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Ethnography of communication
The application of ethnographic methods to the communication patterns of a group. Originator: Dell Hymes (1962, "Ethnography of speaking and 1964 Introduction: Toward Ethnographies of Communication. Means by which to study the interactions among members of various cultures: which types of communication events and codes exist in them, which social significance they have, how language is used in them and which meanings it carries, and how group members learn to interprete the code within a given type of speech event.
Basic principles
Ethnographers of communication analyse communicative patters using the method of participant observation. They analyse language use as an aspect of social life of a community. A key goal is to learn what members of a culture know about how to make sense out of experience, and how to communicate those interpretations analyse their communicative competence This implies embracing an emic view of the given speech event or practice.
Functional perspective
Primacy of speech (usage) to code Primacy of function to structure Primacy of context to message The interrelations are always essential
Communicative units
Speech situation the social occassion on which a speech may occur (e.g. church service, meal) Speech event the communicative activity governed by rules or norms of the use of speech Speech act
Taxonomy of communication
Hymes (1972b) proposes a classificatory grid that can be used to differentiate between particular types of communicative units and, thus, help us discover and describe a local taxonomy of such units (e.g. existing in a particular group under study, a speech community).
SPEAKING
S: P
E
setting physical circumstances scene subjective definition of an occasion participants - speaker/sender/addressor, hearer/receiver/
audience/addressee
A
K I N G
ends - purposes and goals, outcomes act sequence - message form and content key tone, manner instrumentalities: channel (verbal, nonverbal, physical);
forms of speech drawn from the communitys repertoire
Diversity
The ethnography of communication does not assume a closed set of language functions that apply equally to all languages and speech communities; rather, it discovers languagespecific functions of speech and types of speech events or acts.
Applications
Joel Sherzer (1983): Kuna Ways of Speaking the ways of speaking among the Kuna Indians (Panama): medicine, everyday speaking, puberty rites, and gathering house speechmaking. The first monograph to take the ethnography of speaking perspective in analysing a whole range of verbal practices among a group of people.
Case study
Michael Stubbs, 1983: The Sociolinguistic Analysis of Natural Language, Chpt. 3 Analysing Ethnographic Data Topic: classroom talk
Initial observation
Setting: secondary school, English class Teacher to pupils: Right! Fags out please!
No pupils were smoking. The message was intended most probably as opening the communication channels, warning the pupils of the messages to come. How did the pupils know what was meant? Which kind of knowledge did they draw upon?
Contextualisation cues? no it is the position at the beginning of a school lesson, plus the knowledge of a lesson as a type of speech event, and verbal activities/speech acts that typically occur within this event at different stages
Teaching
Teaching: a particular type of speech event Different from other speech events Knowledge of the norms constituting this type of speech event enables pupils to interpret what is said
Case study
Analysis of a sample of tape-recordings and field notes from teacher-pupil interaction Secondary school in Edinburgh pupils aged 12-13 and 16-17 years
Research strategy
Consider specific functions that utterances can serve in the given type of speech event Study data to identify utterances performing these functions How is the script for classroom talk constructed? How are the taken-for-granted stereotypes of teacher and pupil behaviour related to the detailed utterance-by-utterance organization of classroom discourse?
Educational discourse
The teacher has the control over the topic, the relevance or correctness of what the pupils say, when and how much pupils may speak ... There are, however, other types of unequal encounters. Research question: is teachers talk definably different from the styles of other unequal encounters? Which specific properties does it include?
Teacher talk
Teacher talk contains many utterances performing the metacommunicative function of monitoring the working of the communication channels, clarifying and reformulating the language used.
Teacher talk
Frequent occurrence of some speech acts: informing, explaining, defining, questioning, correcting, prompting, ordering, requesting Teaching-specific discourse sequences, e.g.: drills around the class, dictation to the group, group answers
Functions of language
(Jacobson 1960, Hymes 1962) Expressive/emotive (speaker) Directive/conative/persuasive (receiver) Poetic (message form) Contact (psychological, or physical - channel) Metalinguistic (code, meaning) Referential (context)
Metacommunication
Metacommunication - verbal monitoring of speech situation:
messages about the channels checks whether they are open and working messages that serve communication ticking over smoothly control over who speaks and how much cues for turn-taking checks on message understanding control over the content of acceptable communication
The rest all seem to disagree with you. Well, what Im trying to say is ... Would you like to sum up what we have said so far, Helen.
