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Schemi Lingua Inglese 2 SYNTAX Syntax the study of the rules that tell us how: words combine to form phrases and phrases combine to form sentences. Syntax, rules and structure of languages (a branch of linguistics) – Descriptive, just observe the rules
- limited to the order of structural elements
Grammar, rules of a particular language (es. English grammar) - Prescriptive, establishes rules
- Includes morphological feature Morphology, study of construction of words (≠ syntax studies of words combine to form phrases, clauses, and sentences) Phrase= sintagma, Clause= clausula, Sentence= periodo, Paragraph= paragrafo, Comma= virgola ● 2 basic principles of Syntax: 1- Linear Order, we talk about Syntagmatic relations (= order in which words are combined N follow Det and V follows N)
- If we rearrange the words in this sentence (> John looked at Mary), we either come up with nonsense (> Mary John at looked) or a distinctly different meaning (> Mary looked at John)
- The ordering of words in sentences helps to determine whether a sentence is grammatical or not, what the sentence means (rules of “well- formedness”: native speakers of a language instantly recognize something that is badly formed or non-grammatical) 2- Hierarchical Structure, the semantically coherent groups of words within a sentence (> in the window)
● Constituency -> we talk about meaningful groups of words, groups with meanings of their own and
each make a coherent contribution to the meaning of the sentence as a whole (“constituents” of a sentence > actors eat at // eat at fancy, not constituents). Constituent test :
- they can stand alone and make sense ( question test )
many actors eat at fancy restaurants, what do they do?
- they can be substituted by a pro-form >pronoun ( substitution test )
many actors eat at fancy restaurants, they eat at fancy restaurants
- they can be moved around and still make sense
with great care a inizio o fine sentence Features of syntactic constituents: ● Recursion: ability to place one constituent inside another one of the same kind (> into boxes and cartons and paper cups, PrepP) ● Dependency: how phrases are formed is dependent on other nearby phrases. There must be grammatical and semantic matching, or accord. -grammatical dependency -> plural NP requires plural verb form (not fits or fitting) -semantic dependency -> verb (> fit) requires a subject NP that needs to be fitted
Aims of syntactic analysis: 1.Identify sentence constituent boundaries (> the boy/ was/ ill)
- Describe the composition of these constituents
- Understand how these constituents combine together 2 approches: ● Tree diagrams, use descriptive categories. -There are 4 levels -> S (sentence), phrases (constituents), word classes, words. -Syntactic ambiguity, when sentences can be interpreted in more than one way, depending on how we interpret sequences of words (>we need more intelligent leaders, greater quantity?, he shot the soldier with the gun) ● Embedding -> how phrases and clauses fit into each other and into sentences. Another approach to syntactic description (hierarchical structure) -Phrase, group of words without a subject and a verb (>NP, a friendly dog – PP, in the office) () -Clause, group of words that contains a verb + other components (> when I finish it, that I like, He went home) [] -Sentence, includes one or more clauses and express a complete meaning (> He went home, I call when I finish it) [[]] [[The small boy was ill]] one clause, sentence (The small boy) phrase [Because the boy was ill], clause ≠ sentence Functional aspects of syntax -> descriptive phrasal contituents (> NP, AdjP, VP, PrepP) can also be analyzed according to their functions in a sentence of clause structure. -Subjects (S): agents or actors that carries out the action of the verb -Predicate (P): realized by the verbal material, what the subject does -Complement (C): completes the meaning of a predicate and tell us more about the subject (direct or ind) -Adjuncts (A): additional material that specifies the range or circumstances (adverbial phrases, always removable from the sentence) ♦ Prototypical sentence structure SPCA (subject, predicate, complement, Adjunct) -subjects: are typically NPs but can also be -An infinitive (> to be or not to be that is the question) -Material that is quoted (>”I wish I were rich” is unrealistic thinking) -A gerund (>running away cowardly) -An expletive (or dummy, element that has no meaning) subject (> it’s raining) -predicates:are verb forms
- Transitive , require some type of complement -Intransitive , have no complement -complements
- Direct/indirect : receive the action of the verb (> I found the page SPC – I gave her the book SPCC)
- Subject Complement: tell more about the subject used with copula verb “to be” and verb seem become, appear (> he is fat – the book seem complicated – he is a policeman)
