Identifying Subjects and Noun Phrases in English Sentences, Appunti di Lingua Inglese

Scarica Identifying Subjects and Noun Phrases in English Sentences e più Appunti in PDF di Lingua Inglese solo su Docsity! LINGUA INGLESE 2 Semantics is the meaning of the words Etymology is the origin of the words Syntax is the part of grammar that studies the structure of sentences, especially the order of words The order of words is important because if we put the words in the wrong order, the sentence may have no meaning anymore. Languages have different conceptions of how the words should be put in order + In Italian you can get away with changing to a second extent the order of what you say; In German you have to put things where they should be and only there; In Japanese the order of words is important because by the way you arrange the words, the sentence has a meaning or another one A sentence is a string of words (usually begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop) typically used to express a state of affairs in the world If the sentence is put in a correct order, it is grammatical or, otherwise, it is ungrammatical A phrase is a small group of words standing together as a conceptual unit, typically forming a component of a sentence There are noun phrases, verb phrases, objective phrases... The complex houses married and singles students > Il complesso ospita studenti sposati e single Syntax is important because, only by recognising the function of each word, you can translate the sentence and not just by knowing what each word means EX: Complex > It canbe an adjective; This topic is complex > It can be a block of buildings Houses > It can be the plural of house > Itcan be also the verb to house Married > It canbe an adjective > It can be the verb to marry In order to analyse the sentence, we need to identify the role of each constituent which is the exact word order The subject of a sentence is the constituent that has a scope performed before the action denoted by the verb and what is the topic of the sentence The predicate is the constituent whose function is to specify what the subject is engaged in doing EX: The complex > SUBJECT; Houses married and singles students > PREDICATE The subject e Indicates who or what is engaged in the action e Thesubjectis not necessarily doing something > EX: wear glasses e Can be meaningless in terms of content + EX: /t's raining > Non-referential it; it's just there to fill a position because in English we always need a subject; it's there to fulfil a grammatical function There's nothing holding me back > Existential there; there is a grammatical subject; there is no subject from the meaning point of view How do | identify the subject? e Itis usually a noun phrase (a noun or a noun with other pieces attached to it) * Itis often the noun phrase at the beginning of a sentence e Subjectare obligatory in English e They may modify the verb + -s (third person); -ed (past) A predicate can be made up by predicator, direct object, indirect object, adjuncts The predicator > Specifies the main action or process > Usually a verb The direct object = complemento oggetto > Undergoes the activity or process denoted by the verb > Often a noun phrase > Usually comes after a main verb and it is strictly related to the verb > in passive sentences they are in subject position and are introduced by the word by The indirect object = tutti gli altri complementi italiani > Usually the goal, receiver or beneficiary of the activity/process of the verb EX: / gave the students my slides > Usually a noun phrase > Cannot occur without a following direct object > Only some verbs have the indirect object (give) > Always precedes a direct object > If after direct object it is preceded by to > Can become subject in passive sentences and the subject will be preceded by the word by The adjuncts > Tell us about how, when, where or why the situation expressed has happened > They are optional in the sentence EX: Yesterday | gave my slides to the students > They can be more than one > They are mobile in the sentence Nouns subclasses e Countable and uncountable * Proper nouns e Numerals cardinal and ordinal e Personal pronouns * Possessive pronouns * Reflexive pronouns e Demonstrative pronouns e. Reciprocal pronouns e. Relative pronouns * Interrogative pronouns e Indefinite pronouns Pronouns are put together with the nouns because they do the same thing in the sentence Indeed, pronouns derive their referential content form nouns Noun phrases are strings of words whose central element is a noun * The hat (determiner + noun) * Theblue hat (noun + determiner + adjective) * Thebluehatonthe shelf (noun + determiner + adjective + adjunct) Noun phrases can become indefinitely long but also only consist of the head > The head is the central element of a phrase who can stand on their own > Hat (The blue) hats (on the shelf of my sister's shop) are fashionable + Hats are fashionable is a grammatical and perfectly understandable sentence. All the other parts are not as needed, but they specify what we are saying ADJECTIVES Adjectives are words that modify nouns Formal criteria to identify adjectives > Affixes Typical adjective suffixes? Ful, less, ive Typical adjective prefixes? Un Formal criteria to identify adjectives > Gradability Adjectives can be preceded by words that indicate the extent to which the adjective applies to the word > Very, extremely, less, barely Exceptions > Adjectives expressing material and nationalities should not be graded (wooden; Italian) BUT When these adjectives are used in a metaphorical way, they can be graded > Rather wooden performance; Very Italian way of speaking Comparatives and superlatives Great > Greater + The greatest Full + Fuller + The fullest Good + Better + The best Beautiful > More beautiful > The most beautiful > Analytical comparatives and superlatives formation Distributional criteria > Adjectives precede nouns Attributive position > They provide extra information about the noun > / have a clever nephew Predicative position > Some adjectives are post nominal as they are an exception > The person responsible will be punished; The attorney general; The governor-elect > When an adjective follows a linking verb or copula it occurs in predicative position The linking verbs are appear, be, become, feel, look, remain, seem, smell, sound Adjective phrase are strings of words whose central element is an adjective * Happy e Extremely happy e Happytobe here e Extremely happy to be here They can become indefinitely long but also only consist of the head The [extremely [happy]] actor accepted the Oscar prize with a moving speech VERBS Some verb features * Inflections> ed, s * Agreement > 3° px+S * Base form > Infinitive without to * Finite verb > Carries tense (are) e Non-finite verb > No tense carried Lexical or main verbs stand on their own, auxiliaries don't Auxiliaries e Modalauxiliaries o Express ability, permission, possibility, obligation, necessity, intention, prediction o will/would, can/could, may/might, must, shall/should, ought to * Aspectual auxiliaries o They give us the aspect of a verb o Progressive + Ongoing process (/ am reading a book) o Perfective > The auxiliary that goes with the present perfect Present perfect expresses an action that has started in the past, but has a consequence or is continuing in the present Be, have We can have a combination between the progressive and the perfective > Present perfect continuous + / have been waiting > have expresses the perfectiveness of the verb; be expresses the progressiveness * Passive auxiliary o It's added to the main verb when the direct object is put in the subject position o Be e Dummyauxiliary o Usedto fill the gap in interrogative subj-aux inversion and in negatives > Do o OTHER USES OF DUMMY AUXILIARY DO EMPHATIC: | DO believe you can pass the exam CODE: Does she know it? Yes, she DOES o Negative formation > Not can be separated from the auxiliary or tagged onto it 3 When a sentence already has an auxiliary, the negative goes attached onto the auxiliary. Wen it doesn't, you have to add don't ®*. WHEN VERBS USED AS AUXILIARIES CAN STAND ON THEIR OWN THEY ARE NOT AUXILIARIES * Auxiliaries can combine The first auxiliary is always the one that carries tense e N.I.C.E. PROPERTIES of AUXILIARIES o carry the Negative enclitic particle «not» Invert the subject manifest Code carry Emphatic stress ooo Verb phrases are strings of words whose central element is a verb The library has recalled these books > Which word is the head? Has recalled > What would you include in a verb phrase here? These books The verb here subcategorises for a noun phrase > For the verb to recall to mean something we need a noun phrase after it PREPOSITIONS e No typical endings * Very short e Canbe simple (1 word > at, behind, beside, by, for, in, like, of, on, though, under, with, without) or complex (2+ word > by means of, in front of, in spite of) Prepositional phrase > Prepositions combined with a noun phrase (by bus, with love, against all odds, in trouble) The noun phrase is called prepositional complement or prepositional object because it completes the preposition Prepositions denote a relationship (physical or metaphorical) between two entities ADVERBS modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs Typical adverbs suffixes? /y (also for adjectives), wards, wise, ways Some adverbs also take comparative and superlative forms > fast, faster, the fastest Fast is both adjective and adverb Adverb subclasses e Circumstantial adverbs + Often, gleefully > They are all the adverbs that talk about how often or in what way There are a few exceptions that happen especially with negative imperatives and we can find the subject right after the verb > Don't you cry tonight Exclamative sentences They express an idea or a feeling Syntactically they are usually introduced by a wh-word or how What a nightmare! NOTE W- interrogative VS exclamative Both interrogatives and exclamative sentences can be introduced by the Wh-words In both cases the Wh- is called modifier (it modifies the meaning of what follows it) ‘> What books do you like reading? I modify the all sentence and I make it an interrogative I modify also the word books because I'm restricting out of the category of all the books in the world, I'm asking a specific kind of books BUT * Interrogatives + We have the Wh-word and then the noun; followed by the noun it modifies o What book did you like? * Exclamatives + There's the article A between the Wh-word and the noun; followed by the article A + noun it modifies o Whatabookhe bought! > The Wn-word is introducing the exclamation A phrase is a small group of words standing together as a conceptual unit, typically forming a component of a sentence. It can consist of nouns, verbs, adverbs... A sentence is a longer unit compared to the phrase A phrase consists of the head (distinguishing component that can often stand on its own) + other components that complete, specify or qualify the meaning According to the grammatical form of the head, the phrase takes different names e Noun phrase + The head is a noun + The handsome actor from Britain * Adijective phrase > The head is an adjective > Extremely disappointed in you * Verb phrase + The head is a verb, which can be accompanied by an auxiliary or by a DO because some verbs won't make any sense without being followed by something > Listening to music on Spotify e Preposition phrase + A preposition combines with a noun phrase and it makes the difference in terms of function between a subject and an object (the teacher can be either a subject or an object) > With my own hands * Adverb phrase > The head is an adverb Most often adverb phrases only consist of the adverb itself Adverbs can be modified by other adverbs + Rather slowly Phrases can be included in one another and a phrase may contain various word classes + VMich one we should consider depends on the sentence Word classes or parts of speech e Nouns * Determiners * Adjectives * Verbs * Prepositions e Conjunctions o Coordinative when the two parts that they put together have the same value 3 Whiskey and beer o Subordinated > / know that you are tired > The most important part is / know and then you are tired * Adverbs e. Interjections They are onomatopoeic sounds They express a feeling or an emotion They are not integral parts of the syntactical structure Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo > Wat does it mean? > Itis a sentence that makes sense and it is correct > TREE DIAGRAMS and some semantics are the only way to find out TREE DIAGRAMS /. | re‘ De N OPIEp N a film about pollution A film about pollution * A+ Determiner * Film> Noun * About > Preposition e Pollution + Noun It is a noun phrase, but this noun phrase to make any sense when we are talking will need some verb It is not a sentence because in order to be a sentence we need a subject and a predicator | Il. move towards the window Move towards the window * Move> Verb * Towards > Preposition * The > Determiner e Window è Noun Move without saying to where wouldn't make much sense This is a verb phrase because it is made up by the verb and the other elements that are necessary to understand what the verb is trying to say This verb phrase has one main verb and a prepositional phrase that completes the meaning of the verb This prepositional phrase is made up by the preposition towards, a determiner and a noun This prepositional phrase is made up a preposition and a noun phrase because a prepositional phrase is noun phrase that needs a preposition which transforms the noun phrase into a complement He/ likes the I s I e. " gradi Pronoun (4) vana n Re vo af pa È likes the toy He |A He likes the toy > There is a subject and a predicator, so this is a sentence A sentence in order to be correct needs to be made up by a noun phrase and a verb phrase Here the noun phrase is a personal pronoun and the verb phrase is divided between the verb and another noun phrase that completes the verb After the main verb there is a noun phrase that is made up by a determiner and a noun Restrictive or non-restrictive relative clauses Relative clauses in English (introduced by relative pronouns like who, which, that) may be restrictive between commas, or non-restrictive without commas e The doctor, who discovered this cure, will save many lives > We are talking about the specific doctor that discovered the cure Only this specific doctor will save many lives + There is a restriction * The doctor who discovered this cure will save many lives > It is not necessarily said that we know who the doctor is It is non-restrictive because it is not necessary for us to know who that person is > The most important thing is that whoever did it will save many lives l [Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. The bisons from Buffalo that are bullied by other bisons from Buffalo bully other bisons from Buffalo SYNTAX