Patterns and Variation in English Language Discourse: 9th Brno Conference on Linguistics Studies in English
Patterns and Variation in English Language Discourse: 9th Brno Conference on Linguistics Studies in English
Contributor(s): Irena Hůlková (Editor), Renata Povolná (Editor), Radek Vogel (Editor)
Subject(s): Language studies, Foreign languages learning, Media studies, Theoretical Linguistics, Communication studies, Syntax, Lexis, Semantics, Pragmatics, Sociolinguistics, School education, Higher Education , Phraseology
Published by: Masarykova univerzita nakladatelství
Keywords: Patterns; Variation; English Language; Brno Conference; Linguistics Studies;
Summary/Abstract: The publication is reviewed post-conference proceedings from the international 9th Brno Conference on Linguistics Studies in English, held on 16-17 September 2021 and organised by the Faculty of Education, Masaryk University in Brno. The papers revolve around the themes of patterns and variation in specialised discourses (namely the media, academic, business, tourism, educational and learner discourses), effective interaction between the addressor and addressees and the current trends and development in specialised discourses. The principal methodological perspectives are the comparative approach involving discourses in English and another language, critical and corpus analysis, as well as identification of pragmatic strategies and appropriate rhetorical means. The authors of papers are researchers from the Czech Republic, Italy, Luxembourg, Serbia and Georgia.
- E-ISBN-13: 978-80-280-0212-1
- Print-ISBN-13: 978-80-280-0211-4
- Page Count: 162
- Publication Year: 2022
- Language: English
The multifaceted and whimsical nature of discourse
The multifaceted and whimsical nature of discourse
(The multifaceted and whimsical nature of discourse)
- Author(s):Jarmila Tárnyiková
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theoretical Linguistics, Morphology, Syntax, Pragmatics, Sociolinguistics
- Page Range:7-25
- No. of Pages:19
- Keywords:discourse; text; facets; metafunctions; principles; vagueness; placeholders;
- Summary/Abstract:My contribution, rooted in functional and systemic grammar, is based on the assumption that though discourse as a social behaviour and verbal interaction has been studied by great minds for decades, the dynamism of human evolution and the consequent changes in communicative strategies can hardly leave discourse analysts immune to a whole spectrum of new challenges. These are evoked by changes in the scope of items considered to be relevant for present-day research, by blurring the traditional borderlines between categories (written manifestation of spoken discourse in chatting), but before all by the existence of language corpora offering the immensity of data across genres, language varieties and language interfaces. A brief introduction (Part 1) will be followed by three main parts, focusing on reasons for multifacetedness in discourse (Part 2), whimsical nature of discourse (Part 3), and handson experience with overt language manifestations of vagueness, as exemplified by English placeholders (Mrs Thingy, John Whatsisname, whatchamacallit, so-and-so) emergent from the BNC and COCA corpora (Part 4). The aim is twofold: to map the facets which contribute to patterning and variation in discourse shaping, and by using authentic language data amplify the role of peripheral language devices in interaction.
Repetition as an effective rhetorical device in remarks at media briefings on COVID-19
Repetition as an effective rhetorical device in remarks at media briefings on COVID-19
(Repetition as an effective rhetorical device in remarks at media briefings on COVID-19)
- Author(s):Zhuzhuna Gumbaridze
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Media studies, Communication studies, Pragmatics, Health and medicine and law, Rhetoric
- Page Range:26-41
- No. of Pages:16
- Keywords:repetition; persuasion; parallelism; stance; rhetoric;
- Summary/Abstract:The present paper aims at exploring the use of a linguistic means of repetition as a persuasion strategy to achieve a communicative intention in a particular kind of discourse: addresses and opening remarks on COVID-19 related issues delivered at WHO and NCDC media briefings. The main objective is to investigate pragmatic function of repetition as a rhetorical device by means of which the text is assigned intentionality and the address becomes persuasive and manipulative as a consequence. Drawing on the assumption that such addresses lack a conversational space in which interactants would equally participate, a speaker takes a tough stance to bring forward ad hoc issues by utilizing repetition tactically and pervasively. This serves as a contributing factor to strengthening credibility of a speaker’s interpretation of the pandemic crisis and actions proposed. The study highlights that while attempting to persuade, threaten, frighten or deter the audience into sharing a particular opinion of the state of affairs and undertake a proposed action, the speaker utilizes a direct appeal to the audience with the aim of having a specific impact on their opinions or behavior. In such addresses repetition functions as the main linguistic device used for rhetorical purposes.
