Exploring Communicative Event in Saudi Lingua Culture - Assignment Example

Exploring communicative event in Saudi lingua culture Your name Course 10h April, 2012 Communicative event Swaileh: Aslam Alykum (Peace be upon you) My wife(Reem): Wa alykum Aslam (Peace be upon you too) Swaileh: Kaaf Alhaal (How are you?) My wife: Alhmdo allah bkyr wlaaaaken Reef marygha. (Praise be to God, we are fine but Reef (my daughter) she is sick) Swaileh: Aaaash Reef marygha? (WHAT!!! Is Reef sick?) My wife: Eywah Hrartah mertafeh (Yes she had high temperature.) Swaileh:Hal zahatwm ela almastashfa? (Did you go the hospital?) My wife: Akyd Wdytha (Of course I did.) Swaileh: Wesh gal adctor? (What did the doctor say?) My wife: Gal laa tkafwn hy alan kwaysh hy amraght bsabab tgyr alfswal whza tabyei, wa aldctor katab wasfh wanashni arawshha. (He said "don`t worry she is good know she had got sick that because the change from season to another that normal happened" and the doctor wrote the description of medicine and he advise me to give her shower.) Swaileh: Kways, waentabhi ltalymat adctor, wa alhin kawysah? (that`s great, and take care of the doctor`s instructions, and Is she know fine?) My wife: Eywah kwaysah alhayn hahahaha (yes she is fine). (Short laugh) Swaile: Layh taghhakyan? (Why are you laughing?) My wife: Lank al maesalha wish tahbyn taklyan? Tagawl aby baba. (Because when I ask her, what would you like to eat? She told, I want my Dad.) Swaileh: hahahahaha oaky aza asalat any gwaley baba rah yagi baed shahr. (short laugh) oaky when she ask again tell her, your Dad will come after one month. My wife: Rah agwlha.. Kaf amwark? Drastk wa algaw kafh hnak? (I will do. ….. How is everything there? Your studying and what about the wether there?) Swaile: ayaaa adrash kwysah, baed thleth asabea rah asalem bahthe wa algaw marh halw. (ayaaa the study is going well, after three weeks I will submit my assignment and the weather is very nice here.) My wife: Alhmdo allah (Praise be to God) Lahdha( hold on) Meaaaaaaaan (who is calling me) Ana lazm Asaker Alkt (I must end the call) Swaileh: Wish feah (what`s up?) My wife: Mariam tadg albab ( Mariam knock the door because I already invite her.) Swaileh: Aoky Salme Ala alehal. (Oaky see hello to your family.) My wife: En shalh, entabh lnafsk (I will do. Take care.) Swaileh: Ma alslama. (Bye) Introduction A communication event is not simply an arrangement of words and representation of ideas, but rather it’s the interaction between participants who speaks a language that they both understand. It’s important to note that Communicative Event plays an important part in our daily life and the analysis of a cultural event is still very important for linguists and socialists. Relatively, for all those of us who understand the cultural aspects, we are helped to adapt to people’s reactions and interactions. According to Haugen (1972, P. 25), linguists are motivated to study the environmentalism of language which is explained as studying different people’s language, the way they use it and all its characteristics. Communication is termed as the flow of information and ideas from one person to another. It largely involves a sender exchanging an idea, information or feelings to another party who in this case the receiver. For an effective communication to take place, the receiver should be able to understand the exact information or idea that the sender intends to transmit. Poor communication leads to confusion as people fail to communicate properly. Each one of us communicates daily but during communication, the message is transmitted and received using two elements namely content and context. An effective message should be understood. In most cases, some teachers think they have communicated once they told students to do something. You will find them saying, “I don't know why they did not get done. I told them to do it.” More than likely, students will have misunderstood the message. So it’s of great importance to note that a message is not communicated unless it is understood by the receiver. Normally a message is received well when there is a two-way communication or feedback as this is when you know it has been properly received. This feedback often gives a signal to the sender that the receiver understood the message and consequently noted its level of importance. The receiver should be able to know what must be done with it. Communication is an exchange of information but not just a giving it out as all parties must participate to complete the information exchange (Wardhaugh, R. 1998). Why it is useful for language teachers to be aware of the complexity of authentic, everyday discourse According to Brown “the language that learners are exposed to should be just far enough beyond their current competence that they can understand most of it but still be challenged to make progress” (1994, p. 278). Issues of linguistic and social inequality remain central to the work of teachers. This is most importantly when the teachers have to contend with the educational consequences of different communities and cultures. Communicative event helps the participant in the consideration of culture aspects by offering skills to people to understand each other, realize their interaction and to make good communication between participants. However, on a broader perspective, these skills are also important to language teachers. It is very useful for language teachers to be aware of the complexity of language as an everyday aspect of life. Teachers should understand and adapt well with any cultural environment they work in (Brick, 2004, P.149). Relatively, they should be able to respond positively to communicative events as this will assist them have good communication and interact well students. In addition, it’s important for language teachers to have control in their classes, and they should make good communication with their students. The reason for this is that natural communication is the most effective approach in their language classes and control cannot happen without those effective language teaching skills. As the teacher speaks in a class setting, he or she explains the various concepts to the learners while the learners listen in an attempt to understand and grasp the concepts. The concepts here involve the reading, understanding and analysis of a lesson and the aims of the lesson are that at the end of the lesson, the learner should be able to independently understand and analyze what has been taught using the ideas presented. The planned outcomes of the lesson are that the learners will be able to understand the language used (Lightbown & Spada, 1993, p. 97). Saville-Troike argue that in undertaking the ethnography of communication for a particular culture, we should first define and gain some understanding of its social organisation and other aspects of