The interplay of prior experience and actual situational context in intercultural first encounters

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-134
Author(s):  
Istvan Kecskes
Keyword(s):  
Common Ground ◽  
Behavior Pattern ◽  
Prior Experience ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Situational Context ◽  
Intercultural Encounters ◽  
Intercultural Interactions ◽  
Situational Experience

Abstract The study aims to investigate how prior experience of interlocutors interacts with actual situational context in intercultural interactions when the latter is represented by a well-known frame: getting acquainted with others. It attempts to demonstrate how the cultural frame of the target language is broken up and substituted with an emergent frame that is co-constructed from elements from prior experience with the target language, the first language and the actual situational experience. Getting acquainted with others is a closed social situation, a cultural frame in which interlocutors usually have to follow a behavior pattern dictated by the requirements of the socio-cultural background in a given speech community. There is a ‘skeleton’ of these ‘getting to know you’ procedures that can be considered universal but is substantiated differently in every language. In each conversation in any language, ‘flesh’ is added to the ‘skeleton’ in a dynamic and co-constructed manner. However, there is a difference between how this happens in L1 and in intercultural interactions. While in L1 the ‘flesh’ on the skeleton is predetermined to a significant extent by requirements of core common ground in the given language, in intercultural encounters this ‘flesh building’ process in the target language (in this case English) is not set but is co-constructed by the interlocutors as emergent common ground relying on their prior experience with their own L1 culture, limited experience with the target culture and the assessment of the actual situational context. In this study the co-construction process, i.e. emergent common ground will be analyzed by examining the use of formulaic language and freely generated language in several discourse segments.

Impoverished pragmatics? The semantics-pragmatics interface from an intercultural perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 489-515
Author(s):  
Istvan Kecskes
Keyword(s):  
Target Language ◽  
Communicative Skills ◽  
Situational Context ◽  
Pragmatic Enrichment ◽  
Linguistic Code ◽  
Pragmatic Implication ◽  
Communicative Process ◽  
New Type ◽  
Intercultural Interactions ◽  
Pragmatic Strategies

AbstractThe semantic-pragmatic interface debate is about how much actual situational context the linguistic signs need in order for them to be meaningful in the communicative process. There is evidence that interlocutors in intercultural interactions rely more Some of the ideas in the paper are based on chapter six in Kecskes (2019). on the compositional meaning of linguistic signs (semantics) than contextually supported meaning (pragmatics) because actual situational context cannot help pragmatic implication and interpretation the way it does in L1 communication. At the same time in pragmatic theory there seems to be an agreement between the neo-Gricean account and the post-Gricean account on the fact that the process of implicature retrieval is context-dependent. But will this L1-based contextualism work in intercultural interactions? Is pragmatics impoverished if interlocutors can only partly rely on pragmatic enrichment coming from context and the target language? The paper argues that in fact pragmatics is invigorated rather than impoverished in intercultural communication. A new type of synchronic events-based pragmatics is co-constructed by interlocutors. Instead of relying on the existing conventions, norms and frames of the target language interlocutors create their own temporary frames, formulas and norms. There is pragmaticization of semantics which is a synchronic, (usually) one-off phenomenon in which coded meaning, sometimes without any specific pragmatic enrichment coming from the target language, obtains temporary pragmatic status. This pragmatic enrichment happens as a result of interlocutors’ blending their dictionary knowledge of the linguistic code (semantics) with their basic interpersonal communicative skills and sometimes unusual, not necessarily target language-based pragmatic strategies that suit them very well in their attempt to achieve their communicative goals.

