1.

End of UNIT TEST ONE

After a thorough reading of the information detailed in this UNIT, take some time
to answer the questions below. To check your answers, refer back to the material
in this unit and take part in the tutorial discussion:
1. Examine the description of a part of a linguistic day in Langfords life (as a
university teacher) and identify the situations in which he is a producer
(speaker) of language, the situations in which he is a consumer (hearer) of
language, and the situations in which he is both. (Source: Langford, 1994:2-7)
I wake with my alarm (producer). I say to myself, but not out loud, a word or
two that should perhaps not be printed here (both). I stagger to the bathroom,
shave and generally prepare myself for the first phase of the day.(producer)
[] Having prepared myself for the day, I go down to the kitchen and there, in
the process of preparing my breakfast (producer), encounter yet more written
messages as they silently scream at me from food manufacturers packets,
bottles and cartoons (Consumer). I turn on the portable television set,
strategically placed on a worktop (producer)so as not to miss any vital bit of
breakfast television (consumer)whilst standing guard over slowly simmering
porridge (producer). I now encounter not my language, but the language of
other people specifically produced by them as a means of communicating
something to me along with several million others.(consumer)
The language these people produce is mostly spoken language (consumer)
and whilst sometimes it is directed at me as if I were a partner in a conversation
they are holding (both), at other times the language is directed at actual
conversational partners, either present in the studio or linked by microphones,
TV monitors and other electronic wizardry (producer). But the odd thing is that
whilst the talk is produced, for example, as part of a conversation involving just
those who are indeed in the studio (producer), I nevertheless get the
impression that the conversation is being produced specifically for me, and
millions like me, as a potential overhearing audience.(consumer)
Furthermore, the participants in such talk somehow make it clear through the
way that they talk, that this is precisely the sort of impression they want me to
be having.(Both)

2. Describe a similar linguistic day in your life.

It is the routine I have had since the beginning of the school year. I wake up,
and the first thing I do is to review my schedule in my mind, since I am not quite
an organized person. I go to the kitchen, where my husband and my fresh
grounded coffee wait for me. Unfortunately there is a disturbance the TV and
the news channel which diminish my morning joy. I try to keep the calm of the
day as long as possible, but the horrible pieces of news either political or those
related to horrible accidents and crimes shout at me from that little blue
screen, as if they wanted to show me that in this game, they are the winners.
1

And perhaps it is true. I try to ignore them and to return to my thoughts, which
are, by far, more encouraging, and for a couple of minutes I succeed. But then,
my husband starts commenting on something on TV and I have to be an active
participant in the conversation. Should I say how much I would enjoy reading a
few pages instead?

3. Provide different contexts for the following utterances to have different

functions:
Its hot in here. Can I take off my coat?
Can you pass me the salt? This salad is too plain.
Theres a pencil on the table. Is it yours?
Ill talk to you tomorrow. I will tell you all about it.
Its a beautiful day today. I will go for a walk.

2. End of UNIT TEST TWO

Study the following sign, appearing at selected private parking sites throughout
the Greater Chicago area (from Mey, Pragmatics, 1993:15)

ALL UNAUTHORIZED VECHICLES WILL BE TOWED BY LINCOLN TOWING

SERVICE TO 4884 N.CLARK
FEE $80.00 CASH, VISA & MASTER CHARGE ACCEPTED
PHONE 561-4433
QUESTIONS:
a. What does this sign tell you explicitly? And implicitly?
Answer: The explicature would require the place where the
unauthorized vehicles could be found and that only Lincoln Towing has
the right to tow the unauthorized vehicles. Implicitly, by using
existential presupposition, I understand that the only Lincoln Towing is
entitled to tow unauthorized vehicles.
b. Who do you think is the sender of the message?
The owner of the parking lot?
The owner of the phone number?
The police?
The message belongs to the owner of the parking lot, because the
owners of the vehicles have to contact him in order to get their cars
back. The towing company only tows the cars. There is also the
possibility that the towing company also to own the car park.
(Argue your point of view)
c. Judging from the text of the message, would you say that illegal parking is a
criminal act in Chicago? (Justify your answer).
2

The lexical presuppositions unauthorized and will be towed show

that illegal parking is a criminal act and that the towing company has
to notify the police about it.
3. End of UNIT TEST THREE
1. Answer the following questions:
What is the difference between the verb to imply and the verb to infer?

To imply = to indicate or suggest without being explicitly stated

To infer = to form (an opinion) from evidence: to reach (a conclusion) based on known facts
What is the difference between inference and implicature?

Inference = the inferred meaning deduced by the hearer, which may or

may not be the same as the speakers intended implicature.
Implicature = is a technical term in the pragmatics subfield of linguistics, coined by H. P.
Grice, which refers to the implied meaning generated intentionally by
the speaker.
What is a conversational implicature?
Conversational implicature is a nonconventional implicature based on an addressees
assumption that the speaker is following the conversational maxims or at least the cooperative
principle.
Formulate Grices Cooperative Principle.
Make your contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it
occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in
which you are engaged.
Which are the four maxims of the Cooperative Principle?
The four maxims are the following
1. Maxim of Quantity: Make your contribution as informative as is
required for the current
purpose of the exchange. Do not make your contribution more
informative than is required.
2. Maxim of Quality: Do not say what you believe to be false; Do not
say that for which you
lack evidence.
30
3. Maxim of Relation: Be relevant
4. The Maxim of Manner: Avoid obscurity of expression; Avoid
ambiguity; Be brief; Be
orderly.
In what ways is knowledge about the Cooperative principle relevant to you?

The Cooperative principle, if complied with, makes conversations clear,

give indications as to how people should behave in a conversation, how
they should interact to one another.
2. Analyse the following extract in relation to the Co-operative
Principle:
[Context: a television serial, called Boys from the Blackstuff, follows the lives of
a group of men facing unemployment in Liverpool. This scene takes place in a
Department of Employment. Chrissie is under suspicion for illegally claiming
unemployment benefit.]
Clerk: It seems from your files, Mr. Todd, that one of our inspectors has visited
your house on two separate occasions during the past ten days without
receiving an answer. (Maxim of quality)
Ch.: Ah, what a shame (Maxim of manner)
C: You were out?
Ch: Looks that way doesnt it? (Maxim of quality)
C: Can you tell me where you were?
Ch: I might be able to if you tell me when you called. (Maxim of quality)
C: Its the...morning of Tuesday the third, and...the afternoon of Thursday the
12th
[There is a pause]
Ch: Havent a clue. (Maxim of manner)
C: Were you employed during those days?
Ch: Who, me? (Maxim of relation)
C: Look, have you got a job, Mr. Todd?
Ch: Oh yeah, I just come here for the company and the pleasant surroundings.
(Maxim of manner)
C: (patiently, and not without sympathy) You havent answered my question.
Ch: [Looking away] I havent worked in over a year.
C: Right, Mr. Todd, thats all.
(Chrissie stands)
C: We will, however, be making further visits to your house in due course.
Ch: Ill bake a cake. (Maxim of manner)
End of UNIT TEST FOUR
1. Compare the following two texts. Do either of them sound peculiar,
and if so why?
a) Have you heard about Peter and Susans wedding? Well, apparently the
minister was late, the best man lost the rings and the cake tasted pretty awful.
A complete disaster!
b) Have you heard about Peter and Susans wedding? Well, apparently a
minister was late, a best man lost some rings and a cake tasted pretty awful. A
complete disaster!
4

Text b) sounds peculiar because the use of the indefinite articles and
makes all the details seem not related to the wedding, since there
cannot be two ministers and two wedding cakes for the same wedding.
Moreover, the use of the indefinite adjective some suggests that the
rings can be any rings and not specifically the wedding ones.
2. What is odd about the following story?
What does it tell you about the schema you employed in interpreting
the discourse?
A father was driving his son home when he had a crash. The father was killed
and the son rushed by ambulance to hospital. As the boy was being prepared for
an emergency operation, the surgeon walked in, looked at him and cried; I cant
operate on this boy: hes my son!
My knowledge schema I used in order to interpret the text led me to
assume that it was impossible for the surgeon to say that the boy is
the surgeons son, since the father was dead. It is the English language
that can mislead when it comes to jobs which are genderless, most of
them. Only after reading the whole text again did I understand that the
surgeon was a woman and she was the boys mother.
3. Comment on the following dialogue thinking of persons involved,
social roles, group membership (Gender, age), Frame, Script:
A Sanatogen radio advert
Voice A: [Singing to loud disco music]. There I was looking for you luv, couldnt
get enough...ooh, ooh...yeah-eah, stop...
Voice B: [Two loud thumps as if on a door. Speaking above music] Turn that
racket down, now! Do you hear me! Now, I said!
Voice A: [Singing to the music]...right now....
Voice B: What did you say? How dare you speak to me like that! Honestly Mum, I
dont know whats got into you lately.
Voice-over: Sanatogen Classic 50 Plus [etc.]
Frame:

4. End of UNIT TEST FIVE

Analyse the following two excerpts, both taken from the same speech event a
PhD supervision to observe the choices made by participants, at a linguistic
level, in order to systematically reduce the social distance between A and B,
emphasising common ground and shared values. Look specifically at phonetics,
syntax, vocabulary, turn-taking (how it is distributed between the two
participants):
In the two examples (taken from Thomas, 1995:192-193) speaker A is a male
academic, speaker B a female research student. They have known each other
for several years and are good friends. The interaction took place in As office
5

and the two examples occurred within a few minutes of one another. The symbol
/ is used to indicate overlapping speech.
Extract 1
A: Thats right. But then, theres a difference between that and what your um
ultimate sort of social if you like purpose or objective is in the encounter. Okay?
Now, would there bewould there be a further subdivisionI mean thats a
question, would there be a further subdivision between, as it
were tactical goal-sharing and long-term goal-sharing and would the tactical
goal-sharing be equivalent to what were calling observance of the conventions
of the language game or not? Because it did seem to me when I was reading
this that I could see the difference you were drawing
between linguistic cooperation and goal-sharing but I wondered whether there
wasnt a further sub-division within goal-sharing between the tactical and the
strategic?
B: Okay well/
A: /and that the tactical might bemight be in harmony with observance of
the conventions of the language game but might not, actually.
B: Well um er um what I was trying to get at here was why so many otherwise
intelligent people have completely and utterly rejected Grice and they have and
it seems to me that why theyve done it is because they do not see man as a
fundamentally cooperative animal. Now

Extract 2
A: Oh, es back ise? From Columbia?
B: Mm and I snapped off his flyou know how I fidget when Im nervous and
there was this orrible looking thing and I thought it was a spider on the end of a
cobweb and I snapped it off and apparently hed been nurturing it in his breast
for about two years.
A: What was it?
B: I dont know. Some silly plant but he was obviously/
A: /our plants got nicked.
B: Really?
A: In the last week yeah weve had all our plants knocked off.
B: What where from?
A: Here.
B: Really?
A: Mustve been stolen from here and the Institute and the Literature
Department.
B: How strange. Oh and a bird shat on my head and then/
A: /I thought that was good luck!
B: Yes. You wouldntve if it had happened to you. And and I thought all that
remains is for me drawers to fall down and my happiness is complete. Well the
lecture went very well indeed and er there was him there was a man called
somebody or other Charles or Charles somebody.
A: ChalrNo. I dont know him.
6

B: And he said hes got a good friend in Finland and apparently she heard this
lecture I gave over there. Shes doing her bloody PhD on it.
A: Is she?
B: Yeah. On pragmatic failure. Anyway.
A: Anyway, it went all right?.
In both extracts, the physical setting - which is the supervisors officeand the participants remain constant. The differences stand in the way
the participants use their language.
In terms of syntax, in Extract 1 the language is more formal, the social
distance between the two participants is clear. The speaker A and even
speaker B do not use contractions (e.g. they use do not instead of
dont). In extract 2, the language is informal, with a lot of
contractions: mustve, wouldntve. Moreover, Extract 1 has a lot
of subordinate clauses, which add to the formal style, whilst in Extract
2, there is only one simple coordination at the beginning of the
conversation (in Bs line).
In terms of phonetics, in Extract 1 the two speakers can pronounce the
frontal h in harmony, have, here, while in Extract 2, they do
not use the frontal h and use extremely informal forms like orrible
and es back is e, which has as an effect the reducing of the social
distance between the speakers A and B, with an emphasis on the
values they share.
In terms of vocabulary, Extract 1 contains formal and technical terms
like tactical goal-sharing, linguistic cooperation, observance of
the conventions. Extract 2 contains a lot of slang, informal and taboo
terms: knocked off, nicked, shat, bloody.
In terms of turn-taking, the two extracts are very different: in Extract
1speaker A has complete control of the conversation, while in Extract
2, the turns are evenly distributed.
6. End of UNIT TEST SIX
1. Answer the following questions:
What is a gatekeeping encounter?
A gatekeeping encounter is a term that has been first used by Erickson
and Shultz (1982) in their research on counseling interviews in
academic advising. Gatekeepers have been identified as individuals
who have been given the authority to make decisions on the behalf of
institutions that will affect the mobility of others. Examples of
gatekeeping encounters are:
Job interviews
Legal trials
Counselling sessions
Selection interviews (interviews involving the selection of
applicants for training courses)
7

Which are the

Verschueren?

characteristic

features

of

job

interviews

according

to

The characteristic features of job interviews according to Verschueren

are:
The interlocutors are typically one interviewee and one or more
interviewers. The goal of
selection interviews is to assess the candidates potential for the
training course on the basis of educational qualifications and previous
work experience. The interviewers questions therefore focus on two
specific things: background information about the applicants
education and work experience, and his/her motivation for applying for
the course.
The interviewee comes to the interview with the intention to
present him/herself in such a
way as to maximise chances of being selected. The interviewers goal
is to elicit the information needed to take the decision
One of the central features is their scheduled nature: interviews,
unlike casual conversation, are arranged at certain times and
places and the interviewers come to the interview with a pre-set
agenda
The social context is asymmetrical, with an amount of power on
the part of the interviewer, i.e. the interviewer legitimately
establishing a right-to-know persona, whereas the interviewee
displays his or her abilities for judgement. In interethnic
contexts, aspects of cultural background may enter the picture as
well.
Different types of temporal references are involved depending on
the topical segment of the interview. There is usually some talk
about past events in the candidates educational background,
and an exploration of skills and attitudes.
The positioning of the interlocutors in physical space is typically
face-to-face. The interviewees physical appearance, gestures
and gaze are carefully monitored.
Which are the problems that interviewees may encounter in intercultural job
interviews?
In an intercultural job interview, an interviewee may encounter the
following problems: first, a lack of knowledge of the rules and
procedures of the activity type; secondly a lack of adequate linguistic
knowledge.
How can analysts identify dispreferred answers of interviewees?
8

Analysts can identify dispreferred answers of the interviewees by

changing or abandoning the topic in order to signal the dispreferred
answer or reformulating the initial question so that the interviewee is
forced to expand or to clarify the previous response until it passes as
satisfactory.
In what ways is knowledge about gatekeeping encounters relevant to you?

In what I am concerned, gatekeeping encounters can be successfully used in education. As a

teacher, I consider that gatekeeping encounters are significant mechanism which can be used
to evaluate students performance, when they have to be graded or when they are assessed.
Difference in communicative background can affect the process of the educational
gatekeeping encounter.
2. Describe your expectations for the activity type of a job interview in Romania.
I expect the interview for a job in Romania to be with one interviewee
and one or two interviewers. I would come to the interview with the
intention to steer the conversation away from irrelevancies by offering
to talk my interviewer(s) through my CV, referring to an aspect of the
job description where I have expertise or asking my own questions, if
possible, in order to showcase my strengths. The questions will allow
me to highlight my suitability for the job and they will relate to the
type of person they are looking for.
7. End of UNIT TEST SEVEN
Answer the following questions:
1. How do you define institutional talk?
Institutional talk represents the interaction between laypeople and the
representatives of professions or public bureaucracies. The courts,
education, social services, medicine, business meetings, mass media,
all represent areas of institutional talk.
2. Think of examples of formal/non-formal institutions.

Formal institutions are legally introduced and enforced by state institutions, which are
embedded in state operations based on laws that are enforced and monitored by the
government. Examples of formal institutions: courts of law, many kinds of
interview, especially the broadcast news interviews, but also some job
interviews, some traditional or teacher-led styles of classroom
teaching, and most forms of ceremonial occasions.
Non-formal institutions include more loosely structured, but still taskoriented, lay/professional encounters, such as: counselling sessions,
various kinds of social work encounters, business meetings, service
encounters in places such as shops, radio phone-in conversations.
9

3. What kind of institutions are you personally familiar with? Which are the
constraints of this particular institution?
I am familiar mainly with formal institutions, such as schools, town
halls, job interviews, broadcast news and ceremonial occasions. The
constraints of this particular institution reside in the fact that there
are restrictions in the distribution of rights to express a personal
opinion on the matter being discussed.
4. Which are, in your opinion, the constraints of classroom talk?
Within a classroom talk there are heavy constraints on what they can
say and mean, because it has to be confined within the limits of what
the teacher treats, for practical purposes, as being relevant and
correct. These constraints are most apparent in the kinds of questions
which they are normally asked.
5. Which are the discursive powers typical to classroom talk?

