Scarica Discourse Analysis: Theory and Practice e più Esercizi in PDF di Letteratura Spagnola solo su Docsity!
LINGUE E CULTURE MODERNE – LINGUA E TRADUZIONE 2, SECONDO ANNO
2021/2022 – PROFESSORESSA OGGERO
04.03.22 – lezione 1 Theory and practice of discourse analysis The aim of discourse analysis is to explore why people adapt their way of speaking and writing in the contexts in which they work and identifies the strategies which are employed to achieve communicative goals. What is ‘’Discourse’’? Is a complex concept because a lot of description can be given to this word. Just because there is different description it does not mean that some of them are wrong. They just consider various aspects of this concept.
All phenomena of symbolic communication between people, usually through
spoken or written language or visual representation (=MULTIMEDIA DISCOURSE) –
(t’s a symbolic event) It involves a communicative event, a situation in which people exchange messages. The production of a sentence in a context. In this case we have a discourse when people create a sentence, a message in a formal language to communicate with someone else, to be understood by somebody else who can react, replay. Discourse is produced only when communication takes place. There is not communication unless there is someone who produce and someone who receive the message. We can communicate using two channels: written language and oral language. We can also communicate with gesture, face moving etc., body language. VERBAL LANGUAGE IS NOT THE ONLY CODE we can use to communicate. Of course, in these classes we will talk about verbal language in English.
General communication that takes place in specific institutional context (e.g.,
“scientific discourse”: “legal discourse;” “religious discourse”). [non si trova sul libro]. Here we talk about specialist form of language, specific dominions of communication. They are used to convey specialist knowledge. Specific speech, specifical which involve the those who use it are specialist of that field. When we communicate with someone who is not specialist of a field, he is not able to understand. Such as when we go to the doctor and he use language we cannot get, because we did not’ t study medicine. With us the doctor should use a common language. With other doctors they can use a specialist language.
A whole act of communication involving production and comprehension, not
necessary entirely verbal, which takes place in a real context, among two or more
participants. -> it involves production and comprehension not necessarily verbal.
In this case communication takes place un a real situation. It is not a discourse if the content of the production is not real. It always involves communication. Communication involves a real content. DISCOURSE VS TEXT We have to separate these two concepts. There are different definition of discourse and text. David Crystal, Introducing Linguistic (1992) Discourse = a continuous stretch of (especially spoken) language larger than a sentence, often constituting a coherent unit, such as a sermon, argument, joke, or narrative. Text = A piece of naturally occurring spoken, written, or signed discourse identified for purposes of analysis. It is often a language unit with a definable communicative function, such as a conversation, a poster, […]. G. Cook, Discourse, Oxford, OUP (1989)
Discourse = Stretches of language perceived to be meaningful, unified, and purposive Text= A stretch of language interpreted formally, without context M.P.F Chimombo and R.L Rosberry, The Power of Discourse, Taylor and Farncis (1998) Discourse = A process resulting in a communicative act Text = The communicative act itself (=Discourse) takes the form of a text [..] consisting of written and spoken words (but also of sing language) intended to communicate information of some kind. D. Nunan, Introducing Discourse Analysis (1993) Discourse = Communicative events involving language in context. Text = The written record of a communicative event which conveys a complete message. Text Analysis is the study of the formal linguistic devices that distinguish a text from random sentences Discourse Analysts study […] text-forming devices with reference to the purposes and functions for which the discourse was produced, as well as the context within which the discourse was created. [Their] ultimate aim is to show how the linguistic elements enable language users to communicate context. Brain Partridge, Discourse Analysis: An introduction, London, Bloomsbury -> c’è anche sul libro “Discourse analysis examines patterns of language across texts and considers the relationship between language and the social and cultural contexts in which it is used. Discourse analysis also considers the ways that the use of language presents different views of the world and different understandings. It examines how the use of language is influenced by relationships between participants as well as the effects the use of language has upon social identities and relation. -> language is influenced by our relationship as participants, but we are also influenced by the language. It also considers how views of the world and identities, are constructed through the use of the discourse. -> for example, we tend to be more conscious about the female genre, there is the necessity to respect the knowledge of the female genre. The identity of women is considered (we say he/she, not just he). There is the necessary to involve women in the discourses, we know the value of women. Discourse analysis = inter-discipline -> it is not studied just in linguistic. [Non é sul libro] Our approach -> Primary Linguistic: “To […] examine how humans use the language to communicate and in particular how addressers construct linguistic messages for addressees and how addressees work on linguistic messages in order to interpret them” -> more focus on the context of communication -> focus on how human use the language to communicate. JUST TO SUM UP DISCOURSE Language (not necessary verbal) Language producers/recipients Context Functions Johnstone (2007)