their culture (1989, P .88). In addition, we should formulate other possible hypothesis concerning their diverse ways. A good example is the Arabic language which is the language used in Koran and which contains the words of God that Muslim religion believe. However, for this activity the input is used primarily as an example for the learners and a way to get them to start to think about their own cultural practices as well as those of others and how differences that lead to misunderstanding can be handled in a gentle and understanding way. Regarding the learner’s cultural factors, the classroom learning activity should be designed to be used with the learner’s native environment and therefore the cultural difference between the various learners should not be a factor in their learning of the concepts presented. At the same time, Cook (1996) argues that “class teaching the aspects in which students are different have to be balanced against those that they share” (p. 116). For instance, Muslims follow the Koran rules strictly and so it is important for the teacher to have information about Islamic culture. In addition, the class should have specific rules to be followed and consequently the students should learn to control themselves to adapt with the situation. So a teacher should be conscious of students’ religion, culture and behavior. He or she should learn about that culture to keep him/her in line with the students. Components of this communicative event According to Holmes (2008), communicative event is composed of several components. These are type of event; topic; purpose or function; setting; key; participants; message form; message content; act sequence; rules for interaction; and norms of interpretation. The style of communication also ensures that communication is effectively considered. The nature of audience, on the other hand, is the ability to establish the intended recipients of the message. For example, the audience plays a pivotal role in the success of communication.. This is because communication is only effective if the intended message reaches the intended recipient with minimal distortions. Type of Event In dealing with the type of communication, effective communication plays a significant role in the understanding of either interpersonal or intrapersonal communication. Interpersonal communication ensures that the intended information is objectively understood. This communication event was between Swaileh and his wife, Reem who stays in Saudi Arabia with their daughter while her husband is in Australia studying there. During the communicative event, Swaileh called his wife (Reem) from Australia. He used a telephone for this purpose. So in this scenario, the type of communication used was telephone. Topic In a conversation, the topic to be covered is very important. A good communicative event on cannot be realized in the absence of good understanding of the message. Swaileh wanted to know how his family was fairing. In addition, he wanted to reassure them of his coming home after a month and more so about his feelings towards them. On her part, his wife Reem, wanted to know if he is still studying well and to know about his feelings about Australian people and she wanted to know if he is adapting with life in Australian. Setting The setting of this communicative event is a domestic one. Both the persons speaking to each other and those mentioned in the communication have something in common which is the family bond that exists at the domestic front. Purpose Effective communicative event is achieved through the articulation of the purpose of communication. For instance, effective communication is said to have taken place after the intended message have been realized and acted upon either positively or negatively. The purpose of communication is to transmit information and this allows the flow of emotions and thoughts from one person to another (Holmes, 2008). Use of proper words remains a fundamental communication quality. This refers to the ability of a person to choose the right words for the right occasion and to the right audience. Any language has many several purposes of communication. An apt topic for this communicative event would be “greetings” This is because the main aim of the caller was to find out about the welfare of his family. With regard to purpose, it is clear that both parties are interested in an exchange of information. The purpose can therefore be information. Rules for interaction Muslims starts a conversation in greetings. The use of (Assalamu alaikum) is a greeting for any time in the day. Muslims interact with their families closely and that’s why in the conversation, Swaileh ask about their daughter and pass greetings to Reem’s family because of the strong family bonds they keep. Rules of interaction in an event consider consideration. This refers to the ability to either reduce or amplify emotions in a communication platform. Emotions include the non-verbal communication techniques such as gestures and facial expressions. They form a critical recipe in the communication process and if not well put into consideration can injure the communication process. Key In this conversation, Swaileh started his call in a formal way in form of greetings and enquiring how they are. The key for this particular communication is distinctively casual and friendly one. This is evidenced by the tone of both parties as they talk from beginning to end. Goodwill is evident in their tones as they communicate about the serious matter of their daughter and the state of her health Massage form Effective communicative event puts emphasis on the presence of various indicators namely; sender receiver, message, noise or barriers and feedback. The term sender refers to the person commencing the communication process through the encoding of the communication message. The receiver, on the other hand, is the person intended to get the information being passed across by the sender. Message refers to the intended message whereas noise connotes the various barriers to the communication process. They include cultural beliefs and language that injure the communication process. For example, individual addressing English crowd using the French language is deemed not to be communication since the group’s inability to decode the message. Feedback refers to the response given after the communication process; it can either be positive or negative. In light of this, feedback plays a fundamental role in the realization of effective communication. In this regard, negative feedback indicates the absence of effective communication. In a communicative event, we use nonverbal languages which are certain body language used to communicate different meanings of the communicative event. In this particular event, laugh in between the conversation shows nonverbal message form. For