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I want to talk but it is not possible : Dinnertime argumentation in Swiss and Italian families

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US·China EducationReviewA 3(20111 355—368 

Earlier title:US··China Education Review,ISSN 1548-·6613 

塌  

“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 

Universiy ofNeuchfitel,Neuchfitel,Swizerland 

Antonio Bova 

University of Lugano,Lugano,Switzerland 

Thi paper nvesgaes o what extnt Swiss and aln  amiy members engage o esolve dierences of opinion  durng hei everyday conversatons at home.The goal  o point out he mporance of he context n he n alytcal  econsucton of argum entaton caried out by parent and chidren a dinnerme and to highlght he simiares  and differences among different strategies.By means of case studies,we intend to an alyze qualitatively how 

argum enton shapes he communicave practces of Swi an d Ialan amiy members and how i can  foser a  critical attitude in their processes of decision-m aking.W e integrate two theoretical an d methodological approaches. 

The first one  he model of he crcal dicussion,derved om he pragm adialectcal perpectve.I epresent  an deal rgumentatve discusson agains whih reale nteracton can  be nalytcaly econsucted and evaluated. 

The second one i he converatonal an d discursve approach ha aims at identying the sequental paerns of  dicourse produced by parcipan ts.W ihin conversatons t dinnerme,we ely on insght rom hose approaches  n order o interpret contextbound communicave and argumentve moves am ong amiy members.The resul  of thi sudy show that,wihin the pacular setting of dinnertime converatons,the pragma-dialctal and  conversational anayses are powerul m ehods to underand how argumentaton foser a crcal atiude in the  process of buiding he amiy consent.Famies show dierent ways hrough which chidren ar socialzed o argue  and to discuss with adults,developing specific strategies an d conversational devices within this kind of activity. 

The indings of hi study open a ge space or nvesgaon about he management of amiy debates in diferent  siuatons,tking nto account a double perpectve on argumenttion. 

Keywords:famiy,argumenton,discursive nteracton,crcal dicusson,parentchid conversaton 

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 media 

di 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 its 

Francesco 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. 

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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 in 

Indeed,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 Swedish 

f 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 

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“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 of 

conduc 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 i the analytical term used to indicae he posion aken by a pary in a discusson on an sue.Stn dpoint  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”.Ther m ay even be no consensus on wheher there i a winner or a lose,or on who i the winne.Indeed, 

equenty ,the pares do not utomatcaly agree on he nterpreaton of outcomes From   hi perpectve t he normatve mode of  crcal dicussion has o be ystematcaly brought ogether wih careful m pical descrpton. 

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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 

n 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 livesbut  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 opinions 

among  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 of 

conduc 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 our 

s 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 wihout he speakers’consent are unacceptable.I  hard o assess o what  extent informant ar inhibied by the presence of he tpe ecorder.Howeve ̄ we ed o use a data gatherng procedure hat  would minimize this factor as much as possible(Arcidiacono& Pontecorvo,2004;Pontecorvo& Arcidiacono,2007). 

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