An Ethnography of Communication

Speakers make choices as to the language they use based on class, gender, race etc. the context of the speech event, the topic of discussion, and their goals.

The cultural rules for appropriate interaction - What should and should not be said in particular contextsInformation about the speakers - class, gender, race etc.explicit and implicit norms for communication detailing aspects of verbal, non-verbal and social parameters of interactionCode used by speakersSetting or context of the speech eventForm or genre (e.g. conversation, folktale, chant, debate)Topics AttitudesThe goals of the speakersThe function of the speech event – what are the goals of the speakers cultural messages of shared values and expectations and presuppositions

Ethnography of Communication

We use these guidelines to shape our own behaviour and to evaluate the actions of others

To understand the choices people make we need to know

formal speech acts often take place in specified settings, among expected participants and concern relatively fixed topicsFormal settings often have a structural design that separates various categories of participants and orients them in relation to one another

e.g. courts room proceedings

Formal Speech Events

Participants speech behaviour is conditioned by their role. judge controls communication others have obligations to speak and others not to speak specific discourse patterns are expected of each type of participant lawyers ask questions and make opening and closing remarks, witness answer questions

topics are rigidly defined all speech behaviour must be relevant to the issuerights of participants to introduce or change topics are narrowly defined and limited and controlled by the judgeGoals vary depending on rolesSpeakers choose words, tone of voice facial expression, gesture etc to accomplish this purposee.g. the judge must appear impartial, lawyers speak and act aggressively, defendants portray themselves as innocent, witnesses appear honest and reliable, and jurors remain silent but convey interest in the speech and behaviour of others

Boardroom meeting

What are the design elements that structure the setting.Who are the participants and what are their roles.How do the roles of participants condition their speech behaviour?What are the rights of participants to speakWhat are the specific discourse patterns for each type of participant ?What are the topics of conversation and how are they controlled?What are the goals various speakers.

Semi formal What are the design elements that structure the setting.Who are the participants and what are their roles.How do the roles of participants condition their speech behaviour?What are the rights of participants to speakWhat are the specific discourse patterns for each type of participant ?What are the topics of conversation and how are they controlled?What are the goals various speakers.

not as highly structured but are constrained by cultural norms of roles, rights to speak and ways of speakingRules are often followed unconsciouslyWe assume behaviour in these contexts is natural – but is culturally conditionedReactions by individuals to ongoing behaviour e.g. showing either approval or disapproval indicate cultural normsWe generally become most aware of informal communicative norms when they are violated, i.e. when someone speaks inappropriatelyThen we can evaluate the mistake against our culturally shared models of appropriate behaviourSpeakers errors come from misjudging the relative importance of given components within speech events – that is misjudging the weight of settings, participants, topics, and goals in framing one’s speech style. Choice of words or non-verbal cues

Informal Interactions

settings help define events as particular kinds of occasions In so doing they invoke certain behaviours both physically, socially, and linguistically at the same time restrict others Settings can be classified on a continuum of formality or informality

Settings

Formal Settings increased structuring Choices made are consistent from one event to the next There is an emphasis on roles of participants They have a central focus or theme tend to focus on specific issues and happenings reflected in constraints on topics and in restrictions on speakers rights to change or introduce elements

Settings

increased structuring of formal events is reflected in rules of etiquette that influence participants attire, demeanour and speech. Markers of formality may include features of pronunciation, intonation, facial expression, grammar and vocabulary, with tendencies to use more prestigeful or correct speech and to appear seriousrights and participants to speak may be curtailed or directed into certain kinds of exchanges and turn-takings

Settings

Settings

People make choices consistent with the seriousness appropriate to the occasion. People rarely make jokes, tease or swear in highly formal situations, although depending on the setting these themselves may be structured and bound by rules Formal settings define people by their positional and public rather than their personal identities By invoking such public roles, social distance rather than intimacy is stressed – formal forms of address often used

