1. Ethnography of Communication / Speaking
Dr. Mardziah BBI3204
Ethnography of Communication / Speaking
Mardziah Hayati Abdullah
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2. Overview (1) Ethnomethodology Ethnography of communication/speaking
Communicative / speech event
Factors governing events
Speech Acts
Structure of conversations
Conversational interchange
Turn-taking
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3. Overview (2) Politeness Terms of address Cooperation (Grice & Goffman)
Gricean maxims
Face (Grice & Goffman)
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4. 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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5. 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 world
production and interpretation of everyday action as skilled accomplishment
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6. Ethnomethodology (2) Focus on everyday existence practical reasoning /
‘commonsense’ or tacit knowledge
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7. How did you know the answers?
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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8. Ethnographic research (1)
Focused
In-depth
Descriptive
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9. 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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10. (*Note: communicative event has a broader application.)
Ethnography of a
communicative* /
speech event
(*Note: communicative event
has a broader application.)
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11. Definition: An act of communication Examples of communicative events
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12. 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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13. 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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14. 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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15. 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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16. 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 interactions
Require knowledge of the language and appropriate use of that language within a given culture.
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17. 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."
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18. 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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19. Speech Act (4): : Levels
Searle (1969)
Locutionary act: the performance of an utterance
Illocutionary 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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20. Speech Act (5): Locutions and illocutionary force
Speakers 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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21. 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.
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22. 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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23. Speech Act (7): Phatic speech
Malinowski (1923)
Phatic communion / communication: a type of speech in which ties of union are created
Words may not have meaning; principal aim: to fulfill a social function
Nice day!
How do you do?
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24. The Structure of Conversations
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25. Conversational interchange
Examples: telephone call, service encounters, bargaining
Structured – has distinct parts
Rule-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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26. 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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27. Recognition of a person’s right in a situation
Politeness
Recognition of a person’s right in a situation
Terms of address: vary across cultures
Important principle used in conversation: adjacency pair – utterances that co-occur
greeting
question and answer
apology
compliment
complaint
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28. Cooperation, Maxims & Face in conversation
(refer Wardhaugh, 1998, p. 286 – 291)
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29. 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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30. Cooperation in conversation (2)
Gricean maxims (rules) of conversation:
Quantity
Quality
Relation
Manner
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31. Cooperation in conversation (3)
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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32. Activity
If 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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33. Cooperation in Conversation (4): Face & Face-work
In 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)
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