Theory: The Logic of Conversation

Theory: Logic of Conversation

 

Grice's Logic of Conversation states that there will always be a relevance for the second part of the adjacency pair. This is linked to one of Grice's Maximums: 'The Maximum of Relevance'. He saw that there were four Maximums: Relevance, Quality, Quantity and Manner.

He had many insights about 'The Logic of Conversation' which has explained the reasons behind why we use the language we do in conversation. He said that communication is a cooperative activity. When two people communicate, it's in their best interests to make the communication to go as smoothly as possible to achieve their aims. The speakers behave in  a predictable way.

However, sometimes there is a broken adjacency pair which is called a non-sequitur. This means that a piece of speech doesn't relate to what has just been said.

Example:

Lily: "This bottle's half empty!"

Jack: "Gosh-is that the time already?"

 

This adjacency pair doesn't initially seem like the pair are relevant at all. 'Lily' talks about the bottle then Jack 'randomly' says about the time. After you examine it you then see that it could be linked. For example after she made that comment he realises that he wants to go home.

Intro, Overview and 2 PEE Paragraphs

Language and Power

Plan:

 

Paragraph One:

 

·         Mr N gives very short and simple answers when asked questions.

·         Short answers because of low power that he holds

·         Barrister holds high power and so Mr N may feel he isn’t allowed to speak.

·         Barrister makes him feel like defendant.

·         And so because of that use Brown and Levinson’s Politeness Strategy, explain what ‘face’ they both use.

Paragraph Two:

·         Use Wareing’s Types of Power.

·         Barrister holds political power.

·         Expressions

·         Mr N, uses fillers due to the knowledge of the Barrister holding instrumental power.

·         Uses fillers and so looks guilty-doesn’t let the Barrister finish at end

 

Overview:

Because the Barrister holds instrumental power in this Unequal Encounter, Mr N knows not to challenge it and doesn’t.  So because of this Mr N uses negative ‘face’ to make him feel sorry for him. He uses fillers a lot which could suggest that in this case the Barrister makes him feel guilty and nervous. But at one point it looks like he might have tried to take power possibly.  However after it he continues to use short answers. The Barrister also holds political power (Wareing’s Types of Power) and so overall hold the most power.

 

PEE:

Mr Neil answers with short and simple answers when he is asked question by the Barrister, throughout the whole conversation. This could suggest that he holds low power in the adjacency pairs. What is quite clear is that the Barrister holds high power; this could then possibly make Mr Neil feel powerless. And perhaps maybe like he isn’t allowed to speak that much or at all. It is almost like Mr Neil is the defendant of the crime and not the witness. The Barrister uses the low frequency word “according” which is like he is suggesting to the court that he’s not telling the truth. It again makes him seem like he’s the guilty one and not the defendant, who the Barrister is representing. The Barrister put’s pressure on Mr Neil so starts to feel guilty himself. Because of this, it seems like Mr Neil slightly uses negative face (Brown and Levinson’s Politeness Strategy) to defend himself. He uses it to make the Barrister feel sorry for him which then causes the Barrister to feel more powerful.

 

Wareing’s Types of Power suggests that there are three types of power: political, personal and social. Due to the Barrister’s job, it is clear that he holds political power. That alone is enough to make someone feel nervous when they know that they are about to be faced with him. What I think adds to the power is the use of expressions from the Barrister. “Two and two together” and “shopped you to the police” are quite useful when trying to make someone feel guilty. The word “shopped” comes from the lexical field of legal and is also a slang word. Using slang suggests that the Barrister knows he holds power and so can speak informally towards the court, but more towards the witness as he holds that instrumental power. He doesn’t really need to worry about his job being effected by how he speaks so much as he’s obviously doing  a good job and know sit. However, it might not just be the position of power that affects his formality of language use; it could also be his idiolect. From the influences around him it could be in his nature to use expressions and slang words. So the Barrister holds instrumental power and political power and the witness, Mr Neil, knows this. This knowledge then affects Mr Neil in the way that he responds to the questions that he’s asked: he ends up using fillers throughout the conversation. When he talks about a situation with Mr Peterson’s gate, he has to admit that he “bumped it slightly” which he then carried on with “with er the rear of my car.” The “er” suggests that he is guilty which the Barrister then uses to make him look like the guilty one compared to the defendant.