Settings

People make choices consistent with the seriousness appropriate to the occasion. People rarely make jokes, tease or swear in highly formal situations, although depending on the setting these themselves may be structured and bound by rules Formal settings define people by their positional and public rather than their personal identities By invoking such public roles, social distance rather than intimacy is stressed – formal forms of address often usedas members of a particular society, we share expectations about how proceedings begin and end

informal settings settings and activities that occur in them may be bounded physically, spatially and socially norms of communicative behaviour more diffuse and flexible although participants always assess speech and non-verbal actions according to cultural models of appropriateness. Speakers select stylistic features of pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary based on their individual habits and preferences rather than on dictates of the situation

informal settings Topics are different on different occasions Topics dependent upon speakers’ interests and goalssocial boundaries might include specific participants and topics considered appropriateRegardless of setting communication needs to be negotiated and developedpeople learn how to begin and end particular kinds of interactions following normative patterns

Include speakers, addressees and audienceRoles usually change during a given eventEven the audience may have a communicative role to play by making the appropriate responsesPeople make choices about language used based on characteristics of other participants in a speech event

Participants

ParticipantsSuch choices include aspects of linguistics and nonverbal behaviourPronunciation: distinctiveness of articulationProsodic features of intonation: velocity (speed of speaking), volume (loudness, softness)Syntax: complexity or simplicity of word order, phrase construction etc. Choice of wordsNon-verbal cues: facial expression, eye contact, touch, physical distancing

Speakers determine, usually unconsciously, which communicative features are most appropriate given the person(s) to whom they are speaking toWe speak differently to a priest, child, person whose first language is not EnglishChoice of topic also depends on speakers awareness of cultural and individual expectationsWhat do you talk to friends, acquaintances about - what topics are avoided?

turn taking, topic development, signals of listenership are attuned to specific relationships between speakersemployers speaking with employees are more likely to take longer turns, to control topics and to exert power through interruption than are workers when speaking to their employers

How we refer to people or address them is a sensitive indicator of how we evaluate co-participants in a speech eventWe can use personal names, titles, kinship terms, or personal pronouns Most frequently used forms are

• First name, (FN)• and title plus last name (TLN)

in 2-party interactions we can use reciprocal FN, reciprocal TLN and nonreciprocal FN-TLN.

Terms of Address

the specific meaning of FN and TLN varies depending on who is being addressed

We select among the options depending on how we perceive the relationship with the person we’re speaking withWe evaluate socially meaningful characteristics of individuals and then make judgements about our status relative to theirs and then make decisions about the appropriate form of address to use.Socially meaningful factors include:

•Age•Gender•Class•Ethnicity•Occupation

Superior

Equal

Subordinate

Power relations

To equal acquaintances

reciprocal forms of address occur between status equals

To a superior stranger

non-reciprocal forms are typical of unequal relationshipsReciprocal TLN marks formality or politeness

To a close subordinate: a child

We have full FN, (Thomas), shortened FN (tom) diminutive (Tommy) Children are usually addressed by shortened and or diminutive names both by other children and by adults

FN indicates intimacy if spoken by a friend or relative but shows condescension if used by a superior to a subordinate in non-reciprocal exchanges

Even more subordinate: a pet

Inequality reigns

salesperson is subordinate to

customer

dentist is superior to patient

teacher is superior to student

use of non-reciprocal TLN-FN requires a complex assessment by speakers of their position vis-a-vis addresseesoccupational status and relative age are the most important factors in choice of form.occupation whether as an ongoing relationship (e.g. employer=employee) or a situational contract (waiter –customer)

Stranger

Acquaintance

Friend/relative

Solidarity relations

Navajo women typically used TLN when conversing with Anglos, even of the same age as themselves, whereas they usually use FN to age equals

To equal acquaintances

TLN marks distance and deference

To a close equal: a young friend

To a close equal: an old friend

Reciprocal FN tends to indicate intimacy or casualness i.e. lack of distance

To an even closer equal

Is the formality of the setting relevant? Is the kinship relation or other social relationship

relevant? Is age or generation relevant in selecting the

appropriate form? Is relative status or rank relevant in selecting an

appropriate term? Is the gender of the speakers relevant

Terms of address What contextual elements influence the

form used?

vary with the nature of the relationship between speakers

reciprocal use of first names generally signifies an informal intimate relationship

title and last name used reciprocally indicates a more formal or businesslike relationship between individuals of roughly equal status

nonreciprocal use of first names and titles is reserved for speakers who recognize a marked difference in status between themselves

this status can be a function of age (as when a child refers to her mother's friend as Mrs Miller and is in returned referred to as Sally)

or it can be along occupational lines as when as person refers to his boss by title and last name and is in return addressed as John

Forms of address

Does naming matter?