- Adverbial Complement : used with copular or similar verbs, give additional informations about the predicate, often PPs (> Peter is in the office SPC)
- Object complement: give more information about an existing direct object (> she painted the wall yellow SPCC - I labelled him an idiot SPCC) -adjuncts -Can be in adverbial form (>quickly), other types of advs (>yesterday, tomorrow, fast, here) -Can be removed without grammatical damage (>he went to the store (yesterday))
Coordination -> simple syntactic elaboration, each clause can stand alone ● Constituents are structured side-by-side ● Most common coordinating conjunctions are and , but , or and so – used to join similar units of language ● Coordinated clauses can stand alone (≠ subordinate clauses)
[words are great] and [love is wonderful], but [money pays the rent] Subordination -> more complex syntactic elaboration, at least one clause cannot stand alone ● Typically have their own subject and verb, but cannot stand alone ● Most common subordinate conjunctions are after, although, because, even if, in order, once, rather than, so that, unless, until, while, whether, why. Punctuation: subordinate // main clause: separated by a comma – main clause // subordinate: no comma Subordinate clause type:
- Relative clauses , function as a modifier after a noun (they tell us more about it). Begin with relative pronoun that, which, who (for people) (> the man who was fat could barely walk)
- Adverbial clauses , function as adjuncts to elaborate condition, time, reason in relation to the main clause. Begin with a conjunction as if, when, while, where (> you will find, when you get older, that things are different)
- Complement clauses , function as NP that complete the meaning of the main clause, also called “nominal clauses” or “noun clauses”. ● The other elements in the sentences cannot stand alone without the complement to complete them (≠ relative and adverbial clauses) (> Angie asked herself what the problem was / she said that he was embarrassed / the strange thing is that he never saw her again) Sentences Types ♦ Simple Sentence -> only one independent clause that contains a subject and a verb (can be long or short) > the dog barked -may have compound subject (> the dog and the cat escaped) -may have compound verb (>the dog barked and howled) -may have compound verb and subject (>the dog and the cat barked and meowed) ♦ Compound Sentence -> consists in two or more simple sentences joined by a coordinating conjunction ( and, but, or, so, yet, nor )
the dog barked and the cat meowed / I wanted to go to the museum, but I didn’t go ♦ Complex Sentence -> consists of one main clause and one (or more) subordinate clauses inside it if it’s hurting, it’s working / I could not access my email [because I forgot the password] [that I changed last week] two subordinate, one embedded in the other ♦ Compound-Complex Sentence -> combine coordination and subordination in the sentence [[ Just as he had plucked up the courage to talk to her], [the train stopped in front of him ] and [he lost her in the crowd] [so that he never saw her again] 2 subordinate + a coordinate (consisting of 2 simple clauses) Syntax and Spoken language, we can easily understand some sentences even if some components have been omitted (>See you later (no sub) – Faster (no sub and pred) – nice-looking guy on your left (no pred). We talk about “spoken syntax” that is less rigid and breaks the rules of standard written English (internet language)
Systemic functional grammar -it’s a different modern approach to syntax (also called Systemic Functional Linguistics) -developed by Michael Halliday in 1960s, he was a British linguist -emphasizes function (≠structure) Language is functional , people use language to: ♦ construct our experience into the world and how we perceive them -> ideational function ♦ express attitudes with others during interaction -> interpersonal function ♦ create structure and organize our massages to facilitate communication -> textual function Constituents according to what they do
- processes (what gets done -> predicates)
- participants (who or what is involved -> subject/complements)
