Monash University Handbook 2010 Undergraduate - Unit

Synopsis

This unit gives a special focus to the spoken mode of English, particularly the influences that shape meaning and the way meaning is conveyed in a message. Speech in English is often in a state of flux, where changes to syntax and vocabulary often first occur and enter the language. Students will: examine the way spoken English adapts to incorporate many functions and accommodate a vast variety of registers and contexts; explore and experiment with some current speech/communication theories; investigate the ways in which a second language speaker may apply these theories to their interactions with the world.

Objectives

The objective of this unit is to demonstrate how spoken English adapts to incorporate many functions and accommodates a vast variety of registers and contexts. In carrying out this objective we will examine the importance of cultural influence on speech and the implications of this for the multilingual speaker. Students will be able to experience how meaning in spoken English is structured by looking at some of the current speech/communication theories and also by experimenting and applying these theories to their own interactions with the world around them. The subject aims:

1. To extend the multilingual speaker's knowledge of the characteristics that identify the various functions of speech in English.
2. To examine a number of current speech and communication theories and relate them to the multilingual experience
3. To consider how the speech and communication theories that have been studied apply to the speaker's own interaction within the spoken context.
4. To understand the cultural influences that affects both the speaker and the listener in specific contexts.
5. To examine the social influences that affect communication in spoken interactions.
6. To explore the role of the listener as an influence in the spoken context.

Assessment

Written work: 60%
Test: 20%
Oral presentation: 10%
Class participation: 10%

Chief examiner(s)

Assoc Prof Farzad Sharifian

Contact hours

two hours/week

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

English as an international language