18.03.22 – lezione 2 Our aim is to examine how humans use language to communicate and in particular how addressers construct linguistic messages for addressees and how addressees work on linguistic messages in order to interpret them. “Discourse has not any sense without language, language producers/recipients, a context, function(s) CONTEXT Context is a complex concept, which is divided into two forms
- LINGUISTIC/TEXTUAL CONTEXT : It is determined by text-forming/cohesion devices
- NON-LINGUISTIC CONTEXT : Defined by the occurs of the numbers of elements
- Culture (every conversation is influenced by culture)
- Situation (where and when the communicative event occurs)
- Participants and their relationships (how distant and close they are from the other)
- Channel
- Topic (what the communication is about)
- Purpose What makes a text? (Holiday e Hasan, Cohesion in English, 1976) ‘’A text has texture, and this is what distinguishes it from something that is not a text…. The texture is provided by the cohesive relation.’’ Hallyday and Hasan set up that the difference between a text and what cannot be considered a text is that a text has a texture which is provided by the cohesive relation. TEXTURE = built through cohesive/text-forming devices 3 KINDS OF MEANING RELATIONS: ENDOPHORIC REFERENCE : logic relations which exist between the distinct parts of the same text, and which involve cohesion. Reference within the text. EXOPHORIC REFERENCE : outward form of reference, which involves deixis.* Outward reference to be retrieved in the situational context. HOMOPHORIC REFERENCE : the item can be retrieved by reference to general cultural knowledge (ex. The Queen has postponed two virtual audiences after her Covid diagnosis) *Deixis: reference to the situational context of the communicative event in which words are uttered Ex. How long have you been in this country? Ex. What is he doing here? Ex. I did not do that! Different forms of deixis elements:
- Person deixis : personal pronouns (you, I) – > it refers to a person not identified in the text
- Place deixis : this, here, there -> place not specified but can be identified
- Time deixis : tomorrow, now, later -> time is defined by when we say/write a text
- Social deixis : address terms (Mr. president, Your honour, darling)
- Discourse deixis : this/that refereed to a text in discourse Ex. I have your winnings here for you to collect by tomorrow at the latest [=deixis]
COHESIVE DEVICES:
GRAMMATICAL
LEXICAL
RHETORICAL
GRAMMATICAL COHESION
- Reference
- Substitution
- Ellipsis
- Conjunction ENDOPHORIC REFERENCE :
- ANAPHORIC : reference points the reader/listener ‘’backwards’’ (to a previously mentioned element)
- CATAPHORIC : reference points the reader/listener ‘’forward’’ (to an element still to be mentioned) Ex. ‘’one day a dog left his home and went out into the wide world to get a job. He worked long and hard and finally took his wages and bought a lovely new pair of boots’’ (Anaphoric reference) Ex. ‘’he is played junkies and city slickers; Jedi knights an US ranger. He is at home in Hollywood’s boulevards and Glasgow’s tenements. He spent his life in the arms of beautiful women and is happily married… Ewan McGregor can do anything he wants.’’ (Cataphoric reference) a) Personal is determinate by personal pronoun, possessive pronoun/ adjective ‘’Mikhail Gorbachev did not have to change the worlds. He could have chosen to rule much as his predecessors did’’ b) Demonstrative : this, that, these, those, here, there, then + ‘’subsequent mention’’ definite article the ‘ ’once upon a time there was a beautiful princess. Everybody loved her, but the princess was sad’’ c) Comparative: the identity of the presumed item is retrieved not because it has already been mentioned or will be mentioned in the text, but because an item with which it is being compared has been mentioned (the+ same, similar, such, different, other, more, less, as + adjective, comparative/ superlative adjective) -
is established by a number of adjectives, adverbs, comparative or superlative forms of adjectives (same, similar, different etc..), and expresses comparison between two similar items which are mentioned in the text. ‘’A: would you like these seats? B: no, in fact, I would like the other seats ’’ SUBSTITUTION : a substitute form is used for another language item, phrase, or group. a) Nominal = substitution of a noun Ex. ‘’there are some tennis balls in the bag. These ones have lost their bounce’’ b) Verbal = substitution of a verb Ex. ‘’Annie says you drink too much’’ ‘’so does she!’’ c) Clausal = substitution of a clause Ex. A:’’Is it going to rain?’’
