Negotiating face in feedback conferences:a linguistic ethnographic analysis

This article examines the negotiation of face in post observation feedback conferences on an initial teacher training programme. The conferences were held in groups with one trainer and up to four trainees and followed a set of generic norms. These norms include the right to offer advice and to criticise, speech acts which are often considered to be face threatening in more normal contexts. However, as the data analysis shows, participants also interact in ways that challenge the generic norms, some of which might be considered more conventionally face attacking. The article argues that face should be analysed at the level of interaction (Haugh and Bargiela-Chiappini, 2010) and that situated and contextual detail is relevant to its analysis. It suggests that linguistic ethnography, which 'marries' (Wetherell, 2007) linguistics and ethnography, provides a useful theoretical framework for doing so. To this end the study draws on real-life talk-in-interaction (from transcribed recordings), the participants' perspectives (from focus groups and interviews) and situated detail (from fieldnotes) to produce a contextualised and nuanced analysis. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.

A injunção em livros didáticos de língua portuguesa do 4º e 5º anos do ensino fundamental

This investigation aims at identifying, describing, analyzing and interpreting how textbooks on Portuguese Language approach, beginning with the linguistic material, the effects of sense in texts that predominately employ injunctives. The corpus of this study is comprised of six collections of textbooks on Portuguese Language, which are part of the National Program Guide for Textbooks (PNLD) from 2010, adopted by the public schools in the city of Natal and the object of study for the Read/Tell Project of the Educational Observatory of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN). Textbooks from the 4th and 5th grades, Elementary School, were analyzed – 12 copies total. For the analysis, we selected 16 writing proposals of injunctive texts. Our study is based on theoretical discussions by Adam (2001a, 2001b) with regard to the genre of: inciting to action. In addition, we consider the work of Koch and Fávero (1987), Koch and Elias (2009), Marcuschi (2003, 2008) Pery-Woodly (2001), Rodrigues (2013), Travaglia (1992, 2007) and Rosa (2007). With respect to discussions on textbooks, we refer to Choppin (2004, 2009), Batista (2003, 2009), Rojo e Batista (2005), and with regard to Portuguese Language textbooks specifically, we consider Soares (1998, 2001, 2004) and Bunzen and Rojo (2005). The proposals for writing in injunctive texts, in the collections analyzed, are tips/recommendations, instructions on making toys and/or games, travel itineraries and cooking recipes, such that 69% of them appear in the 4 th grade textbooks and only 31% appear in the 5th grade textbooks. With respect to the linguistic elements responsible for the construction of directive speech acts and the effects on sense produced by them, the data shows that 50% of the writing proposals do not exploit linguistic categories that implicate the effects on sense using injunctives, or rather, there is no work done dealing with linguistic analysis, while 33% mention the imperative mode and 17% investigate infinitive verbs. In this dissertation, the textual plans of incitation to act genres were studied and in them the linguistic materiality that vehicles injunction. This study might contribute to the improvement of Portuguese language teaching in what concerns the articulation of grammatical studies to textual sequences/types, mainly in the case of Portuguese language textbooks for the 4th and 5th grades of Elementary School.

Bipartite Assertion: A New Account of Assertion, Defined in Terms of Responsibility and Explicit Presentation

Assertion is a speech act that stands at the intersection of the philosophy of language and social epistemology. It is a phenomenon that bears on such wide-ranging topics as testimony, truth, meaning, knowledge and trust. It is thus no surprise that analytic philosophers have devoted innumerable pages to assertion, trying to give the norms that govern it, its role in the transmission of knowledge, and most importantly, what assertion is, or how assertion is to be defined. In this thesis I attempt to show that all previous answers to the question “What is assertion?” are flawed. There are four major traditions in the literature: constitutive norm theories of assertion, accounts that treat assertion as the expression of speaker attitudes, accounts that treat assertion as a proposal to add some proposition to the common ground, and accounts that treat assertion as the taking of responsibility for some claim. Each tradition is explored here, the leading theories within the tradition developed, and then placed under scrutiny to demonstrate flaws within the positions surveyed. I follow the work of G.E. Moore and William P. Alston, whilst drawing on the work of Robert Brandom in order to give a new bipartite theory of assertion. I argue that assertion consists in the explicit presentation of a proposition, along with a taking of responsibility for that proposition. Taking Alston's explicit presentation condition and repairing it in order to deal with problems it faces, whilst combining it with Brandom's responsibility condition, provides, I believe, the best account of assertion.

Untangling a Web of Lies: Exploring Automated Detection of Deception in Computer-Mediated Communication

Safeguarding organizations against opportunism and severe deception in computer-mediated communication (CMC) presents a major challenge to CIOs and IT managers. New insights into linguistic cues of deception derive from the speech acts innate to CMC. Applying automated text analysis to archival email exchanges in a CMC system as part of a reward program, we assess the ability of word use (micro-level), message development (macro-level), and intertextual exchange cues (meta-level) to detect severe deception by business partners. We empirically assess the predictive ability of our framework using an ordinal multilevel regression model. Results indicate that deceivers minimize the use of referencing and self-deprecation but include more superfluous descriptions and flattery. Deceitful channel partners also over structure their arguments and rapidly mimic the linguistic style of the account manager across dyadic e-mail exchanges. Thanks to its diagnostic value, the proposed framework can support firms’ decision-making and guide compliance monitoring system development.

