Language in Use 155
This unit considers the conflict which may arise between a scientific view
of the facts and what our cultural experience of certain words and phrases has
led us to expect. It does this by taking the Englishman's habitual topic
of conversation, the weather, and looking at the relationship between the substance
of a forecast and the way it is presented.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] The aim of this session is to establish that different groups of people require weather forecasts for different purposes. Begin by discussing the reliability of weather forecasts, and go on to explore what people like farmers, airline pilots, sailors and sportsmen need from weather forecasts, and how they get it.
[2] This session needs forecasts taken from different papers and written
out versions of Radio and T.V. forecasts. It explores the relationship between
the information which is given by scales and numbers and that which uses ordinary
language like 'light to moderate', 'mist and fog patches', 'average for the
time of year'. Points to note are:
(a) the balance between the two and how this differs according to the audience
(b) the different sets of terms that provide verbal scales like 'light', 'moderate',
'strong', 'gale-force'.
(c) the latitude for misinterpretation.
[3] Using the insight gained in [2], the class can go on to discuss
the relationship between what the forecasters use and our common experience
of climate. Points to bring out are:
(a) the relationship between the terms used and how we talk about weather and
the seasons in everyday speech
(b) how much 'common experience' forecasters presuppose in their audience and
what kind of experience it is
(c) how closely the verbal part of a forecast is tied to the forecaster's view
of what we assume a season will be like
(d) how far our response to the terms is determined by what we believe ought
to happen: that it should rain in winter,
be hot in summer, and so on.