The cognitive saliency of word associations of verbs of speech in English as a Lingua Franca interactions

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 417-443
Author(s):  
Yang Pang
Keyword(s):  
Common Ground ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Word Associations ◽  
Similar Word ◽  
Speech Communities

AbstractBuilding on the theoretical insights into the socio-cognitive approach to the study of interactions in which English is used as a lingua franca (ELF)), this paper reports on the idiosyncratic phenomenon that ELF speakers do not adhere to the norms of native speakers, but instead create their own particular word associations during the course of the interaction. Taking the verbs of speech talk, say, speak, and tell as examples, this study compares word associations from three corpora of native and non-native speakers. The findings of this study reveal that similar word associative patterns are produced and shared by ELF speech communities from different sociocultural backgrounds, and these differ substantially from those used by native English speakers. Idiom-like constructions such as say like, how to say, and speakin are developed and utilized by Asian and European ELF speakers. Based on these findings, this paper concludes that ELF speakers use the prefabricated expressions in the target language system only as references, and try to develop their own word associative patterns in ELF interactions. Moreover, the analysis of the non-literalness/metaphorical word associations of the verbs of speech in the Asian ELF corpus suggests that ELF speakers dynamically co-construct their shared common ground to derive non-literal/metaphorical meaning in actual situational context.

Educating future managers for a culturally diverse workspace: Using course as a living laboratory

2021 ◽  
pp. 30-41
Author(s):  
Darko Pantelic ◽  
Peter Brandstaetter ◽  
Emilia Florin Samuelsson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Culturally Diverse ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
International Assignments ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Multicultural Environment ◽  
Intercultural Encounters ◽  
Intercultural Interactions

Society is increasingly becoming multicultural, with more pressure to improve the quality of intercultural interactions. Higher education institutions are experiencing internationalization through increased mobility of students and faculty, which creates the need to manage diversity with the imperative of smoothing communication, reducing stress and making studying and working in a multicultural environment more efficient. Employers also dictate a need to educate culturally competent professionals, who are capable of succeeding in a globalized environment characterized by increased workforce mobility and international assignments. Intercultural competences discourse has a long track with researchers and practitioners, without any agreement on its definition or measurement, but with a clear message that cultural diversity will not result in increased intercultural competences. In this paper, intercultural competences are viewed as a transversal learning outcome, considering the increasing internationalization of higher education institutions. The research is qualitative in nature, based on the analysis of course evaluations and an open-ended survey. This study used a purposeful sample of current and former students who have been exposed to a diverse intercultural environment while studying at an international business school in Sweden. Based on the findings, a course design is suggested where exposure to cultural diversity is guided and facilitated by bringing students to collaborate in an assignment-driven context, with a culturally diverse group composition. Lecture-based components of the course are balanced with the addition of a component of self-reflection assignment, providing both culturally specific and general knowledge, thus contributing to the ability to extrapolate the experience on future intercultural encounters.

scholarly journals A Systematic Comparison of Factors Affecting the Choice of Matrix Language in Three Bilingual Communities

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Carter ◽  
Peredur Davies ◽  
Margaret Deuchar ◽  
María del Carmen Parafita Couto
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Structural Relationships ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Bilingual Corpora ◽  
Bilingual Communities ◽  
The Impact

AbstractIn this paper we compare the code-switching (CS) patterns in three bilingual corpora collected in Wales, Miami and Patagonia, Argentina. Using the Matrix Language Framework to do a clause-based analysis of a sample of data, we consider the impact of structural relationships and extra-linguistic factors on CS patterns. We find that the Matrix Language (ML) is uniform where the language pairs have contrasting word orders, as in Welsh-English (VSO-SVO) and WelshSpanish (VSO-SVO) but diverse where the word order is similar as in Spanish-English (SVO-SVO). We find that the diversity of the ML in Miami is related to the diversity of degrees of proficiency, ethnic identities, and social networks amongst members of that community, while the uniformity of the ML in Wales is related to the uniformity of these factors. This is not so clear in Patagonia, however, where there is little CS produced in conversation. We suggest that the members of the speech community use Spanish or Welsh mostly in a monolingual mode, depending on the interlocutor and the social situation.

