Hør dog hvad de siger - Note-to-Self: Trials & Errors

‘well that’s because I think English is a good language’
4 Interv: ja
’yeah’
5 Resp: og jeg synes øh (.) bedre end tysk i hvert fald og også lidt
6 lettere at lære.
‘and I think uh better than German anyway and also a bit easier
to learn’
(0.4)
7 Interv: ja
’yeah’
(1.0)
8 Resp: øh og det er også det jeg bruger mest (0.7) i dagligdagen for
9 eksempel (.) for i [jobfunktion] er det jo (0.9) altså svenskere
10 slår jeg over i engelsk for eksempel fordi (.) at jeg er jyde ikke
11 så øh derfor forstår jeg ikke så godt (0.9) øh (.) og så synes jeg
12 faktisk det er det bedste sprog jamen altså
’and it is also what I use the most in my everyday for example
because in [my work] it is you know well [with] Swedes I
switch to English for example because I am from Jutland you
know so therefore I don’t understand [Swedish] so well uh and
then I think actually that it is the best language you know
really’
(0.3)
13 Interv: ja
’yeah’
14 Resp: tysk bryder jeg mig ikke så meget om det lyder sådan lidt
underligt
’German I am not very fond of it sound a little weird’
(0.3)
15 Interv: ja
‘yeah’
(2.5)
The interviewer’s ‘ja’s lines 4, 7, 13 and 15 can be read as agreement tokens or as mere to-
kens of reception and invitations to elaborate. Either way, when not explicitly objecting to the
respondent’s use of the word ‘mother tongue’, his acceptance is implied. In the unique inter-
view, the negotiating of a ‘new’ meaning to terms gives us insights into the lay understanding
of such semi-professional terms. To standardised comparison on the other hand, varying defi-
nitions are problematic. It would be wrong to claim that this respondent is ‘exposed to the
same question experience’ as a respondent interpreting ‘mother tongue’ in its usual (professi-
onal) meaning. It follows that the insistence on formal standardisation actually leads to a lack
of ‘true’ standardisation. Whereas this respondent is indeed presented with the same linguistic
stimulus (question) as all other respondents, her understanding is different. As a consequence
her response relates to a cognitively non-standardised stimulus.
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