1B - Theories (a reminder)

All of the theories below should be revised, so that they can be applied to a variety of different texts in your Section B essay.


Norman Fairclough:


Said - "Every use of language is a use of power. Every use of discourse is a negotiation of power."


Came up with - Features of dominance: Who leads? Set topic? Interrupts? Comments on what is said? Talks most?


Came up with the concept - Symmetrical and Asymmentrical conversations. Most conversation are ASYMMETRICAL


Came up with - Influential and Instrumental power


Paul Grice:


Came up with - Graice's Maxims (which, if flouted, will disrupt a conversation) Quality, Quantity, Manner, Relation.


Flouting these maxims can either be a sign that a person is losing power or asserting power depending on the context.


Erving Goffman:


Came up with - Politeness/Face theory


Said - "Face is the image that we present of ourselves to others"


Said - "Face is a persona we present in convesation. It changes from situation to situation."


Said - "Face is maintained by the AUDIENCE not the speaker. This is achieved by the LISTNER accepting the face presented to them by the SPEAKER, and generally being sensitive towards them."


Brown and Levinson:


Came up with - Positive and Negative Face


Said - "We meet the face needs of others through positive and negative politeness.


Came up with - Face threatening acts


Sinclair and Coulthard (Classroom Discourse):

Came up with - Three types of Teacher Talk: Informative (The capital of France is Paris.), Elicitation (What is the Capital of France?), Directive (I want you to mark the Capital of France on your maps). If the teacher does not use a variety, it could display limited power/effectiveness in their teaching.


Came up with - Exchange Structure Theory: Move 1 (Initiation/Ask Question), Move 2 (Response), Move 3 (Feedback or Evaluative Comment) - If this is not happening, it could be an indication the teacher is losing power/ being interrupted.


Came up with - Two Part Exchange model - (Similar to adjacency pairs really) - Question/Answer, Inform/Acknowledge, Intro/Greeting. If this is not happening, could reflect a breakdown in power.


Robin Lakoff (Language and Woman's Place)


Observed - Women generally display patterns of speech: Use empty adjectives, use hedges, speak less, apologise more frequently, use super-polite language, avoid swearing, use tag-questions, use hyper-correct grammar, use indirect requests. Generally appear weaker than men.


O'Barr and Atkins (Courtroom Discourse)


Updated Lakoff's observations - by studying courtroom transcripts.


Observed - What Lakoff saw as 'Women's Talk' is actually just how EVERYONE talks when in a position of less power. Lakoff only observed this in women as she did not study women in powerful positions.