A disruption in conversational acquisition

I did a study a number of years ago that featured women's speech and their pattern in turn-taking.  It was interesting enough,  but there was a by-product of the study that was a surprise.  The women in the study were of different, graduated ages from 16 to 76, representing increments about a decade apart.  It was very clear from the tapes that the older women were accomplished at conversation building and the younger women were not.  In fact, the younger the woman, the less engaging she was.  A particular conversation typified the principle, one between a teenager and her grandmother.  The teen was at a loss for topics or elaboration a number of times.  The grandmother provided the extra elaboration or a timely topic switch every time.

That little surprise tucked away inside the larger study was what many would consider common sense because people have believed in the "art" of conversation for a long time.  But the "art" turns out to be linked to the socialization process, and it is that process that can be and has been studied for better understanding.

Some people have believed that conversation is something a person is either good at doing or they are not.  If that is true, then language in general is not developed evenly from birth.  But, every human's ability to learn language, manipulate it for her or his benefit, and communicate with it no matter what language it happens to be, seems to mitigate against that notion.  So, something else must be in play, and that would be socialization.  The true test for this is about to be seen.  Today's youth have opted for texting as their mode for conversation rather than face-to-face.  That should change the socialization process.  At the very least it will disrupt the process for "learning" to have a conversation.  Texting operates by different rules from face-to-face conversation.  Already I have heard the loud laments of those 60 and older of the dying art of conversation or the anger they feel when "all they get" is a text once in a while from a grandchild.

I look forward to reading a study someday about the new socialization process as it affects conversation, if that is what the texting mode is still called.  It might be titled to illustrate the quantum leap in efficiency the process has taken since machine delivery of a message is involved.  Or it might take the tenor of today's 60-year-olds and try to prove the denigration of the benefits of face-to-face conversation.  It doesn't matter to me.  I live in both worlds.  It will be easy to side with the winner.