Function: summarizing what has been said or read, or the situation reached in a discussion or lesson
Incarnate that means in the flesh. Well, these are words suggesting disapproval. Whore now you dont want to get too technical about that word is just a girl. Well, Brenda, does that mean anything to you? David, whats the meaning of hurdies?
Function: defining
I take it you are exaggerating. Thatt a good point. Thats getting nearer it. No, no, we dont want any silly remarks.
Function: editing - commenting on something said by a pupil, implying a criticism or value judgement .
Function: correcting
Multifunctionality
Utterances tend to be multifunctional Sometimes, it is possible to rank the functions in order of importance
Teacher talk
Metacommunicative talk constitutes a high percentage of teacher talk It is highly asymmetrical, in that it is the teacher who uses and is expected to use it When used by a pupil, it is a sign that an atypical situation has arisen
defines a word
T2:
Teachers talk: hesitations, false starts, self-corrections, breaking the discussion off abruptly ... Student P4: correcting, evaluating
Acceptability of monitoring:
What do you mean? an experiment by Garfinkel (1967) showed that hearers were confused when asked this question in casual conversations monitoring of others speech is permitted only if some specific relations hold between speakers. Explicit metacomments on anyones speech are heared as evaluative.
Monitoring
The right to make repeated and unmitigated statements about an interlocutors speech, or ask repeated and unmitigated questions about the interlocutors understanding of the speakers talk, is inherent only in a limited number of role relationships of which the paradigm example is teacher-pupil.
Monitoring
Repeated is important here a feature of speech may express no particular social information when present in low proportion, but give significant information if present in high percentages. Right, role relationship the principles explaining verbal behaviour need to use sociological concepts.
Case study
Questions in interviews
Speech act within a speech event Two types of interviews:
at a librarys reference desk (a librarian who makes special materials available to the public) sociolinguistic research interview
Interview
A type of speech event that is getting more and more widespread; interviewing became a powerful force in the modern society Areas in which interviews are conducted: education, marketing, psychology, human resources department (employment), medicine, mass media ...
home researcher researched overt/covert some complementary interviewer lacks info interviewee gives info
Key Instrumentalities
Norms Genre
narrow range verbal/nonverbal; physical materials interaction is based on need for information narrow range
medium range verbal, maybe physical materials interaction is based on need for information narrow range
Library
Goals are mutually known and the specific goals are all subordinate to the main goal of fulfilling the users need User has a need and Librarian can fulfill it User wants to get and L wants to provide information Speech acts are likely to occur in which U makes the need known and L draws upon her abilities to fulfill it
Library
(1) L opens encounter
(1) L: May I help you? (2) U: Sure. (3) U: Um I dont find an indication in the card catalog of which branch the book is to be found,= (4) L: Uh huh. (5) U: what do I do next.
Library
(2) L opens encounter
(1) L: May I help you? (2) U: Yes. (3) U: I am looking for ... Fanny Mae, and Fanny Mac? (4) U: And Freddie Mac, regulations. Federal banks. (5) L: Okay.
Library
(3) L opens encounter
(1) L: Can I help you? (2) U: Yeh maybe. (3) U: I am uh- Ive been working up in New York City in the theater doing acting and stage managing and one thing and another. (4) U: And I am looking to try and get over to public relations which is why Im down here. (5) L: Okay.
Are the openings Can I help you/May I help youoffers or also questions? Developments from speech act theory: offers are frequently performed by stating or checking preparatory conditions for the predicated action stating that, or questioning whether H wants X (do you want a piece of candy?), or whether S is able to do X (Can I help you?) If not sure that the conditions are met, S reduces uncertainty by asking.