Applied Linguistics Essay Example for Free

Applied linguistics EssayStylistics is the study and interpretation of texts from a linguistic perspective. As a discipline it links literary criticism and linguistics, but has no autonomous domain of its own. 12 The preferred object of stylistic studies is literature, but not solely exalted literature but as well as other forms of written texts such as text from the domains of advertising, pop culture, politics or religion.3 Stylistics also attempts to establish principles surefooted of explaining the special choices made by individuals and social groups in their use of oral communication, such as socialisation, the production and reception of meaning, critical discourse analytic thinking and literary criticism. new(prenominal) features of stylistics include the use of dialogue, including regional accents and peoples dialects, descriptive language, the use of grammar, such as the active voice or passive voice, the distribution of blame lengths, the use of particular la nguage registers, etc.In addition, stylistics is a distinctive term that may be used to determine the connections between the form and set up within a particular variety of language. Therefore, stylistics looks at what is going on within the language what the linguistic associations argon that the style of language reveals. Contents * 1 Early twentieth century * 2 Late twentieth century * 3 literary Stylistics * 3. 1 Poetry * 3. 2 Implicature * 3. 3 Tense * 3. 4 The point of metrical composition * 4 See also * 5 Notes * 6 References and related reading * 7 External links edit Early twentieth century.The analysis of literary style goes back to Classical rhetoric, but modern stylistics has its roots in Russian Formalism,4 and the interrelated Prague School, in the early twentieth century. In 1909 Charles Ballys Traite de stylistique francaise had proposed stylistics as a distinct academic discipline to complement Saussurean linguistics. For Bally, Saussures linguistics by itself co uldnt fully describe the language of personal expression. 5 Ballys programme fitted well with the aims of the Prague School.6 Building on the motifs of the Russian Formalists, the Prague School developed the concept of foregrounding, whereby poetic language stands out from the background of non-literary language by means of deviation (from the norms of everyday language) or parallelism. 7 accord to the Prague School, the background language isnt fixed, and the relationship between poetic and everyday language is always shifting. 8 edit Late twentieth century Roman Jakobson had been an active member of the Russian Formalists and the Prague School, before emigrating to America in the 1940s.He brought together Russian Formalism and American New Criticism in his Closing Statement at a conference on stylistics at Indiana University in 1958. 9 Published as philology and Poetics in 1960, Jakobsons lecture is often credited with being the first ordered formulation of stylistics, and his argument was that the study of poetic language should be a sub-branch of linguistics. 10 The poetic function was one of six general functions of language he exposit in the lecture. Michael Halliday is an important figure in the development of British stylistics.11 His 1971 study Linguistic Function and Literary Style An Inquiry into the Language of William Goldings The Inheritors is a tell essay. 12 One of Hallidays contributions has been the use of the term register to explain the connections between language and its context. 13 For Halliday register is distinct from dialect. Dialect refers to the habitual language of a particular exploiter in a specific geographical or social context. Register describes the choices made by the user,14 choices which depend on three variables field (what the participantsare rattling engaged in doing, for instance, discussing a specific subject or topic),15 tenor (who is taking part in the exchange) and mode (the use to which the language is bein g put). Fowler comments that diametric fields produce different language, to the highest degree obviously at the level of vocabulary (Fowler. 1996, 192) The linguist David Crystal points out that Hallidays tenor stands as a roughly equivalent term for style, which is a more specific alternative used by linguists to avoid ambiguity. (Crystal. 1985, 292) Hallidays third category, mode, is what he refers to as the symbolic organisation of the situation.Downes recognises two distinct aspects within the category of mode and suggests that not only does it describe the relation to the medium written, spoken, and so on, but also describes the genre of the text. (Downes. 1998, 316) Halliday refers to genre as pre-coded language, language that has not scarcely been used before, but that predetermines the selection of textual meanings. The linguist William Downes makes the point that the principal characteristic of register, no matter how peculiar or diverse, is that it is obvious and immed iately recognisable.(Downes. 1998, 309) edit Literary Stylistics In The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, Crystal observes that, in practice, most stylistic analysis has attempted to turn to with the complex and valued language within literature, i. e. literary stylistics. He goes on to say that in such examination the scope is some whiles narrowed to focalize on the more striking features of literary language, for instance, its deviant and abnormal features, rather than the broader structures that are found in whole texts or discourses.For example, the compact language of poetry is more likely to reveal the secrets of its construction to the stylistician than is the language of plays and novels. (Crystal. 