Presentation Tasks

The following is a list of empirical tasks which you are asked to carry out and report on in your presentation. You are advised to start collecting materials as soon as possible. 
 

Presentation task, week 3, Collecting authentic data

You wish to analyse the use of responses to thanks (thanks minimises) among different people in a particular context in Germany. You are particularly interested in the influence of factors, such as social dominance (influenced by age/ status). Choose a suitable context in which variation can be recorded, e.g. in retail context, a bar context, at work, when asking people for directions, ....  Draw up a research question and plan, and collect a small amount of such data by means of observation. (Remember, you must always inform people that they are being taped or that they are going to be taped at some point in the future). Analyse this data, noting the linguistic expressions employed to minimise thanks, the frequency of each and the characteristics of the interactants involved (try to find out who is thanking, and who responding). Present your data and analysis to the class, outlining options which were available to you in your research design, your reasons for preferring the plan chosen, data collection procedures and also your results. 
 

Presentation task, week 4, Introducing some control - The use of questionnaires

Design a research plan in which a questionnaire (designed to be distributed in print-form or on-line) is used to investigate attitudes among the German people to the use of English in everyday speech in Germany today. Distribute your questionnaire to a small number of informants.
Outline the rationale behind the questions developed, and the reactions of your informants to your questionnaire.
 

Presentation task, week 5, Electronic corpora

Perform an analysis of responses to thanks (thanks minimises) in American English, Irish English and German in the transcripts of 2 episodes each of the TV series, "All my children", "Father Ted" (ask me for the book) and "Unter uns" (ask me for transcripts). In your analysis, you should note the linguistic expressions employed to minimise thanks, the frequency of each and the characteristics of the interactants involved (try to find out who is thanking, and who responding). Based on your research, outline the advantages and disadvantages of corpus analysis.
 

Presentation task, week 10, Data collection instruments in pragmatics - The DCT

Design a production questionnaire to elicit the use of thanks minimises in different situations in Germany. Outline the rationale behind the situations chosen (hint: It might be an idea to base your choice of situations on the authentic data gathered by your co-students in week 3 or from the corpus in week 5), the design of the questionnaire, your choice of informants and your results. Evaluate the effectiveness of the questionnaire for this interest of analysis. 
 

Presentation task, week 11, Comparing data collection instruments in pragmatics - DCT, roleplay, authenic data

You are asked to gather roleplay data on thanks minimises in German. Outline the rationale behind the situations chosen, the design of the roleplay, your choice of informants and the results. Evaluate the effectiveness of the roleplay for this interest of analysis.
 

Presentation task, week 12, Metapragmatic data collection instruments

You are interested in the knowledge foreign language students of English have of pragmatic issues. Choose a speech act of your choice and conduct empirical research using a verbal report with a small number of informants (e.g. 5 informants). You may employ a previously existing DCT (e.g. that used in Robinson 1992 or the CCSARP, etc.). Report on your data collection procedure and on any pragmatically-relevant verbal report data elicited.