- Home
- e-Journals
- Pragmatics
- Previous Issues
- Volume 22, Issue, 2012
Pragmatics - Volume 22, Issue 4, 2012
Volume 22, Issue 4, 2012
-
Apologizing in Spanish
Author(s): María-Isabel González-Cruzpp.: 543–565 (23)More LessThis article provides insights into the strategies used by a group of university students of Canarian origin to perform the speech act of apologizing. Though Canarian Spanish has been recognised as one of the most deeply studied dialects in the Hispanic world (Medina 1996; Álvarez 1996; Corrales, Álvarez and Corbella 2007), little has been said about this variety at the socio-pragmatic level, and, to the best of our knowledge, no studies have been carried out on the issue of speech acts, let alone about apologies in Canarian Spanish. This article attempts to start filling this gap by describing the most frequent apology strategies used by one hundred university students at the ULPGC (Canary Islands, Spain) when apologizing in eight different situations. Following the lines of many other studies, we obtained the data through the application of a Discourse Completion Test, slightly adapted from the well-known CCSARP (Cross-cultural Speech Act Realisation Project). Gender differences are explored, along with the role of other situational factors such as degree of familiarity between the participants, severity of the offense and age of the offended person. Suggestions for further work in the fields of intercultural pragmatics and EFL teaching and learning are also given.
-
‘A hypnotic viewing experience’. promotional features in the language of exhibition press announcements
Author(s): Cecilia Lazzeretti and Marina Bondipp.: 567–589 (23)More LessMuseums have become fully active cultural agents, pursuing educational aims but also trying to attract the largest number of visitors. Exhibition press announcements (EPAs) issued by museums reflect this tendency and address journalists as if they were ‘customers’ in a very competitive market. Building on Bhatia’s work on promotional genres (1993, 2004) and recent corpus-based studies devoted to press releases (Catenaccio 2008; Lindholm 2008; McLaren and Gurâu 2005), this paper investigates lexico-grammatical forms typical of EPAs with the aim to demonstrate that they carry a strong promotional intent and reflect the value-system of the professional communities involved, i.e. art journalists and museum professionals. The study was carried out on a corpus of contemporary Anglo-American EPAs and shows the recurrent use of linguistic features that express positive evaluation of the exhibition, especially with regard to the semantic areas of novelty, quality, extensiveness and exclusiveness. Emotional linguistic features are also used in order to create ‘news value’ and excite curiosity around the artists and their artworks.
-
Building connected discourse in non-native speech
Author(s): Yo-An Leepp.: 591–614 (24)More LessThe demand for proficient non-native speakers (NNSs) of English has increased across professional fields in recent years. While speaking skills involve a complex array of factors and constraints, previous studies resorted to unexamined perceptions or intuitive impressions drawn from surface linguistic features. Particularly missing is close analytic descriptions of non-native discourse that is produced in spontaneous contexts. The present study investigates the process by which NNSs of English produce connected discourse as it unfolds in real-time. The ability to produce connected discourse is considered a hallmark of advanced speaking proficiency and this study therefore focuses on tracing the sequential organization of multiple utterances that NNSs produce in spontaneous speech. Following the principles of conversation analysis (CA), the present paper analyzes three sets of excerpts demonstrating the contingent choices that NNSs make in building connected discourse. The findings offer empirical resources for non-native professionals to identify the practicality and generality of connected discourse in real-time speech contexts.
-
Dialogicality and dialogue
Author(s): Gonzalo Martínez-Caminopp.: 615–650 (36)More LessThe aim of this article is to provide a theoretical and methodological contribution to the study of dialogue based on a dialogic conception of human communication (Bakhtin, Linell, Markova). From this perspective, it is postulated that the exchange is governed by the Principles of Dialogicality and Reciprocity and turns and contributions are defined as the constitutive elements of dialogue, representing two different levels of complexity. What is compared is how, on these two levels, the fictitious interlocutors of TV advertising dialogues, either Spanish or Mexican, try to influence each other: What are the similarities and differences in the diversity of types of turn and types of contribution, their possible impacts and the multiplicity of their connections.
