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APPUNTI INGLESE
Part One Multi-modality: an English Linguistics approach. Basic Tools and Methodological Issues. 24/ Language : The method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way.
- Language as Science: The language is variable, it can assumes a range of forms. In fact words are able to generate reality and shape things, so they have the power to create. ex. Bereishit ( Jewish principle) that refers to the moment before God creations. God with the power of his words has create reality and also the concept of dualism (division) by creating the day and night. According to this principle before world's creation God was watching the alphabet from the last to the first letter. It reflects the concept of Framing. Framing → process that make us think of things form the last to the first. → For Taoism the concept of dualism is related to the Ying/Yang.
- Language as technology : shape reality
- Language as a tool: Language is a tool that allow us to get trough our physical limitations. It's a natural process. If it used in the wrong way it can generate bad effects We live in a trash era/culture: Trash culture is a subculture. Culture → Is a set of behaviour's rules used by a group of people to survive. It's complex. Trash → It's an oversimplification of reality. Everything seems easy and affordable. ex. politicians will use trash language to talk about complex subjects, in order to connect and influence a certain demographic. How can we connect in trurly meaningful ways with ourselves in this modern technological age? Hate speech it's a toxic communication 25/ What is the age to use English in a social way?It's socially proved by studies, that humans begin to interact socially around the age of 30, during the period of maturity. According to the Chakras at the age of 33, you use the language as philosopher → Kukai → For Jews people, speaking is a transfer of energy (God has 72 names) → “Thich Nhat Hanh”, the human issue is the use of internet. We must communicate with ourselves, with food and others people. OUR COMMMUNICATION IS OUR CONTINUATION (concept of language as a Tool) → We are born whit the gift of language. But we are unskilled when we have to communicate with others. We make mistakes. We can fail due to facial expressions, body gestures and the tone. ex. Men/Women relationship problems. → Ganesha (elephant) Symbolism: Big head → think big, Large ears → listen more, Axe → cut attachment feelings. 26/ Communication works in frames, but it depends from culture We have to be aware from the real meaning of words in a certain language! → In Australia the desert is called Outback, for reasons of positions (sea, islands). → Far East, estremo oriente, for us is referred to China, Japan, Corea... BUT it depends from the point of view.
→ I'm going under, For British means Australia. Also the Dialogue changes from culture to culture: For Americans → “How are you doing today?” They're not real interested Australians → “How are you today?” They want to talk, to socialize
We have to use language in a appropriate way, because it can change meaning in different contest and we can risk to say something that means something else. (ex. Girls behaviour) Language can also be used to change your mind and influence it ← an action usually done by leaders.
- Audience: (for information activities) can be individuals, groups or population. → A group to whom NATO public affairs efforts are directed to
Communication, transfer of information in agreed conventions can be
- Transactional (you → me)
- Interactional IT'S DIFFERENT FROM
Communications, what makes easier the communication (telecommunication). Each group has a specific set of words The language can influence INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS, it should be used properly because it's a way for people to manage their relationships with others. → Otherwise it can divide and create a dualism. → What is appropriate for someone, it's different form someone else, so the culture plays an important role. ex. Let's think about JOKES, the meaning changes in relation with the culture and usually they're mocking minority people and also they're teaching things. Function of language
- TRANSACTIONAL, we transfer informations to make aware someone ex. Shipping forecast, it's a transactional and cultural language
- INTERACTIONAL, we establish and maintain a social relationship. People should feel comfortable , we should be polite and as kind as possible. → the body language influence the idea of politeness that depends from culture, this last one has different contextual judgement based on mental framework. (frame work = cultural conventions which make sense of reality). → Culture is an ambiguous term, it has a lot of definitions and general characteristics inter- wined with personal traits. 1/
- Speech community, people who speak the same language, it coincide with the same nation ex. The French spoken in France and in Belgium is different
- Discourse community, group of people who use a specific language to achieve the same goal, because they share the same purpose. ex. The language used by doctors and teachers is different ex. A foreign who use a language to be understand in a different country
- Cross cultural, you become aware of two separate realities and you try to avoid something thinking that's right. In this step there is not a common point between cultures, there are misunderstandings.
- Intercultural, when two cultures interact together product of many realities.
