The Contextualization of Language


Book Description

This volume suggests a novel treatment of context in the analysis of everyday interaction. On a theoretical level, it advocates a switch of focus from 'context' as a preestablished, monolithic category which constringes co-participants' verbal and nonverbal behaviour, to an active notion of 'contextualization' in order to make oneself understood, participants have to establish and maintain those shared contextual frames which in turn are relevant to the local interpretation of their verbal and nonverbal activities. On an empirical level, the volume contains exemplary analyses that show how participants employ 'contextualization cues' of prosodic (rhythm, intonation, tempo, etc.) or nonverbal (gaze, gesture, etc.) nature in order to 'achieve context'.The volume is also an appraisal of the theory of contextualization developed by John Gumperz. In their contributions, researchers from various schools of research, such as conversation analysis, micro-ethnography, phonetics/phonology and metapragmatics, relate their work to this theory.







Rethinking Context


Book Description

The last decade has seen a fundamental rethinking of the concept of context. Rather than functioning solely as a constraint on linguistic performance, context is now also analysed as a product of language use. In this new perspective, language and context are seen as interactively achieved phenomena, rather than predefined sets of forms and contents. The essays in this collection, written by many of the leading figures in the social sciences, critically reexamine the concept of context from a variety of different angles and propose new ways of thinking about it with reference to specific human activities such as face-to-face interaction, radio talk, medical diagnosis, political encounters and socialisation practices. Each essay is prefaced by an introduction by the editors which provides relevant theoretical and methodological background and demonstrates its relation to other essays in the volume. The editors' general introduction provides a lucid overview of the issues currently debated. Rethinking Context will be required reading for everyone working within the fields of linguistic anthropology, sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, pragmatics, conversation analysis and the sociology of language.




Language Intervention for School-Age Students


Book Description

Language Intervention for School-Age Students is your working manual for helping children with language learning disabilities (LLD) gain the tools they need to succeed in school. Going beyond the common approach to language disorders in school-age populations, this innovative resource supplements a theoretical understanding of language intervention with a wealth of practical application strategies you can use to improve learning outcomes for children and adolescents with LLD. Well-referenced discussions with real-life examples promote evidence-based practice. Case histories and treatment strategies help you better understand student challenges and develop reliable methods to help them achieve their learning goals. Unique application-based focus combines the conceptual and practical frameworks to better help students achieve academic success. Questions in each chapter encourage critical analysis of intervention methods for a deeper understanding of the beliefs behind them. In-depth coverage of controversial topics challenges your understanding and debunks common myths. Realistic examples and case studies help you bridge theory to practice and apply intervention principles. Margin notes highlight important facts, questions, and vocabulary for quick reference. Key Questions in each chapter put concepts into an appropriate context and help you focus on essential content. Summary Statement and Introductory Thoughts sections provide succinct overviews of chapter content for quick familiarization with complex topics.




The Contextualization of Language


Book Description

This volume suggests a novel treatment of context in the analysis of everyday interaction. On a theoretical level, it advocates a switch of focus from 'context' as a preestablished, monolithic category which constringes co-participants' verbal and nonverbal behaviour, to an active notion of 'contextualization': in order to make oneself understood, participants have to establish and maintain those shared contextual frames which in turn are relevant to the local interpretation of their verbal and nonverbal activities. On an empirical level, the volume contains exemplary analyses that show how participants employ 'contextualization cues' of prosodic (rhythm, intonation, tempo, etc.) or nonverbal (gaze, gesture, etc.) nature in order to 'achieve context'.The volume is also an appraisal of the theory of contextualization developed by John Gumperz. In their contributions, researchers from various schools of research, such as conversation analysis, micro-ethnography, phonetics/phonology and metapragmatics, relate their work to this theory.




Contextualizing Translation Theories


Book Description

Contextualizing Translation Theories: Aspects of Arabic–English Interlingual Communication provides critical readings of available strategies of translating, ranging from the familiar concept of equivalence, to strategies of modulation, domestication, foreignization and mores of translation. As such, this volume demonstrates to the reader the pros and cons of each of these strategies within a theoretical context that is augmented by translational tasks and examples, most derived from actual textual data.




Discourse Strategies


Book Description

The volume will be of central interest to anyone concerned with communication in the fields of interethnic or industrial relations.




Language and Interaction


Book Description

This book features a fascinating and extended focal interview with Professor John J. Gumperz, who ranges over his long career trajectory and reflects on his scientific achievements and how they relate to the contemporary linguistic scene. In this way, the reader is presented with a snapshot introduction to Gumperz's work in a contemporary context. A number of commentaries provide a stimulating and illuminating series of theoretical and applied encounters with Gumperz's work from different perspectives. In so doing, they shed new light on Gumperz's seminal contribution to the study of language and interaction. In his Response Essay and in a final discussion, Gumperz clarifies his views on many of the topics discussed in the volume, as well as sharing with readers his views on some other approaches to language and interaction that are closely aligned to his own. Sociolinguistics, the ethnographic approach to language, language and social interaction, intercultural communication, communicative conventions, contextualization – these are some of the key terms which Professor John J. Gumperz discusses in this wide ranging and searching interview about his career as an anthropological linguist and sociolinguist interested in cultural diversity and intercultural communication. John J. Gumperz, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, is one of the founders of Sociolinguistics whose early work on speech communities and on the relationship of linguistic to social boundaries helped lay the basis for much current work in the field. Since the 1970s he has concentrated on a theory and methods of discourse analysis that can account for the intrinsic diversity of today's communicative environments. His publications include: Language in Social Groups (1962); Ethnography of Communication (1964) and Directions in Sociolinguistics (1972/2002), both coedited with Dell Hymes; Discourse Strategies (1982); Language and Social Identity (1982); and Rethinking Linguistic Relativity (1996), coedited with Steven Levinson. He is currently working on a collection of studies New Ethnographies of Communication (coedited with Marco Jacquemet); and Language in Social Theory.




Context and Contexts


Book Description

Based on papers from the IPrA Conference, which was held in Melbourne in 2009.




The Role of Contextualization in Teaching and Learning English


Book Description

Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, grade: 2,0, University of Würzburg (Neuphilologisches Institut), course: Linguistics and Teaching English, language: English, abstract: In this work it will be shown what exactly is meant with the term 'contextualization' and what its meanings for language learning and teaching are. A definition of context and contextualization will be the start of this paper. An overview of methods using the ideas of contextualization will follow and the last topic will be the advantages and disadvantages as well as the critics that formed against this movement of language teaching and learning. The paper will close with a short overview about current usage of contextualization in foreign language classrooms, as it is used to a large extend in schools and other institutions as for example the Volkshochschule. Teaching methods differ widely, mostly concerning to what their approach on teaching and learning is and how it is pursued. Methods coming up in the 1970s stated that learning should happen in context, as contextualization is of major importance, when learning a language. This was seen as important in several approaches to learning foreign languages as for example the task based learning approach (TBL) or content and language integrated learning approach (CLIL). This development was a consequence of new research in the field of language acquisition. Beforehand behavioristic approaches and the views they stood for were most important for the developing of teaching and learning models, but as cognitivist views took over contextualization got more and more influential on the matter.