Kommunikationsprobleme Von "Near Native Speakern" Deutsch

1986 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 37-46
Author(s):  
Erika Niehaus
Keyword(s):  
Speech Acts ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Social Aspect ◽  
Social Strategies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Indirect Speech Act

Communication has at least two different aspects: the propositi-onal aspect and the social aspect. Any utterance in a face-to-face-interaction therefore has the function to give information and to indicate how the ralation to the other participant is interpreted. In order to establish his communicative goal, the speaker has to analyse the social situation and the preceding context. Depending on this interpretation he selects between the different verbal patterns to perform a certain speech act. This involves for instance the choice of direct/indirect speech act realizations, the selection of certain linguistic elements (modality markers) for downtoning or upgrading the illocutionary force of speech acts. The contrastive analysis of the realizations of the speech act REQUEST in three different dialogue batteries elicited via role play from Dutch learners of German, native speakers of Dutch and native speakers of German has shown 1. that Dutch native speakers use modality markers in different communicative functions than German native speakers, 2. that Dutch learners of German mostly choose the same social strategies when speaking the target language as they do when speaking the mother tongue, 3. that the learners are not always able to establish their modal goal, that is, the are not able to communicate their intentions on an interpersonal level. The reason for this seems to be that in the Netherlands the teaching of German as a second language is mainly a matter of teaching grammatical rules and linguistic expressions without taking into consideration that the meaning of these expressions is pragmaticalley conditioned and that their usage is motivated by the relevant characteris-tics of such social situations.

Conversational silence and face in two sociocultural contexts

Pragmatics ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 707-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josefa Contreras Fernández
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Situational Context ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Face ◽  
Sociocultural Contexts

This article aims to examine the relation between conversational silence and face and to identify communicative behaviour related to silence in Spanish and German. To this end, I will first briefly explain the concepts of conversation, culture and silence, as well as the concept of face. Second, I will analyse verbal and non-verbal activities of silence in transactional and colloquial conversations in Spanish and German conversation. Perceptions and conceptions of conversational silence rely on the situational context and, especially, on the face of each speech community. Therefore, depending on the social context and the characteristics of face in each culture, silence is considered as forming part of conversation.

scholarly journals “MY GRADES ARE ALWAYS EQUAL TO STANDARDIZED CRITERIA”: DISCOVERING EFL LEARNERS’ MOTIVATION OUTSIDE FORMAL CLASSROOM

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-369
Author(s):  
Siti Jannatussholihah ◽  
Ashadi Ashadi ◽  
Erna Andriyanti
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Integrative Motivation ◽  
Instrumental Motivation ◽  
Depth Interviews

Motivation in language mastery is a crucial aspect that supports learner success especially in non-formal education. This study explores the motivation of English language learners in non-formal education as well as their perceived difficulties. Employing a qualitative approach with in-depth-interviews in the data collection, the study involved eight learners from a language course institution in Yogyakarta. The transcribed data were analyzed, interpreted, and categorised based on types of motivation and difficulties. The results show that most of the English learners possess instrumental motivation in learning foreign languages, but some tend to have integrative motivation. The instrumental motivation is mainly linked to efforts to pass the exam or tests with good grades. Their integrative motivation is related to recognizing the culture of the target language speech community and desire to communicate with the target community. Despite their motivation, they faced some difficulties related to language skills, especially reading and listening. In addition, they perceived vocabulary as hindrance in all the four skills. Further research to overcome the difficulties is recommended to maximize the learning achievement.

Indirect reports as semantic-pragmatic games

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 463-475
Author(s):  
Sepideh Yasrebi
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Reported Speech ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
Main Condition ◽  
Situational Context ◽  
Oxford University ◽  
The Common

Abstract This paper examines indirect reports from the lens of socio-cognitive approach (SCA) to pragmatics. Indirect reports have the capacity to re-mold the substance of the original utterance as a whole. In direct reporting, the original utterance is produced in an actual situational context, and then, it is being reported by a different speaker in a new situational context. So, the utterance which was initially produced is only interpretable in the light of the common ground A whereas the reported utterance is only interpretable in the light of common ground B. We have it from Kecskes (2013. Intercultural pragmatics. New York: Oxford University Press: 159) that “common ground is both an a priori existing and a cooperatively constructed mental abstraction. Likewise, the main condition of reporting is the need of the hearer: there would be no need for reported speech if the audience were already aware of the content of the report. For that reason, the process of meaning making in reporting, that is, the transmission and simultaneously creation of meaning is inextricably bound with the question of context, salience, common ground, pragmatics, semantics and syntax, not to mention all those bodily gestures and expressions that can, or more importantly, cannot be registered in language.

