Republic of the Philippines

Capiz State University

College of education
Fuentes Drive, Roxas City, Capiz

ENG 104
LANGUAGE, SOCIETY AND CULTURE
Course description:
Explores the inextricable links between and among language, culture, and society and
its implication to the development of English as a global language and the ways by which it is
learned and taught.

Cristine Marie D. Daradar ENG 1-A Miraluna T. Sabid

Reporter Course Facilitator
Recent Trend in the Ethnography of Speaking
Objectives:
 To define the Recent Trend in the Ethnography of Speaking
 To discuss the Recent Trend in the Ethnography of Speaking
Ethnography of communication
 Ethnography of communication is an approach to discourse analysis that is based
on anthropology and linguistics. Ethnography of speaking is also known as
ethnography of communication since it embraces features of nonverbal
communication too.
 Dell Hymes states that the ethnography of speaking is “concerned not simply with
language structure, but with language use, with “rules of speaking... the ways in
which speakers associate particular modes of speaking, topics, or message forms,
with particular settings and activities.
The goal of Ethnography of Communication
 Is to study the communicative competence of a specific speech community by
discovering and analysing patterns of communication that organize the use of
language in particular communicative activities.
Communicative Competence
 Hymes insists that scholars focus on communicative competence, which not only
involves the knowledge of abstract linguistic rules, but also the ability to use
language in concrete situations of everyday life. Such as the ability to check in at
a hotel, argue, pray or even use silence appropriately.
The four Aspects (Dimensions) of Competence
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1. What is formally possible in a language in terms of its encoded grammatical and

lexical properties
2. Formal properties are actually processed in the mind, then we shall naturally
focus on feasibility.
3. A focus on appropriateness will bring context into consideration.
4. How far a communicative language component is performed or produced; the
frequency of its occurrence.
Four interrelated dimensions in any description: “ways of speaking”
1. The linguistic resources available to a speaker how many different styles he can
choose from.
2. Supra- sentential structuring- how many differently structured linguistic events,
like trials, religious ceremonies, debates, songs, are recognized.
3. The rules of interpretation by which a given set of linguistic items comes to have
a given communicative value.
4. The norms which govern different types of interaction.
Hymes’s Speaking Model
Hymes also developed the SPEAKING MODEL which analyses speech in its cultural
context. It consists of sixteen parts which have been divided into eight categories. They are as
follows:
 S- Setting and scene- the physical location where the speech takes place. Refers to time
and place, e.g, Home, classroom etc.
 P- Participants- the people who take part in the speech. It also refers to the actors of the
scene and their role relationships, including personal characteristics, such as: age, sex,
social status, and relationships.
 E- ends- the purpose and the outcome of the speech. Refer to the conventionally
recognized and expected outcome of an exchange.
 A- Act sequence- the speech acts and the sequence in which they are carried out. Refers
to the actual form and content of what is being said: the precise words used. How they are
used and the relationship of what is said to the usual topic at hand.
 K- Key- the tone and manner in which the speech is carried out. E.g., light-hearted,
serious, mocking, sarcastic, etc.
 I- Instrumentalities- the medium of communication that is used. Refers to the choice of
particular channel, e.g. oral written, or telegraphic, and to the actual forms of speech
drawn from community repertoire, such as: language, dialects, code, register that is
chosen.
 N- Norms of interactions- the rules of speech, interaction and interpretation. This refers
to the specific behaviours and properties that attach to speaking and also to how these
may be viewed by someone who does not share them, e.g. loudness, silence, gaze return,
etc.
 G- Genres- the ‘type’ of speech and its cultural contexts. Refers to the clearly demarcated
types of utterance, such as: poems, riddles, sermons, prayers, lectures and editorials,
cultural category or talk.
Summary
An understanding of the diversity in the ways of communicating is of course of great
interest to linguistic anthropologists, but we need to look beyond the merely intellectual
satisfaction derived from the study of the subject. There is reason to hope that the application of
the growing body of information in the field of ethnography of communication may contribute to
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the solution of some of the social problems of the societies in which many people live side by
side but do not always share the same ways of speaking.

References
Hymes, D. (1974). Foundations of sociolinguistics: An ethnographic approach.
Hymes, Dell H. (1972). Reinventing anthropology
Hymes, Dell H. (1974). Studies in the history of linguistics: Traditions and paradigms.
Hymes, Dell H. (1989). Ways of speaking. In Explorations in the Ethnography of speaking.
ALBA-JUEZ, Laura (2009). Perspectives on discourse analysis: theory and practice. Newcastle,
Cambridge scholars publishing.
COULTHARD, Malcolm (1985). An introduction to Discourse Analysis. 2nd ed., New York,
Routledge.
VAN HERK, Gerald (2012). What is sociolinguistics? West Sussex, Blackwell.
WIDDOWSON, H.G(2007). Discourse analysis. Oxford University press.
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10 item test
1. Ethnography of communication is described as?
a. Ethnography of Communication is the study of communication within the
background of social and cultural practices and beliefs.
b. Ethnography of communication is the study of communication within the background of
moral and political concerns.
c. Ethnography of communication is the study of ethics within the background of its
principles and ideals.
2. He proposed the ethnography of communication
a. Dell Humes
b. Dylan Hymes
c. Dell Hymes
3. The following are the purpose of ethnography of communication except:
a. To investigate directly the use of language in contexts of situations so as to discern
patterns proper to speech activity
b. To know the underlining political concerns in the speech activity in a community
c. To take as a framework a community, exploring its unrestrained habits as a whole
4. The speech acts and the sequence in which they are carried out
a. Setting and Scene
b. Participants
c. Act sequence
5. The ‘type’ of speech and its cultural contexts
a. Genre
b. Ends
c. Acts
6. The rules of speech, interaction and interpretation
a. Ends
b. Norms
c. Key
7. The tone and manner in which the speech is carried out
a. Instrumentalities
b. Key
c. Ends
8. The purpose and the outcome of the speech
a. Ends
b. Norms
c. Instrumentalities
9. The medium of communication that is used
a. Participants
b. Instrumentalities
c. Genre
10. The people who take part in the speech
a. Genre
b. People
c. Participants
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