IN USE: WRITING Style is what makes the difference between something that is written well and something that is not written well Everything that is done with style is better than things done without style Genitives > They are better used for persons > When the name ends in -s both options are valid My house is older than Mrs Evans’ > If you don't make sure the sound is heard, you are insulting Mrs Evans by telling her that she is quite old > When in doubt resort to the of (the) construction, but watch out because it makes the writing heavy > For belonging attribution does not need genitive The department secretary > English is concise, dry and clear Commas + They are important The difference between putting a comma and not putting a comma can be vital Oxford comma > It's the comma that we use in a list of items e Red, white, and blue e Honest, energetic, but headstrong O Theyare not always used, but they are widespread in USA o Anexception to the Oxford comma is the name of businesses o etcis preceded by a comma BUT not everyone agrees Parenthetic o Itis a sentence that goes in between commas + It's a sentence that specifies o Ifthe parenthetic is made up just by a single word), it is possible to omit the commas o Never leave only one comma o Never omit commas in longer parenthetic e andand but preceded by comma when introducing independent clauses * Remember there are alternatives to and and but to make the language more formal > Alternating the style between the plain and something more refined is always the best option to make the writing elegant, but not too heavy or snobbish but — although — despite — still e Donotuse periods for commas (= breaking the sentence) An exception is allowed for emphatic purposes Types of sentences Simple > They usually contain a single independent clause, but they are not always short A simple sentence has only one verb Compound + They contain two independent clauses that are joined by a coordinating conjunction and they can be quite short Complex + They contain an independent clause plus one or more dependent clauses (a dependent clause starts with a subordinating conjunction) Compound-complex + Contains three or more clauses (of which at least two are independent and one is dependent) Sentences ® A participial phrase at the beginning of a sentence must refer to the grammatical subject o Walking slowly down the road, he saw a woman accompanied by two children o He saw a woman accompanied by two children, walking slowly down the road Style > Some common mistakes DANGLING MODIFIERS ® A participate (a present or past-tense participle serving an adjectival function) that is lacking the correct noun to be modified (described) RUN ON SENTENCE e Two principal clauses strung (legate) together without appropriate punctuation and/or conjunctions, forming two or more sentences that run confusingly together > Make sure the sentences not only are linked with the appropriate conjunctions, but also that these conjunctions give the idea of what you need to do LACK OF PARALLEL STRUCTURE e Subordinate (relative) clauses and or adverbial/adjectival phrases that are dissimilar or unequal in form, in modifying the verb in the principal clause IMPRORER USE OF THE CONJUCTION AS * ascan mean both since, because and at the same time e Do notuseas to introduce a subordinate clause that follows the principal clause, when as in that subordinate clause explains why, in the sense of because, since, for CONFUSING PRINCIPAL/PRINCIPLE e Principal > Primary, chief, leading, dominant, and it is usually an adjective, as in a principal clause, his principal adversary. But it may also be a noun, as in the principal of the school e Principle > Always a noun that refers to a specific concept, procedure, code, intellectual mechanism, that governs or directs one mode's of conduct or method of analysis as in the principles of economics USING GERUNDS WITH A POSSESSIVE e Averbal form acting as a noun. As such any other noun or pronoun modifying that gerund must be in the possessive case DISTINGUISH BETWEEN DUE TO AND BECAUSE OF e They both express the cause of something, but they need to be used in a different way * Duetto is an adjective, while because of is a preposition introducing an adverbial phrase An adjective needs always to be linked to something > To be due to something, something is due to AVOID A SUCCESSION OF LOOSE SENTENCES e Loose sentences are form of empty talking > When you say many words, but you can express the same meaning with much less ENGLISH + BUSINESS LINGUA FRANCA English is the language of business English is today a lingua franca A lingua franca is a contact language used among people who do not share a first language The first lingua franca is Sabir, which is a pidgin of Italian dialects, Greek, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Arabic, Turkish, Persian These languages got mixed together because Italy, Greece, Portugal, Spain, France, Turkey and Persia are all looking on the Mediterranean Sea 3 They needed a language, that everybody could understand, because they were doing business > Sabir is a business language > The trade was more important than the differences among people In the course of history, other languages have been taking this lingua franca role > We had Greek, Latin, Arabic, Portuguese These languages were used for business or for colonisation Sometimes they were imposed Nowadays the lingua franca used in international interaction is English It's a timeless phenomenon, but it was studied for the first time as a phenomenon in 2000 with a scholar called Jenkins She was the first one to do some academic study about this phenomenon English as a lingua franca Definition + An additionally acquired language system which serves as a common means of communication for speakers of different first languages English as a lingua franca can be used from native speakers and from non-native speakers Non-native speakers are more important that native speakers when we talk about English as a lingua franca A pidgin is a mix of different pieces of various languages A pidgin is a sort of interactional language + It doesn't have any native speaker and it's usually a mix What is a pidgin? The word pidgin was born in the early 19° century in South of China The word was invented by Chinese merchants interacting with English speakers on the docks They manage to turn the word business into pidgin The word itself then became the descriptor of the unique communication used by people Who speak different languages Pidgins generally consist of small vocabularies, but some have grown to become a group's native language > English isn't a pidgin because it is an established language with native speakers o Pidgin is simplified and has non-native speakers unless it becomes the language of a community o A lingua franca is a full language and has native speakers, but is adopted by other people as well because for political or historical reasons they find it convenient and more useful ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA (ELF) Foreign language paradigm Global Englishes paradigm > It starts from a global perspective Aim to approximate a given standard > They teach to approximate a given standard Speakers are non-natives, but varieties are accepted in their own right Non-natives lacking > The non-natives are seen as people that would never be as good as natives Non-natives different > They are features and peculiarities in the way they speak