De-contextualised information: to find the sense of an unknown information in a context that we can understand. We have to Message Production under uncertainty conditions. If we are unable we produce; an emotional reaction , so we create unexpected products and we end in a situation of emergency → when people do not understand, they get angry, an emotion get out from them. ex. English humour, a joke that can sound bad to the others. Because it makes no sense to someone else. AN INFORMATION NOT CONTEXTUALISED MAKES NO SENSE.
→ The time that we take in planing things goes to 5/10 years. For Chines people the right one takes 144 years (12x12) 12 is for them a magic number.
- Sociolinguistic context: Is referred to the discourse community, speakers, values, beliefs, attitudes. (* in a discourse community people can chose their own rules). → The way that we interact makes a Symbol System, in which Meanings are capable to influence speakers.
- There are 4 dimensions of intercultural community competence: 1)We have to be aware if we have an attitude 2)We have to have skills for interaction 3)we have to have knowledge
- So intercultural communicative competence, includes → Linguistic competence, we should use it in a correct way → Sociolinguistic competence → Discourse competence, a particular place where use a common language
- Belonging to Henrick Fexus “The art of reading mind” The only way to understand someone, is to feel him/her and know what is going in his/hers mind. → So we can affirm that the mind is influenced by the body and vice-versa, due to a perfect interaction. Our actions are emotional, what we think has an interaction on our body. (Nb: This is different from Decartes logic which meant a division of body and soul.) Our communication is physical, body and mind are linked, that's why it sets out a electrochemical process. (thoughts have reflection on our body) 8
Our brain prefers frameworks already known, we like patterns previously established. It has a complex system, but it's easy to manipulate. There are words that change our hormones: - Positive words → hope,love... works for production of endorphins
- Negative words → fear, anger... produce an amount of adrenaline, which causes stress. Small words for us are sweet and give us a good mood, they make feel us more important. → Our thoughts have a result on our body. The concept of mind reading, help us to understand people mental process just by observing their physical reaction. Language is the first element that helps us to understand a group, then the tone of the voice, body language, eye movements, and tempo of verbal and non speech.
SPEAKERS
SYMBOL
SYSTEM
MEANING
These 4 steps determine us, our intercultural communicaton
- SOCIALIZATION Those steps influence each others, we can start from
- FORMS OF DISCOURSE ---------> each of this group.
- IDEOLOGY
- FACE SYSTEMS Language tell us how to use power, but what happens when we interact in a different group than usual? If we are lucky we use the same “forms of discourse”, we can understand each others because we the same language. Patterns of communication TASK ORIENTED CULTURES A ____ ____ ____ ____ While one speaks the other stay in silence. B ____ ____ ____ This is a transactional communication. That's typical of German, Switzerland, Netherlands communication. MULTITASKING CULTURES A _____ ______ _____ ______ They do a lot of things at the same time B ________ _______ ________ This is an overlap communication so a interactional communication. That's typical of Italy, Southern America, part of Mediterranean Greece, part of south Africa. (They install business terms only after a relationship) LISTENER ORIENTED/ REACTED CULTURES A ___ ____ _____ They're respectful cultures. Silence is important. B ____ _____ Silence is a way to show respect. They elaborate an answer before talking, that's why it is an interactional communication full of respect. ex. In a conversation a student can't ask a direct question and introduce a topic in front a teacher for respect and the STATUS. It's typical of Chinese, Japanese and Finland ← they invented mobile phone (Finish, Hungarian, Turkish, spoke a language coming from Mongolia) 9/ The perception of time is different in each culture, it's a problem. For example:
- time for Europeans is linear, they want to control FUTURE (Past → Present → Future)
- Malagasy cultures are focused on PAST, the only known. Future is on the back, because we can't know it (Future → Present → Past)
- Catholics are Past/Present oriented while Protestants are Future oriented
The language can be used to manage people, who are working with you. The approach is between cultures, for example:
- Chines, Japanese: tend to hide a task, indirectly, in order to save their face
- Germans: have a close definitions of tasks, obedience and supervision
- Americans: are a task oriented culture, the tend to “pump up employee” in order to speed in execution to reach objectives (and have extra money, if the goal is attended)
- British: are a task oriented culture but also reacted. They have a small talk. Most of the time when they say something is not really what they mean and what others understand is different. Ex: - British: “With the greatest respect” - “Quite good” - meaning: “I think you are an idiot” - “A bit disappointing” - what we understand: “He's listening to me” - “Quite good”
- French: use the language as an example of correctness
- Arabic: have an huge use of rhetoric, they're linked to Muslim precepts and the leader's rule is to teach trough the use of didactic.