To the hearer: Yes. To the speaker: Yes. A wrong choice can offend or hurt. Decisions are difficult. The better you speak English, the more a

wrong choice will offend.

In most European languages complexity of address is demonstrated in pronoun systemsMost have two forms of second person pronoun – youEuropean pronouns distinguish both number of hearers and relationship between participantsWhen speaking to more than a single individual, a speaker must use the plural pronoun, referred to as the V form (French vous) which has equivalents in all other languages)When speaking to one person speakers chose either the T form or the V formChoice of form is a sensitive indicator of personal relationships and societal valuesTwo semantic components operate when selecting pronouns: power and solidarity

Pronouns

When pronouns are exchanged reciprocally solidarity between participants is stressedNonreciprocal usage reflects an unequal power relationship i.e. a superior uses T and receives VA subordinate use V and receives TDifferences in power due to class, occupational hierarchies, age and gendere.g. adults address children with T but receive Vemployers address workers with T and receive Vin former times class distinctions determined use of T and Vmembers of upper classes exchanged V and lower classes addressed each other with Tthis difference among equals within classes was based on emphasizing mutual solidaritybecause upper classes were used to receiving V from subordinates. They exchanged it among themselveslikewise lower class people were regularly addressed with T

Power Semantic noble rich adult priest parent

peasant poor child penitent child

T V T V T V T V T V

Determines which pronoun will be used on the basis of the difference in social status (or power) between the speaker and addressee. wealth, age, sex, institutionalised roles in church, state, army, family Use of vous in job interviews keeps relations distant and avoids confusion

The T of "intimacy" versus the V of "formality" (French tu or vous) Based on an asymmetrical relation and is non-reciprocal. With increasing social mobility and ideology that has a distaste for expression of

differential power there has been a preference for mutual use of T T was chosen because the V form was used by the upper classes speakers among

themselves and associated with elite privilege inconsistent with ideology of equality

by extending kinship terms (brother, sister, aunt) to non-kin (fictive kinship) we signal intimacy, solidarity or deference toward co-participantsUse of such terms creates images of the prototypeIn China the most respectful term for addressing a man is boboUsed to address an elder paternal uncle it implies both an exalted status for the addressee, and a humbling of the speakerreflects cultural models of the valued relationship between benevolent older kin who take care of the younger ones, who reciprocate with affection and later in life with care.Invocation of the kinship term

extension of sibling terms among members of political or religious groups signals solidarity

Kinship terms

linguistic markers that signal respect toward an addresseeCan be nouns, pronouns and verbs, particular words or grammatical markings that express honour to one perceived as a social superiorThe most common honorifics in modern English are usually placed immediately before the name of the subject. Honorifics which can be used of any adult of the appropriate sex include "Mr.", "Mrs." and "Ms.". Other honorifics denote the honoured person’s occupation, for instance "Doctor", "Coach", "Father" (for a priest), or "Professor". Abbreviations of academic degrees, used after a person's name, may also be seen as a kind of honorific (e.g. "Jane Doe, Ph.D.")Some honorifics act as complete replacements for a name, as "sir" or "ma'am", or "your honor". Subordinates will often use honorifics as punctuation before asking a superior a question or after responding to an order: "Yes, sir" or even "Sir, yes sir."

Honorifics

Some languages have anti-honorific or disrespective first person forms (meaning something like "your most humble servant" or "this unworthy person") whose effect is to enhance the relative honour accorded a second or third person. In the Thai court the correct use of formal modes of addressing royalty with linguistic terms that exalted royalty and humbled those of lower status. The first person pronoun used when addressing the king meant `I the slave of the Lord Buddha' second person meant `the dust beneath the sole of your august feet' meaning that the speaker did not dare address the king directly but to the dirt on the floor. The Thai person who addresses his comments to the dirt beneath the king's shoe is invoking a cultural image of `low status' but he is also indexing relative identity in the social interaction of discourse.

