Spoken Language Essay
Explore Some of the Ways in which Your Speech Changes according to the Context you are In
In this essay I shall explore the ways in which my speech changes according to the context I am in. Most people change the way they speak without knowing it and only realise it when they consciously try to listen for differences in their idiolect, such as their pitch, intonation, pronunciation, speed, lexis and length of their utterances.
One aspect of speech which changes is my pitch. I use sarcasm occasionally when speaking to friends which involves placing unusual stresses, a higher pitch and speech is often slower, louder and more forced to emphasise the statement. For example, “ well done Adam” becomes “well done Adam” when spoken sarcastically. Confidence also affects my pitch and when unsure I tend to speak with a rising pitch, almost as if it were a question. Such as once when talking to a strict & imposing teacher I was unsure whether I was allowed to leave , I said “... I’ll leave for prep break now ...” with a rising tone. Conversely, when one is more confident one speaks with a dropping tone, resolutely with a louder volume and with accents on the most significant words, I would speak this way with friends where conversations tend to be more chaotic with many people trying to dominate the conversation .For example I would say ‘I don’t think so’ with a dropping pitch & stress on the “don’t”. The purpose of communication affects my tone ; in informal situations, much of communication is phatic (which is for social purposes only, not for acquiring information) , for example I often greet a friend by saying ‘how are you?’, although I know that my friend is fine . If I genuinely wanted to know how they were, I would ask the question with a very different and concerned tone saying “how are you” placing stress on the ‘are’, compared to the phatic gesture “how are you”. In the context of being amongst a large group, one’s pitch can change drastically. At
In this essay I shall explore the ways in which my speech changes according to the context I am in. Most people change the way they speak without knowing it and only realise it when they consciously try to listen for differences in their idiolect, such as their pitch, intonation, pronunciation, speed, lexis and length of their utterances.
One aspect of speech which changes is my pitch. I use sarcasm occasionally when speaking to friends which involves placing unusual stresses, a higher pitch and speech is often slower, louder and more forced to emphasise the statement. For example, “ well done Adam” becomes “well done Adam” when spoken sarcastically. Confidence also affects my pitch and when unsure I tend to speak with a rising pitch, almost as if it were a question. Such as once when talking to a strict & imposing teacher I was unsure whether I was allowed to leave , I said “... I’ll leave for prep break now ...” with a rising tone. Conversely, when one is more confident one speaks with a dropping tone, resolutely with a louder volume and with accents on the most significant words, I would speak this way with friends where conversations tend to be more chaotic with many people trying to dominate the conversation .For example I would say ‘I don’t think so’ with a dropping pitch & stress on the “don’t”. The purpose of communication affects my tone ; in informal situations, much of communication is phatic (which is for social purposes only, not for acquiring information) , for example I often greet a friend by saying ‘how are you?’, although I know that my friend is fine . If I genuinely wanted to know how they were, I would ask the question with a very different and concerned tone saying “how are you” placing stress on the ‘are’, compared to the phatic gesture “how are you”. In the context of being amongst a large group, one’s pitch can change drastically. At