Ex: “What we lack in a newspaper is what we should get. In a word, a “popular” newspaper the winning ticket Synonyms - we try to avoid the repetition; it is more elegant; we use them to not repeat the same elements Ex: Jason is so smart! I had no idea he was such a bright kid. Antonyms: Ex: I was sure I had turned the TV off before leaving the house, but when I got back it was on. Superordinates or “umbrella terms” and hyponyms : classes of lexical items where the relationship between them is one of “general-specific,” “an example of” or in a “class to member” type relationship; they designate a category of object to which we refer. Ex: As soon as she stopped the car the police surrounded the vehicle Meronyms = lexical items are in a “whole to part” relationship whit each other Ex: Jen and Stuart live next-door. They are a nice couple, but they are not very sociable. General words whit no definite meaning, such as person, stuff, etc. Ex: “Have you tried the kidney pie?” – “Yes, I don’t like that stuff much” Yesterday I had to go to hospital for a checkup. I hate that place. B. Collocation = semantically related words Ex. Elizabethan actors lived very differently from modern theatre actors. Their use of a repertory system meant that their company would perform a different play each day, gradually cycling through the plays they owned, adding new ones, and dropping old ones that had gone out of fashion. The actors were thus expected to memorize their roles for each of these plays and be able to perform them with only a few days’ notice. As if this were not stressful enough, an actor did not receive a copy of the entire play, only a ‘part’: a scroll containing only his character’s lines, with short cues indicated. […]. Typically, the actors’ day went like this: in the morning, they would get together at the theatre for a group rehearsal, having already memorized their part. In the afternoon they would perform the play to a paying audience. After the show, they would retire to a tavern for dinner. Presumably, any remaining free time was devoted to learning and practicing their parts. [Slide one. Collocation ex pt. 2] Limits of collocation as a cohesive device: a) Difficult to establish limited sets of regularly co-occurring word/phrase b) Lexical relations are often Text and Context-bound -> not permanent Ex: I have asked my neighbour not to park his car in my parking slot. But the rat keeps doing it. Rhetorical cohesion One form of rhetorical cohesion is in advertisement language and is represented by the question-answer structure which consists in a question in the first part which provides the reader to search the answer, in the second part. Question-answer structure Ex (Newspaper article sub-heading) - “How would YOU feel if you met your clone? Ever wondered if you've a double out there? These women bumped into theirs and had a strange compulsion to become best friends.”
Ex (Beefeater gin advert): Is it important that gin comes from London? The ones that do not, seem to think so.” Parallelism – repetition of the same construction repeated in diverse ways
Ex “The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, that they should
not eat too much and that they should do some warm-up exercises before the
game” “It is not your music, It is not your handshake, It is not your clothes, It is your watch that says most about who you are” (In this case, the repetition of the negative sentence, shows what item represents us). CHANNEL - is one of the constitutive elements of discourse and is a physical means in which discourse is conveyed by the interpreter. The channel we use, changes the way we perceived the discourse. The two most common forms channel that we use, are: Spoken discourse and written discourse. The difference between them can be identified in terms of:
- situation : speaker and hearer(s) are both present. There is no need to explicit the reference to the environment (S.D) The presupposed reader is remote in time + place, so it is necessary to explicit the reference to the environment. The reader cannot only lean on deictic elements. (W.D) - manner of production: in writing discourse, monitoring the communicative event is impossible and the producer is not present when the reader reads the text. A positive thing is that there is more time to shape the discourse. There is a possibility to use
orthographic conventions.
