‘Appreciation ha'araxa o ha’ aratsa?’ [‘valuing or admiration’]: Negotiating contrast in bilingual disagreement talk

This study describes how two bilinguals in Israel, speaking urelated languages, English and Hebrew, draw on the strategy of language alternation to negotiate their disagreement. The study furthers our understanding of functions of bilingual discourse strategies by investigating the iconic strategy of mirroring various types of discourse contrast through language alternation phenomena. These contrasts include referential and interpersonal contrasts, contrast between various language games (Wittgenstein, 1953) taking place during the interaction, and contrast between languaging (Becker, 1988) and metalanguaging (Maschler, in press). The study investigates the process of negotiation by which participants construct meaning in their conversation and attempts to validate interpretations concerning the operationality of the iconic discourse strategy described. The strategy of language alternation is shown to function as the climactic strategy in negotiating meaning in this interaction. The study concludes with a discussion of how an iconic discourse strategy can function to enchance interpersonal involvement in conversation.