2L2 Spoken&Written Discourse
Transcript of 2L2 Spoken&Written Discourse
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Discourse Analysis
LECTURE 2
Types of Discourse: Written and
Spoken Discourse
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Types of Discourse
There are many ways to classify discourse:
Written/spoken discourse.
Classification of discourse according to the
register (level of formality).
Classification of discourse according to genre(communicative purpose, style, audience).
Monologic (one speaker/writer produces an entirediscourse)/ dialogic/ multiparty (two/moreparticipants interact/ construct discoursetogether).
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Distinction between Written and
Spoken Discourse
The distinction between speech and writing
is often referred to as channel(D. Hymes)
ormediumas speaking and writing involvedifferent psychological processes.
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Distinction between Written and
Spoken Discourse
Spoken and written discourse differ for
many reasons. Spoken discourse has to be
understood immediately, written discoursecan be referred to many times.
M.A.K. Halliday. Spoken and Written
Language. (1989). Singled out the
characteristics of spoken discourse.
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Distinction between Written and
Spoken Discourse
Spoken discourse:
Variations in speed, but it is generally faster thanwriting.
Loudness/quietness.
Example
Announcer: an the winner iz:s (1.4) RACHEL ROBERTS.
For YANKS.
A: who is she going out with.
B: Um (.) Peter.
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Distinction between Written and
Spoken Discourse
Spoken discourse:
Gestures/ Body language (Mr. Bean)
Intonation.
Pitch range: - the shift to the higher pitch; - the shiftto the lower pitch, V - a fall rise.
Stress: underlined words in transcription: good.
Rhythm.
Pausing and phrasing: (.)a tiny gap, difficult to bemeasured, (7.1)a pause of 7.1 seconds,a longer pauselike (..)
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Which Discourse is More
Complex?
Grammatically?
Spoken discoursefewer subordinate
clauses, fewer that/to complement clauses,fewer sequences of prepositional phrases,
fewer attributive adjectives, more active
verbs.
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Which Discourse is More
Complex? Lexical characteristics?
Spoken discourselonger, more repetitions.Spoken discoursethe percentage of different
word is below 40%, written discourseabove40%.
Spoken discourseshorter, less complex wordsand phrases (less contractions, fewer
nominalizations, more verb-based phrases, morewords that refer to the speaker, less abstractwords, more quantifiers).
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Which Discourse is More
Complex?
Lexical characteristics?
Spoken discourse has:
More verb-based phrases:having treatment (W)being treated (S)
hospital care (W)go to the hospital (S)
More predicative adjectives:
misleading statistics (W)statistics are misleading (S)
frightening news (W)news is frightening (S)
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Which Discourse is More Complex?
Lexical characteristics?Spoken discourse has:
More pronouns (it, they, you, we).
more lexical repetitions/ refinements
This man + this chap she was going out with
More first person references.
More active verbs.
Use of indeterminate agents
Oh everything they do in Edinbourgh+ they do it fartoo slowly
(predetermined) fillers
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Which Discourse is More
Complex?
Structurally?
Spoken discourse is more fragmented. It
contains more simple sentences andcoordination words (and, but, so, because,
etc.)
Written texts exhibit a bewildering varietyand richness of different structural forms.
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Which Discourse is More
Complex?
Haiku, a Japanese form of poetry, wheresyllables are the form of writing:
Example 3
line 1- 5 syllables: Beauty and color
line 2- 7 syllables: Butterflies dance in thesky
line 3- 5 syllables: Flying high and free.
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Which Discourse is More Complex?
Shape poems usually describe an object being writtenabout
Example 4
A spider
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Which Discourse is More Complex?
Representation/ reproduction of text:The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.
The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.
Written discourse can be divided into chapters,
sections, units, headings, subheadings, quotations,
etc.
Where the original text exploits typographical
variety, a reproduction of the same text may lackthe qualities of the original.
Queen Victoria: he gave mesuch a kind, and may I
say,fatherly look (Thursday, 28 June 1838)
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Which Discourse is More
Complex?Hallidaycompares a sentence from a written text with a typicalspoken equivalent:
Written form:
The use of this method of control unquestionably leads to safer and
faster train running in the most adverse weather conditions. A typical spoken variant:
If this method of control is used trains will unquestionably (be able to)run more safely and faster (even) when the weather conditions aremost adverse.
A more natural spoken version: You can control the trains this way and if you do that you can bequite sure that theyll be able to run more safely and more quicklythen they would other wise, no matter how bad the weather gets.
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Which Discourse is More
Complex? Other equivalents:
Every previous visit left me with a sense of thefutility of further action on my part (W).
Whenever Id visited there before, Id ended upfeeling that it would be futile if I tried to doanything more (S).
Task 1
Can you re-write examples of classical writingdiscourse on your HO transferring it into atypical spoken version?
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Which Discourse is More
Complex? Functionally?
Spoken and written discourses serve differentfunctions. The written language has two main
functions (Goody): the storage function which permits
communication over time and space;
shifting language from the oral to the visual
domain, which permits words and sentences to beexamined out of their original contexts.
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Which Discourse is More
Complex?
(Brown and Yule). We use speech largely
for the establishment and maintenance of
human relationships (or we use it forinteraction), whereas we use written
language for working out and transference
of information (primarily for the purpose
of transaction).
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Interrelation of Written and
Spoken Discourse
Writing and speech interrelate (e.g. the
doctor writes your symptoms, you write a
telephone number). We can have written discourse that is
intended to be spoken, and spoken
language that is designed to be read.
Marginal discourses: e-mails, SMS, chats
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Interrelation of Written and
Spoken Discourse
SPOKEN WRITTEN
ORATE e.g.conversation
e.g. informalletters, drama,
poetry
LITERATE e.g. lectures,
sermons,
speeches
e.g.
expository
essays,
articles
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References:
Brown, G., Yule, G. (1983).Discourse
Analysis. Cambridge, etc.: Cambridge
University Press. pp. 1226 Van Dijk (1997).Discourse Studies,
Volume 2: Discourse as Social Interaction.
London etc.: Sage Publications.Ch 1.pp.1-
38. (esp. p.4)