ENGLISH: TEXT AND COMMUNICATION 2
1. LESSON 1
Blurb: A short description of a book, film, or other product written for promotional purposes
Texts are:
➢ubiquitous
➢diverse
➢complex
Analysis:
➢starts with noticing things – sustained perception
➢not always straightforward
➢but usually enriching
➢goes beyond understanding the contents of the text to understanding how the text produces meaning
The observer’s paradox: The idea of the researcher affecting the results of their own research
Intertextuality: texts that use references to other texts
2. LESSON 2
Language patterns: visual elements integral to many messages, but central concern of HTAT is with
language in the verbal sense
Texts vs. discourse:
Text (traditionally)
- written communication
- a single artefact
- used more in arts and humanities
discourse
- spoken language
- more extensive communication, whole patterns of thinking, knowing and behaving
- the social sciences
idiolect: as a “set of linguistic fingerprints” - your unique language habits or expressions
linguistic pet hates: I MAS here (was = different sound MAS)
Archiving: storing texts of different types; capturing language and fixing it for study
WH-questions
WHAT?
- What “happens” in a text is always of interest
- pointing to a text’s features is an important part of the way you structure an analysis -> forms
evidence for your interpretation
- from ‘what?’ to other ‘wh’ questions = moving from describing contents to considering which
factors determine particular language choices
WHO?
- for speech (or other real-time interaction) we ask who the participants are and what are their
relationships are to one another (this affects eg. formality)
- written texts might contain characters -> but does it have participants? -> rather “implied
communicators”
- writers, consciously or unconsciously, create a narrative voice to address their audience
- this voice makes assumptions about who the reader is
- many ‘WHOs’
➢a real writer
➢an imaginary narrator
➢a real reader
➢and an implied reader
WHERE?
- physical setting for a conversation or text
- 3 dimensions of where Geography
, public notices only make sense because they occur in a particular place
Formality f a US lawyer has to appear in court in front of a female judge he is married to, he
will still call her “your honor” rather than “angel pie” or “sugar lips” as he would perhaps do
at home
Perspective -> from what or whose p.o.v. is the topic presented? - cf. figure/ground principle
from Gestalt psychology (background [recedes] versus foreground [stands out -> familiar,
meaningful]
WHEN?
- time also important factor because of changes in language + attitudes
- older texts reveal a lot about the values of a previous era
- modern era not necessarily superior
- How and why are cultural discourses about appropriateness changing?
(W)HOW?
- how do the language choices in a text
work individually
connect with each other + build into a pattern
- interpretation required: no single right answer to question of how a text works
different readers see different things (depending on their cultural background/personal
experience)
meanings are not fixed
WHY?
- why is the language as it is and not some other way?
- did writer intentionally want to evoke particular associations/ connotations or is this an unfortunate
coincidence? 25
- “why” question takes us beyond the text into sociocultural considerations
- demands extra tentativeness i.e. be careful
reasons complex
but complexity should not be off-putting
recognising and showing complexity=hallmark of high quality research
FOCUS AND SCOPE
- determining a focus = deciding which questions take priority focus in text analysis same as in
photography
adjusting your sights to get as sharp a picture as possible of a specific area
- closely connected with scope -> how much of the rest of the picture to include
Scope is often determined by focus: if the focus of the enquiry is clear, then the scope of the study
shouldn’t be too difficult to work out
➢no fixed pathway for a language exploration
➢one idea can lead to another, but limit the amount of material chosen (depth/detail more important
than breadth)
satire = comedy + social activism (or satire = “militant irony”)
point of view = perspective
corpora:
- list of lines = concordance
- qualitive research method ( quantitative)
- words often predictable patterns, regular friends => frequent co-occurrence = collocation
set of associations or connotations (=what words “imply” not only what they “mean”)
3. LESSON 3
1. LESSON 1
Blurb: A short description of a book, film, or other product written for promotional purposes
Texts are:
➢ubiquitous
➢diverse
➢complex
Analysis:
➢starts with noticing things – sustained perception
➢not always straightforward
➢but usually enriching
➢goes beyond understanding the contents of the text to understanding how the text produces meaning
The observer’s paradox: The idea of the researcher affecting the results of their own research
Intertextuality: texts that use references to other texts
2. LESSON 2
Language patterns: visual elements integral to many messages, but central concern of HTAT is with
language in the verbal sense
Texts vs. discourse:
Text (traditionally)
- written communication
- a single artefact
- used more in arts and humanities
discourse
- spoken language
- more extensive communication, whole patterns of thinking, knowing and behaving
- the social sciences
idiolect: as a “set of linguistic fingerprints” - your unique language habits or expressions
linguistic pet hates: I MAS here (was = different sound MAS)
Archiving: storing texts of different types; capturing language and fixing it for study
WH-questions
WHAT?
- What “happens” in a text is always of interest
- pointing to a text’s features is an important part of the way you structure an analysis -> forms
evidence for your interpretation
- from ‘what?’ to other ‘wh’ questions = moving from describing contents to considering which
factors determine particular language choices
WHO?
- for speech (or other real-time interaction) we ask who the participants are and what are their
relationships are to one another (this affects eg. formality)
- written texts might contain characters -> but does it have participants? -> rather “implied
communicators”
- writers, consciously or unconsciously, create a narrative voice to address their audience
- this voice makes assumptions about who the reader is
- many ‘WHOs’
➢a real writer
➢an imaginary narrator
➢a real reader
➢and an implied reader
WHERE?
- physical setting for a conversation or text
- 3 dimensions of where Geography
, public notices only make sense because they occur in a particular place
Formality f a US lawyer has to appear in court in front of a female judge he is married to, he
will still call her “your honor” rather than “angel pie” or “sugar lips” as he would perhaps do
at home
Perspective -> from what or whose p.o.v. is the topic presented? - cf. figure/ground principle
from Gestalt psychology (background [recedes] versus foreground [stands out -> familiar,
meaningful]
WHEN?
- time also important factor because of changes in language + attitudes
- older texts reveal a lot about the values of a previous era
- modern era not necessarily superior
- How and why are cultural discourses about appropriateness changing?
(W)HOW?
- how do the language choices in a text
work individually
connect with each other + build into a pattern
- interpretation required: no single right answer to question of how a text works
different readers see different things (depending on their cultural background/personal
experience)
meanings are not fixed
WHY?
- why is the language as it is and not some other way?
- did writer intentionally want to evoke particular associations/ connotations or is this an unfortunate
coincidence? 25
- “why” question takes us beyond the text into sociocultural considerations
- demands extra tentativeness i.e. be careful
reasons complex
but complexity should not be off-putting
recognising and showing complexity=hallmark of high quality research
FOCUS AND SCOPE
- determining a focus = deciding which questions take priority focus in text analysis same as in
photography
adjusting your sights to get as sharp a picture as possible of a specific area
- closely connected with scope -> how much of the rest of the picture to include
Scope is often determined by focus: if the focus of the enquiry is clear, then the scope of the study
shouldn’t be too difficult to work out
➢no fixed pathway for a language exploration
➢one idea can lead to another, but limit the amount of material chosen (depth/detail more important
than breadth)
satire = comedy + social activism (or satire = “militant irony”)
point of view = perspective
corpora:
- list of lines = concordance
- qualitive research method ( quantitative)
- words often predictable patterns, regular friends => frequent co-occurrence = collocation
set of associations or connotations (=what words “imply” not only what they “mean”)
3. LESSON 3
