Spoken Language Theories

Spoken Language Theories

1. Speech Act Theory

   • Language is constative (conveys information)
   • Speech Acts
     • Perlocutionary (affect receiver)
     • Illocutionary (performative)
   • Felicity Conditions
     • Correct Authority
     • Correct Performance
     • Correct Attitude (sincerity)

2. Exchange Structure Theory

   • Two-Part Conversation Structure
     • Question/Answer
     • Inform/Acknowledge
     • Introduction/Greeting
     • Complaint/Excuse
   • Three-Part Conversation Structure (Initiation/Response/Feedback)
     • Question/Answer/Comment

3. Narrative Structure Theory

   • Exposition (setting)
   • Rising Action (main story)
   • Climax (point of the story)
   • Closure (rounds it off)

4. Frame Theory

   • 'frames'
     • contextualisation cues
     • picked up during conversation
     • allow us to recognise situations and respond appropriately

5. Schema Theory

   • repertoire of 'schemas'
     • give us various assumptions & expectations
       • e.g. we expect a doctor to behave in a certain way
     • contextual cues

6. Face Needs

   • Positive
     • e.g. greetings, compliments
     • to make receiver feel approved of
   • Negative
     • e.g. hedges, apologies
     • soften unpleasant requests
   • to make receiver feel unthreatened & accepted

7. Politeness

   • Positive
     • e.g. paying attention, making jokes
     • claiming common ground and conveying assumption that all participants will be cooperative and are 'with' the speaker
   • Negative
     • e.g. being apologetic, deferential, questions, hedges
     • being indirect, neither presuming nor assuming and not forcing the point

8. Conversational Maxims

   • Relevance
   • Quality
   • Quantity
   • Manner
   • Implicature may be needed if a maxim is flouted deliberately - may be saving face
   • Cooperative Principle
     • assuming all participant have common goals and will use the same achievement methods

9. Accommodation Theory

   • we alter our speech to 'accommodate' our addressees
   • Convergence
     • Downward Convergence (move to a less prestigious accent)
     • Upward Convergence (move to a more prestigious accent)
     • move towards the other's speech
     • Mutual Convergence (both participants converge towards each other, one upwards and one downwards)
   • Divergence
     • move away from the other's speech
     • e.g. supporters of rival football teams might diverge to their team's accent
     • can exert power if speaker diverges to a more prestigious accent
       • e.g. teacher reprimanding a pupil might enunciate more syllables than usual and speak with a more RP accent

10. Politeness Principle

    • three maxims
      • Don't Impose
      • Give Options
      • Make Receiver Feel Good

11. Berstein's Code

    • Elaborated Code gives full details
    • Restricted Code is highly deixical