Contexts of speech and social interaction

Chapter 2 by Marisol Leal Prado

What is in a context?
Hymes lists the factors of contexts under the acronym SPEAKING: SETTING: refers to the time and place . that is , the set-up of the class. Place includes: the space occupied by teacher and students, the movements of participants; the temperature; backgroundnoise, place, size, etc. Time includes: the time devoted to each activity, its pace, the time within an entire lesson, its relative length, etc.

 PARTICIPANTS: include combinations of speakers and listeners in various roles, that are either given to them or taking during the lesson. ENDS: refers to the purposes of the activities. they can be short-term goals like learning linguistic,cognitive or affective outcomes; or long-term goals such as motivations or attitudes or.specific professional attitudes.

 ACT SEQUENCE: refers both to the form and content of utterances, both to what is said and what is meant by the way it is said. KEY: refers to the tone, manner, or spirit in which a particupar message is conveyed: serious or ironical; matter or fact or playful.They can be conveyed verbal and non-verbal and the two may sometimes contradict one another.

 INSTRUMENTALITIES: refers to the choice of channel ( for.example , oral or written) and of code ( mother tong,oreign (language or a mix of codes or code switching). NORMS of interaction and interpretation: refers to the way participants in the lesson interact and interpret what is said or what they are reading. GENRE: refers to the type of oral or written activity students and.teacher are

Types of speakers
There are 3 different types of speakers: Principals: participants addressing each other according to their position in the social structure. Animators: participants reciting or reading aloud a prepared text or isolated sentences.

Types of Hearers
There are 3 types of hearers: Addressee: the student to whom the teacher is asking a question. Bystanders: the rest of the class while the teacher is asking a question of that student. Eavesdroppers: the teacher eavesdropping on what the students say during group work or students overhearing

Discourse and Culture

In the foreign language class, culture is created through the dialogue between teacher and students.Through the.dialogue, participants not.only replicate a given context or culture,but, becauseit takes place in a foreign language, it also has the potential of shaping a new culture.