of some Models of Language.
What is typical
of each form of language ?
What are the characteristics of each type ?
When you have identified the characteristics of these models, compare
them with the features evident in your own chosen recording.
How close is your recording to the model ?
Now you should have a basis for comparison and contrast.
| Scripted Interview | Prompted
Speech | Advertising |Propaganda
| Legal | Newspapers | Estate
Agents | Rhetoric
features are common and evident. There is repetition; there
are pauses as hesitation, stuttering perhaps. This
may confirm that the speech is spontaneous and not pre-planned. There
may be evidence of self-monitoring , which may show itself as incomplete
syntax for example. There may also be a change in the direction or
topic of the conversation, a revision of something already said:
"Well, I don't actually mean all teachers, but..." Turn taking
procedures may reveal spontaneity - interruptions, overlaps, increases
in speed and volume by the person as they attempt to continue
"holding the floor". Equally the listener may attempt to interrupt
by first grunting "mm" with an intonation which suggests
doubt, disagreement or approval before entering the conversation at the
first pause. "Yes but..." fulfils the same role - it opens by
suggesting agreement and immediately moves on to contradiction. The opening
word "yes" or "well" may be redundant in terms of
meaning, though significant in terms of marking an entry into the conversation.
features can be indicators of spontaneity. They may be irregular -
not following the pattern of meaning at all - or varying in speed,
volume, pitch and stress in an apparently illogical
fashion. Fillers are common. "You know" is a common device
used to fill in gaps where another speaker might take over the conversation,
and also to hold the floor while the speaker is searching for more to
are often used to show agreement and approval. To repeat the other speaker's
words may be a sign that you agree with him. On the other hand echoes
with rising intonation may suggest a doubt or question which hints
at disagreement or misunderstanding. Either way it is characteristic of
spontaneous conversation that there should be interaction between speakers.
Syntax is likely to be complex by its irregularity. Utterances
may become convoluted and lengthy, with sections incomplete. Pauses
may be used as aural punctuation marks and may be linked with tone
units but may also simply act as irregular breathing spaces between
fast lengths of speech.
Clichés may be common in speech as a set phrase is more
readily uttered than a totally new sequence. While clichés are
rightly deplored as features of "sloppy" speech, the effort
to speak in original phrases at all times would make speech arduous. Lexically,
spontaneous speech may be impoverished compared with written speech -
in which there has been time to consider a broader range of vocabulary
and a more varied turn of phrase. There may, therefore, be an impression
of informality in speech while written language with its more finely honed
syntax and more complex vocabulary appears formal.
There are two
aspects here which contrast with spontaneous speech.
The first is that, by virtue of being written initially there is time
for revision and rewriting. The medium is different, the circumstances
allow time for consideration, any errors can be reviewed and erased before
speech takes place.
The second is that in an interview the speakers are not equal; one is
in a position of dominance or control. That person also has the prepared
notes while the interviewee is usually required to speak spontaneously.
We would expect, therefore, to see a notable difference between the two
A scripted speech would be expected to be much more coherent than an unscripted
speech. We would expect an absence of hesitations, repetitions
and other normal non- fluency features.
Syntactically a scripted speech would be much more regular. Lexically
it would be likely to be more varied. There would be no evidence of self
monitoring, less evidence of dialect features (dialect is unusual
in the written mode but common, even unconsciously, in speech).
Register is more formal. Supra segmental phonemes may be
used in a regular and methodical way. It is not unusual for these to be
written into speeches in order to bolster the effectiveness of the message.
The nature of an interview is that one person asks the questions while
the other responds. This dictates the relationship of the speakers, the
balance of speech and the character of the utterances. An interviewer
may be aggressive (Robin Day to John Knott MP) or servile (Alastair Burnett
to Prince Charles - parodied here in Spitting Image) but in both cases controls the progress of the conversation
by asking questions and expecting answers.
A scripted question may be confident and coherent followed by an initial
stumbling from the unprepared interviewee: "Ah, well, I suppose you
could say that in a sense, however..." but a confident interviewee
can confuse the issue by throwing a question back: "I believe that's
an intrusive question. Let me ask you what you would do in that situation."
This is, however, unusual and generally breaks the conventions of interviewing.
Normally the interviewer asks briefly and the interviewee answers. It
is noticeable however that experienced interviewees can dodge a direct
question by answering obliquely. Faced with the direct question "We
all know the government is aware that it is unpopular with farmers. What
are you going to do about the price of pork?" An answer could be
"No government can afford to ignore an important part of its electorate,
but no government could contemplate unconditional subsidies." In
other words, there is no direct answer to the question.
This is a way
to describe that type of interview which appears to be informal and spontaneous
but has as a framework, a pre-planned series of written questions or prompts.
The interviewer may ask a scripted question, receive a spontaneous answer,
add an unscripted comment then return to the script.
In this way
the prompted interview exhibits some of the features of both spontaneous
and scripted speech.