Mistakes Emerging features Code mixing interference > The use of some words from our own language is seen as a mistake Code mixing as a resource > The code mixing is seen as a resource Failed natives Skilled communicators Does ELF have features? Which are the features which are fundamental for non-natives speakers to be understood? * Essential for understanding e It‘sstill working in progress Jenkins thought of these features, that make the basics of English the most fundamental part of English, that they cannot be ignored by people that use it as a lingua franca She called all these features the lingua franca core Jenkins tried to find out what are the fundamental parts of English that we shouldn't ignore if we want to be understood by everyone * AIl consonants are necessary except e and è + All consonants should be pronounced apart from e and ò e DarkL is not necessary e /rlcan be pronounced as in general American English * It/needstobe fully pronounced No flapping e.g. AME “Idaly" No replacing with glottal stop e.g. Cockney “bettah” (better) e Length should be preserved + The length of the sounds makes the difference between one word and another * Quality is not a problem as long as it is consistent > Choose one pronunciation Style and stick to it LEXICO-GRAMMAR > Many people who speak English as a lingua franca e Dropthe third person present tense -s e Confuse the relative pronouns who and which e Omit definite and indefinite articles where they are obligatory in ENL and inserting them where they do not occur in ENL * Fail to use correct forms in tag questions * Insert redundant prepositions e Overuse certain verbs of high semantic generality e Replace infinitive constructions with that clauses e Overdo explicitness + Black colour — Black IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS + Idioms are ever changing e Metaphorical image created ad hoc e Formalvariation of existing idioms + Let sleeping dogs lie - We should not wake up any dogs e Transplantation of idioms from other languages What are the problems with finding features of ELE? The all world is potentially ELF speakers If we make a list of the features of ELF, we are just imposing and prescribing If we give fixed rules for a lingua franca, there's no point to the lingua franca because it should be flexible enough for people to be able to use English without the fear of not sounding like a native If we use ELF, some mistakes are admitted The most important part of speaking English in the business context is to make sure you are an effective communicator We can find some features to ELF, but only from an observation point of view > We can notice things, but we can't prescribe the way ELF should be spoken because we can't predict how people are going to speak English If we impose a standard, we can just keep the British or the American standard > There's no point to talk about a Lingua franca There's no real difference between imposing a standard of a Lingua franca and any other standard and it's not going to work because there's too many people using English everyday What should we consider then? PRAGMATICS + The actual context in which we use the language; the study of language that considers its use, users and context We need to be culturally aware The mutual understanding is more important than the correctness + This is only valid for spoken interactions > The most important thing when we use ELF is o ls my message going straight to the other person? o ls the other person understanding what | am talking about? o AmI understanding what he wants from me? How is mutual understanding ensured? Business English can be taught in two ways according to who we are teaching to or what kind of learners we are and so what we need could be different * English for General Business Purposes o Pre-experienced learners + You do not necessarily already have a job or a job experience o Notdefined the specific field of their activities yet * English for Specific English Purposes o Job experienced learners o Qualified in their field o Need improvement in language to advance Business English going global The beginning of a global Business English is in the 19908 > We had cross-border mergers (fusioni internazionali) and acquisitions (the difference between a merger and an acquisition is that a merger is two businesses of more or less the same size that decide to get together to become a bigger business and, instead, an acquisition is a much bigger business that buys a smaller one) + The increasing role of the Internet = Vital changes in communication Before only specific units communicated with partners across borders After whole organisations interact internationally > Many businesses have a website and an English version of their websites, they have an Instagram or a Facebook page, they are trying to communicate in English AII societal sectors could be characterised as playgrounds of global players What is difference from before to now concerning who needs to speak English? Inside a business everybody needs to speak English The nature of texts * Before we had format bound import/export related generic messages (letters or emails concerning international sales highly codified, highly specialised and absolutely technical) > Before only import/export needed to be language aware * After English is becoming a corporate language (implicit or explicit) to communicate worldwide with partners and customers What does it imply in terms of competence and interlocutors? Before even if we didn't know English well, we could get by easily thanks to the pre-written messages. Instead, now, we need a much broader competence in English > Business English was absorbed into the Lingua franca studies and it became BELF (Business English as a Lingua franca) > From Business English approximating natives to Business English as a Lingua franca (BELF) English in business The written English should be native-like because this gives prestige The spoken is content-oriented, takes account on various background and focuses on communication Companies choosing English as corporate language Value correctness + The English should be clean, correct, appropriate Employees feel disempowered + Having a foreign language as corporate language can make people feel powerless, not able to meet the company expectations Hire native speakers Native speakers of English can be seen as a burden in international communication o o They are difficult to understand They do not always succeed in accommodation strategies ELF skills need to be learned BELF — Some on-site studies These studies analysed two perspectives and to do so they carried out two projects One was aimed at the analysis of in-house communication in mergers + MERGER PROJECT A merger is a business that results from the union of two or more businesses that have more or less the same size, but because they are too small to compete at a global level, they need to merge together in order to deliver a better service and not to have that competition A merger does not necessarily happen only in the same nation + A merger can also happen internationally The merger project was the project that looked at the way the communication in- house, within the business happened in a merger Communication knowhow (it's a knowledge applicable and applied to real life needs and experiences) for internationally operating businesses > KNOWHOW PROJECT The communication knowhow is to know how to communicate in a business, especially