In spoken discourse, the speaker may monitor the communicative event thanks to immediate feedback from the audience. There is a possibility to adapt the discourse to the hearers. Your emotions are more exposed. You may say things repeatedly in order to make them clear. There is a possibility to use paralinguistic aids (such as intonation)
- form of production spoken discourse is less structured from a syntactic point of view, it is simpler and is characterized by incomplete utterances, limited use of subordination (simple and independent utterances are used), active declarative forms. In written discourse there is an elaborate use of syntax, so there are complete sentences, subordinate clauses, impersonal passive constructions. In spoken discourse there is also the prevalence of parataxis, characterized by the omission of connectors and markers and the use of conjunctions (and, but, or, if). There are implicit connections between utterances (Ex. “I am so tired. I had to walk all the way from the station”). The second sentence explains the first one. There is no need to highlight the relation between the first and the second sentence with conjunctions, in this case. In written discourse there is a prevalence of hypotaxis, so the use of logical connectors (besides, however, whereas although), complementizers (that), temporal markers (when, while) and rhetorical organizers (firstly, in conclusion, more important than)
In written discourse, there is a common use of specific vocabulary instead. Another difference is that spoken discourse is characterized by the repetition of the same syntactic form within the same text
Ex.” You could visit the art gallery, or you could take a walk along the river, or you
could walk along Camden town…”
In written discourse there is a tendency to avoid repetition of the same syntactic form within the same text. Spoken discourse is characterized by a large use of prefabricated fillers [it means fill in the gaps, intercalary, to take time] (well, erm, you know, I mean, sort of, and so on, you see) whereas written discourse has none. But the same FUCTIONS may be expressed As far as functions are concerned, same functions may be expressed. There are three main functions:
- to generate action (such as giving directions or oral instructions, in spoken discourse) and public signs, product labels, television and radio guides, telephone directories, computer manuals in written discourse.
- To provide information which in spoken discourse is characterized by oral reports and in written discourse is characterized by newspapers, magazines, advertisements, political pamphlets.
- To entertain: theatre representations, public speeches, jokes in spoken discourse and comic strips, fiction books and poetry in written discourse. TOPIC Topic is one of the constitutive elements of discourse. Van Dijk addressed that discourse topic is a macroproposition. The synthetic of the content of the discourse is achieved through some strategies: Deletion: which consists in removing all the details or information which are irrelevant; what remain is the chore/the main topic, which is represented by a single macroproposition. Generalization: consists in the description of the parts of elements that constitute any sort of item which is described in a given text. Construction : is an ordered arrangement of grammatical units forming a larger unit. Different interpreters may identify different macropropositions because different elements are present in the text (when you study a subject, you underline the parts that you consider more relevant for the studying; however, it happens that you underline different parts, compared to another person). Topic is also an indicator of how information is constructed in the text/how we structure the message. Staging of information in the text= It orientates the interpretation of the message, that the listeners or readers will give. It is any choice in form or content that the producer makes, to cause a text to be interpreted one way rather than another, through devices such as: -Word choice: (when we describe a person, we refer to age, social status, his or her ethnic identity, religious and political beliefs etc... that is because every person has a multisided personality). There is a wide range of options. -Word ordering: it consists in placing the words that constitute the sentence, in a different order, but by changing the order of the words, we change the effect that the sentence gives. -Clause structuring: it refers to how words and phrases are integrated within a sentence, their relationships, and ultimately, how sentences are layered and
represented in the human brain.
- Information ordering: It is a strategical placement of relevant material in the text.
- Intonation: gives emphasis to certain words (it is used in the spoken language).
- Choice of register: register can be adapted to the context in which the communicative event takes place. All these devices are commonly used even when we are not beware of it. SENTENTIONAL TOPIC THEME = TOPIC - The first element in a sentence (a single word, a phrase, an entire clause) = the focal point of the sentence RHEME = COMMENT – What follows in the sentence. It must be about them Topic is not just the topic of a discourse; we also have sentential topic which is the topic of the single sentence in a text. When we order single words in a text, we decide what to put first in the sentence (we decide the opening element, which is what Hallyday called: “ the point of departure ”). It could be a word, a phrase, or an entire clause. There is the theme which is the topic and the rheme (the comment), which is what the theme is about. The standard word-order in English sentences, is subject + verb + object The subject is the theme of sentence (in case of active declarative statements).
(Ex. Romeo kissed Juliet). Romeo: theme, kissed Juliet: rheme.
