Chapter-7-Ethnography-of-Speaking

YourtermpaperisduebyWeek15.Chapter7TheEthnographyofCommunication（交际中的人类文化学）7.1Whatistheethnographyofcommunicationabout?•7.1.1somebackgroundinformation•TheEC,orsometimestheethnographyofspeakingoriginallyatopicdiscussedinsociolinguisticsandanthropology.•DellHymes(1927-)•Americansocialanthropologistandlinguist,commonlyacknowledged“father”ofthisfieldoflinguisticstudy.Beforeretirement,hetaughtLinguisticAnthropology,NativeAmericanMythology,Ethno-poetics,NativeAmericanPoetry(inAnthropology/English)•ethnographyofcommunication•OriginallycoinedEthnographyofspeakingbyDellHymesin1962.•redefinedinhis1964paper,Introduction:TowardEthnographiesofCommunication•Inordertoaccommodateforthenon-vocalandnon-verbalcharacteristicsofcommunication,althoughmostECOresearchersstilltendtofocusuponspeakingasitisgenerallyconsideredtobeaprominent-evenprimordial-meansofcommunication•AccordingtoFasold(2000:39–40),Hymeswasconcernedthatbothlinguistsandanthropologistsweremissingalargeandimportantareaofhumancommunication:•anthropologistshadlongconductedethnographicstudiesofdifferentaspectsofculturesbuttreatedlanguageassubsidiary;•linguistswerepayingtoomuchattentiontolanguageasanabstractsystem.•TheECthusacombinationofthetwodisciplinesinvolved.•Itis“thestudyoftheplaceoflanguageincultureandsociety”(Richards2003:187)or“thestudyoftheorganizationofspeakingasanactivityinhumansociety”•Scholarsinsociolinguisticsandlinguisticanthropologybelievestudyoflanguage:•mustgobeyondlanguageandbringinsocialcontext;•mustdealwiththe‘real’textsthatmakeuphumancommunication(nottheidealtextsinthesenseofChomsky’s,thatiswhatisacceptedintuitivelybythenativespeaker)andthesocialsituationsinwhichtheyareused.•Sothefocusofattentionshiftsfromthesentencetotheactofcommunication,thespeechevent.•FocusofPragmatics?•Pragmaticsasausageperspectiveonthelanguagesciencesessentiallyfocusesontheexplorationoflanguageuseandtheusersoflanguageinreal-lifesituationsand,moregenerally,ontheprincipleswhichgovernlanguageineverydayinteraction.•Thereforeitstudieslanguageasrealisedininteractivecontextsand,consequently,asthecreationofmeaninginrealtimediscoursesituations7.1.2.WhydowestudyEofcommunicationhere?•Thestudyofethnographyofcommunicationcoincideswiththatofpragmaticsinthat:•notsimplyconcernedwithlanguagestructure,asstructuralismdoes•butwithlanguageuse,withrulesofspeaking,withthewaysofspeaking,withthewaysinwhichlanguageusersassociatemeaningwithsocialandcontextualfactorslikesettings,participants,channels,etc•SinceECbringsinsocialcontexts/factorsinthewholespeechevent,ithasalsoarousedinterestinthefieldofpragmatics.•7.1.3Definition•Ethnography:descriptionofdifferentracesofman.•Whencommunicationstudiedinthisdirection,itisconcernedwiththeanalysisoflanguageuseinitssocial-culturalsetting.•HymesdefinesECas:“Theethnographyofspeakingisconcernedwiththesituationsanduses,thepatternsandfunctions,ofspeakingasanactivityinitsownright”.•Thismeans:•Speakingisasocialactivity•useoflanguagerelatedtosocialandculturalvalues.[topic,degreeofpoliteness,(BritishVsAmericanE)etc.]•Toachieveacomprehensiveunderstandingofhowlanguage,orlanguages,isrelatedtothesocietythatusesit,wemusttrytounderstandhow,orinwhatpattern,differentgroupsofpeopleusetheirlanguage,orlanguages,indifferentsituations,.•ThusEC:anapproachtothedescriptionofallthefactors(bothlinguisticandsocial)thatarerelevantinunderstandinghowaparticularcommunicativeevent,orspeechevent,achievesitsobjectives.•Hymessuggests:•anycommunicativeuseoflanguageorspeecheventisconstitutedbythefollowingdistinctfactors,eachassociatedwithadifferentfunction:•Whatfactorscantheybe?•1.thespeaker-writer/thehearer-reader;•2.themessageformpassedbetweenS/L(W/R)(howsomethingissaid)whichisdrawnfromtheresourcesof3;•3.thespeechcode(Lvariety);•4.thetopicexpressedbythemessageform,•5.thepropositionalcontentwhichispassedby•6,somephysicalmeans,•7.somechannel,visualinthecaseofwritingorsignlanguageorauralinthecaseofspeech.•8.thesettingwherethespeecheventislocated(physicalandpsychological)•Thesefactorsaffect,orinasenseevendetermine,ourrealuseoflanguage.•Thismeans:•thedescriptionoflanguageinvolvesmorethanwhathadbeenattemptedbefore.Factorsliketheaboveneedtobetakenintoconsideration•Butforalongtime,linguisticstudywasmainlyconcernedwiththeformoflanguage,e.g.,•1957:Chomsky«Syntacticstructures»–Objectoflinguistics:Theidealspeakerinacontextlessenvironment–DistinctionbetweenCompetence(abstractgrammaticalcapacity)andPerformance(actualizationofcompetence)–LinguisticsconcernedwithCompetence:structure,grammar•SoChomsky,whenrevolutionizedmanyaspectsoflinguistics,still•followedstructurallinguistsinchoosingtostudylanguageautonomously,asaself-sufficientsystem,•aimedtofindabasicuniversalgrammaticalstructurewithoutconsideringthesocialcontextsinwhichlanguageisused.•triedtodescribetheidealspeaker-hearer’scompetenceintermsofideallanguageform,butdidnotcareabouthowpeoplecanusetheideallanguageformappropriatelyindifferentsocialcontexts.•Hymeswasconcerned:•withoutconsideringsocialfactors,asChomskydidinlanguagestudy,alargeandimportantareaofhuman