TUTORAIL ACTIVITIES/QUESTIONS for Chapter 7

1. Underline any deictic expression in the following sentences and name the type. (答案)

　　a) I met him there last week.
　　b) Horses are useful animals.
　　c) The agreement was signed in 1978.
　　d) The agreement was signed two years ago.
　　e) Copper is a conductive material.
　　f) These are all conductive materials.
　　g) We will elaborate on the point in the following section.
　　h) I hope you’re going to do well this semester.

2. What can you infer about the situation of the following dialogue? (答案)

　　A: Hi, there, have you got the time?
　　B: Half past ten.

3. Observe whether beginners of English use the questions "What's this?" "What's that?" correctly. If you find any errors, analyze the cause.

4. The most typical form of action-accomplishing use of language is called "performative", such as "I hereby pronounce you husband and wife", which is an utterance used by a clergyman in a wedding ceremony. One way to judge whether an utterance is performative is to insert "hereby" between the subject (usually the first person singular personal pronoun) and the predicate verb and see whether it sounds right. Try this out with the following and tell which are performatives and which are not. (答案)

　　a) I cough and sneeze.
　　b) I promise to return the money tomorrow.
　　c) I know that the Bulls will win.
　　d) I bet that the bulls will win.
　　e) He bet me $2000 that the bulls will win.
　　f) I swore that I wasn’t there at the time.
　　g) I swear that I wasn’t there at the time.
　　h) I declare open the Book Fair.
　　i) He declared open the Book Fair.

5. What is the illocution of A's utterance in the following brief encounter? (答案)

　　A: You are in a non- smoking zone, sir.
　　B: Thanks (extinguishing the cigarette).

6. What maxim of the cooperative principle is violated by B? And what is the implicature? (答案)

　　A: Don't you think the hostess was abnormal?
　　B: Want another cup of coffee?

7. What maxim of the politeness principle is observed by B? What is the implicature? (答案)

　　A: The dress is lovely, isn't it?
　　B: The material is nice.

8. What kind of pre-sequence is A's first utterance? (Hint: A and B are two secretaries working in the same office) (答案)

　　A: Are you going to be here long?
　　B: You can go if you like.
　　A: I’ll just be outside. Call me if you need me.
　　B: O.K.

9. Divide the class into a few tutorial groups. The first person in each group writes the opening sentence and passes it to the second person who writes the second sentence. When all the members of the group finish, read the passage in the class and see whether the whole passage is coherent and whether each sentence is relevant. If any sentence sounds irrelevant, try to insert additional sentences to reduce the processing effort and to increase contextual effect.

 

MINI-PROJECTS

2. Record a television interview (English or Chinese) and observe the turn-taking. Write what you find regarding: what back-channels are used by the interviewer; how he/she cuts in to take his/her turn; and at what point he/she does it.