1987, 71). edit Poetry As well as conventional styles of language there are the unconventional the most obvious of which is poetry. In Practical Stylistics, HG Widdowson examines the traditional form of the epitaph, as found on headstones in a cemetery. For example His memory is dear forthwith As in the hour he passed away. (Ernest C. Draper Ern. Died 4. 1. 38) (Widdowson. 1992, 6)Widdowson makes the point that such sentiments are usually not very interesting and suggests that they may even be dismissed as crude verbal carvingsand crude verbal disturbance (Widdowson, 3). Nevertheless, Widdowson recognises that they are a very real attempt to convey feelings of human harm and preserve affectionate recollections of a beloved friend or family member. However, what may be seen as poetic in this language is not so a good deal in the formulaic phraseology but in where it appears. The verse may be given undue reverence precisely because of the sombre situation in which it is arrayd.Widdowson suggests that, unlike words set in stone in a graveyard, poetry is unorthodox language that vibrates with inter-textual implications. (Widdowson. 1992, 4) Two problems with a stylistic analysis of poetry are noted by PM Wetherill in Literary Text An Examination of Crit ical Methods. The first is that there may be an over-preoccupation with one particular feature that may well minimise the significance of others that are equally important. (Wetherill. 1974, 133) The second is that any attempt to see a text as simply a collection of stylistic elements will tend to ignore other ways whereby meaning is produced.(Wetherill. 1974, 133) edit Implicature In Poetic Effects from Literary Pragmatics, the linguist Adrian Pilkington analyses the idea of implicature, as instigated in the previous work of Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson. Implicature may be divided into two categories strong and weak implicature, yet between the two extremes there are a variety of other alternatives. The strongest implicature is what is emphatically implied by the speaker or writer, while weaker implicatures are the wider possibilities of meaning that the hearer or reader may conclude.Pilkingtons poetic effects, as he basis the concept, are those that achieve most relevance throu gh a wide array of weak implicatures and not those meanings that are simply read in by the hearer or reader. Yet the distinguishing instant at which weak implicatures and the hearer or readers conjecture of meaning diverge remains highly subjective. As Pilkington says there is no clear cut-off point between assumptions which the speaker certainly endorses and assumptions derived purely on the hearers responsibility. (Pilkington.1991, 53)In addition, the stylistic qualities of poetry can be seen as an accompaniment to Pilkingtons poetic effects in understanding a poems meaning. edit Tense Widdowson points out that in Samuel Taylor Coleridges poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798), the mystery of the Mariners abrupt appearance is sustained by an idiosyncratic use of tense. (Widdowson. 1992, 40) For instance, the Mariner holds the wedding-guest with his skinny hand in the present tense, but releases it in the past tense ( his hands dropt he. ) only to hold him again, this time wi th his glittering eye, in the present.(Widdowson. 1992, 41) edit The point of poetry Widdowson notices that when the content of poetry is summarised it often refers to very general and unimpressive observations, such as nature is beautiful love is great life is lonely time passes, and so on. (Widdowson. 1992, 9) But to say Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, So do our minutes brace to their end William Shakespeare, 60. Or, indeed Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime, Nor hours, days months, which are the rags of time John Donne, The Sun Rising, Poems (1633).This language gives us a new perspective on familiar themes and allows us to look at them without the personal or social conditioning that we unconsciously associate with them. (Widdowson. 1992, 9) So, although we may tranquillise use the same exhausted words and vague terms like love, heart and soul to refer to human experience, to place these words in a new and refreshing context allows the poet the abil ity to represent humanity and communicate honestly. This, in part, is stylistics, and this, according to Widdowson, is the point of poetry (Widdowson. 1992, 76). edit See also * conversation analysis * Acrolect* Aureation * Basilect * Stylometry * Literary language * Standard language * Official language * Classical language * Liturgical language * Gender role in language * Poetics and Linguistics Association * Internet linguistics edit Notes 1. Widdowson, H. G. 1975. Stylistics and the teaching of literature. Longman London. ISBN 0582550769 2. Simpson, capital of Minnesota. 2004. Stylistics A resource book for students. Routledge p. 2 Stylistics is a method of textual interpretation in which primacy of place is assigned to language. 