Grouping Task

Grouping Task

My first group is based on imperatives, which includes texts B, C and D. They all include words or phrases that use imperatives to work towards their purpose.

B is a transcript from a conversation between a mother and a daughter. The audience would be to each other and the purpose is almost primarily to persuade but it's more telling someone what to do.

In the text, 'M' uses a cloaked imperative when talking to 'A', "could you go empty the dishwasher?" It sounds like 'M' is asking 'A' if she can empty the dishwasher; however he's actually telling her to empty it. 'A' knows this and so doesn't answer her with a 'yes' or 'no' but she does argue back. This immediately sounds like 'A' has dominance but when 'M' argues back to her it's clear that the dominance lays in 'M' not 'A'.

Using a cloaked imperative is a politeness strategy which creates a friendly tone towards telling someone to do something. The contextual information before the transcript tells us that 'M' is the mum of 'A'. This then explains why at the start 'M' uses a cloaked imperative as a politeness strategy. As a mother she has to treat her daughter in the way that she would want to be treated and talk to her in that way. By doing this 'A' will accommodate the language from 'M' which is what 'M' wants.

 Text B would be the weak inclusion of this group as it is a cloaked imperative because it doesn't look primarily like it is. It's not immediately conclusive that it's an imperative unlike the other two texts do.

Text C is the back of the board game 'Cluedo' which includes the instructions for the game. The audience I would think the audience is anyone, any gender, over the age of about 10 or 11. I suggest this as around that age, children would gather the understanding of the game and so the ability to play it. I also think that the primary audience would be families as it is travel-sized Cluedo, which suggests it's for when families go on trips like camping. The purpose of the text is to tell the players what to do.

The text is a set of instructions and so it's not odd for the text to include imperatives- in fact it is to be expected. What works is that it is simple and easy to read and understand. The text uses the imperatives, "Move" and "Use". They are both used at the start of the instruction which tell us that it's a command as does the word type. It's expecting the players to do what it says as it explains what to do.

Inside the packaging there most likely would be a set of separate instructions explaining it in greater detail, which brings up the question: 'Why put the instructions on the back?' It is probably for so the person who's purchasing it, most likely the parents, can see if it is appropriate for the child. So they can then see that the use of the imperative 'Move' and 'Use', is friendly enough for their child.

Text D is a recipe from the cookbook by Lorraine Pascale. It is the recipe for a 'steamed chocolate pudding with warm Mars bar sauce'. The audience would be primarily the user of the book as that the person who the recipe is for. The purpose is to teach the user of the book how to create the recipe.

As is expected, like in Text C, there are imperatives that tell you what to do. A recipe is essentially instructions and so needs imperative verbs to tell you what to do. Text D uses a range of imperatives throughout the text both at the start of paragraphs and in between.

One of the constant imperative verbs is "Add". It is interesting that she used this and not a more sophisticated verb like, 'Include'. Her lexical choices depend on the audience and the action she wants to take. For example, she says "Add two eggs," She could have said 'Place' two eggs, but that wouldn’t be right. You can't place an egg, you have to crack it. The imperative 'add' suggests a younger audience like children as they could be baking with their parents.

Another example of the interesting word choice is this: "Pour over the sauce and serve." Instead of saying "Pour" she could have used a word like 'Drizzle' which would be more appropriate for a more mature audience, like adults. However the fact that she used a word so simple suggests the easiness of the recipe which attracts the audience more to create it and so also to buy the book- they will possibly think that due to the simpleness of the words they must be able to make it.