- Russian: use coercion, compliance to find results
- Swedish: they consult inside a ring of colleagues and they wait boss rules to have a consensus
- Spanish: use an irreversible strategy and form them logic is not required. We have learned how cultures use language in order to manage business relationships, but how can be established trust in a business world?
- Linear Active cultures are a few, but they're controlling markets and business. They have a trust in institutions, they always do what they says (good performance), they're consistent, use a scientific truth in particular the Darwinian belief, “which is the strongest will survive”.
- Multi active cultures trust in group intimates, they show compassion, closeness (the solidarity is based on compassion), they refuse to capitalize on others weakness. (ex. Italy)
- Reacted cultures trust in reciprocity that consist in protecting others face( independent strategy), courtesy, sacrifice and reciprocal attentions. How tend to resolve an issue: British/Americans: minimal small talk → bullet points for discussion → fix agenda → task → discussion → solution → Minutes (verbale) → summarize things settled. Italians: extensive small talk → preliminary discussion of issues → wide raging of all embracing discussion. OPPOSING CONVERGING CLOSING MERGING
Audience expectations: British: They question you to have a feedback → they listen politely (context need, low key profile) → they interrupts for humour → they want clarification (mental notes, prepares for debate) Americans: Listen in snatches → “time is money” (right to the point) → entertainment (new things) → database culture (facts and figures, keep it simple) → “If you're going to sell it, sell it hard” → What is the bottom line? Germans: Listen well for informations → needs past history and context (“historia magistra vitae”) → linear active, takes things literally → no jokes or hard sell please → “what does it cost?” (good quality) → “does this sound too simple?”(logic is complex) → “what happens if?” Mediterranean: (Spaniards, Italians, Greeks) Listening mode: → Listening for informations but thinking of others things → watching persons and waiting for imaginative prhase Arabs: → Absorb facts → Looking for personal touch → defensive with Islam (the culture's pillar) → Wants flattery Republic of China: Eager(desideroso) to learn from the West → Wants flattery “face” consideration → Suspicious of foreigners Hong Kong: Listening → Thinking of other things → Wants to concise informations → Looking for benefits & bottom line (want entertainment) PRINCIPAL OF AUDIENCES: USA: humour, joking, modernity, gimmicks (cianfrusaglie), slogans, catch phrases, hard sell attention span : 30 minutes UK: humour, story telling, nice product, reasonable price, quality, traditional rather than modern east → Oriente west → Occidente
The balance of Autonomy and Approval together generate: RAPPORT MANAGEMENT THEORY, we understand how to rapport with other people defining status. RAPPORT MANAGEMENT THEORY:
- Autonomy → Hierarchy → Management of face
- Approval → Group → Management of sociality rights MANAGEMENT OF FACE splits into: a) Quality face, We want to be positively valued by people in personal terms b) Identity face,
- Us related to a group.
- It's our social and public identity.
