Pragmatic Analysis of CMC Discourse

1. Pragmatic Analysis of CMC Discourse ENGL 306 Week 9

2. What is pragmatics? • Pragmatics is the study of speaker meaning • Pragmatics is the study of contextual meaning • Pragmatics is the study of how more gets communicated than is said • Pragmatics is the study of the expression of relative distance (Yule, 1996:3)

3. Basic concepts in pragmatics and discourse • Context • Co-text • Speech acts • Exchange Structure • The cooperative principle • Politeness

4. Context • Situational context • What speakers know about what they can see around them • Background knowledge context • What they know about each other and the world • Co-text context • What they know about what they have been saying.

5. Situational context (SC) • The immediate physical situation, the situation where the interaction is taking place at the moment of speaking. e.g. Lecturer Forty-nine? Why do you say forty-nine? Pupil Cos there’s another one here Lecture Right, We’ve got forty-nine there, haven’t we? But here there’s two, okay? Now, what is it that we’ve got two of? Well, let me give you a clue. Erm, this is here forty, that’s four tens, four tens are forty. Questions: 1. How do the situational contexts vary on the Internet? 2. How to analyse the SCs in some synchronous systems, like online game, video conferencing, etc?

6. Background knowledge context (BKC) • BKC can be either cultural general knowledge that most people carry with them in their minds, about areas of life, or interpersonal knowledge about the history of the speakers themselves • Questions: 1. Do you think the Internet has help people overcome the cultural barriers for their online communication? • 2. What are the forms of online inequity related to cultural difference? • 3. What do you think are the reasons for online cheating, online theft and some other online crimes in related to personal knowledge?

7. Co-text context (CC) • CC refers to the context of the text itself, including grammatical cohesion and lexical cohesion. (For cohesion, refer to Halliday and Hasan, 1976) Question: How can we measure cohesion in different types of SNS (social networking system), like Twitter, Facebook, Blog, etc? Do you expect one type of SNS may achieve higher cohesion than another?

8. Cohesive devices Halliday and Hasan (1976) identify five main types of cohesive device. • ellipsis - omission of elements ‘required’ by grammatical rules which are retrieved by the reader • conjunction - a word or phrase which signals a relationship between parts of a text • reference - a word or phrase whose meanings are only recoverable from the context • Substitution – the replacement of one item by another • Lexical cohesion

9. Ellipsis a: Has she remarried? b: No, but she will one day, I'm sure.

10. Conjunction

11. Reference • Common reference items are pronouns(he, she, they, it, etc.), the definite article (the), and demonstratives (this, that, these, those, etc.). • DM I went with Francesca and David AM Uhuh? DM Francesca’s room-mate. And Alice’s – A friend of Alice’s from London. There were six of us. Yeah we did a lot of hill walking. AF Uhm.

12. Categories of lexical cohesion (A) Generallexical cohesion i) repetitionleave, leaving, left ii) synonymy leave, depart iii)antonymy leave, arrive iv)hyponymy travel, leave (including co-hyponyms:leave, arrive) v) meronymy hand, finger (including co-meronyms:finger, thumb) e.g. scarlet and crimson are all hyponyms of red – the semantic range of scarlet and crimson is included within that of red

13. Speech acts • Austin (1962) defined speech acts as the actions performed in saying something. • In CMC environments, words perform actions. Virtual actions of computer users can arouse real feelings and emotions in other people. • Speech act theory said that the action performed when an utterance is produced can be analysed on three different levels: • Locution, ‘what is said’. • Illocutionary force, ‘the speaker’s intention in uttering the words’. • Perlocutionary effect, ‘the effect of uttering the words’.

14. Example MM I think I might go and have another bun. AM I was going to get another one. BM Could you get me a tuna and sweetcorn one please? AM Me as well? First level/Locution: Analysing the words themselves, “I think I might…”, “I was going to…”, etc. Second level/illocution: Analysing the speakers’ intentions with their words. MM and AM are ‘asserting’ and ‘expressing their intentions”, BM and AM are requesting action on the part of the hearer’. Third level/perlocution: Analysing the effect of the words. MM gets up and brings AM and BM a tuna and sweetcorn bun each.