- circumstances (how ,why ,when or where they get done) Processes , provide much more info than traditional verb categories like action/static or trans/intrans 〉 Material process, express action or events (>I dropped the glass, the doctor gave her) 〉 Behavioural process, involve physical process that are not really actions (>I dreamed, I was breathing 〉 Mental process, involve senses-feelings-thoughts (>I saw three ships, she thought he was..) 〉 Verbal process, involve communication speaking and writing (>he told me, I wrote him) 〉 Relational process, have meanings of attribution or identification (> the band was good, Louise has) 〉 Existential process, describe an existing situation (>it rained, there was a speech at the end) Participant roles , provide specific info about who/what is involved in the process 〉 Material process, involve roles of actor-goal-recipient (> I dropped the glass, I = actor ; dropped = material process ; glass = goal ) (The doctor gave him ... him= recipient ) 〉 Behavioural process, involve role of behaver ( he was breathing heavily , he= behaver ; was breathing = behavioural process ; heavily = circumstance ) 〉 Mental process, involve the role of senser- phenomenon (> I saw three ships, I=senser ; saw= mental process, ships = phenomenon ) 〉 Verbal process, involve the role of sayer-target-verbiage (>he told me to return the next day, he=sayer; told= verbal process; me=target ; return the next day = verbiage ) 〉 Relational process, involve the roles of carrier-attribute-identifier-identified (>Peter is the professor, Peter=identified; is= relational process; a professor= identifier // the band was good; the band=carrier ; was= relational process; really good= attribute ) 〉 Existential process, involve only the role of existent (can have also a circumstance ) (> It rained yesterday, it=existent; rained= existential process; yesterday= circumstance ) Material -> doing, creating // actor-goal-recipient Mental -> sensing, feeling, thinking, perceiving // senser- phenomenon Relational -> being, having // carrier-attribute-identifier-identified Verbal -> saying, expressing, indicating // sayer- target- verbiage Behavioural -> behaving // behaver Existential -> existing, happening // existent Phraseology , branch of linguistics that studies fixed expressions made up of more than one word (ready-made units) ● Enlarges and enriches vocabulary (most colorful part of a language) ● Is concerned with syntagmatic relations (like syntax)
Because -> we can understand a text meaning not only on the basis of its internal structure but also on the basis of our knowledge about the world (which is external to the text) [spoken text] Cohesion vs. Coherence Cohesion -> linguistic elements in a text that link it together so that it forms a meaningful message (objective) (> cormorants are the most widespread and versatile of the world’s seabirds. They can be seen diving anywhere from the Artic to the tropics. Anglers hate these birds.) Cohesion is signaled by lexical and grammatical links. Coherence -> the relation between what is expressed by the words in a text and what is in the mind of readers and listeners that give it sense (subjective) (> A: do you like ice cream? B: is the pope catholic? In our minds totally unrelated questions – ironic rhetorical question to emphasize something obvious)
- Can a text be cohesive but not coherent? No, only cohesion without any coherence in not sufficient to create a written text. Each sentence can be linked to the one that precedes by lexical, grammatical and structural elements, but the text can remain senseless. (>...class rhyme with grass...) - Can a text be coherent but not cohesive? Yes, spoken texts cam be coherent even if not cohesive. We use our cognitive extra-linguistic experience to identify logical links in a text, but in a written text would need more elements to be coherent. (> A: the phone is ringing B: I’m in the bathroom A: ok) Cohesive Devices = elements inside the text that help it hang together. Different Types: ♦ Substitution and ellipsis, avoiding repetition of the same word or leaving out some grammatical element of the sentence structure ♦ Reference, use words to refer to entities, situations or events that are denoted by lexical items in the co-text (or also outside the text) ♦ (Con) Junctions, words/phrases used to relate parts of a text to each other in various ways ♦ Lexical Cohesion, items that establish lexical relations across a stretch of text
- Substitution: use of “dummy” words like one(s), it, do. (> these towels are dirty, we need some clean ones – have you written the essay? Yes, I’ve done it) -> example of cohesion because we must recover the meaning from something in the preceding clause.
- Ellipsis: an element already mentioned is omitted, but this contributes to the cohesiveness since we must refer to the rest of the clause to recover its meaning. (>the sacking was unlawful, and it was Ball’s conduct that was to blame [for the sacking] – not made explicit) ♦ Nominal ellipsis, omits a noun (> I felt a hand on my neck, it was jane’s) ♦ Verbal ellipsis, omits a verb or a VP ♦ Clausal ellipsis, omits a clause (> have you ever visited..? yes, twice)
- Reference, 2 types: ♦ Endophoric * (inside), refers to something inside the text. (> John looked out of the window. He thought he saw he= creates cohesion) ♦ Exophoric (outside), refers to something outside the text. (> Can you see that? That = understandable from the context (not cohesion in strict s.)
