Décrire le français parlé en interaction par Véronique Traverso (review)

prove useful to many, especially those interested in theoretical approaches to interactive dialogue, others might prefer a different balance emphasizing more engaging application accompanied by some of the aforementioned invaluable “support vidéo” along with supplementary materials on an accompanying CD-Rom. Augusta University (GA) E. Nicole Meyer Traverso, Véronique. Décrire le français parlé en interaction. Paris: Ophrys, 2016. ISBN 978-2-7080-1460-2. Pp. 195. Décrire le français parlé en interaction (FPI) is a concise and affordable introduction to the characteristics of spoken French in interactions, which is accessible to students of French as a second language and their instructors, regardless of their level of knowledge of the field of linguistics. This text responds to a lack of resources for the linguistic study of French, given the limited number of works that consider the language from a holistic, conversation analysis perspective. In following with this mission of accessibility and its primary focus on conversation analysis, rather than on phonetics and phonology, FPI uses a unique set of transcription conventions that are presented before the book’s introduction, as opposed to using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Though this may be perceived as a disadvantage to those wishing to adopt the text for a general course in French linguistics, any loss of information is compensated for, by providing numerous, conveniently organized videos and recordings via its companion website. Further, these excerpts have the possibility of aiding student comprehension, particularly with visual cues in the provided videos. For courses covering IPA, instructors could use this companion resource as data for phonetic transcription exercises. Pairing FPI with other materials is also a viable option due to its length and price. The book begins with an introduction that situates the importance of understanding linguistic interaction while recognizing its limitations, given the size of the data set that is analyzed and presented to its readers. The remainder of the text is then organized into seven chapters. Chapter one offers an introduction to the four major characteristics of spoken language in interaction (temporality, co-construction, context, and multimodality). Subsequently, chapter two familiarizes readers with the study of turn-taking. Chapter three further elaborates upon this discussion by considering turn-taking organization. Next, chapter four discusses the phenomenon of repairs, including their functions and specific linguistic cues for repair attempts in French. Then, in chapter five, the author addresses the situated-nature of conversational acts, considering the particularities of how openings, the body, and closings of an interaction are constructed in French by specific participants in a particular setting via a multimodal approach. In chapter six, multimodal resources are presented in order to address the importance of considering all of the various elements, vocal and gestural, used by participants in a conversation. Finally, 284 FRENCH REVIEW 91.2 Reviews 285 chapter seven offers a broad discussion of data collection, transcription, and corpus creation. To facilitate comprehension, each chapter offers a succinct summary of its main points before the next chapter is introduced. The book concludes with a significant body of citations followed by a glossary of terms, which both serve to further its accessibility to a broad readership. In conclusion, FPI is an accessible, affordable text for students of French or of French linguistics. It provides one of the only syntheses of the characteristics of spoken French in interactions, in a concise and comprehensible format. University of South Dakota Kris Aric Knisely ...