example, Swaileh: (that`s great, and take care of the doctor`s instructions, and Is she know fine?) My wife: Eywah kwaysah alhayn hahahaha (yes she is fine). (Short laugh) Swaile: Layh taghhakyan? (Why are you laughing?) My wife: Lank al maesalha wish tahbyn taklyan? Tagawl aby baba. (Because when I ask her, what would you like to eat? She told, I want my Dad.) Swaileh: hahahahaha oaky aza asalat any gwaley baba rah yagi baed shahr. (Short laugh) oaky when she ask again tell her, your Dad will come after one month. Swaileh and his wife used sound, motivation and Saudi culture which come with their conversation. Message content Communication event is the transfer of messages from one point to another with the presence of feedback. Communication provides for the understanding of messages by the intended recipient. For example, individuals passing on information should both be in a position to decode what the encoder intended to say. In light of this language remains a key determinant in the communication process. However, there are a number of communication methods that do not necessarily recognize the use of words such as non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication is best addressed using gestures and other body language techniques including posture. Moreover, effective communication is realized through the passage of information that is easily comprehensible to all involved parties. In this particular event, the message contains salutations at the beginning which are given together with intonations of blessings by the husband to all members of his household. ‘ ….. How is everything there? Your studying and what about the wether there?’ Act sequence In a communicative event, act sequence is the flow of the conversation here was simple and with no prior plan. There is a consistent act sequence with the husband asking questions and the wife responding. The communication is centered on the sick daughter. The alternation of questions and answers therefore characterizes the act sequence of this communicative event. Participations The participants of any communicative event form the main characters in the event (Richards & Schmidt 1983, P. 117. There are only two participants in this communicative event, the husband and wife. Other persons who feature in the communication are merely mentioned. This includes the reported speech of what the daughter says when asked about her choice of food. Swaileh and his wife Reem are the main participants. Norm of Interpretation The fact that the participants involved in this communicative event are married and are parents to a daughter provide the norm for interpretation. All that is shared is of equal importance to both of them. The context of the communication is better understood with this fact in mind. For instance the probing question by the husband when he asks “why are you laughing” is not really a demand. My experience as a future teacher As I stated earlier and according to Brick (42), classroom should is a cross-cultural laboratory (p. 149). This means that a classroom may be having diverse cultures but in my case, my future teaching will be different as I will be teaching male students only according to the Arabic culture which stipulates that males are taught differently with female students. I will consider this factor seriously and be able to interact with my students freely without making them feel more different than the other mixed classes. In addition, I will consider various cultural and learner factors by creating a common understanding of the ideas presented in a classroom by presenting them from a common perspective. This will eventually create a bridge to join the learner’s cultural aspects and effectively instill a sense of harmony in language and gender, consequently eliminating any differences which can be there. Conclusion A communicative event plays an important part in our daily life and the analysis of a cultural event is very important for linguists and socialists. On the other hand, teachers should be careful in dealing with students from different cultures so as to understand them well before helping them learn different languages. The function of the above communicative event between the two relates to the duty of each to promote the wellbeing of the other. By seeking information about his family’s welfare, thee husband is showing that he cares and is concerned about how his family is doing during his absence. Also by giving the crucial information about the sick daughter the wife is serving a role of informant. She reassures the worried husband that the girl will be fine and the sickness is not at all life threatening. She also takes the opportunity to share the fun moments back home when she mentions that the daughter asks for her father when she is asked what she would like to eat. This means that she misses him. The communicative event therefore serves the function of connecting members of a family together. In conclusion, any communicative event should have a purpose. Different cultures have different reactions to a communicative event. Authentic classroom experiences engage the learner and offer teachers invaluable support as they expand their ideas as it regards how language and culture work together. Above all that, one should pay a lot of attention to sound, voice, tone and feeling since they can be helpful in a communicative event. This event has taught us more of Saudi culture especially in communication. List of reference Brick, J (2004). Learning and Teaching'. In China: A Handbook in Intercultural Communication (2nd Ed).Sydney, Australia: NCELTR. Brown, D.(1994). Principles of second language learning and teaching. 3rd ed. Englewood cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Cook, V. (1996).Learners as Individuals. Second Language Learning and Language Teaching (2nd Ed.). London, UK: Arnold. Gardner, R. (1994). Conversation analysis: Some thoughts on its applicability to applied linguistics', Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, Series S, no. 11, pp. 97-118. Haugen, E. I. (1972). The ecology of language. California: Stanford University Press Holmes, J. (2008). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, 3rd ed. London: Longman Lightbown, P. M. & Spada, N. (1999). How Languages are learned. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Moran, P. R. (2001). Language-and-Culture'. In Teaching Culture: Perspectives in Practice. Ontario, Canada: Heinle and Heinle. Richards, J.C. & Schmidt, R.W. (1983). 'Conversational analysis', in Language and Communication, Longman, London. Saville-Troike, M. (1989), 'The analysis of communicative events', in The Ethnography of Communication: An Introduction, 2nd edn, Basil Blackwell, Oxford. Wardhaugh, R. (1998). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Blackwell, Oxford. Read More