*Endophoric Reference -> can also be anaphoric (backword) or cataphoric (forward) ♦ Anaphora (già detto prima) (>the sacking of Mr. Powis was unlawful. Yesterday, he said he was pleased) ♦ Cataphora (si dice alla fine) (> after he heard the Judge’s ruling, Mr. Powis) Pronouns (personal, possessives), demonstratives (that, this) , general nouns (thing, object, place) [Indefinite and Definite articles are also a cohesive device => “A” introduces a new referent, while “The” mentions a referent already introduces. We have mental model for fictional story worlds (also coherent if external to the text]
- Junctions Junctions are words that relate parts of a text to each other in various ways. They can also carry meanings outside the text. (> and, but, afterwards, some time later)
- Lexical Cohesion, various types of repetition and reiteration. Create lexical cohesion in a text: -simple repetition -synonymy (>resolute/determined) -antonymy (>success/failure) -hyponymy (>Ferrari/ luxury cars) Cohesion through collocation Collocation = tendency of lexical items to co-occur also reinforces cohesion in a text (> a judge rules (– not decides), a judge sits (- not works)) These all contribute to our mental frame of courtroom activities so they make the text coherent and cohesive Mental models -> we use the terms “ frame ”, “script” or “schema” to refer to our knowledge external to language that helps us to understand meaning = extralinguistic knowledge Frames = are held in. long-term memory and are activated by the meaning of words when we process texts. Text type => in text linguistics the meaning of “text types” depends on different approaches ● Have been traditionally identified on the basis of 4 models from Aristotelian classical rhetoric (narration, description, exposition, argumentation) A text type -> is an abstract concept or idealized norm that allows us to understand how different texts are structured, and which feature of language are present within them. (mostly used to analyze written text) ● The purpose of the text (and also the extra-linguistic knowledge) influences the linguistic elements that appear in the text. 5 idealized (not every text will correspond exactly to these categories – heterogeneous text types) text types:
- Descriptive
- Narrative
- Expository
- Argumentative
- Instructional
Heterogeneous Texts -> not all texts belong to only one of the five text types. ● “Pure text types” (abstraction) are rare, texts often have segments that belong to different text types (hybrid/heterogeneous texts) Speech vs. Writing Medium -> in linguistics “medium” refers to the channel of communication (plural= media), also called “mode” or “modes” of communication. 4 primary media of communication: writing, speech, visual, non-verbal. Unique Feature of speech: Prosody Prosody (> stress, loudness, intonations, pauses) communicates meanings and can also help to disambiguate them. ● In spoken language, we would not need an explanation in parentheses (as in written language, email) because rising or falling intonation could distinguish between a normal question/ negative comment. ● Prosody can be used to emphasize something in a message. Stress and intonation can be used to imply a different meaning (≠ in writing, can look like a normal declarative sentence). To achieve the same effect in writing we can use non-prototypical information structure (> cleft sentence) or use a typeface for emphasis Unique feature of speech: Body Language Body language during face-to-face communication can communicate additional or different meanings (> broad smile, offering hand to shake) Speech ≠ writing , not just because the medium is different but also because of 3 situational factors:
- dysfluencies , the psychological constraints of composition in “real time” (> incomplete words, false starts, filled pauses with non-words “uh”,”mh”)
- informality , a feature of many types of spoken discourse
- interactivity , a very common feature of dialogic speech (> turn-talking, overlapping) [stream of consciousness: speakers simply say what they think without pre-planning] Unique features of writing: ● Punctuation - helps readers distinguish syntactic structures of texts and resolve ambiguities (> comma distinguishes the subordinate clauses) - can be used to add attitudinal meaning to texts (>quotation marks can convey a skeptical attitude) [creative punctuation (> full stops used in non-standard and clever ways to create ambiguity and surprise with unexpected meanings) ● Typeface , different typefaces can suggest an ethos or feelings. (> sans serif typefaces are associated with modernity ≠ serif typefaces are associated with class and luxury) Cross-linguistic variation in written language − Capitalization (English capitalizes the first letter of every sentence and proper names ≠ German capitalizes every noun) − Emphasis (English uses bold, italics, all capitals ≠ German used “Fraktur” print and spaces btw words) − Surnames (In both German and French added emphasis to surnames is something given.) [text types in spoken texts: text type analysis is typically used with written texts. There are also examples in spoken texts -> case of “ infomercial ”. Infomercial is the TV commercial that takes the form of an informative presentation]
Speech (spoken language) and writing (written language) differ because of the medium, but also because of situational feature such as formality, interactivity, real-time and planned communication The term “ discourse ” is used for both spoken and written language with particular attention to: ♦ A variety of other factors that are more social in nature (who produces/receives the discourse, for what reason, in which setting) ♦ Refers to systematic variation between different kinds of texts based on features internal to the text or external* ♦ Is more complete than text linguistics and text types (which refers mostly to internal features)
- Text-internal vs. text-external Text-internal features: ● Structure (how is the discourse organized?) ● Sentence (type, pattern) ● Style of language (formal, informal or mixed) ● Lexico-grammatical features (vocabulary, verb tenses) Text-external features: ● Who are the participants (>2 speakers, writer/reader) ● What is their relationship? ● Setting where the discourse take place (>casual conversation, written communication) ● Why the discourse take place
- Fundamental notions of discourse analysis Focuses on: 〉 Relationship btw language/social and cultural contexts in which it is used 〉 How language presents different views of the world and different understandings 〉 How we construct our views of the world and our identities through the language we use “Discourse analysis” -> introduced by Harris (1952)
- study language beyond the level of the sentence (-> describing features and styles of texts)
- understand the relationship btw linguistic/non-linguistic behaviors (-> motivation for using language in certain ways/contexts)
- different “discourses” share particulars meanings and have characteristic linguistic features (-> objective of discourse analysis is to understand both of them).