-
Performing bilingualism in Wales
Author(s): Nigel Muskpp.: 651–669 (19)More LessThis article examines Welsh young people’s “performance” and construction of their bilingualism with the help of empirically grounded conversation analysis (CA) and performativity theory grounded in poststructuralism. Some of the incompatibilities, particularly conversation analysts’ narrow conception of context are resolved with reference to dialogical theory. It is argued with the help of video-recorded empirical data that a fine-grained analysis using CA is able to trace the emergence of varying bilingual identities as well as the negotiation of meaning in situ. To take the analysis beyond single situated actions, however, it is argued that we need recourse to the broader situation-transcending constructs offered, for example, by dialogical and performativity theory.
-
Operators managing callers’ sense of urgency in calls to the medical emergency number
Author(s): Isabella Paolettipp.: 671–695 (25)More LessCommunication in emergency calls is often agitated and callers almost always speak with a sense of urgency. Call operators often have to struggle in order to get the callers’ cooperation. The questioning sequence is often perceived by callers as inappropriate and a way of delaying assistance, frequently producing annoyance and anger in the caller. Interrupted calls are not uncommon in communications with the call centre, nor are cursing, rudeness and face attacks. The focus of previous studies on emotional work in emergency calls has mainly been devoted to communication problems and the consequences these had on the provision of assistance. This paper aims to focus specifically on how operators manage callers’ anxiety and sense of urgency and the emotions tied to this, such as anger. Transcripts of actual emergency calls are examined through a detailed discourse analysis in order to show operators’ interactional work in maintaining emotional contact with callers. The ability of the operators to control their own emotions and manage those of the caller is an important professional skills in this job. Describing how emotional contact with callers is maintained in actual calls can be useful for training and in-service courses.
-
Construction of institutional identities by male individuals in subordinate positions in the Japanese workplace
Author(s): Junko Saitopp.: 697–719 (23)More LessThis study qualitatively examines how male individuals in subordinate positions in a Japanese workplace construct institutional identities in superior-subordinate interactions in the workplace. The analysis demonstrates that the male subordinates’ use of the masu form (the addressee honorific form) in conjunction with their epistemic stance contributes to the display of different facets of institutional identities. It also shows that individuals in subordinate positions draw on various discourse strategies, such as incomplete phrases and the plain form (the non-honorific form), so as to obscure the social relationships between superiors and themselves, as well as to avoid performing the role of buka ‘work subordinate’, who is obligated to obey superiors. Confirming the findings of previous research on identity construction, this study demonstrates that by strategically manipulating their linguistic resources, male subordinates can display different institutional identities on a moment-by-moment basis in a given context. Furthermore, the study contributes to the examination of power relations in workplace discourse, as well as touching upon a gender difference in language use.
Volumes & issues
-
Volume 35 (2025)
-
Volume 34 (2024)
-
Volume 33 (2023)
-
Volume 32 (2022)
-
Volume 31 (2021)
-
Volume 30 (2020)
-
Volume 29 (2019)
-
Volume 28 (2018)
-
Volume 27 (2017)
-
Volume 26 (2016)
-
Volume 25 (2015)
-
Volume 24 (2014)
-
Volume 23 (2013)
-
Volume 22 (2012)
-
Volume 21 (2011)
-
Volume 20 (2010)
-
Volume 19 (2009)
-
Volume 18 (2008)
-
Volume 17 (2007)
-
Volume 16 (2006)
-
Volume 15 (2005)
-
Volume 14 (2004)
-
Volume 13 (2003)
-
Volume 12 (2002)
-
Volume 11 (2001)
-
Volume 10 (2000)
-
Volume 9 (1999)
-
Volume 8 (1998)
-
Volume 7 (1997)
-
Volume 6 (1996)
-
Volume 5 (1995)
-
Volume 4 (1994)
-
Volume 3 (1993)
-
Volume 2 (1992)
-
Volume 1 (1991)
Most Read This Month

-
-
Pragmatic markers
Author(s): Bruce Fraser
-
-
-
Learning to think for speaking
Author(s): Dan I. Slobin
-
-
-
Language ideology
Author(s): Kathryn A. Woolard
-
- More Less