4. Summary of Findings:
The purpose of this study is to analyze the
conversation during a drinking session using
William Labov’s Elements of Narratives.
Labov’s six elements of narratives are (1)
abstract, (2) orientation, (3) complicating action,
(4) evaluation, (5) resolution, and (6) coda.
5. Abstract. The first element of narratives
involves how the story started. Based on the five
tables presented in Chapter 2, it can then be seen
that the stories in each conversation started with
what seemed to be vague topics for the other
listeners but not to the three speakers.
6. Orientation. The second element of narratives
tells what the story is all about and all its scopes.
In the summarized tables in Chapter 2, it can then
be observed that even in a span of two minutes,
the speakers in the conversation were able to
tackle not just one topic due to topic switching
and few overlapping.
7. Complicating Action. The third element is the core
of the story. As presented in the second chapter,
the shifts in topics and the resolution of speakers
serve as the core. It is on how one story leads to
another story but still all three speakers can catch
up.
8. Evaluation. The fourth elements is how the speaker
delivers his story to be interesting to his listeners. In the
five two-minute conversation, it can be told that each
speaker has their own story to tell. Each conversation
was made even more interesting in the sense that the
speakers really do have a stand on each topic, be it
serious or not.
9. Resolution. The fifth element refers to the way
the story ended. In the five two-minute
conversations, the stories seemed to be hanging
and lacking of details. The stories ended with a
speaker’s point of view on the topic being talked
about.
10. Coda. The sixth element is the impression left by the story to
the audience. In the first and third cut of conversations, it can
be observed that the stories have no clear destinations. The
listeners would not have any idea on where the story I leading
to. The second cut, which is a continuation of the first cut, has
a clearer ending than that of the first one. What made the
third cut vague is the fact that in the third cut, the speakers
presented various topics which lead to nowhere. But the last
two cuts ended harmoniously for the fourth and the fifth cut
are connected to each other. The fifth cut is a continuation of
the fourth cut.
11. Conclusions:
Speakers in a conversation during a drinking
session have no constant topic in talks.
Moreover, the conversation is vague and full of
confusions. Such conversations has no clear
path to where a topic is really leading. Speakers
jump from one topic to another and then goes
back to a certain topic again.
12. Recommendations:
This research only gathered data from the
recorded conversation during a drinking
session. Thus, other researchers could widen the
scope into using other group conversations, in a
different setting.
Since only Labov’s Elements of Narratives
is focused on this research, the other
researchers may also include other linguistic
features such as overlapping which became
very eminent in the later part of this study.