Communication is an exchange of information but not just a giving it out as all parties must participate to complete the information exchange (Wardhaugh, R. 1998). Why it is useful for language teachers to be aware of the complexity of authentic, everyday discourse According to Brown “the language that learners are exposed to should be just far enough beyond their current competence that they can understand most of it but still be challenged to make progress” (1994, p. 278). Issues of linguistic and social inequality remain central to the work of teachers.

This is most importantly when the teachers have to contend with the educational consequences of different communities and cultures. Communicative event helps the participant in the consideration of culture aspects by offering skills to people to understand each other, realize their interaction and to make good communication between participants. However, on a broader perspective, these skills are also important to language teachers. It is very useful for language teachers to be aware of the complexity of language as an everyday aspect of life.

Teachers should understand and adapt well with any cultural environment they work in (Brick, 2004, P.149). Relatively, they should be able to respond positively to communicative events as this will assist them have good communication and interact well students. In addition, it’s important for language teachers to have control in their classes, and they should make good communication with their students. The reason for this is that natural communication is the most effective approach in their language classes and control cannot happen without those effective language teaching skills.

As the teacher speaks in a class setting, he or she explains the various concepts to the learners while the learners listen in an attempt to understand and grasp the concepts. The concepts here involve the reading, understanding and analysis of a lesson and the aims of the lesson are that at the end of the lesson, the learner should be able to independently understand and analyze what has been taught using the ideas presented. The planned outcomes of the lesson are that the learners will be able to understand the language used (Lightbown & Spada, 1993, p. 97). Saville-Troike argue that in undertaking the ethnography of communication for a particular culture, we should first define and gain some understanding of its social organisation and other aspects of their culture (1989, P .88). In addition, we should formulate other possible hypothesis concerning their diverse ways.

A good example is the Arabic language which is the language used in Koran and which contains the words of God that Muslim religion believe. However, for this activity the input is used primarily as an example for the learners and a way to get them to start to think about their own cultural practices as well as those of others and how differences that lead to misunderstanding can be handled in a gentle and understanding way. Regarding the learner’s cultural factors, the classroom learning activity should be designed to be used with the learner’s native environment and therefore the cultural difference between the various learners should not be a factor in their learning of the concepts presented.

At the same time, Cook (1996) argues that “class teaching the aspects in which students are different have to be balanced against those that they share” (p. 116). For instance, Muslims follow the Koran rules strictly and so it is important for the teacher to have information about Islamic culture. In addition, the class should have specific rules to be followed and consequently the students should learn to control themselves to adapt with the situation. So a teacher should be conscious of students’ religion, culture and behavior.

He or she should learn about that culture to keep him/her in line with the students. Components of this communicative event According to Holmes (2008), communicative event is composed of several components.

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