There are cases in which a pronoun is the subject of the sentence (Ex. who came to
the party?) or cases in which “who,” the interrogative pronoun, is the object of the
sentence (Ex. who did you see yesterday?),
In English there is a wide range of constructions, so I can say a sentence in diverse ways, such as:
-Juliet was kissed by Romeo (in this case, Juliet becomes the subject and the theme)
-It was Romeo who kissed Juliet (emphasizes that was Romeo and not anybody else
who kissed Juliet)
-It was Juliet that Romeo kissed (was Juliet and not anybody else who Romeo kissed)
-Who Romeo kissed was Juliet (“who” is the theme of the sentence)
-What Romeo did was kiss Juliet (the action is the focal point)
-Juliet, that is who Romeo kissed (the speaker wants to communicate immediately who
was the person that Romeo kissed)
-Romeo, he kissed Juliet (the speaker wants to communicate immediately who was the
person who kissed Juliet)
-Juliet, Romeo kissed her (Juliet is emphasized twice)
Why do we have so many options? Each one of this alternative implies some extra message which is not transmissible through the standard form. The theme of the sentence is very often the subject of the sentence or utterance and when it is, it is generally, in the form of noun. In functional linguistics -> 3 types of themes:
- Topical themes: are those who enounce what the discourse is about. They concern the information conveyed in the discourse. Here the focal point is an adverb or adverbial phrases.
2. Interpersonal themes: reveal something of the speaker's attitude (Ex. Frankly
the movie was a waste of money). Frankly: interpersonal theme; the movie:
topical theme.
- Textual themes: include linkers or connectives, they link a clause to previous
parts of discourse (Ex. However, you should decide for yourself). However:
textual theme
There is a high incidence of time clues (adverbs, adverbial phrases, time clauses) which are used to enable the interpreter to arrange events in their chronological sequence. Time is often thematized, whereas topics are hardly ever thematized. There are topic shifts in narrative texts, which may be identified through:
- indentation= new paragraph
- use of dependent adverbial expressions
- beginning of a description
- change of speaker Discourse grammar: It studies the regularly recurring patterns in discourse. It grew out of the analysis of spoken and written linguistic discourse and it is characterized by interconnected utterances. Two approaches are employed, here: Exchange structure : study of conventional pattern (the method used here is deductive because it refers to a situation based on the interaction). Conversation analysis (inductive method is employed) is an approach to the study of social interaction, embracing both verbal and non-verbal conduct, in situations of everyday life. The conversation it is turn-based so it is not together. Real data, here, are the point of departure. The exchange structure was elaborated by Sinclair and Couthard and the Birmingham discourse analysis (1975). It shows how teachers and students interact. Five ranks: Lesson (communicative event as a whole), transactions (second layer or rank divided in exchanges), exchanges (divided into moves), moves, act (one). Act: Action performed through language/ speech. It consists in: -Inform: provide information -Direct: give instructions about what to do -Elicit: request a response -Cue: encourage the hearer to contribute -Nominate: ask specific pupil to answer to a question -Check: check progress -Prompt: reinforce directives -Fill: fill in the gaps (“well,” “you know,” “I mean”) -Mark: mark boundaries between topics (“good,” “right,” and “now”). Each teaching exchange consists of three main moves, which form a whole structure. The IRF structure. Opening move: initiation Answering move: response Follow-up move follow-up 21.04.22 – lezione 6 Each teaching exchange consists of three main moves, which form a whole structure. The IRF structure.
Examples of IRF structure Teacher: “What's the capital of Hungary?” (elicit) Pupils: “Budapest” (reply) Teacher: “Very well” (evaluate) Teacher: “What do you think is the most important natural resource?” (elicit) Student: “In my opinion, water” (reply) Teacher: “I agree, why?” (Evaluate, elicit) Student: “Well, without water, you cannot cook, take a shower, wash your clothes. We drink water every day.” (Fill in, reply) Teacher: “Those are some valid reasons.” (evaluate) Teacher: “So now, let's open our books” (mark, direct) Student: “On page 21?” (check) Teacher: “That's right “(prompt, confirm directives) Teacher: “In the past, people used to misbelieve that the earth was flat” (inform) Student: “Flat?” (check) Teacher: “Exactly!” (Give feedback, confirm) Unfortunately, this approach has been criticized by discourse analysts, because: -It is a bit out of date, too traditional and the pupils are passive. -Too rigid, therefore it does not allow alternative developments. However, is applicable to ritualized forms of interaction (when there is a person who is in a position of power and provides the basis for the interaction): -interviews (interviewers have the power to initiate the interaction and eventually to stop the person who is interviewed) -trials (the judge is in a position of power because he/she gives answers to the question of the lawyers). This form it is highly ritualized. -doctor-patient exchange (the patient follows the instructions of the doctor)
Examples: -Request (we expect the interlocutor to accept the request)-Acceptance- Refusal. -Assessment-Agreement-Disagreement. -Blame-Denial-Admission. Recurring sequences in conversation:
Presequences: we anticipate certain utterances with pre-invitations (“ I've got two
tickets for the match”), pre-requests (“A re you busy, right now?”) or pre-
announcements ( “You'll never guess!”)
