Universidade Estadual da Paraíba

Centro de Educação
Departamento de Letras e Artes
Curso de Letras Inglês
Componente Curricular: Introdução à Sociolinguística
Carga Horária Total: 60 horas
Oferta: Semestral Ano: 2022.1
Professora: Karyne Soares Duarte Silveira
Alunos(a): Roberto Jonathan Lopes Santana

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TEXT:

“THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF COMMUNICATION / POLITENESS”
(WARDHAUGH, Ronald; FULLER, Janet M. Languages, Dialects, and Varieties. In.:
WARDHAUGH, Ronald; FULLER, Janet M. An introduction to sociolinguistics. 7th ed. Oxford:
Blackwell publishers, 2015.)

01.How can you define the ethnography of communication?

Ethnography of communication can be defined as the study of language that analyzes and
describes the native speakers and how they use language for communication, it is concerned as
well with the ability of the native speaker to reproduce and share knowledge among the
community.

02.What is the difference between communicative competence (HYMES) and linguistic

competence (CHOMSKY)?

According to Gumperz (1972, 205) “Whereas linguistic competence covers the speaker's
ability to produce grammatically correct sentences, communicative competence describes his
ability to select, from the totality of grammatically correct expressions available to him, forms
which appropriately reflect the social norms governing behavior in specific encounters”. Which
means that the focus is on the main objective of study, because the linguistic competence is
focused on the ability of the speaker to reproduce grammatically correct sentences. But the
communicative competence is focused on how the speaker will select and apply the words and
how this can reflect on his social status.

03.Explain the process of language socialization.

When we are learning a language we usually have an aim, which can be to travel, to
communicate with friends and family, and it is always differentiated on the use of language
which groups as a proper language. We cannot speak with our parents using slang, this in some
cases will be inappropriate.

04.What do the letters in the SPEAKING acronym stand for? Explain each one and what Hymes
offers us with this formula.

The acronym S-P-E-A-K-I-N-G stands for (Setting and Scene, Participants, Ends, Acts
Sequence, Key, Instrumentalities, Norms, & Genre).

“Setting refers to the time and place of a speech act and, in general, to the physical
circumstances in which speech takes place”.
“Scene'' is the "psychological setting" or "cultural definition" of a scene, including
characteristics such as range of formality and sense of play or seriousness”.
 Participants include various combinations of speaker-listener, addressor-addressee, or
sender-receiver. They generally fill certain socially specified roles. A two-person conversation
involves a speaker and hearer whose roles change; a 'dressing down' involves a speaker and
hearer with no role change; a political speech. involves an addressor and addressees (the
audience); and a telephone message involves a sender and a receiver.
Ends refers to the conventionally recognized and expected outcomes of an exchange as
well as to the personal goals that participants seek to accomplish on particular occasions. A trial
in a courtroom has a recognizable social end in view, but the various participants, that is, the
judge, jury, prosecution, defense, accused, and witnesses, have different personal goals.
Act sequence refers to the actual form and content of what is said: the precise words used,
how they are used, and the relationship of what is said to the actual topic at hand. This is one
aspect of speaking in which linguists have long shown an interest, particularly those who study
discourse and conversation, and it is one about which we will have more to say in the next two
chapters. Public lectures, casual conversations, and cocktail party chatter are all different forms of
speaking; with each go different kinds of language and things talked about.
Key, the fifth term, refers to the tone, manner, or spirit in which a particular message is
conveyed: light-hearted, serious, precise, pedantic, mocking, sarcastic, pompous, and so on. The
key may also be marked non-verbally by certain kinds of behavior, gesture, posture, or even
deportment.
Instrumentalities refers to the choice of channel, for example, oral, written, signed, or
telegraphic, and to the actual forms of speech employed, such as the language, dialect, code, or
register that is chosen. Formal, written, legal language is one instrumentality; spoken
Newfoundland English is another, as is American Sign Language; code-switching between
English and Italian in Toronto is a third; and the use of Pig Latin is still another. In Suriname a
high government official addresses a Bush Negro chief in Dutch and has his words translated into
the local tribal language. The chief does the opposite. Each speaks this way although both could
use a common instrumentality, Sranan. You may employ different instrumentalities in the course
of a single verbal exchange of some length: first read something, then tell a dialect joke, then
quote Shakespeare, then use an expression from another language, and so on. You also need not
necessarily change the topic to do any of these.
Norms of interaction and interpretation refers to the specific behaviors 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, and so on). For example, there are certain norms of
interaction with regard to church services and conversing with strangers. However, these norms
vary from social group to social group, so the kind of behavior expected in congregations that
practice 'talking in tongues or the group encouragement of a preacher in others would be deemed
abnormal and unacceptable in a 'high' Anglican setting, where the congregation is expected to sit
quietly unless it is their time to participate in group prayer or singing.

