Theories Flashcards

1
Q

Grice (1913 - 88); ‘Cooperative Principle’

A

Grice argued that in order to converse successfully we shape our conversations (unconsciously) according to 4 maxims/principles.
1) Quantity Maxim: in what you say, be just as informative as is needed + no more
2) Quality Maxim: do not say what you believe to be false. Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.
3) Relation Maxim: make what you say is relevant to the last speaker’s turn.
4) Manner Maxim: in what you say, avoid being obscure/ambiguous + be orderly.
- Some speakers may not follow these maxims for a number of reasons. May be that a speaker violates a maxim or flouts a maxim. Both have a sense of consciously breaking the rules.
- Violates a Maxim: subtle failure of someone to observe a maxim (e.g. going on a bit too long on a topic)
- Flouts a Maxim: where someone obviously doesn’t object the conversational maxims; a more ‘blatant’ failure.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Howard Giles (1970s); Accommodation Theory

A
  • Accommodation: where a speaker adapts to another speaker’s accent, dialect or sociolect.
  • Giles stated if we really want to impress, or just get on with the other speaker, we adjust everything, from the pace at which we talk, to our body language, to our intonation, our emotional state, our timing, through to the lexical cruces that we make (called convergence).
  • Convergence where a speaker moves towards another speaker’s accent, dialect or sociolect.
  • The more we feel a need to influence, to belong, or to gain social approval, the harder we try, + the more we will converge.
  • Upward convergence: changing your accent/lexical choices to something you perceive as more prestigious (e.g. in an interview)
  • Downward Convergence: making your accent or lexical choices more informal (e.g. talking to friends; will use informal, colloquial, non-standard English)
  • Overt Prestige: refers to a dialect used by a culturally powerful group; using more formal standard English at a public meeting, interview, e.t.c. Used to upwardly converge.
  • Covert Prestige: describes high social status through use of non-standard forms; choosing to use a variety of language that has prestige for members of a social group (using dialects forms when speaking to people from a particular region, for example, or using taboo language amongst a group of teammates on a football team.) Used to downwardly converge.
  • There are occasions when speakers don’t want to cooperate in terms of their conversation, + they make an effort not to talk like the other person (Divergence.) often humorously used in fiction.
  • Divergence: where a speaker actively distances himself/herself from another speaker by accentuating their own accent or dialect. Describes how speakers deliberately use language + para linguistics to distinguish + separate themselves from the person to whom they are speaking.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What are Violating and Flouting Maxims?

A
  • Used alongside Co-operation Theory- Grice’s Maxims
  • Violating Maxim- non-deliberate
  • Flouting Maxim- deliberate
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is Aitcheson’s Damp spoon, Infectious Diseases and Crumbling Castle theory?

A
  • Damp Spoon Theory- people becoming lazy with sppech, based upon view that it is lazy to leave a damp spoon in a sugar pot.
  • Infectious Diseases Theory- picking up language change by fitting in with what is new in today’s society
  • Crumbling Castles Theory- treating lang like a fragile castle that has slowly crumbled overtime due to degradation of English lang
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What is Crystal’s Informalisation Theory?

A
  • Theory that English is becoming increasingly informal
  • Informal language that might only be accepted in priv life with people very close, becoming more wide spread in public.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Goffman (1950s); Face Theory

A

Goffman (1950s) formulated the idea of face, making a distinction between positive face (our need to maintain self-esteem, threatened when criticised), and negative face (our self-interest, threatened when we are asked to do something we don’t want to do).
• Face: a speaker’s self-esteem
• Positive Face: our need to maintain self-esteem. Positive is threatened when we are criticised in any way.
• Negative Face: our desire to avoid doing something we don’t want to do, such as giving money to a stranger.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Brown + Levinson (1970s - 80s); Politeness Strategies

A

There are 4 main strategies.
1) Bald on-record: where a speaker is completely blunt + direct (e.g. ‘Sit down!’).
2) Positive Politeness: where the speaker takes a more informal approach that assumes the other party will agree (e.g. ‘I think that just wraps it up, don’t you?). Features may include jokes + tag questions.
3) Negative Politeness: where the speaker takes a more indirect, hedge approach, often using negative constructions (e.g. ‘You couldn’t take the bin out for me, could you?’)
4) Bald-Off-Record: where no threat is made to someone’s face(e.g. ‘This room’s pretty messy, isn’t it?’)
-Can use a negative politeness strategy to save someone’s positive face (e.g. ‘Do you think you could have another go at that essay?’) + a positive politeness strategy to save someone’s negative face (e.g. ‘You’d be glad to drive me to Brighton, wouldn’t you dad?’)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What are Robin Lakoff’s Politeness Principles?

A
  • Don’t impose- focus on trying to keep relevance without adding excess detail
  • Give receiver options- Offering a variety and trying not to be one dimensional/ambiguous
  • Making addressee feel good- using lang in a way that is pleasant and agreeable
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What is Austin’s Speech Act Theory?

A

We think about the pragmatics (the meaning that statement has in that particular context) as we speak.
Austin’s Speech Act Theory:
- Locutionary act: we say something (e.g. ‘There’s a fly in my soup’)
- Illocutionary act: we imply/mean something beyond that statement (e.g. ‘Please get me another soup + apologise’)
- Perlocutionary act: what happens in response to what is said; i.e. what is understood (e.g. The waiter removes the soup)
- OR, there’s a pragmatic failure, + the waiter fails (deliberately or otherwise) to recognise the illocutionary act.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What is John McWhorter’s ‘Fingered Speech’ Theory?

A
  • Text messages have been referred to as ‘fingered speech’
  • Refers to text messages being constructed like speech- benefit of delivering info.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly