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The Speech Act Theory, 2008.
A research paper exploring indirect directives and politeness in Mandarin
Chinese and English.
3,147 words (approx. 12.6 pages), 8 sources, APA, $ 91.95
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Abstract
The paper shows how, in conversation, people cooperate in making utterances, thereby creating social communication in an effort to express meaning. The paper discusses what constitutes a request and reveals that much of the time, a speaker will make an indirect appeal for action, slightly obscuring the request within an indirect sentence. The paper then investigates and compares how indirect directives are expressed in the English and the Mandarin Chinese languages. The paper appends a pronunciation guide for Chinese tones, vowels and consonants.
Outline:
Introduction
Speech Act Theory
Speech Act Categories
Speech Act Categories in Chinese
Direct and Indirect Speech Acts
Grice's Cooperative Principle
Politeness Theory 'Face' and Its Effect in Indirect Directives
Examples of Co-Maintaining Face in Chinese Conversation
Levels of Politeness in Conversation
Conclusion
From the Paper
"In speaking people do more with words than share information, and when they do share information, an implicit meaning in an utterance is often expressed along with what the words in the utterance explicitly express. In an utterance, there can be three diverse levels of action that may be associated with the utterance. According to Austin, these levels include "the act of saying something, what one does in saying it, and what one does by saying it..." (Bach, K: internet) and are called locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary acts. Take, for example, the utterance, "There is a car coming." The locutionary act in that utterance is the act of informing a hearer that there is a car approaching. There is a lack of literal information regarding where exactly the vehicle is and exactly at what time it is due, but the sharing of the information occurs. The illocutionary act is what the utterance does, which in this case involves informing the hearer of a moving vehicle and advises him to look for the car. The perlocutionary act is the effect that the utterance has on the hearer, which in this utterance is that the hearer becomes vigilant and looks for the car. In the utterance itself, there isn't any explicit warning spoken to the hearer, but the implicit warning can be understood."
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Politeness in Speech, 2005.
This paper explores linguistic politeness and how it determines patterns of language use.
3,263 words (approx. 13.1 pages), 5 sources, APA, $ 93.95
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Abstract
The paper reveals the linguistic definition of politeness and shows how politeness is an integral part of speech. The paper discusses how the use of politeness is determined by three main sociological factors: distance, power and cultural rate of impositions. Finally, the paper demonstrates how language is transformed by politeness in practice.
From the Paper
"Everyone knows what politeness is. From our very childhood, we are constantly told phrases such as "be polite" and we are faced with the issue of addressing people in a decent way, using either their nicknames, first names or their titles plus last names, etc. and in some foreign languages distinguishing between the formal second person personal pronoun and the familiar one (e.g. tu/vous in French). When our neighbour tells us "beautiful day, isn't it?" it would never occur to us to reply "no, in fact I totally disagree with you. Haven't you seen these clouds? It is undoubtedly going to rain". Why if it is true? It is simply because it is a basic matter of politeness that we are also used to calling good manners. In fact, politeness is really part of our everyday life and speech."
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The Nature of Rhetoric, 2006.
A creative writing piece in the form of a play, about the trial of a public high school teacher who is accused of "corrupting the youth".
5,799 words (approx. 23.2 pages), 6 sources, MLA, $ 139.95
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Abstract
This paper discusses the nature of rhetoric. It is a creative writing piece that is written in the form of a play. The play presents fictional interpretative characters (Plato, Isocrates and Gorgias) who are created entirely out of their true philosophies from their various works. The play presents a case against a public high school teacher who is on trial for "corrupting the youth" by teaching about the theory of evolution.
Table of Contents:
Act One
Scene I
Scene II
Act Two
Scene One
Act Two
Scene II
From the Paper
"Ghost of Gorgias: Isocrates! Where in the world have you taken us now? I knew I should have never trusted you after that rather hostile tirade, "Against the Sophists.""
"Ghost of Isocrates: Gorgias, you are disgustingly self-absorbed. Can't you see this poor girl desperately needs our help? She's on trial for "corrupting the youth;" sound familiar, anyone? (Glances at Socrates, whose attention is immediately captured.) Over 2,000 years after we're dead and they're still fighting the same battle. Figures. Apparently she went against academic protocol and (gasp) informed him students about an alternative to the creation myth that was driven into their oblivious little minds since before they could speak. How unfortunate that this state's tax base is uniformly fundamental Christian; they refuse to fund public education that perpetuates anything slightly contradictory to their beliefs. "So inimical to all the world is this race of sycophants that when men spend any amount, however small upon their education, they complain that they are being corrupted. Could any charge be more unjust?" Any threat to their power structure, regardless of truth or moral consideration, is corrupt. Men, it's time to change the course of things. The future of education is about to rerouted. This our chance! If John is acquitted of these contrived charges, this trial will make history! The world will have engaged in intense rhetoric to reconcile the implications of the separation of church and state. Government will have to be restructured; true democracy will finally prevail! How thrilling, rhetoric will at last be a means to peace and perfectly noble service to the state! Gentlemen, this is kairos at its finest. We are here because this is the right time, the right place, and the right philosophy. Our task is clear: we must inculcate our civic virtue, our knowledge of rhetoric and persuasion, into John so that justice will prevail!"