Tendencies of threat techniques utilization in the COVID-19 related discourse in Georgian and English online news reports
Tendencies of threat techniques utilization in the COVID-19 related discourse in Georgian and English online news reports
(Tendencies of threat techniques utilization in the COVID-19 related discourse in Georgian and English online news reports)
- Author(s):Zeinab Gvarishvili, Nana Mazmishvili
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Media studies, Communication studies, Comparative Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, Health and medicine and law
- Page Range:42-58
- No. of Pages:17
- Keywords:COVID-19 online news reports; persuasion; threat; linguistic markers of threat;
- Summary/Abstract:The objective of the present research is to study and analyze linguistic markers of threat utilized in English and Georgian online daily news (The Guardian and The Georgian Times) concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. The study provides synchronic analysis of specific tendencies of utilization of threat techniques in the two languages. The research methodology implies qualitative and quantitative data analyses as well as corpus-based research aiming at determination of peculiarities of threat utterance and its function in persuasive communicative act and revealing similarities and differences between the two languages by contrasting and comparative methodologies.
Adverse ‘native speaker’ effects on Anglophones in the multilingual workplace
Adverse ‘native speaker’ effects on Anglophones in the multilingual workplace
(Adverse ‘native speaker’ effects on Anglophones in the multilingual workplace)
- Author(s):Veronika Lovrits
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Applied Linguistics, Sociolinguistics
- Page Range:59-71
- No. of Pages:13
- Keywords:multilingual; sociolinguistic; native; English; language ideology; EU; stance;
- Summary/Abstract:In order to explore the social effects of the differentiation between ‘native’ and ‘non-native’ varieties of English, the present qualitative study followed six Anglophone trainees in an EU institution in Luxembourg. Data were gathered in 2018/19 and 2020/21, combining on-site observations with longitudinal and one-off interviews. Research incited participants’ reflections on language practices at work and mapped their discursive positioning. Conclusions drawn from a sociolinguistic analysis of stances show that, despite the vagueness and lack of clearly definable linguistic characteristics for the category, being labelled as ‘native English’ brought distinct negative effects to the experience of the ‘native English’ participants. The contribution highlights the social constructivist character of the native/non-native dichotomy and draws attention to its adverse effects in the multilingual workplace and beyond.
Hedging like a professional: A corpus-driven approach to interactional metadiscourse in English learner academic writing
Hedging like a professional: A corpus-driven approach to interactional metadiscourse in English learner academic writing
(Hedging like a professional: A corpus-driven approach to interactional metadiscourse in English learner academic writing)
- Author(s):Markéta Malá
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Foreign languages learning, Higher Education , Phraseology
- Page Range:72-86
- No. of Pages:15
- Keywords:metadiscourse; hedging; novice academic writers; phraseology; learner corpora;
- Summary/Abstract:The paper explores the phraseology of English academic texts written by Czech university students in comparison with English L1 novice and expert academic writing, focussing on hedging patterns. It combines contrastive analysis and learner corpus research, taking as its starting point recurrent multiword patterns overused or underused by both groups of novice writers (e.g. it can be said that and it seems ADJECTIVE that/to, respectively), or by English L2 writers (e.g. as it seems) in comparison with L1 expert writers. The findings suggest that when expressing epistemic stance in their English academic papers, Czech university students have to face two types of challenge – the more prominent ‘academic’ challenge, i.e. the lack of academic experience, and, despite their proficiency, also the ‘linguistic’ EFL challenge.