In this group, I could also create the subgroup relating to graphology. Texts C and D could be included with this as they both have graphology within their texts. Text C would use it by the pictures and font type and size which attract the audience.  The orthography is interesting as the text is centred toward the right hand side of the page instead of the centre like a usual piece of text. This difference could be what catches the attention of the purchaser.

Text D also has graphology, although slight. This would be a weak inclusion however significant. The orthography of the texts links to the graphology in the text. The title is in the colour brown which is quite intellectually placed as the recipe involves chocolate and so linking the colours only causes more of a need to have it/bake it. Also the layout of the ingredients and instructions is interesting compared to the layout of other recipes.

 

Texts E and F share the primary purpose to persuade although have different secondary purpose which causes their audience to change.

Text E is the back of an AVON order form which has the audience of people with a love/ interest in cosmetics, stereotypically women. The primary purpose as stated above is to persuade people to buy the products however the secondary purpose could be to inform. This is because it tells you what you have to do if you're not happy with the product.

I think that it would be odd to think that the primary purpose of the text is to persuade considering the form tells you to send the products back if you're not happy with them.  Due to that I would say that Text E is would be the weaker inclusion between the two. However does actually have a purpose to persuade.

The reason behind them telling us to send back any product we don't like could be because they want to build trust between the customer and them. They are implying that it isn't a problem if they get products sent back when in reality it is and could cause them financial problems if everyone actually did that. By having this information on the order form persuades the purchaser to think that it is a trustworthy company and so will buy their products.

Another technique they have used is by putting the information that customers would want to know in bold. "100% happy" Is in bold writing and so creates the illusion that that is what the customers are. Nevertheless it is actually talking about if you're not 100% happy, which the customer probably won't read as the eye catching part of the sentence is the positive bit in bold.

Text F is the back cover of the Oxford English Mini Dictionary. The audience could be anyone but the fact that it is Mini suggests that it needs to be carried in a bag so there is enough room for other things that need to be carried. People who carry a lot in bags-including a dictionary are most likely people in education whether teacher or student. The purpose as mentioned above is to persuade. It could have the secondary purpose to inform but is very unlikely considering there is hardly any information on the back.

The word "Essential" is used which creates the thought of whether you need it or not. The word 'essential' suggests a need for something-like it is crucial. Using the persuasive word adds to the indecisive thought and pulls it towards purchasing it. The phrase 'Easy to use' is great as it entices the purchaser in. The audience/ purchaser may think that if it is easy to use then they will definitely be able use it. The audience might be parents buying the dictionary for their children for school and so the word easy to use will draw them to it and cause them to think that their child will be able to use it.

 

My final group is audience and how it is centred to one individual. The texts I will be including are A, B, D and E.

Text A is a transcript of a text message conversation between two sisters, using mainly phatic talk. The purpose of the text is not really anything main, just finding out what one of them had gotten when out shopping. The audience like I said is to each other  and is the primary and only audience.

The contextual information at the top of the transcript explains that 'E' is older than 'A'. During the conversation there is the typical situation of the younger sister 'A', borrowing the older sister's clothes without asking. Obviously 'E' would be annoyed about that and so is the reason for the sarcastic comment "Thanks for asking!" They don't have to worry about what they say or how they say it to each other due to the audience only being themselves. Even though the sarcastic comment might sound slightly rude or angry, 'A' knows that she's not really angry because she puts a 'x' on the end of the message. Both girls do this and so suggest similarity and/or kindness towards each other.

Text B is similar to this as it is a duologue and so the audience is each other. They don't have an audience, it's just them. This is clear by the way that 'A' speaks to 'M' especially considering that 'M' is more dominant. I feel like 'A' wouldn't attempt to gain dominance like that if she had an audience.