"Ghost of Plato: Of course! If she can unite philosophy with skillfully employed rhetoric, she will be invincible! Wait.... how do we know if she is interested in good for all mankind? Is his cause truly a noble one? What do we really know? Before we teach him rhetoric, we must make sure she will use it for good and not to deceive anyone. We must never forget the inherent duality in rhetoric: it can be used equally for good and evil. What if she is in this for fame, or for money? We need to discover the nature of his cause before we teach him anything, agreed?"
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Slang, 2007.
An overview of the language phenomenon known as slang.
2,353 words (approx. 9.4 pages), 7 sources, MLA, $ 72.95
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Abstract
The paper first tries to define slang and looks at its different characteristics such as level of informality. It discusses how it cannot be equated with words such as jargon and lingo. It also gives examples of certain types of slang such as French verlan and Cockney rhyming slang.
From the Paper
"Nevertheless, the most prominent characteristic of slang seems to be its level of informality. This is actually the first connotation borne by the noun itself. I remember when I bought my very first English slang dictionary. The cover was depicting the 'ghetto' as it were, with a wall daubed with graffiti. The power of the image is such that it forces meaning - subjective connotations in fact - on you, thus depicting slang as the language of the street and making it an urban phenomenon, typical of 'bad' areas. But then, don't they use slang words in the countryside? Slang is actually a style category within the language, occupying an extreme position on the spectrum of formality: it is made up of highly informal words that constitute a deviation from standard language. As mentioned above, it seems to defy established forms and constituted authorities. "
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Stuttering, 2007.
An analysis of the negative stereotypes of stuttering and the sociolinguistic effect of stuttering on individuals.
2,124 words (approx. 8.5 pages), 6 sources, MLA, $ 66.95
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Abstract
This paper highlights the important topic of stuttering and its effects on individual stutterers, from a sociolinguistic point of view. It looks at the negative stereotypes and prejudices that are associated with people who stutter and those that attempt to conceal their stuttering. The paper analyzes whether attempting to conceal stuttering is in fact effective or if it adds to the negative stereotypes that surround stutterers.
Table of Contents:
Ignorance and Generalization
Backfiring of Concealment Strategies
From the Paper
"In sum, the attempts to disguise or avoid stuttering may contribute to an even worse overall perception of the stutterer. Listeners are not easily fooled by concealment strategies, and they tend to react more favourable to speech "blocks, repetitions and prolongations" than to attempts of disguise (Parry)."
"Even if the stutterer does get away with his attempt, the outcome might be far from desirable. He may confirm the popular stereotype that sutterers are "shy, nervous, anxious, tense, fearful, introverted, quiet or reticent (Acton and Hird 505; Heite)," or maybe even worse, create himself a social identity that is associated with terms like arrogance and disinterest."
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Idiosyncrasies of the English Language, 2007.
An analysis of the evolution, flexibility and irregularity of the English language.
4,022 words (approx. 16.1 pages), 16 sources, MLA, $ 108.95
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Abstract
This paper explains the developmental history of our ever-changing English language. It includes French, British, Spanish and Italian influences on English. The paper discusses differences between written and spoken language and how slang, jargon, euphemisms, cliches and idioms can make English a difficult language to learn. The paper cites several examples of well-known cliches and jargon and explains their origins.
From the Paper
"In most languages there is a distinction between that which is written and that which is spoken, a difference between literature and colloquial speech. In written literature we can see the broad outlines of history, but the language of literature has historically been that of the ruling class. The spoken language, the common everyday speech, reveals the intimate, familiar lives of the people, even when reading and writing were limited to the upper classes. In his 1888 book, The Queen's English: A Manual of Idiom and Usage, Dean Henry Alford described the difference between written and spoken English at that time:
We must distinguish between the English which we speak, and that which we write. Many expressions are not only tolerated but required in conversation, which are not usually put on paper. Thus . . . everyone says 'can't', . . . 'won't' [and] 'isn't', . . . but we seldom see these contractions in books, except where a conversation is related. (Alford 57)"
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SPEECH ACTS AND IMPLICATURES, 2007.
A discussion regarding speech acts and implicatures.
