Reading Guide for Wolfson, Chapters 6 and 7

Reading Guide for Wolfson, chapters 6 and 7

Ch. 6: Speech behavior and Social Dynamics

This chapter discusses how the instantiation of speech acts are sensitive to social relations (i.e., the same speech act has different realizations due to the situational variable of social distance). Wolfson expresses her own theory of social interaction, called the Bulge Theory, to account for the systematic nature of speech act realizations. By the time you are finished reading this chapter, you should be able to:

1. Describe the two perspectives on analyzing speech acts:

--The view that speech acts can tell us about power relations (e.g., how speech acts differ within an individual depending on social roles/power differentials).

--The view that the realization of speech acts provide information as to how people “get things done” (e.g., gain cooperation, form relationships).

2. Describe the concept of social distance.

3. Describe the Bulge Theory by showing how it applies to a particular speech act.

Evaulation: What do you think about the explanatory power or usefulness of this theory? Do you think that it extends beyond “middle class Americans”?

Chapter 7: Miscommunication

1. Define sociolinguistic/pragmatic transfer.

2. Describe how first language norms can interfere with a second language learner’s ability to conform to the target language norms with reference to one of the following: apologies, refusals, requests, expressions of gratitude. In your answer, make reference to relevant studies or concepts (e.g., the concept of status in Beebe, et al’s. study of Japanese refusals.

3. What do you think about the claim that the fluent L2 speaker is more likely to interact and, in turn, has more opportunities to make pragmatic errors? (i.e., The more fluent the speaker, the more potential for inappropriate speech behavior.)

4. What specific difficulties might pragmatic transfer play in GATEKEEPING encounters? (i.e., Where a native speaker has the ability to change someone’s life in areas such as school admissions or job applications.)