A comparison of climate change lexical creativity among American, European and international Twitter users
A comparison of climate change lexical creativity among American, European and international Twitter users
(A comparison of climate change lexical creativity among American, European and international Twitter users)
- Author(s):Vanessa Marcella
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Media studies, Communication studies, Lexis, Human Ecology, Environmental interactions
- Page Range:87-104
- No. of Pages:18
- Keywords:climate change; lexical creativity; corpus linguistics; Twitter; hashtags;
- Summary/Abstract:Climate change is an environmental, social, cultural and political phenomenon which has led to a bitter controversy among political leaders, social movements, and activists. The aim of this case study is to analyze lexical innovations in climate change discourse in the micro-blogging service Twitter, and more in particular, in the use of English language through hashtags by a new generation of young activists, NGOs, and American and European politicians and organizations in the time frame from 2015 to 2020. By means of this case study, we prove that, through the creativity of hashtags, Twitter users can take part in the heart of a discussion related to climate change leading to a valuable interpretive framework.
Possibility modals in English tourism discourse: Variation across three web registers
Possibility modals in English tourism discourse: Variation across three web registers
(Possibility modals in English tourism discourse: Variation across three web registers)
- Author(s):Aleksandra Radovanović
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theoretical Linguistics, Morphology, Syntax, Semantics, Tourism
- Page Range:105-119
- No. of Pages:15
- Keywords:possibility modals; tourism discourse; register; epistemic possibility; root possibility; metadiscourse;
- Summary/Abstract:The present study explores central modals CAN, COULD, MAY, MIGHT, and the semi-auxiliary verb BE ABLE TO in tourism discourse with a focus on register variation. A small-scale analysis conducted on the tailor-made corpus (c. 131,000 words) of three text types/registers (promotional texts, e-newsletters, and managerial responses to guests’ reviews) revealed an important variation across registers in the distribution of possibility modals, the degree to which their polysemantic nature is displayed and in their capacity to serve specific metadiscoursal functions. The findings clearly indicate that the causes of the observed variation lie in the influence stemming from the differing situational characteristics, especially communicative purposes, interactiveness, topic domains, and personal involvement.
Grammatical collocations in English exam texts written by Czech secondary-school students
Grammatical collocations in English exam texts written by Czech secondary-school students
(Grammatical collocations in English exam texts written by Czech secondary-school students)
- Author(s):Věra Sládková
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Foreign languages learning, Theoretical Linguistics, Syntax, School education
- Page Range:120-141
- No. of Pages:22
- Keywords:post-verbal complementation; grammatical collocations; colligations; non-finite clauses; complementation patterns; two-verb sequences; infinitive clauses; ing-clauses;
- Summary/Abstract:This paper focuses on the frequency and accuracy of five types of grammatical collocations G8E-G8I (Benson et al. 1986) in CZEMATELC, an English language learner corpus (8,338 types; 211,503 tokens) consisting of 1,841 English exam texts from the written part of the national school-leaving exams between 2015 and 2019. The findings reveal the prevalence of A1-A2 CEFR level colligations relying on a limited number of verb lemmas, a wide incorrect pattern variation and preference for patterns which are also the most frequent patterns of their Czech equivalents.
Aspects of vocabulary knowledge in current lower-secondary EFL coursebooks and coursebooks published 20 years ago
Aspects of vocabulary knowledge in current lower-secondary EFL coursebooks and coursebooks published 20 years ago
(Aspects of vocabulary knowledge in current lower-secondary EFL coursebooks and coursebooks published 20 years ago)
- Author(s):Michaela Trnová
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Foreign languages learning, Lexis, School education
- Page Range:142-162
- No. of Pages:21
- Keywords:vocabulary; coursebooks; vocabulary knowledge; vocabulary activities;
- Summary/Abstract:This article presents a content analysis of vocabulary activities in selected lower-secondary coursebooks used in the Czech Republic. The aim was to verify the categorical system, which will be used in further research, and to determine if vocabulary is given more attention in current teaching materials than in those published 20 years ago.