Politeness

Japanese contains honorifics that signal the relative status of participants directly by marking the high status of an addressee, by indirectly lowering the speakers status relative to the addressee and a third class expressing respect to the addresses by deferential marking of an entire utteranceIn order to use the honorific system appropriately, Japanese speakers must be aware of relationships between selves, their interlocutors, and the persons, entities and activities spoken about.If an action is honourable then the sentence is marked with an honorificUsing the -san honorific with a name [ie. Usagi-san, Tsukino-san] denotes formality. (like Mr/Miss/Mrs.) Usually a younger person to older adult, classmates, or people unfamiliar/unclose with each other.

oba-san Middle-aged woman, aunt.obaa-san Grandmother.oji-san Middle-aged man, uncle.ojii-san Grandfatherojoo-san Young girl, some else's daughter.okaa-san Mother.onee-san Older sister.onii-san Older brother.otoo-san Father.ouji-sama Princeoujo-sama Princess

in hierarchical relationships statuses are enacted through the words and actions of the lower status persondifferentiation of high and low status appears to be instigated by someone of lower status than by holders of higher statusthe lower status person must use honorifics and self-deprecating languagethe response in ordinary language communicates message that others must defer to them.Honorifics, forms of address etc. demonstrate the complexities of the interdependence of language and social knowledgeIn order to speak appropriately, members of each culture must evaluate characteristics of co-participants before deciding on proper linguistic form.

On what do we base our choice of topics for discussion?personal interestsensitivity to preferences of co-participants cultural normsSettings/contexts

Topics and Goals

What topics are taboo at the dinner table?How do we control inappropriate topics

We want to express our personal interests and get others to talk about what interests usWe want to minimize potential conflict with others and appear agreeable, cooperative and politethe latter goal is achieved in part by acting in accordance with culturally approved ways of speaking

Speaker’s Goals

What our goals in engaging in conversation

“gimme the salt” (gimme gimme never gets)Informal and impoliteImperative – a direct expression of desire May also use a “key” i.e. Manner of saying that indicates how the words should be interpreted

“would you be so kind as to pass the saltFormal and politeuses polite mitigating words: “be so kind”Interrogative – an indirect expression of desire

We can use linguistic forms to achieve our goals and at the same time enlist the cooperation of others

The two expressions have different form and force and use different linguistic typesbut their underlying intent is the same

How do we decide which one to use?Depends on person stylistic preferences and assessment of settings and co-participants May involve different assumptions about individual’s rights obligations and accepted norms of interaction

good cop bad cop

We can use different means to get what we wantWe can be polite and meek or we can be aggressiveAnd the words and style of speech we use are the same

But goal is the same

the same linguistic form can also express different intents, depending on the setting, participants, and topics

“I love you like my brother”

Same words, different context, different meaning

“I love you like my brother”

1.Historical: recount events in history of a community or a people2.Mythic: recount happenings in primordial times or supernatural realm3.Personal: relate events in the speaker’s life or other person personal narratives play a central role in almost every conversationpeople talk about their experiences, past events that have meaning in their lives included to dramatize a person’s feelings thoughts and opinions

NarrativesStories or framed segments of ongoing discourse that relate or report events in chronological sequence

Imagine you are the driver of the truckTell the story of what happened

a report of a sequence of events in the biography of the speaker told in events have meaning to speakers life and that are emotionally and socially evaluated and so transformed from raw experiences the outcome of the narrator’s editing certain events are highlighted others eliminated to make the story more coherent, dramatic, and convincing personal narratives must be “reportable” i.e. Be of interest to the audiencespeakers may assert causality, praise or blame, or comment on the competence or incompetence of people in the storythey must also be credible i.e. assert that events recounted actually took placecredibility this distinguished personal narratives from jokes, tall tales or fantasies

Personal Narratives

By telling it in chronological sequence it helps us as the audience understand how the narrator experienced the events. We experience it “as if” we were the narratorIf described in objective rather than emotional terms they are more crediblewhen narrators add subjective reports of emotion to the description of an objective event, listeners become aware of that event as if it were the narrator’s experience and not theirs prosodic features (tone, stress, rhythm, volume) changes in voice quality, pauses etc. reflect the dramatic and aesthetic elements of the performance These narratives do not describe emotional states but evoke them by dramatic shifts of pause and voice

How do we make the Narrative credible?What makes you believe the story of the plane and the truck?

Narrative Cultural Norms

Different cultures have different conventions as to how stories are to be told

e.g. Entitlement to quote an absent speaker

in Polynesia people use quoted speech in everyday discourse because it is considered inappropriate to speculate about other people’s thoughts and feelings.

