Academic Style Suggested Spheres of Communication

Written variety

Spoken variety of the language

of the language

Monologue

Dialo-

Monologue

Dialogue

Polylogue

gue

Public

Pub-

. Public

Non-public

Public

Non-public

Public

Non-public

lic

Prep.

Spont.

Prep.

Prep.

Spont.

Prep.

Spont.

Prep.

Spont.

Prep.

Spont.

Prep.

Spont.

Prep.

Spont.

the

the

—

scien-

ex-

ans-

ans-

inter-

inter-

talks

inter-

discus-

discus-

_

discus-

rea-

rea-

tific

plana-

wers

wers

views

views,

at exa-

views,

sions

sions

sions at

ding

ding

talks

tions

at

at

in TV

talks

mina-

talks

over

at con-

con-

of

of

and

at se-

exa-

exa-

stu-

at sci-

tions,

at exa-

the

feren-

gresses,

lectu-

exam-

ex-

minars,

mina-

mina-

dios

enti-

at sci-

mina-

radio

ces,

confe-

res or

ples in

plana-

ans-

tions

tions

fic

enti-

tions,

and TV

con-

rences

scien-

ans-

tions

wers

confe-

fic

at con-

discus-

gres-

tific

wers

at se-

in the

ren-

confe-

feren-

sions

ses,

re-

at

minars

inter-

ces,

rences

ces,

at con-

semi-

ports

confe-

and

views,

con-

meet-

feren-

nars,

in

rences

classes

at con-

gres-

ings

ces, at

in TV

pub-

or in

feren-

ses

semi-

studios

lic,

inter-

ces

nars

over

views

the

radio

orte-

levi-

zion

It -»started of.course, | not as _vone, | but as _vtwg cities. || The .Romans built a bridge a'cross the >Thames | at a point where the 'estuary was 'narrow e'nough \ to make it a 'practical 'proposition | and the en~*campment associated with this „bridge | grew 'up on the 'north "bank of the _vriver.

The ~* principal _vfort of this encampment | was on the 'site now 'occupied by the _vTower. ~* Further to the _vwest, | at a point where the 'river was ^vfordable, | an ^xabbey | — the "* Abbey of _xWestminster — was _Ofounded | and the two 'towns 'grew 'up „side by _vside | — ^.one centred on the ^vRoman camp, | and the ~* other on the _vAbbey.

~* Now in my _xnext jecture 11 hope to 'demonstrate in ^vde- tail | that this 'state of aPfairs | — this double ^vfocus \ as we might rail it | was of crucial importance for the 'subsequent 'growth of London as a _xcity. ||

This is a public lecture about the growth and development of London addressed or rather read aloud to a fairly-sized audience. The lecturer is evidently a specialist on the subject, therefore he sounds very self-assured and comfortable with the subject, rather knowledgeable about the topic. The purpose of the lecturer is to inform rather than entertain, his aim is to deliver a message across to the audience, to win the attention and interest on the part of the listener, to establish a contact in a specific and fully premeditated way.

The result of the audience control may be seen in the tendency to adopt "rhetorical" forms of speech in which the listeners are addressed or questioned directly so as to persuade them that they are in contact with the speaker and to get them more readily round to his way of thinking:

I'd like you to consider what happened as the two towns began to expand. What do you think the main consequences of the expansion were?

To guide understanding and control the audience the speaker outlines the points he is going to lecture about, uses all sorts of phrases to clarify his position and underline each new item in the text:

You will all have seen from the handouts which you have in front of you that I propose to divide this course of lectures on the urban and architectural development of London into three main sections and perhaps I could just point out, right at the beginning that there will be a good deal of overlap between them.

Indeed I would go as far as to say...

Now by way of introduction I'd like to try and give some indication of...

Now in my next lecture I hope to demonstrate in detail...

The relationship between the lecturer and the public is on the whole rather formal, the degree of formality is not varied, though he sounds enthusiastic about what he says.

The text is delimited in the way specific for any monological presentation.

The analysis of the prosodic characteristics of the text and reports on the recent research carried out in this field in the present instance allow us to conclude that this type of the scientific intonational style (lectures, reports, explanations, interviews, etc.) is generally characterized by the parameters described in Table 9.

We would like to specify here that a certain amount of variation is a must when we perform within the register of scientific discourse, but a lecturer should keep himself (or herself) from going to extremes, otherwise he will use patterns of a different style (publicistic or declamatory, for instance) and we will witness the fusion of many styles.

Now our next procedure will be the phonological opposition of the reading of an academic lecture and a descriptive text prosodic characteristics.

As a result of the comparison we would like to describe here specific characteristics of the academic style which display features not shared by others.

1. A scientific (academic) text read aloud in public in front of a fairly-sized audience conveys both intellectual and volitional information, so the attitudinal and emphatic functions of intonation are of primary importance here.

2. A lecturer always sounds self-assured, authoritative, instructive and edifying, because any scientific style talk should be well prepared and is often even rehearsed by a trained lecturer.

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