when this business is a business that operates in an international environment MERGER PROJECT When we do a research, we need to find the right environment for the research > They analysed what was happening in two large corporations + StoraEnso (paper company) and Nordea (banking group) They are the result of mergers across the Gulf of Bothnia (Sweden/Finland) in the late 1990s After you identified the right environment for the research, you need to ask yourself a question > What do you want to find out? > Main question: How do the employees manage the linguistic and cultural challenges of being in a merger? This means: What were the language use and the communication practices realised by and among business professionals with different linguistic background? > The main question that we ask ourselves is still generic because it reveals a general aim, a general strategy > In order to achieve a general objective, we usually need to take smaller steps To achieve our general aim, we needed to ask specific questions to the employees In order to answer the main question, the interviewvees were asked: o To map out the communicative practices in the company > To ask the employees How do you communicate on a daily basis with your colleagues? o To analyse the perception of the counterpart's culture (similarities and differences) > What are the differences that you perceive from your colleagues? We have a business that has people from two different countries, two linguistic heritages, two cultural heritages, before we can ask them anything, what is the first thing we need to know in order to investigate? The first thing we need to find out is What do | already know about the culture, the people, the language that I am going to analyse? You can approach different contexts with the same judgement, with the same tools from a theoretical and a methodological point of view > \We need to know is What are the languages and the cultures of these people? > The first thing we need to have is some linguacultural background of the actors involved o Swedish > It is a North Germanic (= Indo-European) language spoken in Sweden o Finnish > It is one of the few Non-Indo-European languages of Europe; It is a Non-Indo-European language spoken in Finland o Form a geographical point of view Sweden and Finland belong to Scandinavia Scandinavian is the Lingua franca of Scandinavian region and it's a fluid combination of Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Icelandic > FINNISH IS NOT INCLUDED because it hasn't got any linguistic relation with the other languages > BUT Swedish is the second official language in Finland + Finnish people study it in school > With a high-school language level in Swedish, Finnish people aren't comfortable in talking about serious business matters and in using it with native speakers Our options are Scandinavian or BELF The findings of the research concerning the Lingua franca used at work They used BELF as Lingua franca because: o The employees shared the core English and they studied it in the same way o The employees were not native speakers of Lingua franca > If you have a language that is a mother tongue to a group and not a mother tongue to another group, the people that speak it as a mother tongue are favoured and they have an advantage o They perceived English as the best way to get the job done BELF was used at all levels (from the top management to lower positions) o Finnish and Swedish were still used in day-to-day activities o Start-up A company that is in the first stage of its operations in the attempt to capitalize on developing a product or service for which they believe there is a demand Research question In order to answer the main question, it was necessary to o o Examine communication, conventions, characteristics and knowhow within the business + See the way these people communicated concretely in their business Identify the features that make communication perceived as successful + Identify the features of the communication that made people think that a communication event was successful Communication to be successful not only you need to get what you might to say across, but also to do it in a way that is welcomed by your interlocutor Research findings The first finding concerns the role of BELF in contemporary businesses o The fact that BELF existed was taken for granted in internationally operating business professionals > If you work in an internationally operating business, the business will expect you to know the amount of English that is necessary for you to communicate with your colleagues It was perceived as one of the tools necessary to accomplish tasks > As you need row material in order to produce something, you need to have BELF in order to work properly It is conceived as a global language + English is not the language of British people, but it is the language for global communication The perception of BELF > How do we see it in the business? o o o BELF is made of knowledge of the language, but also skills (Communication skills) It is context-bound and user-determined + The level of formality, the level of grammaticality of the language and the level of specialised vocabulary depend on context and user The most important thing is to realise who we are talking to and to adjust our language to the people we communicate with It is a dynamic construction + We need to adjust our communication style dynamically It is aimed at getting the job done and at creating rapport BELF competence + What is the competence of BELF that we need? o o o We are not too focused on imitating the natives-like speech In speaking grammar is less important than genre knowledge BUT BELF is only modest on the surface... > BELF is not as easy as it seems: indeed, many competent people, that know the English language, are not competent in the use of English in the Lingua franca context The other findings concerning the competence are o Accommodation skills > It's to make someone comfortable in the communication 3 Make sure everybody gets what they want from communication in the way they prefer > The ability to make sure that the communication is successful for everyone despite any difference that we can have Listening skills > When you listen, you attentively listen to someone not only to What they actually say, but to what they imply when they say things Ability to understand different Englishes > What makes the difference between someone that speaks English and someone that uses the Lingua franca is the fact that they are able to understand everyone Tolerance towards different communication styles + Not everyone will use English in the same way Context specific genre knowledge + What did they find about the context specific knowledge that we need to have in English? o o o Appropriate choice for audience Appropriate choice of media > Knowing when to use the aid of technology, knowing when a face to face communication is preferred Appropriate choice of timing concerning turn-taking and how much time do we dedicate to each communication situation Focus on the style of the message (e.g. register, cultural references) Successful communication in a multicultural and multilingual context + Wat makes a communication successful in business? o o o o Clarity > Keeping communication obscure is not a sign of cooperation Brevity Directness > BUT always watching out for cultural differences and for the concept of directness in different cultures Politeness It is clear that