But narrators are expected to repeat the exact words and the identical prosodic features (voice quality, volume, intensity, pitch) of the source

A slave named Androcles once escaped from his master and fled to the forest. As he was wandering about there he came upon a Lion lying down moaning and groaning. At first he turned to flee, but finding that the Lion did not pursue him, he turned back and went up to him. As he came near, the Lion put out his paw, which was all swollen and bleeding, and Androcles found that a huge thorn had got into it, and was causing all the pain. He pulled out the thorn and bound up the paw of the Lion, who was soon able to rise and lick the hand of Androcles like a dog. Then the Lion took Androcles to his cave, and every day used to bring him meat from which to live. But shortly afterwards both Androcles and the Lion were captured, and the slave was sentenced to be thrown to the Lion, after the latter had been kept without food for several days.

The Emperor and all his Court came to see the spectacle, and Androcles was led out into the middle of the arena. Soon the Lion was let loose from his den, and rushed bounding and roaring towards his victim. But as soon as he came near to Androcles he recognised his friend, and fawned upon him, and licked his hands like a friendly dog. The Emperor, surprised at this, summoned Androcles to him, who told him the whole story. Whereupon the slave was pardoned and freed, and the Lion let loose to his native forest. Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.

Androcles and the Lion

Historical and mythic narratives are often told to invoke specific cultural and interactional meanings Such narratives may conform to a specific set of stylistic devices, especially in opening and closing “Once upon a time”They may have morals and are told to specific individuals to make them aware of their behaviour and to teach themThe intent may be to make people think about their livesin some traditions narratives tat tell sacred or folkloric stories may need to be told each time in exactly the same way e.g. Rig Veda myth of Purusha

Speech acts - greetings partings, apologies, thanks, complements, frequently expressed by highly predictable and stereotyped linguistic patternsThey combine verbal material and social messages in patterns expressive of cultural values and sensitive to interactional context.appropriate use requires that speakers know rules dictating both linguistic form and situational relevance

Routines

they all create, reaffirm and or negotiate social solidarity their primary goal is social rather than referentialtypically occur as sequences of exchanges between participants, minimally consisting of an utterance by the first speaker followed by a return or acknowledgment by the second speaker they are formulaic in structure

Common Features of Routines

each category (greetings, complements etc) consists of instances of patterned forms used by most speakers on most occasionsthe expected and redundant linguistic form of these speech acts is what in fact makes them routines

Function to begin communicative interactions or to acknowledge the presence of othersBasic structure is stereotyped in each culturePeople can use more or less formal constructions, pronunciations, and or prosodic features to create diverse introductions to encountersDifferent kinds of greeting may be related to situational context, status relationships between speakers, personal personal goals also cultural factors e.g. time of yearSome are temporally restricted e.g. good morning

Greetings

Season’s greetings

1. occur at the beginning of a social encounter

2. people engaged in greeting recognize each other’s presence

3. Greetings are typically part of one or more sets of adjacent pairs i.e. two part sequences in which the first pair is uttered by one party and the second is a reply by another

4. Relative predictability of form and content

5. greetings occur only once in an interaction

6. Identification of the other person as a distinct being worth recognizing

Six features of greetings

In some cultures greeting exchanges are manipulated in order to affirm status inequalities between participants reflecting cultural models

e.g. Wolof in Senegal it is the lower rank that has to greet the higher

Wolof greeting behaviours reflect an underlying cultural assumption that social relationships are inherently unequal

What is the purpose of an apologyto maintain or establish rapport between participants

What requires they be given?actions perceived to have negative effects on addresses and for which speakers take responsibility

The apologiser basically says that they are guilty of an offence against the other, that they have breeched some social ruleBut they also acknowledge belief in the rule – that the person had a right to be offended

Apologies

apologies are routinized in the sense that they are expressed with stereotyped formats comprised of three-partsan explicit expression of apology - I’m sorry, I apologize, or a request forgiveness for forgiveness - forgive meFollowed by an explanation of the transgression – I wasn’t thinkingOr acknowledgement of responsibility - It was my faultFollowed by acceptance of the apology – I forgive you, don’t do it again

Apologies vary depending on the nature of the relationship between the peopleLower status are more likely to apologize to higher stratusExplicit apologies between people who know each other well Serious offences are perhaps more likely, than in formal situations

apology accepted