Situationality Which text is clearer Which is more

Situationality

Which text is clearer? Which is more appropriate? • [1] SLOW • CHILDREN • AT PLAY • [1 b] Motorists should proceed slowly, because children are playing in the vicinity and might run out into the street. Vehicles can stop more readily if they are moving slowly.

road sign • • [1] SLOW CHILDREN AT PLAY Possibly ambiguous: slow as a request to reduce speed or premodifier of children? The situation where the text is presented disambiguates it. On the one hand, a text version such as: Motorists should proceed slowly, because children are playing in the vicinity and might run out into the street. Vehicles can stop more readily if they are moving slowly. would remove every possible doubt about sense, but would not be appropriate to the situation That consideration forces the text producer toward a maximum of economy; situationality works so strongly that the minimal version [1] is more appropriate than the clearer [1 b] (cf. I. 23).

SITUATIONALITY • The term situationality is a general designation for the factors which render a text relevant to a current or recoverable situation of occurrence • the effects of a situational setting exerted through MEDIATION: – The accessible EVIDENCE in the situation is fed into one’s MODEL of the current communicative situation along with our prior knowledge and expectations about how the “real world” is organized.

Situation codified in the language: deictics • Some elements in text refer to the context of situation (e. g. deictics) and cannot be decoded unless reliance on situationality is made • Halliday and Hasan (1976) suggest the term EXOPHORA for this usage (in analogy to “anaphora” and “cataphora”). The first and second person pronouns are by nature exophoric, singling out the text producer and receivers, and sometimes signalling their social relationship: – 2 ND CITIZEN: Nay, I beseech you, sir, be not out with me; yet, if you be out, I can mend you. – MARULLUS: ‘What mean’st thou by that? Mend me, thou saucy fellow! (Julius Caesar I i 16 -19) • The workman must say ‘you’ to the government official, who responds with ‘thou’ to show social dominance (cf. Brown & Gilman 1960).

Establishing relations with the situation is a property of all texts. In some texts such relations become a leading function. In these cases mediation can take different forms: • Situation monitoring • Situation managing

Situation monitoring • Monitoring is typically done when the situation fails to match expectations, so that the text producer’s goal is predominantly to resolve discrepancies and discontinuities or at least to reaffirm expectations.

Situation management • If the dominant function is to guide the situation in a manner favourable to the text producer’s goals, SITUATION MANAGEMENT is being carried out

• Situation monitoring is akin to PROBLEM-SOLVING • The text producer notices some non-expected object or event and makes it the TOPIC of the text. There are two normal outcomes. Either the matter is left as observed—as ‘odd’ or ‘stupid’ — or a means is found to downgrade it such that it does not appear to be a violation of expectations after. • Such a process belongs to the means for NEGOTIATING the socially accepted model of reality and its norms (cf. VII. 18. 1).

• Monitoring can also serve to point out some lack of continuity to be downgraded, e. g. when people’s actions seem to have no reason: • [127] The twelve jurors were all writing very busily on slates. “What are they doing? ” Alice whispered to the Gryphon. “They can’t have anything to put down yet, before the trial’s begun. ” “They’re putting down their names, “ the Gryphon whispered in reply, “for fear they should forget them before the end of the trial. ” “Stupid things!” Alice began in a loud indignant voice. (Carroll 1960: 144 f. ) • The Gryphon downgrades the seemingly unmotivated action

Informativity

• The sea is water vs • The sea is water only in the sense that water is the dominant substance present. Actually, it is a solution of gases and salts in addition to vast numbers of living organisms. . .

Every text is at least somewhat informative, i. e. it contains at least some elements that cannot be entirely foreseen. Particularly low informativity is likely to be disturbing, causing boredom or even rejection of the text. The opening stretch of a science textbook runs like this: [15] The sea is water The fact asserted here is so well known to everyone that there seems to be no point in saying it here. The stretch of text is clearly cohesive and coherent, and undoubtedly intended to be acceptable as such. But it is nonetheless a marginal text because it is so uninformative. Not until we look at the continuation does the text’s status seem more sound: [15 a] The sea is water only in the sense that water is the dominant substance present. Actually, it is a solution of gases and salts in addition to vast numbers of living organisms. . .