Texts A and B are similar because both texts are duologues with the audience of each other (the speakers). They also use informal speech. In Text A, 'E' starts off by saying "On way home" which isn't technically a sentence. The correct sentence would be: 'I'm on my way home.' In Text B, 'M' starts the sentence with "Because..." This wouldn't be formal language as it start the sentence with the connective because.

I have two weak inclusions in this group which are Text D and E.

When thinking about Text D, you wouldn't think about a specific person as the audience. This is due to it being a piece of writing and not speech to another person. However there is an audience which is the purchaser of the cookbook. This is similar to the Text E. Text E has the audience of whoever purchases the product from AVON. It, like Text D, seems to have a wide audience range before you analyse it.

Grouping Text Task

Grouping Task

I have grouped  text A, B, E and F into a group focusing on the use of adjectives that lead to purchases.

The genre of Text A is the text above the blurb on a book which describes the author and book (The Fault In Our Stars) together. The primary audiences would be fans of the authors other works, young adults. However,  I think that there would also be a secondary audience which could be patients who are also suffering with cancer to maybe try and relate to the book. The purpose I think is to persuade people to buy the book and entertain but also inform others what it's like to suffer from cancer.

In the text it describes the book as 'most ambitious and heartbreaking'. The adjective 'ambitious' suggests something is determined. Using this adjective in a description of a book implies that it is a piece writing that has been worked hard on and must be high-quality book. However,  it also suggests that it could have been challenging-which relates to the content of the book as it talks about taboo subjects,  like cancer. What is also challenging about it, is talking about cancer when the target audience is young adults who are late teens. It could suggest that it is written in a way that is tentative towards the subject but still carries out a good storyline.

Text B is the text on the back of a shampoo bottle. The audience are people who dye their hair as it is a conditioner to nourish dyed hair. The purpose of the text is to persuade consumers to buy the product. The graphology helps towards the purpose as the unusual purple colour sits under black writing-it is eye catching which helps to complete the purpose.

The product uses words like 'rich' and 'creamy' which are words that are usual associated with food. It is then peculiar that it's describing a conditioner instead.  Stereotypically, women usually look at the text on the back. It also loosely comes from the lexical field of romance due to the instant thought of chocolate. So it would be women who buy this and who it will attract to purchase this product.

Another adjective that persuades them to purchase it, is 'super-sleek'. The expression talks about what their hair will be like by the end of using the product. That will instantly persuade them to buy it as it is something that they desire.

Text E is a description from a packet of Jaffa Cakes. The audience would be primarily aimed at mum's because the packaging and type of food is aimed at children. So it would be the mum's that buy it for their children. The purpose would be to inform and primarily entice people to buy them.

The adjective 'crackly' could cause you to think of a warm crackly fire. It is a positive thought and is almost cosy. However, it isn't talking about fire; it's talking about the chocolate on the Jaffa Cake.  Another word used to describe the Jaffa Cake is light.

Light is a word that could have possible meanings: a brightness, light as in low weight or even colour. Women stereotypically are obsessed with their weight and as it is women who buy these for their children, they could think subconsciously of this. They may think that by the use of the adjective 'light', that it could be healthier for them than any other cake or biscuit. So the thought of losing weight or being healthier could persuade them to buy it.

My final text is text F which is the bottom half of a DVD case. It, like the book, describes the film and creators of the film. However, one difference is that it has bonus features. These features uses imperatives that also encourage purchasing. The audience are parents buying the DVD for children.  The purpose is to entice to buy.

The eye catching graphology causes the children to pick it up and give to their parents. When the parents read the back they'll see the adjective and expression, 'high-spirited'. High spirited is a quality that most parents would want their children to be. So buying a film that encourages children to be 'high-spirited' is a positive act. High-spirited suggests a cheerful film that is appropriate for children for all ages. It then would cause parents to purchase the film.

All of the above text are connected by the fact that they have adjectives that help complete their purpose. Although some of the texts are connected by other techniques and features.

