).We c ons i der ed t he
participants’interventions not as isolated turns,but as parts of sequences within the frame of the ongoing observ ed activities.Specifically,we were convinced that it was possible to understand each turn only in connection with the previous and following one.M oreoveL to consider these sequences as relevant fo r ours t udy,we wer e r ef er r i ng al s o t o t he concept of“par t i ci pa nt s ’ca tegor i es ”( Sacks ,1 992) ,i n or de r t o avoi d
predictive assumptions regarding interactants’motivational,psychological and sociological characteristics.In fact,these factors can only be invoked if the participants themselves are“noticing,a ̄ending to,or orienting to”t hem i n t he cour s e oft hei r i nt e r ac t i on( He r i t a ge ,1 995,P. 396) .
According to the model of the critical discussion,to get an analytic overv iew of those aspects of the discourse that are crucial for a more sophisticated an alysis and evaluation of the argumentative sequences occurring in ordinary conversations,the following components must be carried out:the difference of opinion at issue in the confrontation stage,the premises agreed upon in the opening stage that serves as the point of departure of the discussion,the arguments and criticisms that are----explicitly or implicitly-- advances in the argum entation stage an d the outcome of the discussion that is achieved in the concluding stage.Besides,once
From a deontological viewpoint,recordings made without the speakers’consent are unacceptable.It is hard to assess to what extent informants are inhibited by the presence of the tape recorder.Howeve ̄ we tried to use a data gathering procedure that would minimize this factor as much as possible(Arcidiacono& Pontecorvo,2004;Pontecorvo& Arcidiacono,2007).