- It's extremely important abroad ex. “You Italians !” MANAGEMENT OF SOCIALITY RIGHTS splits into: a) Equity rights, we use an economic metaphor “Cost benefits”, measuring how profitable is a relationship
- we don't want to be exploited in a conversation
- we try to achieve autonomy and reject imposition
- we want to discover if people control us or impose themselves on us b)association rights, these split into → Interactional association-dissociation rights. It measure and establish our involvement with others, we discuss and interact in a certain way → Affective association-dissociation rights. Is powerful because feelings are involved and we share them with others (if you use affective association but you're not sincere, people will dissociate) There are 2 ways to threaten face: a) face-threatening behaviours b) rights-threatening behaviours Typical communicative problems: a) Orders and requests b) Excuses (post-event) We have broken the cost parameter, then we are excluded from conversation Association rights are unbalanced c) Compliments, face embracing or too personal? They can menace association rights as well It can be seen that the idea of MENACE (threat) or IMPROVEMENT are quite sbjective. ex. Meetings and Negotiation Face Management and Communicative Domains:
- Illocutionary domain, menaces and enhancements derived form of speech acts. “What I said is what I mean”
- Discourse domain, choice of topics and their management. Sensitive topics (politics and jokes)
- Participative domain, turn taking and inclusion or exclusion in conversation
- Stylistic domain, tone, appropriate lexical and syntactic choices according to the genre, way of addressing conversational partner or audience, honorific titles. Non-verbal domain, eye contact, distance. 23/ POWER AND DISTANCE The concept of self is not useful with certain cultures ( Asians for example) INVOLVEMENT → shows how much you want to be involved in a conversation, how much you want to cooperate with your discursive partner. You can measure it through cultural aspect (it depends from cultures) Being normal is considered as speaking and taking part into a conversation BUT: L1 is easier than the L2, the native language influence your involvement in a conversation than an other one. Involvement contrasts independence, individuality of the hearer silence. INNVOLVEMENT AND INDEPENDENCE Speaking vs being silent? True or False? The paradox of face: Involvement (being normal) and Independence (individuality) must be kept together at all times → Simultaneously → Involvement = I participate. One shows involvement by taking the point of view of other participants (ex. In the Eastern world) the speaker wishes to uphold a commonly created view of the world, a common ground. How do we show Involvement? (Scollon's list of Inv strategies) → Independence = The right not be completely dominated by the group we belong to or by social values. We are free from impositions How do we show Involvement? (Scollon's list of Ind strategies) The key to independence face strategies is that they give or grant Independence to the hearer. The reason why involvement and independence strategies are in conflict is that emphasing one of them represents a threat to the other → Any communication is a risk to face, all communications has to be carefully phrased ad engineered to respect face and is related strategies (Both INV and IND) PATTERNS OF COMMUNICATION Word base patterns: Power: a vertical disparity in the hierarchical structure
- P → Teacher/Student or Employer/Employee
- P → egalitarian relationship (friends)/ E.G. international relationship or international agreements The quantity of topics that we are able to fit in a conversation → CONVERSATIONAL POWER To cut a psychological distance make us feel better, so in this way Distance in a conversation is perceived by the two communicative partners. 24/ Weight of imposition Participants may consider in a different way how important the topic of the discussion is for them. When the WoI increases we can observe an increase of independence strategies ex.
- Do I need a special concession from my boss? (extra deferential tone)
- Am I supposed to fire someone? (A lower involvement is perceived) In stable interpersonal relationships P&D do not change very frequently or easily it is the the WoI
American way of 5 W 1 H (What, Who, Where, When, Why, How) (this followed by newspapers) If you take too long to explain a subject, you lose money. Details can then be worked out deductively as they are needed, maybe later on or never. DEDUCTIVE, topic first. It's introduced at the beginning of communication, the speaker assumes the relevance of the supporting argument, which will be clear at the conversation proceed. How I arrived to a certain conclusion. INDUCTIVE, topic delayed. Typical of dissertations, step by step. Why am I coming to that. Particular conclusion, you want that others accept your idea (technical method.) The introduction of a topic is a face politeness strategy, which implies involvement. Then → INTERPERSONAL FACE POLITENESS PROBLEM| OPPORTUNITY| CONSTRAINT 5W 1H= introduce your topic now! Telephone conversations Call Answer Introduction of the caller’s topic Call = Telephone rings. If conversation: “Excuse me, Say, Bill, etc.” Answer = Open-ended. Non-committal: “Hello, Good morning, How may I help you, etc.” V.I. The caller is granted freedom to introduce the topic in her/his next turn. Introduction of the caller’s topic answerer can Contrast: “By the way”; Inductive pattern: “You know, that brings to mind something I wanted to tell you!” Why do Deductive discourses so often become monologues? The problem is related to interturn pausing. If two speakers (or more) differ in the length of the pauses they take between turns the speaker with the shorter pauses will come to dominate the conversation. This is because at each point where turns might be exchanged, the speaker recaptures the conversational floor. → Shorter interturn pauses are an involvement politeness strategy; → Longer interturn pauses are an independence politeness strategy. Introducing one’s topic is also an involvement politeness strategy. As a consequence, the person whose topic is being discussed will have at least some slight tendency to use shorter turn exchange pauses in consonance with their control of the topic. One person speaks first and thereby gains the right to introduce the topic. The Inductive Pattern: Call Answer Face Work Topic
How many turns before we hear the introduction of the topic? 28 - 53! When it will be introduced? The only certainty is that the person who initiates the conversation has the right to introduce the topic. To Asians, delaying the introduction of the topic is somehow necessary so that they can get a chance to feel the mood or position of the other participants. Exceptions:
- Not valid among friends (Let’s go to a movie) ----> A Western-like interaction.