1,523 words (approx. 6.1 pages), 16 sources, MLA, $ 50.95
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Abstract
This paper reviews and discusses speech acts and implicatures in relation to pragmatics. According to the paper, any time a person talks, they perform a speech act, for language is not just a logical system and, therefore, the context and the intention of the speaker are extremely important. This paper tries to sum up the points of view of John L. Austin, John R. Searle and Paul Grice as far as speech acts and implicatures are concerned, trying to draw parallels with the seminar as often as possible.
Outline:
Austin's Contribution to the Study of Speech Acts
Searle's Classification of Speech Acts
Grice's Work on Implicatures: The Cooperative Principle
From the Paper
"In this perspective, implicatures (that is to say, the implied meaning that is based on the assumption that the speaker follows the cooperative principle and the four maxims) are made possible by the cooperative behaviour of both the speaker and the listener. Those implicatures are first implied by the speaker, and then inferred by the listener: we may call them "invited inferences". Even if it is very important for the listener to assume the speaker is being cooperative (that is to say, that he follows the conversational maxims), this may not be the case every time: when one or more conversational maxims are apparently broken, this may give rise to implicatures as well. One can classify implicatures into two categories: conversational and conventional implicatures. Conversational implicatures rise out of the breaking of the conversational maxims, whereas conventional ones do not interact with those maxims. "
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Pragmatics - Grammatical Constructions, 2007.
A discussion regarding construction grammar and grammatical constructions.
917 words (approx. 3.7 pages), 16 sources, MLA, $ 32.95
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Abstract
This paper reviews and discusses construction grammar. According to the paper, construction grammar (CxG) is a usage-based framework, and it endeavors to treat all types of expressions as equally central to capturing grammatical patterning.
Outline:
Fillmore's approach to Construction Grammar
More cognitive approaches to Construction Grammar
Towards a "Fluid" Construction Grammar
From the Paper
"A. Radical Construction Grammar (Croft): all constructions are language-specific; all categories are defined by constructions; constructions are the primitive units of language. This kind of CxG takes into account cross-linguistic factors, dealing with the internal structure of constructions. Radical CxG is non-reductionist: constructions are not derived from their parts, but the parts are derived from the constructions. Radical CxG is opposed to the idea that syntactic categories, roles, and relations are universal. Moreover, they are not only language-specific, but also construction-specific. Instead of syntactic relations, Radical CxG rather talks about semantic relations. Indeed, it is closely related to cognitive linguistics."
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Diversity and Inclusion in English Language Classrooms, 2005.
A look at the challenges facing the English teacher when teaching students whose native language is not English.
1,195 words (approx. 4.8 pages), 9 sources, MLA, $ 40.95
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Abstract
This paper examines how almost every teacher in America is faced with the challenge of teaching English language learners (ELL) due to the cultural diversity of this country. It discusses how it is important for all teachers to be aware of the many strategies that can be used in the classroom to help their ELL students learn not only the English language but also the rest of the academic subjects being taught to the rest of the students. The paper concludes that teaching every student successfully is vital to the future of America since today's students are tomorrows working adults.
From the Paper
"The strategy of using pre-instructional activities such as graphic organizers, semantic webbing, and mapping can be used effectively to help ELL students understand what they are learning. Before starting a reading assignment it is helpful to graph or map the information that will be discussed using a webbing format. If the reading assignment centers on a moral lesson, the teacher can guide the class through a discussion of what moral character is and what some important moral characteristics are to them. After discussing and mapping the concept of moral character with the entire class the ELL students will be more likely to understand the reading assignment. Using webbing and mapping can also help the teacher "determine where the students stand in relation to the content of the upcoming lesson" (Tips for teaching, n.d.). "
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Communicative Competence and Language Learning, 2007.
A look at the role of communicative competence and language learning when a learner is learning a second language.
1,517 words (approx. 6.1 pages), 6 sources, MLA, $ 49.95
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Abstract
This paper examines how language learners learning a second language need to develop their communicative competence in order to be able to communicate effectively with speakers of the target language. It discusses how this is because when one uses a language, one needs to take into consideration the purpose, the context and the person that one is addressing. It shows that when one has a good command of communicative competence in the target language, one will be able to communicate in the target language without many problems.
Outline:
Grammatical Competence
Discourse Competence
Sociolinguistic Competence
Strategic Competence
From the Paper
"Most scholars agree that there is some kind of fundamental difference between being able to use the forms of the language and being able to talk about the forms of the language. The relationship between those two kinds of knowledge is a controversial topic (Alptekin, 2002)5. Chomskyan syntax would reject the sentence 'colorless green ideas sleep furiously' as although it is grammatically correct, the sentence is illogical and does not provide a clear meaning. It would also not accept sentences that have subtle semantic differences such as 'my lust for the polish people'. "
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