A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
'I think' in Swedish L1 and L2 group interactions
Authors: Tolvanen, Eveliina
Publisher: JOHN BENJAMINS PUBLISHING CO
Publishing place: AMSTERDAM
Publication year: 2023
Journal: Pragmatics
Journal name in source: PRAGMATICS
Journal acronym: PRAGMATICS
Number of pages: 27
ISSN: 1018-2101
eISSN: 2406-4238
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.22060.tol(external)
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.22060.tol(external)
This cross-sectional study explores the phrase jag tanker 'I think/cogitate' in Swedish talk-in-interaction and compares it with two similar phrases, jag tycker 'I think/find' and jag tror 'I think/believe/guess'. It consists of a quantitative overview of the three phrases and a qualitative, interactionally informed analysis of jag tanker in task-based group conversations with L1 and L2 speakers of Swedish. The results show that jag tanker has a stance-taking function in L1 interactions and projects more talk, which typically accounts for the reasoning behind the point the speaker is making. However, the L2 speakers do not use jag tanker as a stance-taking phrase; instead, they may deploy jag tror or jag tycker to project turns that accomplish similar actions to those that the L1 speakers accomplish with jag tanker.
Funding information in the publication:
This research was supported by Academy of Finland under grant 1316865 and contributes to the project "Emergent Clausal Syntax for Conversation: Swedish in a Cross-Language Comparison", directed by Professor Jan Lindstrom at the University of Helsinki (2018-2022).
