J. K. Rowling's Use of Paralinguistic Features

In the essay I will be talking about how jk Rowling adapts her language for different audiences. such as a children’s TV show or an adults light nigh entertainment show.

In the conversation between oprah jk uses a lot of shutdown answers at the beginning whilst discussing the topic of her father. oprah asks jk ‘do you have you reasons’ and jk replies ‘I have my reasons’ she uses a shutdown answer to either signal to oprah that she doesn’t want to discuss this topic of conversation as it might be too personal for her as she didn’t have a good relationship with her dad and she might not want to let the public know about it.she has adapted her speech here as she uses shutdown answers to signal to oprah that the topic is to sensitive and personal to disciss.it also might make her feel upset talking about her father because of their bad relationship.
Jk goes on further to adapt her language by talking in a conversational language with oprah. You can tell that she uses informal language because she says things like ‘yeah’ and ‘for sure’ these are some of the words she uses. They both also see each other as equals because they have both taken the path from ben broke to becoming millionaires and they are both dressed in a similar manor and they are both using similar paralinguistic features. This all shows that the interview is a very informal interview and they both see each other as equals.

In the blue peter interview, J.k Rowling speech is very childlike because she has adapted the way she speaks to suit the children who are watching and interviewing her. You can tell that she has adapted her language because she says ‘oh happy birthday’ this quote shows that she is been quite relaxed and friendly. She also uses a low tone of voice as that may make the children calmer and comftable talking to jk Rowling. jk is adapting towards her language for her audience who want to know about harry potter. She has done this because by using a friendly tone of voice it makes the children more confident. The purpose of jk being on the show is o entertain and inform the children about her books. She has adapted her speech to make it easier for the children to understand.
Also in the interview she uses a lot of paralinguistic features such as hand gestures and leaning back or forward.to help move the conversation along and to flow. She starts of by leaning forward in her seat this shows that she is more involved in the conversation that is going on and want to know and tell more. Closer to the end she leaned back when asked a question that put her on the spot it was ‘if you were the sorting hat, which house would you choose for David Camren and Gordon brown’.Jk was not prepared for this question as you wouldn’t think that a child would ask that sort of question.so she then had to sit back in her chair to think more about what to say without offending anybody that is listing or watching as she is seen as a very influential person and others might follow what she says so she might not want to give her opinion to others.. She also answers this question in a very childlike way by using colours instead of talking about politics.
Jk would also simplify her answers down for her audience as it’s a children’s program. And helps them to understand more what she is talking about.You can tell this because she says ‘books 3,6 and 7’but the children wouldn’t have been able to remember which book they are so she repeats herself by using more of an easier answer by saying ‘so that’s Azkaban and half-blood prince and deathly hallows’ she does this to help the children to remember which ones they are because the children might only remember the book names rather than numbers. This shows that she changes the way she speaks for her audiences because in interview she has to simplify her speech to help it flow more.

In the interview between Johnathan Ross and jk Rowling it is you can see that she changes the way she speaks to suit an adult audience. They both use very informal language and talk like as it’s on a light night tv show which is aimed towards adults.. You can tell that’s it very informal because they use words like, ‘swotty’ and ‘yeah’ these words show that’s its very light hearted because they are informal and it shows that they are it’s a very conversational style. She also uses taboo language by saying ‘bollock’ which shows that she has adapted her language to fit in with the audience of adult. She does this because she know that her main target is to entertain instead of inform people about the harry potter books or advertise them.
Also in the interview between Jonathan Ross and jk interrupts Jonathan when he is talking this could be to show interest it could also be to promt or encourage each other to speak to make the conversation run easier. You can tell this because when they are talking about her books she interrupts Jonathan Ross by saying ‘the epilogue has been written for years’ she could have interrupted jr because she finds the conversation they are having interesting and want to say more about it. This also shows that she also joins in more with the conversation if it’s something she enjoy talking about more. This shows that she adapts the way she talks as when she was talking about subjects she likes she will talk more but when talking about things like her father she becomes quieter and shutdown the interviewee.

Join the 60 minute interview jk uses a lot of filler and false starts this could be because she feels unconfutable about the conversation. You can tell this because she says things like ‘ I-I erm wouldn’t go back’ this shows that she could be unconfutable with the conversation that is going on because she might be having to think of things to say and not let too much out to the public and is uncomfortable about talking about her childhood. She also uses false starts and stammers a lot to whenever she is talking about something personal.’… So you have that but you – you forget or well you forget’ the hesitation also shows that she might not like the topic and she has altered her speech to try and hide or think of things to say.
Jk also uses a lot of long complex words in the interview that wouldn’t be suitable for children as they would find I hard to understand. ‘I have no nostalgia’ this tells us that it is a mature and adult like conversation between two adults. This shows that she adapts her language so the audience will understand and so she aims it at adults.