Language and Texts: Exploring Communication and Textual Structure

Language and Texts

C M. Grazia Busà 2013FOCUS ON COMMUNICATION

Language as Social Behavior

LANGUAGE = SOCIAL BEHAVIOR

• Through language we communicate:

  Content (concepts) Information about our social identity (age, gender, social status, etc.)

TEXT = instance of connected and meaningful stretch of language in use Varies according to time, location, situation

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Speakers' Register Repertoires

Definition: variations in language use depending on context, level of education, age, gender, region, etc. Characteristics:

• Speakers have control over many registers and are able to shift from one to another depending on the context and the communicative needs (verbal repertoires)
• What varies is intonation, vocabulary, grammar

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Genre Definition and Characteristics

Definition: 'text' conventionally used in connection with a certain social activity. Characteristics: conventional association of content and form for a particular communicative purpose.

• Examples:

  u Oral genres: conversation, lecture, talk, etc. Literary genres: poem, novel, drama, etc. 0 Mass media genres: TV, film, newspapers, etc. Subgenres and mixed genres, e.g. TV shows and docudramas

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Factors Affecting Text

TEXT is affected by Discourse topic and participants' background Relationship with the audience Purpose Medium

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Affected Features

What is affected? Language:

• Style, tone, grammar, structure and organization of the text itself, prosody, etc. Paralinguistic features:
• Gesture, attitude, social behaviour, etc.

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Topic and Participants' Background

Topic and participants' background Topics

• From highly specialized and/or technical to everyday and conversational Participants
• Different degrees of familiarity with the topic:

  i.e., from experts to laypersons Impact on:

• Type of language used (technical, slang, etc.) every day
• Amount of information that is taken for granted

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Example 1: Technical Text for Experts

Example 1 Text targeted to experts in the field of electric measurements (highly technical) Electric field-strength EMF-measurements Measurements can be carried out in the high-frequency spectrum (9 kHz-22 GHz) for measuring electric fields generated by transmission equipment/installations, among which C2000, GSM and UMTS towers, radar systems, wireless devices etc. (http://www.shieldingsystems.eu/index.php?p=Nieuws&id=204&Lang=2&gclid= CPW3r5Da6bMCFUON3godARoAeA)

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Example 2: Didactic Text for Students

Example 2 Text targeted to students (didactic and explanatory) Atmospheric electricity is a field that is very easy to get into, because it does not require a large capital investment for measuring equipment. It is a difficult field, however, when it comes to the understanding and interpretation of the various measurements. (http://www.colutron.com/products/cosmos.html)

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Relationship with the Audience

Relationship with the audience Varies according to:

• status (equal/unequal)

  doctor - patient; teacher - student; employer - employee; student - student

• affective involvement

  mother - child; friend - friend; salesperson - customer

• contact (frequent/occasional)

  Impact on: Level of language formality

• distance = formality/friendliness = informality

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Formal vs. Informal Questions

Example Compare the following questions: Formal

• Excuse me, Madam, what would you like to drink? Informal
• Hey, waddya wanna drink?

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Purpose of Text Production

Purpose Goal that one aims at when producing a text

• to chat, to explain, to discuss, to inform, to teach, to promote, to advertise, to convince, to persuade, to reassure, etc. Impact on:
• Text structure, type of language used (technical, slang, etc.) every day
• Amount of information that is taken for granted

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Example 1: Scientific Discussion

Example 1 Text targeted to experts in the field of electric measurements (highly technical) Electric field-strength EMF-measurements Measurements can be carried out in the high-frequency spectrum (9 kHz-22 GHz) for measuring electric fields generated by transmission equipment/installations, among and UMTS towers, radar systems, C. Purpose is scientific discussion. Language is appropriate to an audience of scientists ms.eu/index.php?p=Nieuws&id=204&Lang=2&gclid= CPW3r5Da6bMCFUON3godARoAeA)

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Example 2: Didactic Explanation

Example 2 Text targeted to students (didactic and explanatory) Atmospheric electricity is a field that is very easy to get into because it does not require a large capital investment for measuring equipment. It is a difficult field, however, when it comes to the understanding and interpretation of the various measurements Purpose is didactic explanation. Language is appropriate to an audience of students (http://www.colutron.com/products/cosmos.html)

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Medium of Communication

Medium Spoken communication:

• Spontaneous
• Hesitations, interruptions, false starts, repetitions, omissions
• Simple grammatical structures
• Colloquial and informal language Written communication:
• Planned
• Structured
• Well-formed and articulated sentences
• More formal lexicon and more complex constructions

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Spoken and Written Language Forms

Spoken and written language Spoken communication:

• Face-to-face, one-way or two-way
• Lecture, conference, etc. Written communication:
• Print: books, newspapers, magazines, brochures, flyers, etc.
• Electronic media: television, radio, audio/video recording, etc.
• New media: computers and computer networks (including e-mail, chat rooms, websites, etc.)

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Variation in Language Formality

VARIATION in language FORMALITY Language Use Speech Writing Informal Official/public Chat, Official conversation speech e-mail contract Informal language Formal language

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Formal vs. Informal Language Styles

Formal vs informal language In any language, different styles are appropriate in different situations Language can vary from formal to informal, from written to spoken, from technical (or jargon) to slang No real 'rules' but plenty of features distinguish formal styles from informal styles

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Principles of English Written Style

Principles of English written style The more formal a text is ...

• the more it will use inanimate nouns as subjects of a sentence
• the more it is likely to use passive structures
• the more verbal nouns it will use
• the more words of Latin origin it will use

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Written Style (Continued)

Written style (continued) The more informal a text is ...

• the more it will use humans as subjects of sentences
• the less it will use passive structures
• the more it will use verb structures
• the more words of Germanic origin it will use

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Definition of Slang

What is slang? A highly informal, colourful, non-standard, non- technical vocabulary composed chiefly of novel- sounding synonyms for standard words and phrases Usually used between friends It implies that the other person identifies fully with the speaker's attitude

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Example: Informal Written Text

Example: A written text of informal tone Can I Sue Miley Cyrus If Her Snacks Make Me Sick? ... God, that would be fun, wouldn't it? I mean, once you ceased to vomit your spleen out of your eye sockets. (from http://www.eonline.com/, March 17, 2009)

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More Formal Version of the Text

A more formal version of the same text A reader wonders if Miley Cyrus could be sued if he/she developed salmonella after eating one of the bars. The reader finds the possibility of suing M.C. amusing, but adds that one would first have to wait to get better.

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