Language in Use 231-232
This unit considers the importance of the setting for the use of language;
how big a part is played in spoken language by non-verbal signals; and how the
relationship between people determines the amount that need not be spelt out
in words when they are talking together. It explores the kind of conversation
that occurs between people who know each other very well, such as members of
a family.
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[1] This session requires a short tape-recording, made while a family is eating or washing-up. The class use it to find out what they can say about the context of the recording, the relationship between the speakers, and any features of the language that strike them as familiar or unfamiliar or unintelligible. The tape should be played through more than once during the discussion, before the class is asked to write down all that they can understand of a two-minute extract. At this stage, no guidance should be given if they ask how to write down particular features of the speech.
[2] This session focuses upon the particular difficulties the class
have encountered in making their write-out of the tape. These are likely to
include:
(a) how to represent sounds which are not 'words'
(b) how to represent intonation
(c) how to represent silence
(d) how to deal with elements in the conversation that make sense only to those
present:
(i) because they refer to knowledge common to the family
(ii) because they refer to physical features of the
setting.
[3] In this session, the aim is to work out what conditions are necessary
for conversation of this kind. Points to look for include these facts:
(a) all the speakers must be together in one place
(b) they must have spent much time together so that they know each other's histories
(c) they must have done a number of things in each other's company
(d) they must all be so familiar with the
setting that it does not have to be referred to in words
(e) there must be an underlying bond of good feeling between
all the speakers so that no-one feels the need to defend himself
by using a public and polite way of speaking.
[4] Working in small groups,
the class now devises short sketches with which to illustrate what happens to
intimate conversation of this kind when one of the conditions in [3] is absent-,
for example in a crowded bus or train, between people who have Just met, when
a visitor conics into the group, or when there is a serious difference of opinion
between the people involved (e.g. when members of a family go silent on each
other).
See Glossary (Write-out).