- Calling a taxi, paying a bill. Just topic introduction. Shorter than Western facework! These are called outside or service encounters. No dealings beside the single interaction. Topic is already known ---> very little interpersonal negotiation is needed.
- are called Inside encounters. They belong to the family or to the friendly sphere. They are governed by careful propriety. Why 28 - 53 passages? In the East hierarchy is consciously observed. Confucianism and Taoism. Public and Spiritual life. The crucial question as far as topic introduction is concerned is not who spoke first, BUT who is in the higher position and who is in the lower position. The person in the higher position has the right to introduce the topic So rhetorical strategies are patterns to achieve a certain purpose and they are linked to Politeness System, involvement and independence strategies. 30/ Marked and Unmarkerd (a way to orient the interpretation and the action of the speaker) There's a man at the door There's a man at the front door There's a man at the front door and he's lying There's a man at the front door and he's lying, He is in trouble Unmarked → The way in which we present an idea that is taken for granted.
- Listener has a smaller importance of speaker (listen and take for granted what is said). He has to ratify, he's not taking in action
- The Inductive strategy works by presenting the evidence one has got and then progressively leading the listener to the conclusion one would like him/her to accept. This strategy works best when your conclusion is one which you believe your listener is likely to resist. It is best to use the Inductive approach when:
- It's not clear if the speaker has the right to advance a particular topic
- It's unclear if the listener will accept the speaker conclusion
- The purpose of discourse is to exhort the listener to action 31/ Inductive → Independence → not to impose your point of view Deductive → Involvement → the idea shared, what we have in common Focusing the attention
text, but they cannot manage an alteration in the basic structure of the text. When analysing a written text we could consider:
- a) the face relationships between writers and readers and then ask b) how topics have been introduced and c) which patterns of politeness and which rhetorical strategies have been used OR
- we could analyse texts asking a) which rhetorical strategies and face politeness strategies have been used and then ask b) what the face relationships are in such cases. Essays and press releases Say what you have to say and quit, nothing more. Used by Governments and Advertisers Asymmetrical (higher position) or Symmetrical solidarity. Relationship between Voice of Government and People Real vs Implied writer reader reader writer In advertisement one want s to come as close as possible to the actual characteristics of implied (targeted) readers. Implied writer and reader Business: symmetrical Government: asymmetrical BUT things are changing. Essays: deductive strategy. Thesis should appear in the first paragraph or first formal section of the book. Topic first. While reading an essay you expect a relationship of symmetrical solidarity ---> involvement politeness strategy. WHY? Solidarity PFS because it is assumed that a close and familiar relationship exists in which both parties are commonly pursuing a common goal i.e. the establishment of truth. IDEOLOGIES OF DISCOURSE Goal of professional communication is to convey information. Communication should be (Lanham, 1983) → Clear (Clarity) → Brief (Brevity) → Sincere (Sincerity) Is this the real standard? Business letter Cold vs. friendly? Problems
- Theory vs. reality
- Resistant to change
Discourse
- Study of discourse as grammatical and other relationships between sentences. Cohesion is an example ---> Inferential processes.
- Functional uses of language in social contexts.