we cannot talk about BELF competence the same way we do for a national language > We need to be open to anything we can face BELF has a specific competence defined global communicative competence The model for expressing this competence is made of concentric circles O e Global communicative competence e Multicultural competence o is knowledge and skills in managing communicative situations with representatives of different national, organisational and professional cultures O requires > > Accommodation skills, including respect towards different ways of doing or saying things Multilingualism is preferred because when you study a language, you study a different system of reasoning > That makes you more flexible in communication, makes you a better communicator and makes you more useful e Competence in BELF o is managing the task while building rapport O requires > The competence in the English core è As long as your pronunciation is understandable is very enough > You don't need to have the perfect British accent to speak up and express yourself Business-specific genres Communication strategies The communication strategies need to reflect a dynamic approach of communication > Don't be afraid of asking for clarifications, asking questions, repeating and paraphrasing We need to be attentive to situation Clarity + brevity + directness + politeness + They need to be combined Tolerant of different varieties * Business knowhow o is the business specific knowledge o includes > > > Particular domain Wider, overall goals Norms and strategies of the business community Summarising EFL VS BELF [ criterion | EFL | BELF ooo 000 o Complete doesn't mean neverending Removing wordy expression Including relevant information only Staying away from unwanted duplication Arranging communication well > You get the maximum information with the minimum word waste Pay-per-word > Imagine you have to pay for each word you write Concreteness No vague and plain communication Specifics rather than generalisations Distinct information and statistics Verbs that indicate concrete steps Picking out vivid, image-building words Courtesy o ooo o Take into consideration the feelings and viewpoints of the receiver + The message should be positive and focused on the audience Be genuine, tactful, and appreciative + If you can appreciate something about someone, let them know they did well and they are worth Steering clear of expressions that aggravate or hurt Responding promptly Be ready to apologise genuinely when required Thank generously Correctness o The message is exact, correct and well-timed well- timed > It arrives in time and it takes the right time to be decoded correct + Appropriate vocabulary and register exact > Examining the exactness of stats, information and phrases before sending > Greater impact on the audience/readers is ensured by correctness Consideration o o o o Concentrating on the reader's benefit rather than yours when asking/proposing Emphasis on enjoyable, good information Integrity and ethics Picking non-discriminatory and gender-free phrases Chairperson VS Chairman Law enforcement employees rather than policeman It's good in English to write he/she or his/her or to use the plural The manager may offer a raise S = NP (determiner + noun) + VP [auxiliary + main verb + NP (determiner + noun)] The teacher spoke to the boy with a smile S = NP (determiner + noun) + VP [main verb + PP (preposition + NP) > determiner + noun + PP (preposition + NP) > determiner + noun] My boss was very happy about her promotion S = NP (pronoun + noun) + VP [auxiliary + PP (adverb + adjective + preposition + NP) > pronoun + noun] Some tips for effective communication Attitude in communicating e Be direct and concise + Be open about the actual content of your message and minimise preambles Going round in circles, instead of getting to the point, can be seen as an attempt to deceive the person by not showing exactly what you are trying to do * Be honest and genuine (when possible not blunt) > Genuinely expressing ideas and opinions in the right manner * Be presentand open > Listen attentively and try to learn as much as possible from experiences * Be confident, but measured + Confide in your work and abilities, but remember people have their doubts (do not force them) Kaizen is a way of doing business, where everyone, from the lowest to the highest sector of a company, is asked to think of his own piece of business and to identify problems or any sort of process that can be done better Honesty is particularly appreciated in businesses when you are invited to actively contribute to the development IISS principle o Integrity > Increases trust between sender and receiver Integrity is having strong morals and abiding by these morals Lack of honesty + Scepticism about what you are doing o Intensity > Believing in the message is important Simplicity > A simple language lets the content speak for itself o Succinctness > Brief messages are more likely to be read carefully o Some tips for effective communication 3X3 writing process * Pre-writing o Analysing o Anticipating o Adapting ANALYSING >» Ask yourself what is the purpose of the message? (e.g. inform, persuade, collaborate) > WIll anything change as a result of my message? >» ls my purpose realistic? > Is it the right time to convey the message? ANTICIPATING >» Your purpose determines the way the receiver will react and what he will do o When you inform about something you need little interaction on your interlocutor's side. They just need to acknowledge o Persuading requires a higher level of interaction + Moderate interaction o Collaborating is the action that requires the strongest interaction level >» According to what you are trying to do and who you are talking to the register will also change o Telling a supervisor about the state of a project + Direct and formal o Persuading your team to work overtime to meet a deadline + Less direct and more informal o Group email to elicit collaboration in a Corporate Social Responsibility activity > Indirect and informal ADAPTING >» The previous steps that you took will lead you to adjust your message > You need to be sensitive to your receiver + Using the right language for the occasion » Build relationship + Focus on the advantages that the people will have >» Stay professional How do we stay professional? e Control your emotions (Agitated? Cool down before replying) ® Avoid you when it sounds accusatory e Criticism + Only when needed and try to be constructive e When you write strong statements, active verbs are the best option e When you write diplomatic messages, you can use passive verbs because you don't want to point against anyone Writing - Researching When we write something, we will need to do some research in the course of the writing and we will have to gather data and information > We should read other reports and select reliable documents > Talk with supervisors, colleagues, customers Writing - Organising Now we have all of the data, ve know what we are going to write and we are sure that our sources are very reliable, so we can organise the way we are going to write > Group similar ideas together in order to narrow the focus > Make sure when you cover one topic, you cover all that you need to say about that topic > Use the Ws approach + When you write, you need to answer all of these questions > Ensure the information complies with company policies > Ensure the message is pertinent to the receiver's needs o