ENG523 Midterm Subjective by Nimma Malik

SUBJECTIVE PAPER

ENG523

01: Write Types of Speech Acts.

Types of Speech Acts

There are various kinds of speech acts, yet the following, classified by John Searle, have received particular attention:

Representatives

Commit a speaker to the truth of an expressed proposition.

Paradigm cases: asserting, stating, concluding, boasting, describing, suggesting.

•  I am a great singer.
•  Bill was an accountant.

Commissive

Commit a speaker to some future action.

Paradigm cases: promising, pledging, threatening, vowing, offering.

•  I am going to leave you.
•  I'll call you tonight.

Directives

Are used by a speaker who attempts to get the addressee to carry out an action.

Paradigm cases: requesting, advising, commanding, challenging, inviting, daring, and entreating.

•  You'd better tidy up that mess.
•  Sit down.

Declarations

Affect an immediate change of affairs. Paradigm cases: declaring, baptizing, resigning, firing from employment, hiring, arresting.

•  We find the defendant guilty.
•  I resign.

Expressive

Express some sort of psychological state.

Paradigm cases: greeting, thanking, apologizing, complaining, congratulating.

•  This beer is disgusting.
•  I'm sorry to hear that.

02: What is Exchange Context?

An exchange is a sequence of discourse moves by at least two speakers that forms a topical (or sub topical unit). A minimal exchange comprises an initiating move plus a contribution by another speaker. There are two classes of exchanges; boundary exchanges and teaching exchanges (Sinclair and Coulthard, 1992, pg.25). Boundary exchanges contain two moves, framing and focusing moves. The only three principals of teaching exchanges described by Sinclair and Coulthard are informing, directing, and eliciting exchanges.

03: What is Eliciting Exchange?

The most common exchange in the classroom is an eliciting exchange (Willis, 1992, pg.113). These exchanges begin with the teacher asking a question (usually one they already know the answer to). An answer is then given by the student, and finally a followup evaluation by the teacher. (Hellermann, 2003, pg.80). Here is an example from the study done by Sinclair and Coulthard.

04: Differentiate between language ideologies and attitudes.

Language ideologies and language attitudes are conceptual tools used to understand speakers' feelings and ideas about languages and linguistic forms. Both concepts recognize the importance of linguistic subjectivity in understanding language change, identity, and socioeconomic context. They share similarities in focusing on speakers' feelings and beliefs about language structure and use. However, they differ in their historical development, methodological approaches, and fields of concern.

Language attitudes typically involve quantitative measurement of speakers' reactions, while language ideologies employ qualitative methods like ethnography, conversational analysis, and discourse analysis. Language ideologies emphasize how speakers' beliefs and feelings are shaped by their social experiences and political economic systems, and how their awareness of language forms and functions is crucial.

Despite these differences, both concepts aim to understand speakers' perspectives on language and its role in shaping identity and society. By recognizing the complementary strengths of both approaches, researchers can gain a more comprehensive understanding of language and its complex role in human communication.

05: what is Illocutionary act?

06: what is Spoken discourse?

Language’s use in face-to-face interactions such as conversations, meetings, and discussions. Spoken discourse refers to the study and analysis of spoken language and communication in real-time contexts. It encompasses various forms of verbal interactions, such as conversations, dialogues, interviews, and speeches.

07: What is Discourse community?

A group of people who share a common language, values, and practices, often with a shared goal or interest, and who use language to construct and maintain their identity and relationships.

08: What is Conversation Analysis?

A methodology for studying social interactions, particularly conversations, to understand how people use language to create social order and meaning. Conversation analysis (CA) is an approach to the study of social interaction that emerged in the 1960s. Conversation analysis works with recordings of spoken data and carries out careful and fine-grained analyses of this data. Conversation analysis is an approach to the analysis of spoken discourse that looks at the way in which people manage their everyday conversational interactions. It examines how spoken discourse is organized and develops as speakers carry out these interactions.

09: What are the main features of talk as transaction?

•  It has a primarily information focus.
•  The main focus is on the message and not the participants.
•  Participants employ communication strategies to make them understood.