Opening sequences : we start a conversation, usually including greetings, enquiries after health, past references. Example: A: Hi, Lee B: Hi Jean A: How are you? B: Not bad A: How did it go last night? A: Very well, thank you A: Hello (answer+ display recognition) B: Hello Rob (claim that A has recognized B) A: This is Larry, how is everything? (identification) (greeting/enquiry about b's life) B: Pretty good, how about you? (response+ claim that B has recognized A) (greeting/enquiry about B's life response), A: Just fine, the reason I called you is... (introducing topic) Insertion sequences : Are embedded in other pairs. Example:
“You know the film that is on at the Odeon?
Yes?
Do you want to see it tonight?
What time does it start? (Insertion sequence)
8.35 (insertion sequence)
Yes, why not?”
Closing sequence : Levinson noticed that there are typical ways of ending conversations:
- Closing down of a topic: making arrangements
- Pre-closing turns: words that signal that there is a shift, therefore conversation is
nearly over ( Okay, so). They have a pragmatic value.
- Summarizing expressions referring to the conversation (“ Well, i just wanted to know
how you were”).
- Final exchange with closing terms Limits of conversation analysis: -Lack of systematicity (there is not an exhaustive list of adjacency pairs) -Corpus-based linguistics is not easily applicable, because conversation analysis is qualitative and not quantitative. -Doesn't consider background context, purpose, social identity of the participants. So, conversation does not occur in a social vacuum. Conversation analysis has provided the basis for other studies such as interactional sociolinguistics. What are language functions?
Discourse analysis and pragmatics, both consider the use of language in a specific context used by real people for a purpose. They both study the meaning of the messages that they exchange, on the basis of the time and the place in which they are uttered and also in relation to the social and psychological factors that can influence the communication. They both focus on how the meaning communicated by speakers involved in interaction, often goes beyond the literal level and how it depends on the background knowledge that the participants share and allows them to imply meaning, so the more the participant share a background knowledge, the more it will be possible for them to express their meanings also in an implicit way. While, in discourse analysis the emphasis is on the structure of discourse, pragmatics studies the use of language from a sociocultural point of view. Pragmatics takes into account the social effect and the unwritten rules we tend to apply in conversation, in order to cooperate and preserve each other social image while speaking. It also studies how we use language to fulfill certain functions and communicate successfully. Language function is one of the key elements of pragmatics. In field of pragmatics is important the speech act theory, introduced by Austin in
- This theory established that all utterances are performative. With speech acts we mean things people do through language, such as: Apologizing, complaining, introducing oneself, asking for information, giving information, greeting, instructing, pleading, begging, criticizing, agreeing, warning. There are three kinds of acts: Locutionary act : the act of saying something or producing words. Illocutionary act: the act performed in saying something in a given context. Perlocutionary act: the non-linguistic effect that the illocutionary act has on the hearer (hearer's reaction). Example:
“Can you get me a glass of water?”
Locutionary act: the utterance itself. Illocutionary act: the act of making a request. Perlocutionary act: different possible reactions, such as: -the hearer gets the speaker a glass of water. -the hearer replies: “get it yourself” -the hearer asks a third person to do it. (There is a wide range of alternatives) 28.04.22 – lezione 7 Austin noted that behind every utterance, there is a performative hypothesis described by implicit performatives.
“Can you give me a glass of water?”: I (request that you) get me a glass of water
“I've booked train ticket tomorrow”: (I inform you that) I have booked my train ticket
for tomorrow. In some utterances implicit performatives may be interpreted differently because they may not be obvious:
“I'll be back”
-I promise you that I will be back. -I warn you that I will be back John Searle developed Austin theory further, by grouping speech acts in five macro classes, which are:
- Declaratives : are words or expressions that change reality by their very utterance (baptize, sentence, bet, declare, sign).
