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<p>In this paper, I am concerned with the socio-material practice of engaging with voice-enabled machines. Far from ‘talking’ to a smart speaker, a user must master the skill of composing a command while routinely engaging with the machine. While the practice relies on practical understanding and intelligibility, attention must be paid to the trans-situational aspects that enable the situated enactment of socio-material practices. By conceptualizing engagement with the smart speaker as an enlanguaged practice, I trace the ability to engage in a seemingly individualistic practice to a person‘s history of engagement in and with the world. Specifically, I consider how a pre-literate child relies on instances of recursive bodily coordination with her caregiver to learn how to engage with a smart speaker. Informed by the languaging perspective which treats language as multiscalar bodily verbal activity, I trace enlanguaging to the intricate interplay of dialogicality, temporality, and embodiment.</p>
</abstract>

In this paper, I am concerned with the socio-material practice of engaging with voice-enabled machines. Far from ‘talking’ to a smart speaker, a user must master the skill of composing a command while routinely engaging with the machine. While the practice relies on practical understanding and intelligibility, attention must be paid to the trans-situational aspects that enable the situated enactment of socio-material practices. By conceptualizing engagement with the smart speaker as an enlanguaged practice, I trace the ability to engage in a seemingly individualistic practice to a person‘s history of engagement in and with the world. Specifically, I consider how a pre-literate child relies on instances of recursive bodily coordination with her caregiver to learn how to engage with a smart speaker. Informed by the languaging perspective which treats language as multiscalar bodily verbal activity, I trace enlanguaging to the intricate interplay of dialogicality, temporality, and embodiment.

How a Child Learns to ‘Talk’ to a Smart Speaker: On the Emergence of Enlanguaged Practices

European University Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder)

Linguistic Frontiers

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

In this paper, I am concerned with the socio-material practice of engaging with voice-enabled machines. Far from ‘talking’ to a smart speaker, a user must...

How a Child Learns to ‘Talk’ to a Smart Speaker: On the Emergence of Enlanguaged Practices

Publié en ligne: 05 juil. 2024

Pages: 1 - 22

Reçu: 03 nov. 2023

Accepté: 30 mars 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/lf-2024-0010

Mots clés
languaging, enlanguaged practices, human-machine interaction, temporality, dialogicality, embodiment

© 2024 Marie-Theres Fester-Seeger, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How a Child Learns to ‘Talk’ to a Smart Speaker: On the Emergence of Enlanguaged Practices

Publié en ligne: 05 juil. 2024

Pages: 1 - 22

Reçu: 03 nov. 2023

Accepté: 30 mars 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/lf-2024-0010

Mots cléslanguaging, enlanguaged practices, human-machine interaction, temporality, dialogicality, embodiment

© 2024 Marie-Theres Fester-Seeger, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Mots clés
languaging, enlanguaged practices, human-machine interaction, temporality, dialogicality, embodiment