Reglas discursivas y normas morales

El objetivo de este trabajo es explicar la conexión entre reglas discursivas y normas morales en el marco de la ética del discurso. El trabajo comienza con un análisis de la diferencia entre acción y operación y con una reconstrucción del concepto de discurso. Luego es presentada la diferencia y la relación entre ley y obligación. La conclusión es que la conexión entre acción y discurso posible está implícita en la noción de responsabilidad moral.

Análisis pragmático contrastivo inglés/español de la intensificación verbal en textos literarios

El objetivo de este trabajo consiste en comparar las funciones pragmáticas de una estructura intensificadora en español peninsular formada con la partícula venga (venga a + infinitivo) con estructuras intensificadoras en inglés. Para ello, analizamos los factores sintácticos, semánticos y pragmáticos que el traductor tiene en cuenta a la hora de usar esta estructura en la traducción al español. El corpus lo componen fragmentos de obras literarias extraídas en Google Books. Los resultados demuestran que con esta construcción se consigue transferir al español no sólo efectos semánticos (iteración), sino también pragmáticos, como la evaluación del hablante (desacuerdo, sorpresa, etc.).

Expresiones no verbales como enunciados realizativos: construcciones preposicionales y apelaciones enfáticas

El presente estudio revisa la caracterización de los enunciados realizativos, deteniéndose en aquellos que no presentan estructura oracional. Así, analizaremos las expresiones no verbales que presentan las características propiamente performativas: construcciones preposicionales encabezadas por núcleos ´locativos`, ´sumativos` y ´sustractivos` y apelaciones enfáticas. En este sentido, podremos determinar el valor de las preposiciones que introducen sintagmas equivalentes a predicados con sentido realizativo. Por otro lado, distinguiremos dos modos de enunciar en relación con la descortesía y la adulación: insultos y halagos. Dichas expresiones se describirán desde una perspectiva gramatical y prosódica, de modo que se atenderá a su capacidad para reproducir enunciados realizativos convencionales y de orientar el acento y la inflexión melódica a la transformación cognitiva y emocional de la realidad del individuo receptor.

Programas de tertulia política en Twitter: un modelo neurocomunicativo de análisis del discurso

En este trabajo aplicamos a la red social Twitter un modelo de análisis del discurso político y mediático desarrollado en publicaciones previas, que permite hacer compatible el estudio de los datos discursivos con propuestas explicativas surgidas a propósito de la comunicación política (neurocomunicación) y de la comunicación digital (la red como quinto estado, convergencia, inteligencia colectiva). Asumimos que hay categorías del encuadre discursivo (frame) que pueden ser tratadas como indicadores de habilidades cognitivas y comunicativas. Analizamos estas categorías agrupándolas en tres dimensiones fundamentales: la intencional (ilocutividad del tuit, encuadre interpretativo de las etiquetas), referencial (temas, protagonistas), e interactiva (alineamiento estructural, predictibilidad; marcas de intertextualidad y dialogismo; afiliación partidista). El corpus consta de 4116 tuits: 3000 tuits pertenecientes a los programas Al Rojo Vivo (La Sexta: A3 Media), Las Mañanas Cuatro (Cuatro: Mediaset) y Los Desayunos de TVE (RTVE), 1116 tuits de seguidores de los programas, que corresponden a 45 tuits de cada programa. Los resultados confirman que el modelo permite establecer diferentes perfiles de subjetividad política en las cuentas de Twitter.

Being impolite while pretending to be polite. The rupture of politeness conventions in electoral debates

This paper is a part of a larger research that pursues a global understanding of impoliteness in face-to-face electoral debates. That research distinguishes three essential axes, three complementary analytical perspectives: functional strategies of impoliteness, linguistic-discursive mechanisms to implement them and social impacts of impolite acts. In this frame, the present work develops an in-depth analysis of a special category of mechanisms, namely the rupture of politeness conventions, a subgroup within postliteral implicit mechanisms. This subgroup acquires its identity by the fact of carrying out a linguistic action that is conventionally associated with a polite attitude, but doing it in a rhetorically insincere way: the consequence is that apparent politeness becomes impoliteness. Relevant aspects in the characterization of ruptures are isolated and, on this basis, it is developed a detailed analysis of three specific kinds of mechanisms in which ruptures take shape: using ironic statements, developing different forms of overpoliteness and adopting a falsely collaborative attitude toward the interlocutor. The analysis of that group of mechanisms takes into account, simultaneously, the other two axes of the main research, strategies and social impacts.

