Having not really much enjoyed chapter 8 of Finegan, I was a bit hesitant to read chapter 9. I was presently surprised that I found it more interesting although still somewhat less captivating than readings earlier in the semester. The chapter focused on speech acts and conversation. It's interesting to think that something that comes quite easy to most people (speaking and conversing) really is quite complex. Linguists, as I should have surmised, have dissected our speech and conversation into explainable patterns and parts. So much of what we say can be understood in different ways depending on context. I liked how the chapter explained that the terms declarative, interrogative and imperative are really oversimplifications of what happens in spoken language...it depends on context.
The part of the chapter I found most interesting was the section on the cooperative principle. The four maxims are ideas we speakers are mostly aware of. Sometimes we are guilty of violating a maxim. We all know some chronic violators of certain maxims. For example, a recent manner of saying someone has violated the maxim of quantity is by saying to them "too much information." I also thought it interesting the thoughts behind lying and truth as explained in the maxim of quality. People by nature expect people to tell the truth.
The intricate dance that occurs in conversations was also amusing...opening sequences, turn taking, closing sequences, etc. I never thought that all of this would be explained as it is...and we're just scratching the surface in this class.
Finally, the cultural aspect of language is super important for L2 teachers and learners. I had already heard about many American Indians having large pauses between thoughts, but hadn't necessarily thought about how it might affect my teaching or communication with people from different cultural background. My favorite statement in the whole chapter was the Mandarin "Have you eaten rice yet?" equivalent to our "How are you?" I tend not to ask "How are you?" unless I really mean it. If a person is just really saying "hello," I feel he/she should just say "hello" or some equivalent to it.
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I am in awe at the complexity and depth linguists go through, I find myself saying, "Who would've thought someone studied this, broke it down and analyzed all these pieces of language".
ReplyDeleteI am one of those people - I will say, in passing, "How are you"? and it's something I should really watch - am I saying it to "say something" or when do I really mean it? Good point!
The four maxims were really interesting for me. It is a big challenge to follow these maxims, though. Language is different from culture to culture. For instances, you are supposed to speak directly in English while in some cultures this might be considered inappropriate even rude. Similarly, waiting time, if you are from Mediterranean countries the waiting time would be shorter.
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