What Hymes offers us in his SPEAKING formula is a very necessary reminder that talk is
a complex activity, and that any particular bit of talk is actually a piece. of skilled work. It is
skilled in the sense that, if it is to be successful, the speaker must reveal a sensitivity to and
awareness of each of the eight factors outlined above. Speakers and listeners must also work to
see that nothing goes wrong. When speaking does go wrong, as it sometimes does, that going-
wrong is often clearly described in terms of some neglect of one or more of the factors. Of
course, individuals vary in their ability to manage and exploit the total array of factors; everyone
in a society will not manage to talk in the same way.

05.What types of data are relevant for ethnomethodological studies in sociolinguistics? What is
not relevant?

06. How can you explain the concept of “face” and its importance to social interaction?
 In social interaction we present a face to others and to others' faces. We are obliged to protect
both our own face and the faces of others to the extent that each time we interact with others we
play out a kind of mini-drama, a kind of ritual in which each party is required to recognize the
image that the other claims for himself or herself.

POLITENESS STRATEGIES

What would you do if you saw a cup of pens on your teacher’s desk, and you wanted to use
one? Would you say:
a. “Oh, I want to use one of those!”
b. “So, is it O.K. if I use one of those pens?”
c. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I just wanted to ask if I could use one of those pens?”
d. “Hmm, I ‘m sure I can use a blue pen right now.”

*If you answered A, you made no effort to minimize imposition on the teacher.
*If you answered B, you recognized that your teacher has a desire to be respected. It also confirms
that the relationship is friendly and expresses group reciprocity.
*If you answered C, you recognized that your teacher wanted to be respected. However, you also
assume that you are in some way imposing on him/her. Some other examples would be to use the
formulas: “Would you mind…” or “I was wondering if…”.
*If you answered D, your purpose was to take some of the pressure of you. You are trying not to
directly impose by asking for a pen. Instead you would rather it be offered to you once the teacher
realizes you need one, and you are looking to find one. The same may happen when, on purpose,
someone decided not to return someone’s phone call, therefore you say: “I tried to call a hundred
times, but there was never been any answer.”

Other examples of politeness strategies:

*An emergency:
HELP!
*Task oriented:
Give me that!
*Request:
Put your coat away.
*Alerting:
Turn your headlights on! (when alerting someone to something they should be doing)

Comment: When the speaker uses the strategies above, there is no effort to reduce the impact of them on
the hearer. He will most likely shock the person to whom he is speaking, embarrass him/her, or make
him/her feel a bit uncomfortable. However, this type of strategy is commonly found with people who
know each other very well, and are very comfortable in their environment, such as close friends and
family.

*Attend to the hearer:

“You must be hungry, it’s a long time since breakfast. How about some lunch?’
*Avoid disagreement:
A: “How is she? Small?”
B: “Yes, yes, she’s small, smallish, um, not really small, but certainly not very big.”
*Assume agreement:
“So, when are you coming to see us?”
*Opinion:
“You know something. You should try harder.”
Comment: The strategies above are usually seen in groups of friends, or where people in the given social
situation know each other fairly well. It usually tries to minimize the distance between them by
expressing friendliness and social interest in the hearer’s need to be respected.

*Forgiveness:
“You must forgive me, but…”
*Minimize imposition:
“I just want to ask you if I could use your computer?”
*Pluralize the person’s responsibility:
“We forgot to tell you that you needed to buy your plane ticket by yesterday.” (This takes all the
responsibility off you, even if you were the only person responsible for telling the hearer when the
deadline was to buy the ticket.)

Comment: The main focus for using the strategies above is to assume that you may be imposing on the
hearer. Therefore, these automatically assume that there might be some social distance in the situation.

*Being indirect:
“I’m looking for a comb.” (You don’t want to impose and take the hearer’s time. Therefore, you
hope he/she will offer to go and find one for you)
*Give hints:
“It’s cold in here”
*Be vague:
“Perhaps someone should have been more responsible.”

Comment: The purpose of the strategies above is to remove any imposition on the hearer whatsoever.