- Relationship between language and context How do people know how to interpret what someone says from the situation that they are in? Language is the same but the meanings are different. Different participants and context of use. 〉 Contexts are subjective conditions that we constantly update, we interact with each other in social groups (not objective conditions 〉 Context of situation -> what is being spoken/written about, what are the relationships among the participants, what are the circumstances of the discourse 〉 Context of cultur e -> meanings/assumptions that people in a certain culture share -> ethnography of communication (Hymes 1964): different cultures often have different ways of doing things through language. Reaction against theoretical description of language that paid little attention to social and cultural context: “speech events”-> who is speaking to whom, for what purpose, where and when, how these impact in culture-specific settings (> English speaking countries use please and thank you more than in Japan (typically silent costumers, in Anglo culture would be rude)
● Genres can be more or less “typical” -> a text may not have all the features of a particular one but we can still recognize it as such ● Genres are not static -> change is often driven by technology (blogs are new version of personal diaries) Genre analysis of texts ♦ Genre analysis is similar to discourse analysis, but there is more attention to regularities of structural components and their functions.
- Genres can be analyzed according to 〉 Generic structure, analysis of the organizational features of various parts ( = “similar structure”) 〉 Rhetorical structure, analysis the function of various parts Vedere esempi su slides lezione 14 Cyber language -> cyberliteracies (also called digital literacies, silicon literacies (from Silicon Valley)) Cyberliteracies : ● Refer to reading and writing activities that use computer technology rather than pen and paper ● Have provided new practices with new forms of language (>emoticons, hashtags) ● Re-invented old practices (>writing a blog instead of a traditional personal diary) ● Allow us to do different things with digital technologies (more comprehensive concept than computer literacy to a single computer) (New digital literacies challenge the conventional idea of literacy as being about “letter”) Cyberliteracies and communication practices : cyberliteracies have rapidly transformed how we communicate (Social relations, text messaging – skype – zoom / Social networking, twitter / entertainment, Netflix / online shopping / online job applications) 〉 Enormous popularity of text messaging 〉 New technologies allow our communication to be highly interactive (involving others directly in the process of writing a text) 〉 People need to understand the options that cyberliteracies offer us = affordances , or the possibilities of actions available to use Socializing online ● Social media require users to activate multiple multimodal literacy practices (> digital affordances to share text, images, music) ● Social networking is the cyber version of what young people have always done Blogs (weblogs) ♦ A type of online journal or commentary with regular updates (posts) ♦ Types of blogs (>personal blogs, business blogs – promotional purposes, blogs on specific interest ♦ The “blogsphere” allows anyone to be an author, reviewer or editor ♦ Popularity depends on the community of active bloggers and passive consumers of blogs Genres used by writers to express their unique voices, opinions and attitude [key features of blogging -> expression of the writer’s personal aesthetic preference, moral judgment] Blogs can be:
- Topic-centric, information and opinions about something in the external world (>hobbies)
- Author- centric, self-reflection focusing on the internal world of the author (>everyday life)
- Bloggers create an identity -> the image of themselves that they wish to project to others
- Blogging becomes very personal since it’s a “public performance” to which other can react
- writing a blog can allow people to discover or “perform” their identities (> can improve self-image and relations with others) Blogs ≠ conventional texts: − Blogs can be constantly integrated and transformed − Books are read vertically ≠ blogs can also be read laterally − Blogs are not products of individuals (unlimited number of people) − Blogs have digital affordances (> hyperlinks, tags) − Blogs are multimodal (> integrating visual images, audio and video files) − Verbal texts are creative and innovative (> lack of rules) Example of Blog -> “sytle.com”, top-ranking website dedicated to the world of fashion, beauty and shopping (writer by a team of fashion experts) Internet and knowledge : ♦ Searching the internet can be time-consuming and frustrating (too much information and difficulty in distinguishing accurate from false information) ♦ Interactive information sources that anyone can add to and edit (>health website where people share their experience instead going to a medical professional) ♦ Worries about internet dangers, decline of accuracy spelling and