16. Speech Acts • We have seen that people often don’t mean exactly what they say. • The form of their utterances can be very misleading, which creates problems for learners of a language. • English sentences have 3 basic forms: Declarative, Imperative, Interrogative • Utterances have 3 basic functions: Assertion, Order/Request, Question

17. Speech Act Theory • Direct speech act • Using direct speech act, one communicates the literal meaning that the words conventionally express (Searle 1969). • Indirect speech act • Using indirect speech act, one wants to communicate a different meaning from the apparent surface meaning. • e.g. I'll die if I don't get one of your chocolates.

18. Analyse the speech act used in the following scenario: To a hostess who had sent an invitation stating that on a certain day she would be ‘At home’, George Bernard Shaw succinctly replied: ‘So will G. Bernard Shaw’. Questions: 1. Do you use ‘away messages’, for example, when you are on holiday trip? Do you find the automatic ‘away messages’ annoying? Which away message do you not feel like? Why? 1) 您好，我去上課啦！ 2) 工作中，請勿打擾！ 3) 我去吃飯了，一會再聯系。

19. Exchange Structure • Sinclair and Coulthard (1975) identified a regular structure in conversations. The lowest unit for observing a conversation is act, which can be an utterance; fillers, like ‘you know’; backchannels, like, ‘Oh, really’, or ‘Umm’, etc. • The acts are organised in moves, which has the IRF structure, i.e. Initiation, Response and Follow-up. • The combination of moves in the IRF structure is known as the exchange. • The next higher rank is called transaction and the highest, lesson.

20. Analyse the IRF structure of the following conversation. CT Which of these countries is not a member of the Commonwealth: Ghana, Malaysia, India, the Philippines? G It’s the Philippines. CT Sure? G Yeah. CT Final answer? G Final answer. CT It’s the right answer. You’ve got eight thousand pounds.

21. Analyse the following conversation using IRF structure theory. CT Which of these countries is not a member of the Commonwealth: Ghana, Malaysia, India, the Philippines? (I, elicit with a question with four options) G It’s the Philippines. (R, reply with one option) CT Sure? (I, check) G Yeah. (R, reply affirming) CT Final answer? (I, check) G Final answer. (R, reply affirming) CT It’s the right answer. You’ve got eight thousand pounds. (F, accept, reward) Question: What are the possible challenges of applying Exchange Structure Theory into the analysis of instant messaging texts, for example, because of the use of emoticons, short forms, and pictures, etc?

22. The Cooperative Principle (CP) • All speakers, regardless of their cultural backgrounp, adhere to a basic principle governing conversation, which is termed the cooperative principle. • ‘Make your conversational contribution such as is required, at the stage which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged’ (Grice 1975) • The principle is intended as a description of how people normally behave in conversation.

23. The Maxims • The CP is broken down into four sub-principles, called maxims: • The maxim of Quantity • The maxim of Quality • The maxim of Relation • The maxim of Manner

24. The maxim of Quantity • Giving information as is required, neither too little nor too much. • Observance of the maxim of quantity A How old is your sister? B Thirteen. • Non-observance of the maxim of quantity A1 Can you tell something about the war? B2 War is war. (too little) A3 What’s your name? B4 I’m Robert Sampson from Leeds, 28, unmarried. (too much)

25. The maxim of Quality • Speakers are expected to be sincere, to be saying something that they believe corresponds to reality. • Observance of the maxim of quality A. What’s the color of the flag? B. The flag is red. • Non-observance of the maxim of quality -- He is made of iron. (literally not true) -- They had a secret wedding ceremony in Hawaii. (If the speaker doesn’t really know that, he is spreading a rumor)

26. The maxim of Relation • The speakers are assumed to be saying something that is relevant to what has been said before. • Observance of the maxim of relation A. What’s your opinion of the lecturer of literature? B. His lectures on Shakespeare are interesting. • Non-observance of the maxim of relation A. What’s your opinion of the lecturer of literature? B. His BMW is second-handed. (irrelevant answer to the question)

27. The maxim of Manner • The speakers should be brief and orderly, and avoid obscurity and ambiguity. • Observance of the maxim of manner Thank you Chairman, Jus – just to clarify one point. There is a meeting of the Police Committee on Monday and there is an item on their budget for the provision of their camera. (BNC) • Non-observance of the maxim of manner We take the megahurts out of buying a PC (newspaper advertisement for computers) BA better connected person (British Airways advertisement)

28. What maxim has not been followed in the conversation mentioned earlier? • A: I wonder what happened to the chocolate ice cream? • B: I have been outside all day.

