A Study Of Repair Mechanism In The Oprah Winfrey Show

Based on English conversational analysis and its research techniques, a study ofrepair mechanism in The Oprah Winfrey Show is conducted in combination with thequantitative and qualitative research in view of the repair theories proposed bySchegloff, Jefferson, and Sacks (1977). The repair operations are systematicallydiscussed and analyzed from the perspective of self-repair and other-repairaccordingly, indicating the repair types and repair strategies as well as thesemi-institutional characteristics of repair.The data source for this study is extracted from the most influential and thehighest-rated talk show in American television history—The Oprah Winfrey Showwhich was produced and hosted by its namesake, Oprah Winfrey. With a wide rangeof topics in the show, data collection of this study consists of20randomly selectedprograms of the show that was aired nationally from12thDecember,1986to9thSeptember,2011. There are237repair extracts found in total, including182extractsof self-repair,55extracts of other-repair. This study is carried out according to thefollowings.To begin with, types of repair in The Oprah Winfrey Show are discussed andclassified with extracted examples in detail according to who initiates and whoconducts the repair. It is found that there are such preference tendencies in this study:self-repair outnumber other-repair, and self-initiated repair outnumber other-initiatedrepair. This is in consistent with the repair phenomena proposed by SJS in1977, lyingin the reason that the listener may not want to interrupt the discourse coherence.Besides, self-initiated self-repair outnumber other-initiated self-repair, andother-initiated other-repair outnumber self-initiated other-repair, which is in consistentwith Li (2008), lying in the reason that the listener might bring a face threat to thespeaker if the listener conducts the repair in public.Later, this study analyzes repair types in consideration of its formal classification.In this respect, self-repair in The Oprah Winfrey Show can be classified as phonetic,lexical and syntactic repair, among which lexical repair take up the highest frequency,followed by syntactic repair with phonetic repair lagging behind, while other-repairbear slight differences from self-repair. Other-repair do not contain phonetic repair butlexical, syntactic, and discursive repair instead, among which lexical other-repair stilloccupy the largest proportion, followed by syntactic and then discursive other-repair.It may lie in the reason that the speaker will initiate and conduct the repair(self-initiated self-repair) as soon as he or she makes speaking errors. However, withqualified equipments and close distance between the hostess and the guests, there isscarce listening problem on the scene so the listener does not need to check information or correct pronunciation which may threaten the speaker’s face. As fordiscursive other-repair, it is indicated that the listener bears stronger languagecompetence and conducts the repair with the goal of providing more accurate andappropriate information.Then this study discusses repair types from the perspective of functionalclassification. Accordingly, self-repair for delaying the production of next lexical item,for speaking inaccuracy, for speech plan variation, for lexical or syntacticunderstanding, for listening problem, for speaking error, and for humor effect aredefined as seven functional types of self-repair. The majority are self-repair fordelaying the production of next lexical item and for speaking inaccuracy in the secondplace. Other-repair contain eight sub-categories, as other-repair for speakinginaccuracy or error, for lexical understanding, for word search gap, for redundancy,for rhetoric effect, for inappropriate collocation, for background unclearness, and forlistening problem. The majority are other-repair for speaking inaccuracy or error andlexical understanding in the next place. Both self-repair and other-repair for humoreffect are found in The Oprah Winfrey Show, which embodies the semi-institutionalcharacteristics of repair in talk show where repair for humor effect is conducted withthe goal of entertaining the audience and relieving the face threat.What’s more, this study explores the repair strategies in The Oprah Winfrey Showbased on existing repair researches. Self-repair strategies are composed of six typeswhich are repetition, completion, replacement, insertion, reformulation, andexplanation strategy, with the majority of repetition and completion strategies in thesecond place. Other-repair strategies also include six types which are completion,replacement, explanation, modification, addition, and rejection strategy, with themajority of completion and explanation strategies in the next place. In comparisonand contrast, the similarities and differences of strategies between self-repair andother-repair are further discussed.In addition, repair is an effort in language interaction that depends on context.Repair is restricted by the context, setting or discourse and it is usually conductedwith the aim of getting accurate information by those who have stronger languagecompetence in conversation. Thus, this study explores and summarizes thesemi-institutional characteristics of repair in The Oprah Winfrey Show from theperspective of self-repair and other-repair accordingly.To sum up, this paper systematically studies repair mechanism in The OprahWinfrey Show from the perspective of self-repair and other-repair, which supports andenriches repair study in semi-institutional discourse. It is hoped that this study onrepair characteristics contributes to the interlocutors’ positive attitudes towards repairso as to achieve better and more effective communication.