Ethnography of Communication /

Speaking

Mardziah Hayati Abdullah

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Overview (1)

EthnomethodologyEthnography of

communication/speakingCommunicative / speech eventFactors governing eventsSpeech Acts

Structure of conversationsConversational interchangeTurn-taking

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Overview (2)

PolitenessTerms of addressCooperation (Grice & Goffman) Gricean maximsFace (Grice & Goffman)

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Phenomenological view of the world

The world is something people must constantly keep creating and sustaining for themselves. Language plays a very significant role in that creating and sustaining process.

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Ethnomethodology (1)Study of  processes and techniques that people use

to interpret the world around them and to interact with that world

categories and systems that people use in making sense of the world

construction of social worldproduction and interpretation of everyday

action as skilled accomplishment

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Ethnomethodology (2)

Focus oneveryday existencepractical reasoning /

‘commonsense’ or tacit knowledge

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Activity

In the previous lesson, you discussed some utterances in terms of the contexts in which they might be used, the nature of the relationship between speaker and listener for each utterance, and the contexts in which they might be inappropriate.

How did you know the answers?

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Ethnographic research (1)

FocusedIn-depthDescriptive

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Ethnographic research (2):Triangulation

Different sources of data Human respondents Events, settings Documents, archives, etc.

Different forms of data Interview data Observation data Reports, photographs, etc. Field notes, etc.

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Ethnography of a communicative* /

speech event

(*Note: communicative event

has a broader application.) 10MHA BBI3204

Communicative eventDefinition: An act of communication

Examples of communicative events

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Ethnography of a speech event

A description of all the factors that are relevant in understanding how that particular speech event achieves its objectives

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Hymes’ ethnographic framework: Ethnography

of Communication

Communication is more than linguistic knowledge; we must understand context

Seven (7) distinct factors – captured in an acronym: SPEAKING

Each associated with a different function but all closely related

Each event governed by socially recognised rules

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Hymes’ ethnographic

framework

S – Setting and Scene P – Participants (Speaker – Hearer)E – Ends (Purposes, goals, outcomes)A – Act sequence (Form & order of

events)K – Key (Tone, manner, spirit)I – Instrumentalities (Form and style of

speech)N – Norms of interaction and

interpretation G – Genre

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Speech Acts

(*Information taken from various texts, including the website of the University of Minnesota’s Center

for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition)

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Speech Act (1): Definition

An utterance that serves a function in communication.

May contain just one word ("Sorry!“) or several words or sentences: "I’m sorry I forgot your birthday.”

Include real-life interactionsRequire knowledge of the language and

appropriate use of that language within a given culture.

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Speech Act (2): Examples

Greeting:   "Hi, Eric. How are things going?"Request:   "Could you pass me the mashed

potatoes, please?"Complaint:   "I’ve already been waiting three

weeks for the computer, and I was told it would be delivered within a week."

Invitation:   "We’re having some people over Saturday evening and wanted to know if you’d like to join us."

Compliment:   "Hey, I really like your tie!"Refusal:   "Oh, I’d love to see that movie with

you but this Friday just isn’t going to work."17MHA BBI3204

Speech Act (3): Interpretation

L2 learners must know idiomatic expressions or cultural norms in the L2; they must recognize what is transferable to other languages.

Example of misinterpretation:

Sarah (native English speaker): "I couldn’t agree with you more. "

Cheng: "Hmmm…." (Thinking: She couldn’t agree with me? I thought she liked my idea!)

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Speech Act (4): : Levels

Searle (1969)Locutionary act: the performance of an

utteranceIllocutionary act : expresses the speaker’s

intent; has illocutionary force Perlocutionary act : an illocution that

causes listeners to do things its actual effect, such as persuading, convincing, scaring, inspiring, or otherwise getting someone to do or realise something

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Speech Act (5): Locutions and

illocutionary forceSpeakers can use different locutions to achieve the same

illocutionary force: Could you switch off the air-con please? I’m freezing!

one locution to achieve different purposes: e.g., It’s cold in here, isn’t it? A question (to verify) A request (to switch off the air-con) A conversation opener

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Speech Act (6): Performatives

Austin (1975)Performative utterance: saying and doing

something, e.g., I do (while participating in a marriage ceremony); I name this ship Liberty Bell: I sentence you to 5 months’ jail. (Less explicit: I promise…, I apologise…, I warn you…)

Felicity conditions must be met for performatives to be successful: A conventional procedure must exist. All participants must execute the procedure

properly to completion. Necessary thoughts, feelings, intentions must be

present in all parties. 21MHA BBI3204

Activity

Why might each of the following be said to fail as a performative?

I sentence you to five years of misery.I congratulate you on your failure to win the

Cup.I order you to resume breathing.(Small boy to dog): I order you to stop!

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Speech Act (7): Phatic speech

Malinowski (1923)Phatic communion / communication: a type of

speech in which ties of union are createdWords may not have meaning; principal aim: to

fulfill a social function Nice day! How do you do?

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The Structure of Conversations

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Conversational interchange

Examples: telephone call, service encounters, bargaining

Structured – has distinct partsRule-governed; rules and conventions

vary across contexts (e.g., answering the telephone – see Wardhaugh, 2002, p. 299)

Turn-taking and interruptions

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Activity

If you are involved in a conversation with two or more people involved, how do you know when to jump into the conversation? When is it appropriate to do so? How do speakers signal when they wish to speak?

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PolitenessRecognition of a person’s right in a

situationTerms of address: vary across culturesImportant principle used in

conversation: adjacency pair – utterances that co-occurgreetingquestion and answerapologycomplimentcomplaint

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Cooperation, Maxims& Face in

conversation

(refer Wardhaugh, 1998, p. 286 – 291)

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Cooperation in conversation (1)

Over-riding principle in conversation is the cooperative principle (Grice, 1975):

We act in conversation in accord with a general principle that speakers and listeners are engaged in an activity that is of benefit to all.

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Cooperation in conversation (2)

Gricean maxims (rules) of conversation:

QuantityQualityRelationManner

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Conversation depends on speakers and listeners sharing a set of assumptions about what is happening.

We make use of a common-sense knowledge and employ principles of practical reasoning; we cooperate to deal with the world in much the same way.

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Cooperation in conversation (3)

ActivityIf you said each of the following ‘completely out of the blue’, what might happen and why?

Your husband/wife is still faithful. The sun did rise this morning,Your shoes are clean today.Tomorrow’s Friday.

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Cooperation in Conversation (4): Face &

Face-workIn conversation, speakers and listeners

tend to accept each other for what they claim to be: they accept the face that the other offers.

Face-work (Goffman, 1955): the work of presenting faces to each other, protecting our own face and protecting the other’s face.

~ All the world's a stage,And all the men and women merely players. ~

(Shakespeare, As You Like It)33MHA BBI3204