- Representatives : expressed with statements, therefore words that the speaker believes to be true.
equal to the role of the hearer or higher, because it would be appropriate to the speaker to make a request, by calling the hearer by his first name. Another condition to order or make a request, is that there must be a choice for the speaker. “I declare you husband and wife” – it is a declarative “Thanks a lot”- it is expressive
“ You must breathe” (it sounds like an order/directive speech act, but it does not make
any sense because it is not the consequence of speaker's will). Speech acts could be direct or indirect. Direct : the speaker intends to communicate the literal meaning, so there is a direct relationship between function and form (basically, form corresponds to function). Example: “I'll give you the money back tomorrow” In this case, Form : statement about future action. Function “promise” We can label that as a direct commissive illocution “Shut the door” Form: imperative Function: order We can label that as a direct directive illocution. “Do you like Paris?” Form: interrogative Function: question (request of information) We can label that as a direct interrogative illocution In indirect speech acts , the speaker wants to communicate a different meaning from the literal meaning. What counts is the implicit meaning, therefore form and function are not directly related. “There's a nice film at the Oden tonight” Literally: representative statement (form) giving information (apparent function). Indirect directive speech act: invitation (implicit function). When indirect meaning is present, it must prevail over the literal one, because it carries the communicative intentions of the speaker. The addressee is expected to react to the implicit meaning. Examples of indirect requests: A: “Have you got a cigarette?” B: “Yes, i have” (omittable) A: “I'll have one, please” (it is not a request anymore but an order) B: “Sure” (offers him a cigarette) Speech acts has a social dimension : Indirectness in speech acts increases politeness (it is more used, especially in formal contexts) “thank you, for not smoking” (literally: thanking; indirectly: prohibiting) Cultural dimension: Speech acts are culture bound. Example: “How fat you are” or “You are so thin!” -criticizing/deploring in rich countries -praising/congratulating in developing countries Therefore, differences in speech act conventions may create problems in cross-cultural communication. Differences in Speech Act Conventions may create problems in cross-cultural communication.
Some scholars pointed out some LIMITATIONS in the speech act theory. OVERLAPS : some utterances may fall within more than one class of speech acts. Not everything we say can be considered a speech act
- Fillers (example: you know, see what i mean, so there you go). Those fillers have not a pragmatic value
- backchannels + feedback (“is it?” “I see”, “right”, “yeah”) or
- incomplete sentences. Controversial issues Where does the illocutionary force of a speech act lie? According to Searle, in the speaker's intention. According to Austin, in the hearer's interpretation. According to Foucault, the speaker's intention reflects the conventionalized interpretation commonly associated with a particular move in specific situations of language use. Is the distinction between locution and illocution, real? Derrida -> Is the distinction between Locution and illocution real? All locutions must have a meaning, and therefore they all have performative force, even when they are used out of context. He claimed that all locutions must have a meaning, and therefore they all have performative force, even when they are used out of context. 05.05.22 – lezione eight Cooperative principle Was elaborated by Paul Grice , who observed that people involved in conversation, cooperate with each other in order to achieve communicative goals, so they apply spontaneously some unwritten rules, which make the conversation successful. According to four rules, which Paul Grice introduced, and which are called maxims, we have:
- Maxim of relation be relevant; producing utterances provides the understanding of the previous one.
Example: Ann: “ what time is it?”
Bill: “ it's 10 o'clock” (this utterance is produced as an output of the first one, therefore
is coherent) However, the hearer can also answer with a form which is not relevant to the question. Flouting relation - It happens when a speaker fails in observing the maxim but expecting a hearer to recognize the implied meaning.
A: “ So, what do you think of Mark?”
B: “ His flat mate is very nice”
“B” is seemingly not producing a relevant answer. Anyways, “A” will understand the point of “B”'s answer (indeed, it seems that the latter hasn't anything positive to say).
- Maxim of quality - It is based on two principles: Do not say what you believe to be false. Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.
Example: A: “ I'll ring you tomorrow afternoon”
B: “I shall be there, as far as i know, and in the meantime have a word with Mom and
Dad”
(By adding an incidental clause “as far as i know,” we indicate that, at the moment,
he/she is not aware of that, but he/she'll do all he/she can.) Flouting quality a. Saying something that I do not think, can flout the quality. Example: Head of college informing an applicant that he/she has not been accepted. In informing the result, the head of the college will state the truth behind that decision, in a more careful way (“I think you would be happier in a smaller college”).