Stick to the topic of the subject (if you need to write more things make sure you write more emails, especially if the topics are not related in any way) o No capslock because it looks rude o Email etiquette suggests that you should respond within 1 working day and apologise for any delay right at the beginning o For sentence-to-sentence responding, only quote the fundamental parts o Do notabuse the reply-to-all option o Avoid fancy use of fonts and colours Main parts of a business letter * Heading > Letterhead + dateline o Letterhead > It is made of logo, slogan, graphics (which can extend throughout the page) and main contacts (also at the bottom) o Date > It usually goes after the letterhead and it is important to add the date because it has a legal value » Date formats Korea and China + 2008.05.10 (year, month, day) USA > May 10, 2008 Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Canada > 10 May 2008 Intemational Organization for Standardization > 2008-05-10 (year, month, day) ® Sender’s address o When using stationery, it may already be printed on the letterhead, if so, do not type it out o Address noton the letterhead + Include it at the top of the document o Do not include your name e Recipient's address o Also called the inside address, may also include department and company name o Maybe omitted in informal and social semi-formal letters Should be addressed to a specific person, if possible o Courtesy title (Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms, Dr) confirm what title the person prefers before writing o Only omit the title when gender unknown o Unsure of a woman's marital status of title preference > MS In Italy when you graduate undergrad, you are a doctor In England when you graduate undergrad, you are not a doctor, you are a BA > They are only doctors when they have a PHD o e Salutation o Most common + Dear + recipient's first name for informal letters AIl other letters + Dear + a courtesy title and the recipient's last name o Left justified, regardless of format Two lines below the recipient's address (or date, for informal letters) o Formal and semi-formal letters + Colon (due punti) o Informal letters > Comma e Body o In block or modified block format, each paragraph begins at the left margin o A line of space between each paragraph o First paragraph + Introduce yourself to the recipient, if he or she does not know you, and state purpose for writing Following paragraphs + Elaborate upon the message o Maybe closed with a line like Thank you in advance for your kind attendance — Thank you in advance for your kind help — Looking forward to hearing from you e Closing andsignature © Brief and courteous Two lines below final body paragraph Capitalize only the first word of the closing Includes your handwritten and typed name Formal letters + Full name Semi-formal letters > May use only first name o May also contain the preferred title (vhen not known) o Mayalso include writer's position in the business and personal contacts ooo o The formats Block + For formal letters it is the most used * Allelementsofthe letter aligned to the left margin of the page Paragraphs are separated by double line space Modified block e Date, sign off and signature lines begin at the centre point of the page line The beginning of each paragraph can be indented along (mettere i rientri) with the subject line, if used Depending on the length of the letter, paragraphs may be separated by a single or a double line space Semi-block * Similar to block, but has a more informal appearance AII elements are left-aligned, except for the beginning of each paragraph, which is indented five spaces Paragraphs are separated by a double line space In the letter we can also have optional things Attention line > Specifying person/role/department the letter is addressed to > Followed by colon or no punctuation Subject line > Identify the topic 3 May or may not be not proceeded by the word subject > Placed after the salutation Enclosure/attachment notation + Indication of additional materials sent e Letter: please sign the agreement enclosed with this letter * Email: please find the form template attached to this email Copy notation > Identify other people receiving the communication e CC = courtesy copy e C=copy * Bcc=blind courtesy copy Post scriptum + Add personal comment or emphasise a point > P.S Internal communication + Specific types of letters and emails e Only used internally > It is a way to make internal communication smoother or quicker * Itis used for both horizontal and vertical communication * More informal and simpler than a letter > It takes less time to be written e Can contain briefs, routine communication e Informingor persuading purposes * Heading segment > To, from, date, subject Opening > Purpose of the memo Context + Background of the problem Task > How the problem is being/needs to be solved Closing segments + attachments * Shortandtothe point * Direct style and communication e No need for salutation or complementary close e.g. Thank you for your kind attention * Signed by the competent authority if you are attending someone to do something or if you are giving specific information e No more than one page e Left-justified and single spaced (no indent) e Containing directions or instructions from a manager to subordinates > It is a downward communication tool e Especially used in public bodies/institutions * Usually non-compliance will require a disciplinary action e.g. extension of the probation period, refusing leave, compelling someone to work overtime to complete work, distribution of work, termination, granting promotion, declaring benefits * Shortandtothe point e Drawthe attention of the person wo needs to comply with it e Contain specific instructions or directions e Inmemo format Newsletters + Linkedin News media > Twitter Website > Facebook TV and radio > YouTube Business directory > Blog Referrals > Webinars Surveys + Forums Intranet > Podcasts o ooo D00 YouTube Use o Record seminars o Demonstrate products o Engage your customers Current marketing tool o In person demonstration o Newsletters o Telephone Facebook Use o Build new relationships o Engage with your customers o Increase brand exposure Current marketing tool o Networking events o Telephone o Newsletters o Static website LinkedIn Use o Networking business-to-business © Build your business connection base o Promote useful articles online Current marketing tool o Networking events o Online personal website o Newspaper and magazine articles Twitter Use o Publish your articles o Short conversation posts Current marketing tool o o Newspaper and magazines Telephone Benefits of using social media There are many benefits to using social media It's free You have a huge audience It's another communication tool to be utilised alongside more traditional methods You can engage easily with your customers You will have a visible presence on the web You receive real-time feedback Wnat makes people share? o o o In order to earn social currency: they want to look smart, funny and in the know This can be done through gamification (make something game-like) or by being the first to have seen a video Triggers: things that are considered topical create debate Emotion: funny, sad, amazing posts would bring you to share Practical value: useful links/content > You post something that think may be useful for other people to know Stories: memorable and enjoyable What do businesses do with social media? o o o o Engage