Reference Recalibration Repairs: Adjusting the Precision of Formulations for the Task at Hand

This report examines what is involved when a speaker overtly selects one formulation over another by employing a repair operation that reformulates a reference in a way that adjusts or recalibrates it, rather than abandons the original referent altogether. Focusing primarily on references to persons, we show that, beyond the narrowing of a reference—increasing its precision—that results in an improved fit between a person reference and other components of a turn at talk, these reference recalibration repairs can be used to do such things as meeting the requirements of a story's telling, upgrading the credibility of an information source, and justifying a rejection. This ties speakers' overt concern with calibrating a categorical reference to the formation of action in their turn at talk. By contrast, we then show how broadening a reference—decreasing its precision—can be used as a method for displaying uncertainty and, thereby, recalibrating a reference to fit the manifest knowledge state of the speaker (or a recipient).