Analysis of Spoken and Written Text - Term Paper Example

Analysis of Spoken and Written Text Student’s Name Course Details Instructor Date of Submission Spoken and written texts often exhibit a wide range of differences. Written texts tend to be more intricate and complex than audio speech with many subordinate clauses and longer sentences. Regarding layout and punctuation, written text appear richer than audio texts. However, such forms of written language as email and instant messages appears closer to spoken texts (Biber, 2011). Such stylistics devices as repetitions, pause, corrections, incomplete sentences and interruptions are common with spoken texts. Analysis of these two intriguing linguistics constructs, spoken and written texts, therefore, makes the sole purpose of this paper. Part A of the paper identifies and analyses the phonological and grammatical features of an audio conversation based on unrehearsed audio recording from BBC radio program. However, before the analysis, an overview of the whole conversation is first brought to light in this section. Part B, on the other hands, provides a direct contextual comparison of written language to spoken text. An opinionated article in the New York Newspaper centerlines the linguistic analysis of written texts. Part A: spoken Text As stated, this part will specifically focus on the analysis of phonological and grammatical aspects of a spoken text. The spoken text in question is an audio-recorded phone conversation between a radio presenter and the listener extracted from BBC Radio York discussion (). For effective analysis, it is crucial to understand that spoken texts are often influenced by various aspects ranging from the environment, emotion and status of the speaker or that of the person being addressed. As a result, the formality of the language used tend to vary depending on the kind of relationship between or amongst the speakers. In relation, an explicit understanding of the setting, participants, goals, instrumentalities, genre, norms and sequence of actions is paramount. The spoken text embodies a conversation amongst three participants, David, Sam, an environmental officer and Jonathan, BBC radio presenter. Climate change and agriculture is the main theme underlying the discussion. Both of the speakers are Native English conversers. The place setting is at a radio station, BBC York, during the regular Jonathan Cowap program in which matters of concerns are normally deliberated. Generally, the conversation between Sam and the presenter was organized in the form of an interview with Jonathan asking Sam series of pertinent questions regarding the causes of climate change, its impacts, and possible ways of eliminating it. At the onset of the discussion, the presenter asks Sam whether he is really concerned about the climate change alluding to the point that climate change has become a huge impediment to agricultural activities in the community. Establishing a green environment, producing sufficient food, and making a direct contribution to the international agricultural cash generation is a total fiasco. The main reason for all these remains climate change according to Sam. Evidently, climate change and its eventual impacts on agricultural production and the lives of the human race takes a centre-stage in the public arena. Everyone speaks about the subject. However, the public conception of climate only focuses on its consequences like flooding and drought. Not much attention is given to the key causative agents of the changes. As a result, people end up devastating the planet in oblivion. In the end, Sam provides some of the possible solutions to climate change and how to improve agricultural production in the current world system. The speakers suggest the usage off fertilizers boost soil fertility. Reducing usage chemicals in the environment amongst other strategies Regardless of the content, it is highly admissible to contend that the conversation between the presenter and Sam maintains an official tone from the beginning to the end. There are no instances where the speakers deviate to focus on other side or personal aspects. The environment is the subject and emphasis embodies climate change and agriculture throughout the conversation. Additionally, since both the interlocutors seem to understand their language, code-switching instances do not feature in this conversation. Phonological Analysis: In linguistics, phonology deals with the speaker’s sound system and organization. There are rules and guidelines that outline how sounds in linguistics ought to be used or produced to form definite units of a language (Carter & McCarthy, 1995). In relation to the audio conversation in question, a number of phonological features can be surfaced. First is the deletion of the final consonants in such words as /important/. Sam, for instance, drops the sound /t/ as he says “it is importn.” According to Wardhaugh (2010), speakers often drop some sounds in the course of their speech for different reasons ranging from cultural backgrounds, a matter of time, social affiliation to the absence of consonant clusters. Tonal variation is also a significant phonological aspect within this conversation. The speakers raise and lower their voices based on the circumstances or the kind of message they wish to deliver. At the onset of the conversation, for instance, the presenter uses a rising intonation to denote that he anticipates Sam to answer the questions he asks. As evidenced in the manner he answers, Sam well understands the meaning of the rising intonation. Presenter: Is climate change a subject of concern for you Sam: Yes, possibly At the same time, speakers also show some sense of approval for each other’s comments using rise-fall intonation. According to Wichmann (2014), the rise-fall tone in spoken text also provide emphasis of matter. By raising and falling the tone when mentioning the word ‘absolutely’ in the course of the conversation, Sam emphasizes that climate change is a public calamity and effective rescue measures have to be taken. Presenter: What sort of consequences?...Do you think they are signs of climate change? Sam: Absolutely. Do not get me wrong Elongation of pronunciation is also a common phonological feature within this conversation. Sam prolongs the connector ‘and’ using the vowel sound /e/ to give him time to think about the next line of talk. Also, by prolonging /and/, the speakers adds some sense of stress in the subsequent statement. Sam: Um, well, am working at the Manchester where climate change issue is at the forefront, and it is just my own personal research… Grammatical analysis: As had been noted in the previous discussion, one is more likely to find grammatical features in a spoken text than in written language. As a result, it is conventional that such grammatical features as hesitation and repetition are evident in the conversation in question. In this section, the analysis will focus on the key grammatical features in the spoken text in question. Biber et al. (2011) contend that the impromptu nature of communications often contributes to different to several features of spoken texts. Orators, for instance, will occasionally repeat what they have said, to get more time to think and formulate the message to be passed. Within the conversation, the speakers exhibit different instances of repetition meant to serve various functions. The phrase, climate change, for instance, has constantly been repeated throughout the conversation to highlight the significance of situation on the environment. Towards the conversation, Sam repeats the word ‘there’ as shown in the example below. Sam: Well, there, there is a lot of science surrounding the climate change. Compared to repetition, a hesitation which is the use blank words to keep the conversation in progress is highly frequent within this context. The speakers make regular use of such words as umm, well, ah and yeah to ensure the conversation is motion even at times one holds to think. A clear of example of such instance is when Sam says,“ Um, well, am working at the Manchester where climate change issue is at the forefront, and it is just my own personal research…” Here Sam resorts hesitation to brainstorm the best way to answer the question on how he gained interest in the subject of climate change. Hesitation is, therefore, a significant element of a spoken. Not only does it provide consistency and coherence, but also the sense of emphasis in a discussion. Hesitation bridges the gap between the speakers thinking process and utterance of thoughts. As purposeful as hesitation in spoken text is the use of discourse markers. According to Wichmann (2014), discourse markers are such words or phrases as okay, so, alright, anyway, well, to begin with. These linguistic elements function to organize language constructs into complete segments. Within this spoken text, a number of discourse markers can be identified. Such particles as ‘well,' ‘but,' ‘and,' ‘you know,' are frequently used by both the speakers. For example, David says, “… so, we really need to rethink agriculture could be a massive, you know, a way of tackling climate change.” Sam also comments as follows: ‘…well, am working at the Manchester where climate change issue is at the forefront…’ The contributions of these two participants, thus, provide explicit illustrations that discourse markers have been actively employed within the context of this conversation. In linguistics, some words used in spoken language are rarely understood unless additional information is added to the context. These words or phrases are often referred to as deixis. Some of the common elements of deixis as a grammatical feature include but not limited to I, you, now, there, that the following and tenses. Evidently, deixis is a common grammatical feature of this conversation. For instance, when the presenter comments, “Sam you sound incredibly well informed on this subject,” person and empathetic deixes surface. Part B: Analyzing a written text Written texts often take the form of documentations, publications, editorials, and prints. Instead of passing the message or intended contents to the audience through spoken words, the information in placed in writing and passed to those who can read, analyze and comprehend. One of the fascinating aspects of written texts is its ability to traverse time and space. Writings often remain permanent and once printed or written changing them becomes a hard task to roll. Much can be discussed with regard to this subject. However, for accuracy and relevancy, this section analyzes some key grammatical features of a selected editorial. An opinionated New York Times article written by Masha Gessen forms the basis of this written text analysis. The text is entitled Arguing the Truth with Trump and Putin. As pinpointed in the title, the article is centered on the American politics. The main line of argument is whether it is true that Russia influenced the past American presidential election to install its preferred candidate, Donald. J. Trump. The writer arguments bring forth a point that the public does not find well the victory of Trump. A good proportion of the population feels that C.I.A report is correct although the president-elect, Donald. J. Trump actively opposes the validity of the report. To shift the audience’s attention and line of the author challenges the readers to rethink. Instead of focusing on the reality of Russia’s influence, people need to focus on what is next thereafter. Hacking might progress into the future election. There is, therefore, need to refurbish the U.S electoral system to avert the repeat of the similar situations, where democracy is entangled in favor of a few individuals with egocentric interests. There are two major participants within this written piece. That is the audience or the NY Times readers of in this case, together with the writer, Masha Gessen. The headline is catchy and provocative. At a glance, the reader understands the kind of environment in which the audience sails as oblivious and disgraceful. There are no is clear answers to the questions they frequently as internally. As with the author’s opinion, the optimistic mood can be identified. However, the citizens and all the stakeholders must re-adjust to see this fruit. Based on the contextual frameworks, the readers, and writers in this genre are required to attend to specific roles. Readers, for instance, need to stay construed to their purpose, analyze the meaning and make informed judgments. Writers, on the other hands, have to be clear and truthful to what they are doing. Through this, even the audience is likely to be elated and confident with their writers when it comes to decision-making. The formality of the text also provides a grip of sense to the intended audience. Grammatical features: In linguistics, words are always organized into word classes and lexical categories ranging from nouns, adjectives, verbs and so on. Each of these word classes bears grammatical features, sometimes referred to as inflectional categories. Written language, therefore, has to obey some specific set of potential values. The text in question makes good use numerous grammatical features coupled well-calculated grammatical choice. One of the common features in this text is the efficient use and integration of punctuation marks. The writer uses punctuation marks based on the type of sentences he constructs, the feeling he wishes to put forth and the message he wishes to convey to the public. For instance, to denote Trump’s reference to the intelligence findings, the writer uses double quotation marks as shown below. Mr. Trump called the findings “ridiculous.’’ The structure of a written text also plays an important role in explaining its grammatical elements. Considering this editorial, it is unsurprising to recognize the regular writing structure of the text. The writer has used simple sentences that are consistent throughout the article. With this, the author achieves the aspect of comprehension and coherence words. The readers, thus, finds it easy to read and understand. Further, by organizing the whole text into small paragraphs conveying specific distinct but coherent themes, the author brings clarity, neatness, and recognizability which are some of the facets of a written text. The paragraphing system is block format portraying some sense of formality. The manner in which the ideas are linked from one paragraph to the next also speaks a lot regarding the grammatical aspect of this written text. The author uses connectors and phrases to ensure agreement between sentences, paragraphs and all other components of the text. Some of the word connectors and phrases that feature within the article include ‘on the other hands,' ‘of course,' ‘and,' but and so on. Their usage in the course of the writing helps build meaning to the subsequent phrases, words or sentences. Different verbs ranging from regular, transitive, intransitive to modal verbs have been employed at various sections of the text to satisfy specific objectives. While modal verbs like ‘have,' ‘has,' ‘had’ and so on have been used to support the main ideas, the regular verbs as portrayed throughout the text performs the biggest functions. That is, communicating the actions in the play. The modal verbs should and will frequently are used in the text, especially towards the end. They are employed to indicate the position of the author notwithstanding that of the reader. The following illustrations communicate the usage of these two modal verbs in the text. ‘The conversation we should be having right now is a complicated one.’ In this statement, the author uses the modal verb should, to castigate the double stand in politics. In normal circumstances, these two verbs are also used to express the author’s wish for a state of affair. Likewise, existential processes are also evident in the article, although they were used to a much lesser extent than either mental or material processes, as the following examples show: is,’re, was and were. Also outstanding within the text is the usage of reported or indirect speech. Indirect speech is often used to denote what someone had mentioned or said about a particular subject. In the text, the reports what the public feels in the post-election with Donald. J. Trump as the winner. There is a feeling that the elections were not free and fair enough. The Russian hackers deluded the public expectations by influencing the results. Away from that, by using direct speech, the author brings up the aspect of reality in the argument. For with the statement Mr. Trump called the findings“ridiculous,’’ Masha intends to explain the negative position of Mr. Trump with regards to the allegations above. Trump is actively opposed to the notion that he was helped to ascend to power. Apart from speech marks, the text also abbreviations as one of its key grammatical features. The name Central Intelligence Agency is only written in full in the first paragraph. However, in the subsequent paragraphs, the words are abbreviated as C.I.A to avoid unnecessary repetitions which may lead to redundancy of words. The choices of this grammatical tools play one important role in determining the readers and writers position in the argument. First, with the involvement of C.I.A, the readers are likely to be convinced of the validity of the writer’s point of view. Also assisting influence positions of the writer and audience is the selective use of first person pronouns. In many instances, the author uses the first person in plural form to suggest collectiveness of purpose. What the public as a whole, him inclusive is supposed to do. For example, where the writer notes ‘We should be asking whether there is information that ought to be excluded from the public sphere because it is obtained through espionage or other illegal means.' there is a feeling that writer takes a negative position by deluding the findings of the C.I.A. However, with this statement: we should be engaging in the complex discussions that form the rich public sphere essential to democracy, the writer communicates a positive position by including the pronoun /we/ Undeniably, the author’s grammatical choices marry well with the message he intends to bring to the audience’s attention. Since the main theme revolves around a political arena and national governance, the make use of such Transitivity also makes a significant grammatical feature of a written text. In linguistic, transitivity often defines the kind of grammatical relationship encrypting the exclusivity of participants in situations explained by the clause (Wardhaugh, 2010). As evidenced in the article, principle types of the clause can be described here to comprise of a predicate and an inconstant number of predicate arguments. As a result, this excepts minor clause types that involve at least two noun phrases, those with a copula or those without a copula. Throughout the text, most of the predicate elements are headed by a verb although in some instances where intransitivity is highly determined either nouns or pronouns head the predicate. References Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E. (2011). Longman grammar of spoken and written English. England: Longman. Carter, R., & McCarthy, M. (1995). Grammar and the Spoken Language. Applied Linguistics, 16(2), 141-158. doi: 10.1093/applin/16.2.141 Chan, A., & Li, D. (2000). English and Cantonese phonology in contrast: Explaining Cantonese ESL learners' English pronunciation problems. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 13(1), 67-85. doi: 10.1080/07908310008666590 Wardhaugh, R. (2010). An introduction to sociolinguistics (Vol. 6th edition). U.K: Wiley-Blackwell. Wichmann, A. (2014). Intonation in text and discourse: Beginnings, middles, and ends. Routledge. Read More