• The assertion of an obvious fact functions as a starting point for asserting something more informative. • The surface cue ‘actually’ signals that the common view is not strictly accurate. The ensuing correction of a common view is less expected, so that the informativity of the whole passage is upgraded.

operations. These procedures minimize processing load, so that attention is reserved for higher-order occurrences. • when occurrences are less probable, we obtain SECOND-ORDER INFORMATIVITY. The presence of at least some second-order occurrences would be the normal standard for textual communication, since texts purely on the first order would be extremely uninteresting. • Occurrences which at first appear to be outside the set of more or less probable options convey THIRD-ORDER INFORMATIVITY. These are comparatively infrequent occurrences which demand much attention and processing resources, but which are, in return, more INTERESTING. • FIRST-ORDER INFORMATIVITY : require DEFAULT PROCESSING • The sea is water (first order) • The sea is water only in the sense that… (second order) • The sea is not water. It is actually a solution of gases and salts (third order)

Informativity is connected with expectations SOURCES OF EXPECTATION: 1. 2. THE REAL WORLD: GLOBAL PATTERNS(FRAMES, SCHEMAS, and SCRIPTS) THE ORGANIZATION OF THE LANGUAGE – the sequence “Tall man the hit small round ball a would not be considered grammatical” – FUNCTIONAL SENTENCE PERSPECTIVE and INTONATION as means for signalling what is considered new, important, or unexpected within clauses or tone groups 3. TEXT TYPE: text types are global frameworks controlling the range of options likely to be utilized. 4. The fifth and final source of expectations is the immediate context where the text occurs and is utilized

Content unexpectedness • [1] Twenty-year-old Willie B. is a diehard TV addict. [2] He hates news and talk shows, but he loves football and gets so excited over food commercials that he sometimes charges at the set, waving a fist. [3] Says a friend: [4] “He’s like a little child. ”

• [5] Willie B. is a 450 -lb gorilla at the Atlanta Zoo. [6] In December a Tennessee TV dealer heard about Willie B. ’s lonely life as the zoo’s only gorilla and gave him a TV set.

• The use which this text producer has made of receivers’ expectations markedly increases the INTERESTINGNESS of the text. The second paragraph might easily have been placed before the first one, but the EFFECTIVENESS of the text would have been much lower. • Such tactics are doubtless common in journalistic text production, where interest must be upheld even when the events and situations to be depicted are not in themselves momentous.

suggestive signals of Humanity for Willy B • The name “Willie B. ’ since animals are less likely than humans to have last names. • The terms addict’, ‘fist’, ‘friend’, and ‘child’. • The distinctions of ‘Willie’s tastes in programs [2] lead us to suppose that he can understand their content; and for ‘talk shows’, he would of course have to understand language. • Any signals that would betray the status of ‘gorilla’ are studiously avoided, e. g. ‘paw’ for ‘fist’, or ‘zookeeper’ for ‘friend’, though the reference to objects in the world would be the same. 14

Writing tips Information structure: thematization Fronting

Thematization/topicalization Thematization Placing a word or phrase at the start of a sentence in order to focus attention on it. Topicalization • Making a subject (word, or phrase) to be the topic of a sentence or discourse, typically by placing it first. • The first baseman wears a special leather glove that is designed for easy scooping and long-range catching, while the catcher wears a large glove that is heavily padded to protect him form fast pitches • The first baseman’s glove is designed for easy scooping and longrange catching, while the catcher’s is large and heavily padded to protect him form fast pitches

Thematization/topicalization 1. Thematizing/Topicalizing expressions 2. Fronting without subject movement 3. Fronting + subject-auxiliary inversion 4. Fronting + subject postposing

1. Thematizing/topicalizing expressions Marriages, the researcher says, “seem to thrive presenting, proportionately, a little negativity and a lot of positivity‟. As for/as to/with regard to/with respect to/as regards divorce, Gottman’s research allows him to conclude: “It is an unpalatable, but inescapable truth that some marriages cannot and should not be saved. ‟ The younger age groups contain higher proportions of people who are either guilty of, or cautioned for, criminal offences than do older age groups. As for/as to/with regard to/with respect to/as regards theft, for example, in 1970, 38 percent of persons accused of theft were juveniles.

