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Topic Summary - Topic 1
Topic Summary - Topic 1
SUMMARY TOPIC
TOPIC 1:
LANGUAGE AS COMMUNICATION:
ORAL AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE.
FACTORS DEFINING A
COMMUNICATIVE SITUATION:
LISTENER, CODE, FUNCTIONALITY
AND CONTEXT
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TOPIC 1
1. INTRODUCTION.
2. LANGUAGE AS COMMUNICATION.
4. COMMUNICATION THEORY.
5. CONCLUSION
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY
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TOPIC 1
1. INTRODUCTION.
In this unit we are going to study language and its functions to see that communication
is one of these functions. We will then posit that learning a language is not only a
grammatical and lexical process but also a social process. We also analyze the
differences between writing and speech; and finally we will discuss the most important
communication theory models, defining their key factors.
2. LANGUAGE AS COMMUNICATION.
HALL (1964) defined language as "the institution whereby humans communicate and
interact with each other by means of habitually used oral-auditory arbitrary symbols".
The most widely acknowledged comparative approach has been the one proposed by
Charles HOCKETT. His set of 13 design features of communication using spoken
language were as follows:
- Total feedback: speakers hear and can reflect upon everything that they say.
- Specitalization: the sound waves of speech have no other function than to signal
meaning.
- Semanticity: the elements of the signal convey meaning through their stable
association with real-world situations.
- Arbitrariness: there is no dependence of the element of the signal on the nature of the
reality to which it refers.
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TOPIC 1
- Discreteness: speech uses a small set of sound elements that clearly contrast with each
other.
- Displacement: it is possible to talk about events remote in space or time from the
situation of the speaker.
- Duality of pottering: the sound of language have no intrinsic meaning, but combine in
different ways to form elements, such as words, than do convey meaning.
After having studied the main properties of language (what is language?) we will now
see its function (what’s language for?).
One of the commonest uses of languages, the expressive or emotional one, is a means of
getting rid of our nervous energy when we are under stress. We do not try to
communicate ideas because we can use language in this way whether we are alone or
not.
MALINOWSKY (1844-1942) termed the third use of language we are studying "phatic
communication". He used it to refer to the social function of language, which arises out
of the basic human need to signal friendship, or, at least, lack of enmity.
The fourth function we may find is based on phonetic properties. The rhythmical
litanies of religious groups, the persuasive cadences of political speechmaking, the
dialogue chants used by prisoner or soldiers have only one apparent reason: people take
delight in them.
The fifth function is the performative one. A performative sentence is an utterance that
performs an act. This use occurs in the naming of a ship at a launching ceremony, or
when a priest baptizes a child.
The British linguist HALLIDAY grouped all these functions into three metafunctions,
which are the manifestation in the linguistic system of the two very general purposes
which underlie all uses of language combine with the third component (textual).
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TOPIC 1
1.- The ideational function is to organize the speaker's or writer's experience of the real
or imaginary world, i.e. language refers to real or imagined persons, things, actions,
events, states,etc.
3.- The third component is the textual function which serves to create written or spoken
texts which cohere within themselves and which fit the particular situation in which
they are used.
CHOMSKY (1957) defined language as `a set of sentences, each finite in length and
constructed out of a finite set of elements. A capable speaker has a subconscious
knowledge of the grammar rules of his language which allows him to make sentences in
that language'. However, Dell HYMES thought that Chomsky had missed out some
very important information: the rules of the use. When a native speaker speaks, he does
not only utter grammatically correct forms, he also knows where and when to use these
sentences and to whom. Hymes, then, said that competence by itself is not enough to
explain a native speaker's knowledge, and he replaced it with his own concept of
communicative competence.
Systematic potential means that the native speaker possesses a system that has a
potential for creating a lot of language. This is similar to Chomsky’s competence.
Appropriacy means that the native speaker knows what language is appropriate in a
given situation. His choice is based on the following variables, among others:Setting
ParticipantsPurposeChannelTopicOccurrence means that the native speaker knows how
often something is said in the language and acts accordingly.
Feasibility means that the native speaker knows whether something is possible in the
language. Even if there is no grammatical rule to ban 20-adjective prehead construction,
we know that these constructions are not possible in the language.
- Grammar competence
- Discourse competence
- Strategic competence
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TOPIC 1
- Sociocultural competence
The most obvious aspect of language is speech. Speech is not essential to the definition
of an infinitely productive communication system, such as it is constituted by language.
But, in fact, speech is the universal material of human language.
Non-phonological systems do not show a clear relationship between the symbols and
the sounds of the language. They include the pictographic, ideographic, cuneiform and
Egyptian hieroglyphic and logographic.
- Speech is many centuries older than writing- It develops naturally in children- Writing
systems are mostly derivative, i.e., they are based on the sounds of speech.
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TOPIC 1
3.4. Differences between writing and speech
Research has begun to investigate the nature and extent of the differences between
them. Most obviously, they contrast in physical form:
1.- The permanence of writing allows repeated reading and close analysis. The
spontaneity and rapidity of speech minimizes the chance of complex preplanning, and
promotes features that assist to think standing up.