A subgroup that I would create is using imperatives. Imperatives are greatly used when trying to persuade someone to do something. This is used in Text B and D. Text B uses the imperatives  that give advice. 'Keep' and 'Apply' are more of a demand which is odd when they're trying to get them to purchase the conditioner. ' Some are more suggestions like 'leave' and 'rinse'.  However, they also are more serious like 'Avoid' eye contact with eyes. The imperative is a warning that people will pay attention to.

Technological Genres

Youtube

Youtube comments have both affordances and constrants.

An affordance is that you can freely write what you want to write. The constraint that comes with this is the trouble of trolling. People could insulting people through the comments on their videos.

It's also can be a very positive thing. If you write something that will make the person who's Youtube Channel it is, happy and positive, they will carry on doing what they're doing. They will make more videos for the viewers to enjoy.
If it's negative, they then will not make more videos and so you can't watch anymore.

It's also almost like a community. Everyone who positively comments about the channel, all have one thing in common: they all like the person's channel. You can comment queries and people will comment and support you.

Also there is a 'report' button. This is both an affordance and constraint. It's positive because if someone has commented an inappropriate comment then people can report them so they can't comment anymore. It's a constraint because people might go around reporting people who haven't done anything wrong.


You can also 'thumb up' or 'thumbs down' a comment. This will then show hoe good a comment has been rated and then result in to comment. This then enables everyone to see what most people think.

Change of Communication

On March 10 1876, Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call which was to his assistant in the next room. The call went like this:

“Mr Watson, come here, I want to see you.”

Scottish born Bell, became an expert in sound and public speaking. Due to his understanding of sound and how it works, he taught deaf people and then went on to invent the telephone.

He wrote a letter to his dad about how he wanted the future of sound and communication to be like. He said he imagined a future where “friends converse without leaving home.”

This then led to him inventing the photophone in 1880.

The fist phone call had become so well known that he repeated it in 1915 when telephone lines were connected from East to West coasts in America.

Bell has caused such worldwide and technological discoveries. His knowledge in sound has led to things like iPhones and computers. This then led to emails and Facebook and Twitter which is another way to communicate to others.

Bell has changed the way we communicate.


Source: http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/recon/jb_recon_telephone_1.html

Transcript Analyses

 

K: right (arrow pointing upwards) (2) in the middle of the page (1) but more towards the left (1) draw a capital ‘Z’ (.) but on a slant to the left hand side (2)

E: How big?

(2)

K: Quite big (2)

 

A few things had gone well in our transcript. However, there were a few negatives throughout our communication.

The main problem through the exercise was that there wasn’t enough description from all three of us.

When Katie started, she described where to draw the capital ‘Z’. But she didn’t explain the size. Louis and I were then left to attempt to draw the shape to a size that we thought would be correct.

A positive of the communication was that I then asked how big, 2 seconds later. But within those 2 seconds Louis could have already drawn the shape without knowing the size.

A negative of me asking the question is that I didn’t be specific when asking.

Katie replied with “quite big.”

The problem with that is, “quite big” could be completely different to me than to Katie. So I should’ve asked a more detailed question.

For example, I could have asked, “How big roughly in cm, is the ‘Z’?”

Louis and I would then be provided with an answer that would enable us to draw the shape more accurately.

 There also were pauses many times throughout which is the reason why there was no interruptions or overlaps. This is both positive and negative. Positive because it lets the speaker think about what they are saying to be more precise for the listeners. The negative is that by the time the speaker finishes the listener would have probably drew the shape and so cannot do it again.

At the start of the transcript we can see that the tone that Katie was speaking in was positive when she said “right” by the arrow pointing upwards. She also said “right” many times during the conversation which shows her idiolect.

A final negative is that when Katie was describing where the ‘Z’ was being placed. She said it was slanted to the left hand side. She didn’t explain how slanted it was. Nevertheless, myself and Louis didn’t ask how slanted it was, we yet again, assumed we had it right.