29. Which Maxim has not been followed? • (a and b are at a bus stop and it is raining heavily) • a: lovely weather • b: yea (laughs)

30. Which maxim has not been followed? • a: what do you think about the new government • b: let’s talk about Sarah’s wedding shall we

31. Which maxim has not been followed? (Newspaper reporter to ambitious politician, Chris Patten) • a: would you like to be the next Conservative Prime Minister • b: I am, of course, happy to serve my country in whatever capacity that may be

32. Which maxim has not been followed? • A: Do you really want a coat? • B: No, I really want to stand out here in the freezing cold with no clothes on.

33. Hedges • Speakers often show they are aware of the cooperative principle when they use some cautious notes which indicate that they may be violating a maxim. These expressions are called ‘hedges’. • Quantity “I know this is long and involved, but it is really important • Quality “I don’t know how exactly it happened, but I thought he ran the red light.” • Relation “Getting back to what we were talking about earlier, the proposal needs reconsideration.” • Manner “This may be a bit confused, but I remember being in a car.”

34. Politeness • Politeness in pragmatics, instead of being concerned with etiquette, describes the relationship between ‘how something is said and the addressee’s judgement as to how it should be said’ (Grundy, 1995:139) • Politeness is concerned with how speakers maintain, enhance or lose face in their conversation.

35. Politeness Principle (PP) • Minimize the expression of impolite beliefs and maximize the expression of polite beliefs.

36. Politeness Maxims (Leech 1983) • Tact maxim • Generosity maxim • Approbation maxim • Modesty maxim • Agreement maxim • Sympathy maxim

37. Tact maxim & Generosity maxim • Tact maxim: Minimize cost to others; maximize benefit to other (focusing on the hearer) ‘Could I interrupt you for half a second – what was the website address?’ ‘I’ve got a bit of problem.’ • Generosity Maxim: Minimize benefit to self; maximise cost to self (focusing on self) ‘Could I copy down the website address?’ ‘You relax and let me do the dishes.’

38. Approbation maxim & Modesty maxim • Approbation maxim: minimise dispraise of other; maximise praise of other. (other) A: Well, I’ve dyed my hair blonde. B: (a) You look awful. (flouting the maxim) (b) You look beautiful. • Modesty maxim: minimise praise of self; maximise dispraise of self. (self) (a) I brought this large gift for you. (flouting the maxim) (b) I brought this little gift for you.

39. Agreement maxim • Minimise disagreement between self and other; maximase agreement between self and other 1. A I thought that movie was boring B (a) That’s nonsense! It’s great! (flouting the maxim) (b) Well, parts of it were a bit slow • A Your sweater is beautiful! B (a) No, not at all. It’s rather cheap. It only cost me $20. (flouting the maxim) (b) Oh, thank you. My mother knit it for me last year.

40. Sympathy maxim • Minimise antipathy between self and other; maximise sympathy between self and other. - I’m terrribly sorry to hear about your cat. - I’m delighted to hear about your cat.

41. References • Austin (1962) How to do things with words. Oxford: Clarendon Press. • Cutting, J. (2002). Pragmatics and discourse: A resource book for students: A, B, C, D. London; New York: Routledge. • Grice, H. P. (1975). ‘Logic and conversation’, in Cole, P. and Morgan, J. (eds) Pragmatics (syntax and semantics) vol. 9, New York: Academic Press. • Grundy, P. (2000). Doing pragmatics (2ed.). London: Arnold. • Halliday, M. A. K., & Hasan, R. (1976). Cohesion in English. London: Longman. • Leech, G. (1983), Principles of pragmatics. Harlow: Longman. • Searle, J. R. (1969) Speech acts. Cambridge: CUP • Sinclair J. McH. and Coulthard, R. M. (1975). Towards an analysis of discourse. Oxford: OUP • Yule, G. (1996). Pragmatics. Oxford and New York: OUP.