2.- The participants in written interaction cannot usually see each other, and they thus
cannot rely on the context to help make clear what they mean as they would when
speaking. As a consequence, deictic expressions are normally avoided. On the other
hand, feedback is available in most speech interactions.
3.- The majority of graphic features present a system of contrast that has no speech
equivalent. Many genres of written language, such as tables, graphs, and complex
formulae, cannot be conveyed by reading aloud.
4.- Some constructions may be found only in writing, such as the French simple past,
and others only occur in speech, such as `whatchamacallit´, or slang expressions.
5.- Finally we can say that written language tends to be more formal and so it is more
likely to provide the standard that society values.
Despite these differences, there are many respects in which the written and the spoken
language have mutually interacted. We normally use the written language in order to
improve our command of vocabulary, active or passive, spoken or written. Loan words
may come into a country in a written form, and sometimes, everything we know about
language is its writing.
4. COMMUNICATION THEORY.
4.1. Definition
By the late 20th century the main focus of interest in communication seemed to be
drifting away from McLuhanism and to be centring upon:
1.- The mass communication industries2.- Persuasive communication and the use of
technology to influence dispositions3.- Processes of interpersonal communication as
mediators of information4.- Dynamics of verbal and non-verbal (and perhaps
extrasensory) communication5.- Perception of different kinds of communication6.-
Uses of communication technology for social and artistic purposes, including education
7.- Development of relevant critism for artistic endeavours employing modern
communication technology.
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TOPIC 1
In short, a communication expert may be oriented to any number of disciplines in a field
of inquiry that has, as yet, neither drawn for itself a conclusive roster of subject matter
nor agreed upon specific methodologies of analysis.
4.2. Models
Dynamic models are used in describe cognitive, emotional, and artistic aspects of
communication as they occur in sociocultural contexts. These models do not try to be
quantitative as linear ones. They often centre attention upon different modes of
communication and theorize that the messages they contain including messages of
emotional quality and artistic content, are communicated in various manners to and
from different sorts of people.
This model was originally intended for electronic messages so, in time, the five
elements of the model were renamed so as to specify components for other types of
communication transmitted in various manners. The information source was split into
its components to provide a wider range of applicability:
Another concept, first called a `noise source´ but later associated with the notion of
entropy was imposed upon the communication model. Entropy diminishes the integrity
of the message and distorts the message for the receiver. Negative entropy may also
occur in instances where incomplete or blurred messages are nevertheless received
intact, either because of the ability of the receiver to fill in missing details or to
recognize, despite distortion or paucity of information, both the intent and the content of
the communication.
For some communication systems the components are simple to specify as, for instance:
- information source: a man on the telephone- transmitter: the mouthpiece- message and
signal: the words the man speaks- channel: the electrical wires- receiver: the earpiece-
destination: the listener
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TOPIC 1
J.L. Austin (1911-1960) was the first to draw attention to the many functions performed
by utterances as part of interpersonal communication. He distinguishes two main types
of functional potential:
- performative- constative
Constatives are utterances which assert something that is either true or false.
In speech act analysis the effect of utterances on the behaviour of speaker and hearer is
studies using a threefold distinction:
An illocutionary act is using a sentence to perform a function. For example `shoot the
snake´may be intended as an order or a piece of advice.
Austin´s three-part distinction is less frequently used than a two part distinction between
the propositional content of a sentence and the illocutionary force or intended effects of
speech acts. There are thousands of possible illocutionary acts, and several attempts
have been made to classify them into a small number of types:
4.3.2. Context.
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TOPIC 1
Context is defined by the Collins English Dictionary as:
1. The parts of a piece of writing, speech, etc, that precede and follow a word or passage
and contribute to its full meaning.2. The conditions and circumstances that are relevant
to an event, fact, etc.
HYMES HALLIDAY1. Form and content of text2. Setting3. Participants4. Ends5. Key
6. Medium7. Genre8. Interactional norms 1. field2. mode3. tenor
The field is the total event, in which the text is functioning, together with the purpose
activity of the speaker or writer; it thus includes the subject matter as one element in it.
The mode is the function of the text in the event, including therefore both the channel
taken by the language, and its genre or rhetorical mode, as narrative, didactic,
persuasive and so on.
The tenor refers to the participants who are taking part in this communicative exchange,
who they are and what kind of relationship that have to one another. It is clear that role
relationships, i.e., the relationship which people have to each other in a act of
communication, influences the way they speak to each other. One of the speakers may
have, for instance, a role which has a higher status than that of the other speaker or
speakers.
5. CONCLUSION
In this unit, we have seen how important language functions are in order to
communicate our intentions and feelings, also, it is necessary to make our students
aware of the difference between spoken and written language.
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
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TOPIC 1
- Halliday, M. A. K. Language as social semiotics. Arnold. London, 1978.
- Richards, J. C, Platt, J., and Platt, H. Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and
Applied Linguistics. Longman. London, 1992.- Materiales para la Reforma. Primaria.
MEC. Madrid, 1992.
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