2. Fronting without subject movement Movement of (usually) an adverbial or an object to the beginning of the sentence Education in England is overseen by the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills at a national level. At local level, local authorities take responsibility for implementing policy for public education and state schools

3. Fronting + subject-auxiliary inversion Emphasising fronted element (surprise) with the aim of A) developing main topic by focusing on some aspects (topic maintenance) B) introducing new topic (topic shift)

Negative/ nearnegative adverbial Implied (implicit) negative adverbial Negative Adverbsof object extent/degr ee (e. g so + adjective) Never/Rarel y…. At no time up to 1933, did the Nazi Party win a majority of votes at elections Only after obtaining A level qualification s are students allowed to apply for university studies Not another penny will they get from me. Hardly/Scarc ely……. when Hardly had I arrived at the station when the train came in. Little did I realise that the story would spread like wildfire on the internet! Conjunction (negative/ comparative) Such/ so No sooner…. . than So entranced No sooner did we turn our was he that back on he failed to Christmas than notice a there’s the swinging crane, and he fabulously was knocked optimistic sign into the river. of spring just around the corner. Commas reflect pauses in speech, as is the case in all of these examples The York never Conditional clause Were property taxes to be increased further, there would be a huge public outcry.

1. The city elders of Milan wanted Mike Bongiorno interred alongside one of Italy’s greatest writers, A Manzoni, and Silvio Berlusconi’s government decreed that he have a state funeral. Only perhaps in Berlusconi’s videocracy ________ a state funeral be accorded to a TV quizmaster. 2. I was always under the impression that the insurance policy would pay my hospital fees. At _______time was I informed by your agent that it did not cover skiing injuries. 3. So _________was he affected that he had to be taught to speak again. 4. Little did I realise that the story ___________spread like wildfire on the internet. 5. _________ property taxes to be increased further, there would be a huge public outcry. 6. Hardly had the meeting begun ____________the CEO stormed in. 7. _____is the gravity of the situation that it has already sparked an international incident. 8. At least it is only two kisses and not three, as _________the Russian custom 9. No sooner did I start my presentation _______a couple of listeners started heckling me. 10. Our company has invested over 20, 000 pounds in marketing in the last six months. Not _____ penny will we spend unless we see a return on our investments.

4. Fronting with subject postposing Comparative structures And certainly as important as creating characters that the audience will care about is developing an engaging conflict or obstacle that the characters have to deal with. Equally critical is to be passionate about the characters you create so your audience will share your feelings about them. -Ing/-ed participles + adverbial Included in these elements are the setting and character descriptions, dialogue, behavioural cues, and sound

Fronting with subject postposing II Position/direction /sequence adverbial + be/intransitive verb Here comes the judge! All rise! No sooner did I start my presentation than couple of listeners started heckling me. For a moment nothing happened. Then came voices all shouting together.

Film scripts The following passage offers information and advice about how to be a scriptwriter for films. Identify the different types of constituents that were moved to the start of the sentences and explain the writer’s purpose in doing this (i. e. topic maintenance topic shift)

A film script is a document that outlines all of the elements needed to tell a story in a film. Included in this elements are the setting and character descriptions, dialogue, behavioural cues, and sound. Important as descriptions are in a film, you must keep in mind that film is a visual medium, hence you must show, not tell your audience what is going on. Equally critical is to be passionate about the characters you create so your audience will share your feelings about them. And certainly as important as creating characters that the audience will care about is developing an engaging conflict or obstacle that the characters have to deal with. The conflict could be something personal, such as a romantic obstacle, or for the good of all people, such as the freedom of a country. Not only do you need to develop some kind of obstacle or conflict but you need a good ‘hook’, that is an interesting plot idea with an original twist that will captivate your audience and make them want to read on. By creating a hook, you will set your script apart from the many others that agents receive. Finally, be sure to read up on all of the conventions and formatting for scriptwriting so you meet the expectations of your audience. So important is this last point that if you ignore it and decide to do things your own way, your script will probably end up in the wastebasket.

A film script is a document that outlines all of the elements needed to tell a story in a film. Included in these elements [topic maintencance] are the setting and character descriptions, dialogue, behavioural cues, and sound. Important as descriptions are in a film, you must keep in mind that film is a visual medium, hence you must show, not tell your audience what is going on. Equally critical is to be passionate about the characters you create so your audience will share your feelings about them. And certainly as important as creating characters that the audience will care about is developing an engaging conflict or obstacle that the characters have to deal with.

The conflict could be something personal, such as a romantic obstacle, or for the good of all people, such as the freedom of a country. Not only do you need to develop some kind of obstacle or conflict but you need a good ‘hook’, that is an interesting plot idea with an original twist that will captivate your audience and make them want to read on. By creating a hook, you will set your script apart from the many others that agents receive. Finally, be sure to read up on all of the conventions and formatting for scriptwriting so you meet the expectations of your audience. So important is this last point that if you ignore it and decide to do things your own way, your script will probably end up in the wastebasket.