Language In The Wild: Assignments And Your Tasks

Language In The Wildassignmentyour Tasks1 Choose Your Example Of La

Choose your example of language in use. Describe the speech act in context. Analyze your speech act using course concepts. Speech act/Speech event: an utterance considered as an action, particularly with regard to its intention, purpose, or effect. Speech event: a type of communicative event in which speech is the main component, such as a meeting, conference, wedding, or casual conversation. Consider whether your example is a single utterance, a dialogue segment, or part of a broader interaction, ensuring it fits within the scope of speech acts and speech events suitable for analysis as per the course framework.

What to avoid: Scripted dialogues from plays, movies, or TV shows; literary or textual sources like novels, articles, memes, or famous quotations; textual sources that are not spoken interaction unless they demonstrate spoken language in natural contexts such as unscripted interviews, debates, or social media conversations. Focus on examples of actual spoken language in natural, social, or semi-formal settings, including bilingual code-switching, language policy statements, or social identity reflections expressed through speech acts.

Choose a representative segment: a single utterance, a section of dialogue between two or more speakers, or an interaction that exemplifies a particular type of speech act or genre relevant to the course. Describe the participants, the social context, and the broader environment or language ecology where the speech event occurs. Use the SPEAKING framework (Setting, Participants, Ends, Act, Key, Instrumentality, Norms, Genre) to analyze the speech act comprehensively.

For the initial submission (due February 16th), provide a transcript of the selected speech act or dialogue segment, including any relevant contextual details such as gestures, participant labels, or interaction cues. Refer to transcription conventions if helpful. Obtain permission from all participants if recording, and ensure anonymity using pseudonyms in both transcript and final paper.

Examples include language socialization interactions, literacy events, or statements reflecting identities, language policies, or code-switching phenomena. Analyzing these instances will help illuminate how language functions performatively and socially within specific contexts.

Paper For Above instruction

The chosen example of language in use for analysis is a spontaneous dialogue between two high school students discussing social identity and group segregation within their school environment. This interaction exemplifies a conversational speech event where participants negotiate identity and social boundaries using language, humor, and code-switching. The analysis will explore this utterance within the framework of speech acts and sociolinguistic context, emphasizing how language functions as an enactment of social realities.

Transcript of the Speech Act:

A: (In a casual school corridor, during a break) “If I went to a more segregated school—not necessarily racially but group-wise—things would be different, right? Like, more defined? Cause at some schools, you’ve got the jocks, and then there’s the academics, and the stoners... but here, it’s like you can be a jock, a stoner, an academic—all at the same time.” 


M: (Nods, listening attentively) “Right.” 


A: “You know, and so, how do you label yourself, you know?”

Analysis of the Speech Act using Course Concepts:

The utterance by Student A functions predominantly as a statement reflecting on social identity and group categorization, but it also contains an underlying speech act of questioning and exploring identity boundaries. The phrase “how do you label yourself” performs the speech act of a question, inviting reflection and self-identification. It is a performative move that prompts the listener to evaluate personal and social positioning within the school’s social ecology.

Participant structures and context indicate an informal setting among peers, with shared understandings of social hierarchy and group labels. The interaction exemplifies a genre of casual conversational talk where language is used as a social tool to delineate group membership, express individuality, or challenge existing social divisions. The code-mixing or inherent linguistic flexibility—using informal language and rhetorical questioning—further reinforces the performative nature of the speech act.

Applying the SPEAKING framework:

  • Setting: School hallway during break
  • Participants: Two students, engaging informally
  • Ends: Exploring social identity and group labels
  • Act: Making a statement/opinion, posing a question
  • Key: Casual, humorous, slightly rhetorical tone
  • Instrumentality: Spoken English, informal register
  • Norms: Peer casual talk with shared cultural understandings
  • Genre: Casual conversation/social interaction

This interaction exemplifies how language functions as both a performative act—questioning, affirming, and exploring identities—and as a social identifier, shaping and reflecting the social structure within the school's environment. By analyzing this speech act, we observe how linguistic choices—rhetorical questions, informal lexicon—serve to negotiate and articulate social boundaries, offering insights into the social dynamics at play.

References

  • Duranti, A. (1994). From Grammar to Politics: Linguistic Anthropology in a Western Samoan Village. University of California Press.
  • Hill, R. G., & Hill, D. R. (1986). The Ethnography of Speaking. In S. McKay & T. C. Horton (Eds.), Language Diversity. McGraw-Hill.
  • Bucholtz, M. (2011). Sociolingustic approaches to language and identity. In U. Ammon et al. (Eds.), Handbook of Language and Society. Springer.
  • Sherzer, C. (1983). Silence and speech. Language in Society, 12(1), 63-78.
  • Monaghan, L. (2014). Transcription conventions in linguistic research. Language Documentation & Conservation, 8, 245-259.
  • Hymes, D. (1974). Foundations in Sociolinguistics: An Ethnographic Approach. University of Pennsylvania Press.
  • Duranti, A. (1997). Linguistic Anthropology. Cambridge University Press.
  • Baker, C. (2011). Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Multilingual Matters.
  • Gumperz, J. J. (1982). Discourse Strategies. Cambridge University Press.
  • Lakoff, R. (1989). Talking Power: The Politics of Language in Our Lives. Basic Books.

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