Summary_PLLT_chapter 8

 

 

Chapter 8. Communicative Competence (p.216~p.225)

 

 

<Contents>   DISCOURSE ANALYSIS 1. Conversation Analysis 2. Corpus Linguistics 3. Contrastive Rhetoric   PRAGMATICS 1. Sociopragmatics and Pragmalinguistics 2. Language and Gender DISCOURSE STYLES

 

 

◆ DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Discourse Analysis : the examination of the relationship between forms and functions of language

Discourse is a language beyond the sentence.

Without the pragmatic contexts of discourse, our communications would be very ambiguous.

A second language learner of English might utter a sentence with perfect pronunciation and grammar, but fail to achieve the communicative function.

 

1. Conversation Analysis

Conversations are excellent examples of the social and interactive nature of communication.

‘What are the rules that govern our conversations?’, ‘How do we get someone’s attention?‘, ’How do we initiate topics?’, ‘How do we terminate topics?’ => These questions are related to communicative competence.

 

1) Attention Getting

- If you wish linguistic production to be functional and to accomplish its intentional purpose, you must have the attention of your audience.

- Attention getting can be both verbal and non-verbal.

- Without knowledge of attention getting, second language learners may be reluctant to participate in a conversation because of their own inhibitions.

 

2) Topic Nomination

- Typical classroom activities in English include teaching students verbal gambits like ‘excuse me,’ Say,’ ‘Oh, sir,’ ‘Well, I’d like to ask you something’ and nonverbal signals such as eye contact, gestures.

 

3) Topic Development

- Conventions of turn-taking are used.

- Turn-taking is another culturally oriented sets of rules that require finely tuned perceptions in order to communicate effectively.

4) Topic Clarification

- In conversations between second language learners and native speakers, topic clarification often involves seeking or giving repair of linguistic forms that contain errors.

- Repair involves a continuum of possibilities ranging from indirect signals to outright correction. => “strategic competence” (Canale and Swain, 1980)

 

5) Topic Shifting, Topic Avoidance, Interruption

- Rules governing appropriate and acceptable interruption vary widely across cultures and languages.

 

6) Topic Termination

- even native speakers of a language have difficulty in mastering this ability at times.

- (ex) a glance at a watch, a polite smile, ‘Well, I have to be going now.’

*** It is important for teachers to be acutely aware of the rules of conversation in the second language and to aid learners to both perceive those rules and follow them in their own conversations. ***

 

 

 

7) Grice’s Maxims(1967) enable the speaker to nominate and maintain a topic of conversation.

① Quantity

② Quality

③ Relevance

④ Manner

 

2. Corpus Linguistics

- Corpus linguistics : an approach to linguistic research that relies on computer analysis of language.

- Corpus : a collection of texts – written, transcribed speech, or both – that is stored in electronic form and analyzed with the help of computer software programs.

- naturally occurring language

- written corpora, speech corpora

- We can identify word frequencies and co-occurrences as well as grammatical patterns.

- For teaching foreign languages, the benefits of corpus linguistics have been and will continue to be explored.

- However, the disadvantages also needs to be noted:

1) Frequency may not be equivalent to usefulness in learning.

2) Many data reflect English in the Inner Circle, and may not represent the reality of English encountered by learners in the Outer and Expanding Circles.

3) Even the decisions by corpus linguists of what to include in their corpora can be the result of their intuitive decisions or even their biases.

 

3. Contrastive Rhetoric

- It starts from the assumption that language occurs not in isolated syntactic structures but rather in naturally occurring discourses.

- Kaplan (1966) presented a schematic diagram of how different languages conventionally organize an essay.

1) English : a straight line from one point to another

2) Semitic languages : jagged set of lines

3) Oriental languages : a spiral

 

◆ PRAGMATICS

1. Sociopragmatics and Pragmalinguistics

- Sociopragmatics: the interface between pragmatics and social organization

- Pragmalinguistics: the intersection of pragmatics and linguistic forms

 

- (Example conversations 1)

American: What an unusual necklace. It’s beautiful!

Samoan: Please take it.

 

(Example conversations 2)

American teacher: Would you like to read?

Russian student: No, I would not.

 

- In both cases, the nonnative English speakers misunderstood the illocutionary force (intended meaning) of the utterance with the contexts.

- Pragmatic conventions from a learner’s first language can transfer both positively and negatively.

- For example, Japanese learners of English may express gratitude by saying ‘I’m sorry’, which commonly conveys a sense of gratitude in Japan.

 

*** Classroom Connections *** Pragmatics includes such contextual skills as using address forms, polite requests, persuading, and disagreeing.   Teaching Implications: One pragmatic element of language that is useful for classroom learners of a foreign language is how to disagree politely. ex) “I see your point, but ....” “I think I understand what you are saying, but have you considered ....?”

2. Language and Gender

- One of the major pragmatic factors affecting the acquisition of communicative competence is the effect of one’s gender on both production and reception of language.

- Among American English speakers, girls have been found to produce more “standard” language than boys.

- Women : using language that expresses more uncertainty than men, using polite words more than men

- Men : interrupting more than women and using stronger expletives

- In several languages, males and females use different syntactic and phonological variants.

 

◆ DISCOURSE STYLES

- Another important issue in describing communicative competence is the way we use language in different styles depending on the context of a communicative act in terms of subject matter, audience, occasion, shared experience, and purpose of communication.

- Styles are not social or regional dialects, but sets of conventions for selecting words, phrase, discourses, and nonverbal language in specified contexts.

- An important difference between a child’s and an adult’s fluency in a native language is the degree to which an adult is able to vary styles for different occasions and persons.

- Adult second language learners must acquire stylistic adaptability in order to be able to encode and decode the discourse around them correctly.

- Martin Joos(1967)’s classifications of speech styles using the criterion of formality

1) Oratorical style :

- used in public speaking before a large audience

- exaggerated and numerous rhetorical devices

2) Deliberative style :

- used in addressing audiences, usually audiences too large to permit effective interchange between speaker and hearers

3) Consultative style :

- formal enough that words are chosen with some care

- ex) business transactions, doctor-patient conversations

4) Casual style :

- conversations between friends or colleagues or members fo a family

5) Intimate style :

- complete absence of social inhibitions

- talks with family, loved ones and very close friends

*** Classroom Connections *** Some English learners in the US experience difficulty in gauging appropriate formality distinctions and tend to be overly formal. Such students are often surprised by the level of informality expressed by their American professors. The acquisition of both styles and registers thus combines a linguistic and culture-learning process.