- The whole systems of communication,i.e. Discourse communities. Entering a company a) training b) socialization a) + b) (not only) should guarantee that we are able to learn and acquire company’s culture or ideology. By ideology we mean the worldview or governing philosophy of a group or a discourse system. The concept of power usually lies behind this word. That is to say, one aspect of the ideology of a group is whether or not it sees itself as more powerful or less powerful than some other relevant group. (Scollon, 1995: 96) By ideology we also mean a system of thinking, social practice and communication (in other words a discourse system) which is used either to bring a social group to social power or to legitimate their position of social power, especially when the discourse system itself is not the actual source of that group’s power (Scollon, 1995: 119). The concept of ideology arises when a discourse system comes to assert itself as a complete communicative system. That is becomes ideological when it denies or devalues other forms of discourse and communication. Success of the individual within the group / company depends on knowledge AND acceptance of this ideology. This has also effects on interpersonal relationships (face systems) and ---> Specific forms of discourse for the discourse system are generated. Part Two 6/ Connection between language use and unequal relations of power: NB: News comes from an authority source which wants to share with us a shaped reality to influence our opinion and perception, through a journalist called “reporter”, who only reports info. Because the source is already prepared, usually by a commission. → Common-sense: ideology of consensus, a need to show that things are natural assumption in linguistic interaction. It assures that we share common values ex. As we know, it's common that, we agree that... → The role of ideologies: the exercise of power in modern society is increasingly achieved trough ideology → The approach adopted is the Critical Language study (CLS), how language is achieved to learn certain objectives
Shea affirmed that the majority members of NATO p spoke English. Hidden power, mass-media discourse:
Participants do not alternate between being the producers and the interpreters Mass-media discourse is designed for mass audiences NB: Press Conference If a press conference is private, why NATO' s conferences are televised and public? In order to manipulate us, thanks to the work of reporters which are part of the “spectacle” to make this audience. It works because watchers feel in the conference.
→ Media discourse is able to exercise a pervasive and powerful influence (powerholders try to impose specific interpretations); we have to develop a critical sense in order to fight manipulations attempts. Power behind discourse: → It is a matter of cultural capital (unequally distributed): our system of class relations establishes who has more “language power” (cultural capital gives access to powerful positions) ex. Standard English is a passport for good jobs (capitalist class VS working class) → Formality is another contributory factor in keeping access restricted Social struggle in discourse: “Those who hold power have to constantly reassert their power, and those who do not hold power are always liable to make a bid for power” (discourse is part of this social struggle)
We don't know how to act when we face a different situation that isn't mainstream It's a constant repetition of point of view Power is won, exercised, sustained, and lost in the course of social struggle Discourse common-sense Ideological common sense is common sense in the service of sustaining unequal relations of power: 13/ → There is a constant endeavour of those who have power to try to impose an ideological common sense → There is always some degree of ideological diversity and indeed struggle (ideological struggle takes place in language) Dominant discourse vs dominated discourse → Meanings vary ideologically (ex. “ideology” in Marxist and capitalist tradition) ex. Collateral damage, it's an ideological meaning. In military terms designs innocent victims ;
- 1° Gulf War, It was a soldier killed by his colleagues by error
- Kosovo War, “victims” murdered by purpose from NATO, but showed like an error The meaning of a word is not an independent thing, we must think at clusters of words associated with meaning systems Critical discourse analysis in practice Discourse is made up of three elements: text, interaction and social context. → Critical Language Study is based upon three stages of analysis:
Description Interpretation Explanation
1.Description
The descriptive stage of analysis includes:
- Vocabulary
- Grammar - textual structure Each linguistic element may have:
- Relational value - Experiential value - Connective value (the meaning that we interpretate) → 1190 rule(1%create, 9% diffuse, 90% learn)
- Expressive value (the way that is transferred to the public, ex. NATO humanitarian war) ex. racist Dimension of meaning Values of feature Structural effects contents experiential Knowledge and beliefs relations relational Social relations subjects expressive Social identities Experiential values of words
- Vocabulary items (ex. Subversive and solidarity belong to «right» and «left» ideological framework)
- Collocation of words (ex. Sick or healthy behaviour gives us a specific classification scheme)
- Overwording (ideological struggle)
- Metaphors (ex. Solitary confinement/social problems as disease) Relational values of words
- Euphemism
- Formality
Expressive values of words - Positive - Negative Experiential grammatical values “When one wishes to represent textually some real or imaginary action, event, state of affairs or relationship, there is often a choice between different grammatical process and participant types, and the selection made can be ideologically significant” - Agency
