The Past, Present, and Future (!) of Science Communication Research
Meeting da 2
1. A BRIEF HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
Z. HARRIS (1952)
DELL HYMES (1964)
AUSTIN (1962)
SEARLE (1969)
GRICE (1975)
DISRIBUTIONAL
SOCIAL SETTING
MEANING IN
CONTEXT
FIRTH (1951) FORM & MEANING
ROSS, MCCAWLEY,
G. LAKOFF (1960s) GRAMMAR & MEANING
R. LAKOFF (1972 SOCIALCONTEXT OF
UTTERANCE
MITCHELL (1957 STRUCTUREOF UTTERANCE
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2. EMBRIOOF DA
LABOV (1970, 1972):
A: Are you going to work tomorrow?
B: Yes
C: I’m on jury duty
RELEVANCE?
WHY?
Linus : Do you want to play with me,Violet?
Violet : You’re younger than me. (Shuts the door)
Linus : (puzzled) She didn’t answer my question.
SHARED KNOWLEDGE IS IMPORTANCE IN COMMUNICATION
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3. THERAPIST : Oh, so she told you.
PATIENT : Yes
A : I don’t like the way you said that.
B : *Yes.
A :There’s no playgroup next week then.
B : Oh, isn’t there?
Relevance?
DISCOURSE UNIT DISCOURSE FUNCTION
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5. WHAT IS DISCOURSE (ANALYSIS) ?
STRUCTURAL PARADIGMS FUNCTIONAL PARADIGMS
Sapir
Saussure
Bloomfield
Chomsky
Halliday
Hopper
Thompson
Language is mental phenomenon,
Grammar centered,
Arbitrary, universal, equal,
referential function.
Language is social phenomenon
Usage centered, appropriate,
stylistic or social function
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6. THREE DEFINITIONSOF DISCOURSE
1. DISCOURSE: A LANGUAGE ABOVETHE SENTENCE
(Hymes, van Dijk, Levi Strauss, Piaget, Grimes, Polanyi).
“Structural analyses focus on the way different units function
in relaiton to eah other, but they disregard the functional relations with
The context of which discourse is part” (van Dijk 1985:4)
By applying the concepts of constituents, relationship, and arrangement,
this paradigm includes the concept of cohesion .
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7. Problems:
1. Units in which people speak do not always seem like sentences. Spoken?
2. How syntactic properties of clauses or sentences contribute to
(influenced by) higher level structures of a text.
3. There is ill-fomed and well-formed sentence but
there is no ill-fomed and well-formed discourse in the same way.
Lyons solves the problems by creating distinction between
System-sentences vs. Text-sentences.
a. Are you free for lunch today?
b. You’re free for lunch today?
c. Free for lunch today?
d. Lunch today?
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8. 2. Discourse: language use
“The study of discourse is the study of any aspect of language use” (fasold 1990:65)
“The analysis of discourse, is necessarily, the analysis of language in use.
As such it cannot be restricted to the description of linguistic forms independent of
the purposes or functions which these forms are designed to serve in human affairs.”
(Brown andYule 1983:1)
Discourse as language use is consistent with functionalism: Discourse is viewed
as a system (a socially and culturally organized way of speaking) through which
particular functions are realized.
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9. ETIC DIRECTION EMIC DIRECTION
FUNCTIONAL ANALYSES
“FUNCTION SERVED BY SYSTEM”
EX. Language function by Jakobson.
Do you know the time?
(phatic/emotive/ Conative/referential function)
Start from observing and describing
utterance , infer what function are
being served.
EX. Utterance containing implicature
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10. A CASE OF EMIC DIRECTION:
A: Are you free for lunch today?
B: I have to advise students all day.
11. 3. Discourse is utterance
“Discourse is not as a collection of decontextualized units of
language strucure, but as a collection of inherently contextualized
units of language use.
Advantages:
1. Discourse is context-sentence (Cf Lyons)
2. Extended patterns and sequential arrangements are under examination.
Problem: Limitation of utterance?
12. Utterance:
Units of language production, (whether spoken or
written) that are inherently contextualized; whether (or how)
they are related to sentences (or infact to other units such as
propositions, turns, or tone units) is an issue that will not
explicitly enter into discussion.
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