Imperative, subjunctive, and the desiderative-appellative space in Spanish

After defining the “enunciative scheme” (sentence type) as a communicative unit, the imperative is characterized as a morphologized modality of appellative kind used when the following conditions occur: appellative meaning, 2nd person, future tense and absence of negation. In Spanish, any variation of any of these requirements determines that the subjunctive is used. We reject the idea that the imperative is a variant of subjunctive specialized in appellative function and that both modes share a desiderative morpheme. Working in this way means attributing to a morphological category of the verb a property that actually corresponds to the enunciative schemes (sentence types). We propose to integrate the imperative and subjunctive in the framework of what we call the “desiderative-appellative space”. This “space” brings together various grammatical or grammaticalized means based on the imperative and the subjunctive. Semantically, it is organized around a component of desirability (action appears as desirable) that, by varying several factors, configures a route that goes from a center (the imperative) to a periphery (the expression of desire).

Performatividad y arte computacional. Hacia una “DIY society”

El artículo analiza la figura del prosumidor desde los estudios visuales a partir de la combinación de la teoría de los actos de habla y los nuevos medios. El objetivo es evaluar si la distinción entre productores y consumidores, estrategias y tácticas de Michel de Certeau continúa siendo operativa en las interfaces gráficas de la cultura global de la información de Scott Lash. Para ello distingue dos tipos de performatividad de los actos de habla: la performatividad top-down del software, y la bottom-up de los juegos del lenguaje y las formas de vida. Estos tipos se aplican al análisis del discurso de los eslóganes que aparecen en los sitios web de las iniciativas “open” y de economía colaborativa, ya que las primeras están dedicadas a la producción de bienes inmateriales y las segundas a la producción de bienes materiales. El desarrollo muestra cómo los dos tipos de performatividad transforman el análisis textual de los estudios literarios y cinematográficos en una metodología capaz de investigar acciones materiales, humanas y no humanas. Las conclusiones describen el surgimiento de nuevas convenciones narrativas de poder y control ajenas a la ficción que apuntan a una “DIY society”.

#srynotfunny : Communicative functions of hashtags on Twitter

This study investigates various communicative functions served by hashtags in written communication on Twitter from a linguistic pragmatic perspective. A tweet containing a hashtag links to, and is integrated into, a timeline of other tweets containing the same hashtag. Thus, hashtags are by default categorizing or organizing; a user of Twitter may add the tag #food to their tweet to integrate it into a general conversation about this topic. However, this study demonstrates that hashtags are also used creatively to perform other communicative functions. In the data presented, hashtags are employed as complexly multifunctional linguistic devices for, among other things, structuring information, playing games, and engaging in reflexive meta-commentary. Notably, while pragmatic methodology is typically applied to speech, this study indicates that a traditional speech acts framework may be profitably applied to written communication in new media.

Analiza terminów „stosunek społeczny” a „stosunek prawny”

Analysis of terms ‘social relationship’ and ‘legal relationship’ in the literature of legal theory and legal philosophy encounters many difficulties especially because of the ambiguity of such terms as ‘law’, ‘positive (statutory) law’, ‘rule’, ‘legal rule’, ‘norm’ and ‘legal norm’. Insight into the mentioned above literature points out that particularly the former pair of these notions have been so far wrongly considered as equivalent. It does not result a correct description of the relationship between different normative social systems such as statutory (positive) law, morality, religion and customs. Next it translates into a numbers of disputes about the content of positive law both in law-making’ and law-applying’s decisions.

Governance and community capitals : understanding how governance has worked in three faith-based schools in the Western Highlands of Papua New Guinea

This thesis, titled Governance and Community Capitals, explores the kinds of practical processes that have made governance work in three faith-based schools in the Western Highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG). To date, the nation of PNG has been unable to meet its stated educational goals; however, some faith-based primary schools have overcome educational challenges by changing their local governance systems. What constitutes good governance in developing countries and how it can be achieved in a PNG schooling context has received very little scholarly attention. In this study, the subject of governance is approached at the nexus between the administrative sciences and asset-based community development. In this space, the researcher provides an understanding of the contribution that community capitals have made to understandings of local forms of governance in the development context. However, by and large, conceptions of governance have a history of being positioned within a Euro-centric frame and very little, if anything is known about the naming of capitals by indigenous peoples. In this thesis, six indigenous community capitals are made visible, expanding the repertoire of extant capitals published to date. The capitals identified and named in this thesis are: Story, Wisdom, Action, Blessing, Name and Unity. In-depth insights into these capitals are provided and through the theoretical idea of performativity, the researcher advances an understanding of how the habitual enactment of the practical components of the capitals made governance work in this unique setting. The study draws from a grounded and appreciative methodology and is based on a case study design incorporating a three-stage cycle of investigation. The first stage tested the application of an assets-based method to documentary sources of data including most significant change stories, community mapping and visual diaries. In the second stage, a group process method relevant to a PNG context was developed and employed. The third stage involved building theory from case study evidence using content analysis, language and metaphorical speech acts as guides for complex analysis. The thesis demonstrates the contribution that indigenous community capitals can make to understanding local forms of governance and how PNG faith-based schools meet their local governance challenges.