One of the discursive powers typical to classroom talk is Teacher modelling which can be
described as follows: during whole-class instruction, teachers model behaviors, skills, and
strategies that they expect to see from their students. This modelling is based on an established
purpose and provides students with a mental model for completing tasks they will encounter in
another phase of instruction. Another discursive power is Guided Instruction. During guided
instructional events, teachers use talk to determine what students know and what they still
need to know. This is an opportunity to use questions, prompts, and cues to help students
complete tasks. Collaborative Tasks is another discursive power in classroom talk. In this
phase of instruction, students are provided an opportunity to work together, with the teacher
monitoring and supporting as needed. Talk becomes critical when students discuss tasks or
ideas and question one another, negotiate meaning, clarify their own understanding, and
make their ideas comprehensible to their partners.

6. In what ways is knowledge about institutional talk relevant to teaching?

Learning a language in the classroom is a consequence of the exposure of the learner to the
linguistic environment manifested in the interaction between the participants in that context.
This interaction differs in form and function from casual conversation and other institutional
varieties of talk which occur in different institutions such as hospitals, court rooms, etc.

10

TEXT ANALYSIS THE PRAGMATIC APPROACH

Honey, I gotta talk to you.

Sure. Is something wrong? She put her book down.
Well, sort of. Yes.
()
Bob, she said with candor, something in your voice scares me. Have I done anything?
No. Its me. Ive done it. Bob took a breath. He was shaking, Sheila, remember when you
were pregnant with Paula?
Yes?
I had to fly to Europe----Montpellier----to give that paper
And?
I had an affair. He said it as quickly as he could.

No. this is some terrible joke. Isnt it?

No. Its true, he said tonelessly. I---Im sorry.
Who? she asked.
Nobody, he replied. Nobody special.
Who, Robert?
Her----her name is Nicole Guirin. She was a doctor. Why does she want to hear these
details?
And how long did it last?
11

Two, three days.

Two days or three days? I want to know.
Three days, he said. Does all this matter?
Everything matters, Sheila answered.
(Man, Woman and Child Eric Segal)
The conversation above is an excerpt from the novel Man, Woman and Child by Erich
Segal. The characters who are having the conversation are Robert and Sheila, who are
happily married and have a good education.
The physical context: Robert loves his wife deeply, but has a secret that torments him: he had
a love affair with a French doctor several years ago. The French doctor gave birth to a boy
who is nine years old when the conversation occurs, and Robert has just found it out when a
friend of his told him about that. Robert has a dilemma in front of him: the French doctor
died and the child has to be sent to an orphanage, so Robert has to choose between telling his
wife the truth, although she might be deeply hurt or letting his son go to the orphanage.
The words used in the conversation are very common. The husband chooses common words
in order to obtain forgiveness from his wife and the wife does so in order get the complete
truth from her husband. In the beginning, Robert chooses gotta to talk rather than
have to talk for two reasons. Firstly, the relationship between them is husband and wife, so
there is no need to be so formal. Secondly, Robert tries his best to create the easy atmosphere
and put both of them at ease. Then, the wife asks Is something wrong? instead of Is
anything wrong? This is because that something implies the wifes expectation. This shows
that the wife expects something will happen. The husband uses the word well and the vague
phrase sort of to make a reply in order to diminish the seriousness of the matter. The
conversation moves until the husband tells his wife about his affair rather than love
affair. The choice of the word affair and the omission of love show the husbands guilt
to Sheila and the pain resulted from his extra-marital affair. After Sheilas temporary shock,
she clearly and definitely chooses one word who to seek the absolute truth of the matter.
Finally, when the husband tells her it only lasts two, three days, she again continues to go
after the definite answer by repeating the word days in two days or three days. It can be
clearly seen that all these common words are not chosen at random but influenced by their
mental world and physical context. The couple constantly adapts their choices to their needs
to achieve their own purposes.

12