Common ground and positioning in teacher-student interactions: Second language socialization in EFL classrooms

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-82
Author(s):  
Deniz Ortaçtepe Hart ◽  
Seçil Okkalı
Keyword(s):  
Common Ground ◽  
Language Socialization ◽  
Common Knowledge ◽  
Positioning Theory ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
Transmission Of Knowledge ◽  
Teacher Student ◽  
Cultural Mediator ◽  
Efl Classrooms

Abstract This study aims to present how intercultural and intracultural communication unfolds in EFL classrooms with NNESTs and NESTs who constantly negotiate common ground and positionings with their students. Three NEST and three NNEST teaching partners were observed and audio recorded during the first and fifth weeks of a new course they taught in turns. Data were transcribed and analyzed through conversation analysis using Kecskes and Zhang’s socio-cognitive approach to common ground (Kecskes, István & Fenghui Zhang. 2009. Activating, seeking, and creating common ground. A socio-cognitive approach. Pragmatics and Cognition 17(2). 331–355) and Davies and Harré’s positioning theory (Davies, Bronwyn and Rom Harré. 1990. Positioning: The discursive production of selves. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 20(1). 43–63). The findings revealed several differences in the ways NESTs and NNESTs established common ground and positioned themselves in their social interactions. NESTs’ lack of shared background with their students positioned them as outsiders in a foreign country and enabled them to establish more core common ground (i.e., building new common knowledge between themselves and their students). NNESTs maintained the already existing core common ground with their students (i.e., activating the common knowledge they shared with their students) while positioning themselves as insiders. NESTs’ difference-driven, cultural mediator approach to common ground helped them create meaningful contexts for language socialization through which students not only learned the target language but also the culture. On the other hand, NNESTs adopted a commonality-driven, insider approach that was transmission-of-knowledge oriented, focusing on accomplishing a pedagogical goal rather than language socialization.

scholarly journals Literal translation in the light of the gravitational pull hypothesis: The case of sentence-initial indefinite noun phrases in singular in Norwegian-to-German and German-to-Norwegian translation

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-29
Author(s):  
Ewa Data-Bukowska ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Common Ground ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Indefinite Article ◽  
Literal Translation ◽  
Text Structures ◽  
Linguistic Patterns ◽  
Gravitational Pull ◽  
Induced Changes ◽  
Linguistic Structures

The present article reports on a study of renditions of sentence-initial indefinite noun phrases (NPs) in singular in Norwegian-to-German and German-to-Norwegian parallel corpus data. It briefly describes the correspondences to such NPs and the translation- induced changes that are made in the structure of the sentences including the phrase. In particular, however, the study focuses on fully congruent correspondences to singular sentence-initial indefinite NPs, i. e., the instances in which the structure is formally copied in translational renditions. Finding out to what extent such sentence initials are preserved in translation allows us to verify the hypothesis about literal translation that pertains to a potential (yet somehow forgotten) translation universal. By referring the conducted study to the framework of the current version of the gravitational pull hypothesis by Sandra Halverson, it becomes possible to position the phenomenon of literal translation in the context of the latest research into bilingual cognition and to find common ground where more traditional contrastive linguistics and translation studies may meet. The analysis generally supports the literal translation hypothesis as the NPs under investigation (classified as highly salient linguistic structures) have been translated into German and Norwegian literally in over 70 %. Thus, the gravitational pull of the source text structures on the target language is of similar strength. On the other hand, it has been observed that Norwegian is more resistant to using sentence-initial indefinite NPs than German, or that German applies this way of content construal more willingly. In a broader perspective, the research results shed new light on the extent to which the linguistic patterns of the use of the indefinite article in a real text production are similar and entrenched in a bilingual’s Norwegian/German representation.

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