grammar, “real” social ties Text types -> look mainly at linguistic features inside the text Discourse/ Genres -> look text- external features linked to social and cultural setting Interpersonal features -> focuses on subjective meanings of speakers and writers Interpersonal features : Used by writers and speakers to express personal attitudes, thoughts, feelings or opinions about something (meaning is relation-oriented) Interpersonal meaning ≠ Propositional meaning Propositional meaning, communicates information or state of affairs (meaning is fact-oriented) − Proposition is created by elements that express a state of affairs − A proposition is a statement that can be either true or false Examples: Proposition: It’s freezing outside -> categorical statement (objective) Interpersonal meaning: It’s really freezing outside (really tells us that the speaker wants to add intensity (subjective) to the propositional meaning Transactional function propositional meaning ♦ Language that serves to communicate content or information ♦ Message-oriented
instruction manual for a computer/ bus driver giving information Interactional function interpersonal meaning ♦ Language that serves to express personal attitudes or viewpoints ♦ Relation-oriented a birthday card / a telephone call to a sick friend
We can define metadiscourse as: 〉 “Talk about talk” (spoken language) >today I want to talk about 〉 “Text about text” (written language) >this article explores (We can find metadiscourse in both spoken and written language, we focus in written one) o Metalinguistic function= referring our role as communicators or the act of communicating o Experiential function= referring to or commenting on self, others, or the world Metadiscourse is important because it can help to:
- Better understand the different types of meaning we find in language
- More easily read texts and understand how they are structured
- Improve your writing in English by using features of metadiscourse to produce clear and reader-friendly texts. Metadiscourse ≠ Prepositional meaning In Metadiscourse the writer enters into a “dialogue” with the reader (even using “you”)
building on the last chapter, this chapter introduces you to phonology. Phonology is... Metadiscourse + Interactional function Metadiscourse guides readers through a text, providing interactional “signals” along the way to orient, explain or elaborate the content (the writer is conscious of readers and their needs) 2 types of Metadiscourse: ● Textual metadiscourse : organizes the discourse and help make the message comprehensible to the reader In this section, I will discuss... ● Interpersonal metadiscourse : interacts with the reader and expresses the writer’s opinion about the propositional content You will see that ... which is quite interesting. S ubcategories of metadiscourse Textual Metadiscourse = Topicalizers (topic shift > now I will discuss) , Reminders (refer to previous texts > as we saw in), Sequencers ( indicate order of content > first, next), Code glosses ( explain content > for exemple), Transitions ( show how clauses are related > in addiction/so) Interpersonal Metadiscourse = Hedges ( show uncertainty > might / possibly), Certainty markers ( show certainty > always, never), Attitude Markers ( express attitudes > surprising, unfortunately), Engagement markers (build relations> you can see) Text : − Macro aspects ● text types ● Discourse/ Genres ● Intertextuality − Micro aspects ● Interpersonal features (Evaluation / Metadiscourse) − Intercultural communication ● Language in newspapers ● Language in advertising ● Language in the workplace
[Culture is communication and communication is culture (Edward Hall)] Culture , characteristics: -learned (not innate) -shared -adaptive The acquired knowledge that people use to:
- interpret experience
- form values
- create attitudes
- influence behavior 〉 Cultural values are basic convictions that people have about: Right and wrong Good and bad Important and unimportant (values have moral significance and are the basis of laws) High-context ≠ low-context cultures Theory popularized by the anthropologist Hall in the late 1970s (still widely influential in cultural studies) -High context cultures ♦ Long-term personal relationship and loyalty are important ♦ Rules and structure are less important ♦ Contextual elements are important (body language, voice tone, status) ♦ More attention is paid to implicit and unspoken meanings ♦ Long-lasting relationships ♦ Spoken arguments -Low context cultures ♦ Less importance on loyalty, status and relationships ♦ People tend to be task-oriented ♦ Rules and structures are important ♦ More attention is paid to verbal language and explicit meanings ♦ Shorter relationships ♦ Less dependent on context (vedere esempi slides 19) Verbal communication styles -Theory developed by communication scholars Gudykunst and Ting-Toomey in late 1980s for understanding the key role of language. (Linked to Hall’s high and low contexts) 4 majors dimensions of verbal communication styles
- Direct ≠ Indirect
- Elaborate ≠ Exact ≠ Understated
- Personal ≠ Contextual
- Instrumental ≠ Affective