3. Simpson, Paul. 2004. Stylistics A resource book for students. Routledge p.3The preferred object of study in stylistics is literature, whether that be institutionally sanctioned Literature as high art or more popular noncanonical forms of writin g. . 4. Lesley Jeffries, Daniel McIntyre, Stylistics, Cambridge University Press, 2010, p1. ISBN 052172869X 5. Talbot J. Taylor, Mutual Misunderstanding Scepticism and the Theorizing of Language and Interpretation, Duke University Press, 1992, p91. ISBN 0822312492 6. Ulrich Ammon, Status and Function of Languages and Language Varieties, Walter de Gruyter, 1989, p518. ISBN 0899253563 7. Katie Wales, A Dictionary of Stylistics, Pearson Education, 2001, p315.ISBN 0582317371 8. Rob Pope, The side of meat Studies Book an Introduction to Language, Literature and Culture, Routledge, 2002, p88. ISBN 0415257107 9. Richard Bradford, A Linguistic History of incline Poetry, Routledge, 1993, p8. ISBN 0415070570 10. Nikolas Coupland, Style Language Variation and Identity, Cambridge University Press, 2007, p10. ISBN 0521853036 11. Raman Selden, The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism From Formalism to Poststructuralism, Cambridge University Press, 1989, p83. ISBN 0521300134 12. Paul Simpson, Stylistics a Resource Book for Students, Routledge, 2004, p75. ISBN 0415281040 13. Helen Leckie-Tarry, Language and Context a Functional Linguistic scheme of Register, Continuum International Publishing Group, 1995, p6. ISBN 1855672723 14. Nikolas Coupland, Style Language Variation and Identity, Cambridge University Press, 2007, p12. ISBN 0521853036 15. Christopher S. Butler, social organization and Function a Guide to Three Major Structural-Functional Theories, John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2003, p373. ISBN 1588113612 edit References and related reading * ed. David Birch. 1995. Context and Language A Functional Linguistic Theory of Register (London, New York Pinter) * Richard Bradford.1997. Stylistics (London and New York Routledge) * Michael Burke. 2010. Literary Reading, Cognition and Emotion An Exploration of the Oceanic Mind (London and New York Routledge) * David Crystal. 1998. Language Play (London Penguin) 1985. A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, s econd edition (Oxford Basil Blackwell) 1997. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, 2nd edition (Cambridge Cambridge University Press) * William Downes. 1998. Language and Society, 2nd edition (Cambridge Cambridge University Press) * Roger Fowler. 1996. Linguistic Criticism, 2nd edition (Oxford Oxford University Press) 1995.The Language of George Orwell (London Macmillan Press) * MAK Halliday. 1978. Language as Social Semiotic The Social Interpretation of Language and Meaning (London Edward Arnold) * Brian Lamont. 2005. First Impressions (Edinburgh Penbury Press) * Geoffrey Leech and Michael H. Short. 1981. Style in Fiction A Linguistic Introduction to English Fictional Prose (London Longman) * A McIntosh and P Simpson. 1964. The Linguistic Science and Language Teaching (London Longman) * George Orwell. 1949. Nineteen Eighty-Four (London Heinemann) 1964. Inside the Whale and Other Essays (London Penguin Books) * Adrian Pilkington. 1991.Poetic Effects, Literary Pragmatics, ed. Roger Sell (London Routledge) * ed. Thomas A. Sebeok. 1960. Style in Language (Cambridge, MA MIT Press) * Michael Toolan. 1998. Language in Literature An Introduction to Stylistics (London Hodder Arnold) * Jonathan Swift. 1994. Gullivers Travels (London Penguin Popular Classics) * Katie Wales. 2001. A Dictionary of Stylistics, 2nd edition, (Harlow Longman) * ed. Jean Jacques Weber. 1996. The Stylistics Reader From Roman Jakobson to the Present (London Arnold Hodder) * PM Wetherill. 1974. Literary Text An Examination of Critical Methods (Oxford Basil Blackwell) * HG Widdowson.1992. Practical Stylistics (Oxford Oxford University Press) * Joseph Williams. 2007. Style Lessons in clarity and Grace, 9th edition (New York Pearson Longman) edit External links * Checklist of American and British programs in stylistics and literary linguistics * The British Poetics and Linguistics Association * http//www. brianlamont. com/ Retrieved from http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Stylistics_(literature) Categ ories Applied linguistics Language varieties and styles Linguistics Hidden categories Wikipedia articles needing style editing from October 2010 All articles needing style editing Personal tools.* Log in / create account Namespaces * Article * Discussion Variants Views * Read * delete * View history Actions Search - Top of Form Bottom of Form Navigation * Main page * Contents * Featured content * Current events * stochastic article * Donate to Wikipedia Interaction * Help * About Wikipedia * Community portal * Recent changes * Contact Wikipedia Toolbox * What links here * Related changes * Upload level * Special pages * Permanent link * Cite this page Print/export * Create a book * Download as PDF * Printable version Languages * * * * Catala * Cesky * Dansk.* Deutsch * Eesti * Espanol * Esperanto * Francais * Galego * * Ido * Bahasa Indonesia * Italiano * * Kiswahili * Hungarian * * Nederlands * * Polski * Portugues * Romana * * Slovencina * Srpskohrvatski / * Suomi * Svenska * * This page was last modified on 4 March 2011 at 0548. * Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License additional terms may apply. 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