costumers by giving them the solution they look for Listen to the costumers, to learn about them from them Build a network with other business and professionals Find cheerleaders, who love and support what you do Why using social media? Brand building o Increase brand awareness (e.g. 60% of Instagram users say they discover new products on the platform) > Making people aware that you exist as a brand Humanise the brand + Introduce followers to the people from the company and showcase how existing customers are using and benefiting from products Become opinion leader (e.g. through the Linkedin Publishing Platform you can show your idea of business to other businesses, to potential employees and to potential costumers) Stay in the costumers' mind + Majority of users of social networks say they connect on their pages several times a day, you have so many opportunities to reach your audience Growth o Increase website traffic by sharing great content (website traffic is the time spent on a website, but also the number of pages visited by the user) o Generate leads, providing the customers with all information they look for o Increase sales using the potential of ads o Partner with influencers + Authenticity Content distribution o Go viral and earn visibility o Source content (to find content without even having to make the effort of creating the content) * Source ideas: ask your followers what they want, or engage in social listening, to come up with ideas for content you can create yourself ® Source material for posts: create a contest or use a hashtag to source user- generated content (UGC) you can share Communication o Reputation management + When you see people talking about you, you have the opportunity to intervene directly to give your own version » In case of badmouthing > Share your side of the story in a polite, professional way >» Incase of praises + Plenty of thanks and draw attention to their kind words o Crisis management e.g. Philadelphia Starbucks store > Two black men were arrested in Starbucks because they were complaining too much about not being served The arrest of these tvo men made the hashtag #BoycottsStarbucks go viral o Costumer service and costumer support Target o Social ads are an inexpensive way to promote business and distribute content o Retargeting + When costumers abandon cart chase them with tools like Facebook Pixel o Proofof ROI (return on investment) through analytic tools (e.g. Google Analytics tell you whether that advertising was clicked on) Social media. business and grammar Semantic web * Itis a meshof data associated in such a way that they can easily be processed by machines instead of human operators e Itis an extended version of the existing Word Wide Web, it represents an effective means of data representation in the form of a globally linked database * It converts the presently available Web of unstructured documents to a Web of information/data Semantic web transforms unstructured data in a corpus (a collection of written or spoken material stored on a computer and used to find out how language is used) BUSINESS WRITING IN NEW MEDIA When you have to write content in a foreign language for your business, the first thing you need to do is to create and apply brand standards e Mission statement > This should outline what you hope to accomplish through your social media strategy e Audience + Pinpoint who your core audience members are and what they are looking for from social media content (who are you writing for?) * Brand voice + Describe your social media voice, e.g. casual, professional... e Tone > This will help determine what types of content to post, e.g. helpful, authoritative, humorous... * Branding > Determine any important brand elements, e.g. spellings, abbreviations e Message + Guidelines concerning which types of messaging to post on specific platforms because each platform elicits a different type of language, of content and of form, e.g. Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook Shareability of posts e They needto be mobile-friendly e Catchytitles * Share buttons would be visible * Hashtags and multimedia > Speak a language that your audience is familiar with > You need to study who they are, read what they write and survey them SOCIAL MEDIA WRITING TIPS Tone: casual, brief and adjusted > The social media account shouldn't be the replica of your website + It should be coherent in content, but in a more casual tone > Each social media platform needs specific adjustments because the tone on Twitter is different from the tone on Instagram, which is different from the tone on Facebook and LinkedIn > The Agorapulse team has compiled a list od the best social media writing tips. Click below to read them (Linkedin) Need to improve your social media writing skills? Check out our hot tips (Facebook) Overall: o Avoid lengthy sentences and long words (optimal FB length = 40 words max) o Avoid colourless “pusiness-speak" > Try to give it some fascination o Teaser captions are short and appealing CTA: call to action (involving people in doing things) > It isn't constantly promotional, but elicit responses (watch a video, share, comment) o Punchy and direct, e.g. watch now, read more, click here o Aska short question or make an impactful statement o Don't confuse the audience by asking too many actions, e.g. watch our video then come back and comment and share our post + One thing per post EX: Netflix > See what's next. Watch anywhere, cancel anytime. Watch free for 30 days Keep it personal (you have to know exactly who you are talking to) > Using pronouns such as we, /, me and you as opposed to the company, the client or the team > Do not lecture the audience > Write as though you are talking to each follower o If you know the people you are talking about, you can include data in your posts, e.g. 85% of our costumers surveyed love this new shampoo o Tailor your language to your audience age, gender, interests Great responses ‘> Understand your brand voice and how you will respond to fans on social, e.g. Cheeky brand that likes to play with fans? Straight-to-the-point brand that answers questions without chatting? o Same style as the brand + Audience enjoys the same brand experience throughout o Friendly, polite and informative o Pass the client to your support team if necessary, but make sure it is communicated properly (/ forwarded your complain to the technical team who should be contacting you as soon as possible) SAMPLE BUSINESS WRITING ONLINE Trip advisor Why respond to a negative review? Bad reviews can deter travellers from booking the hotel By responding e Showthatyouare listening and you care e Change perceptions e Reassure other travellers that the same thing won't happen to them * Be accountable How to respond Apart from specific guidelines, general good practices are: e Respond promptly > The longer you take to answer, the more people may happen on to your page and see a bad review without an answer e Demonstrate care and concern * Bebrief. Thankthe reviewer, apologise, address the key issues and say how you are following up e Choose your words carefully. An aggressive or defensive management response to a bad review makes customers them less likely to book e Don't take it personally. Always be professional, courteous and respectful * Show empathy, e.g. / completely understand, | appreciate your feedback (Sorry, but ... 3 NO) e Clarify misinformation respectfully, e.g. Just to clarify ... Never accuse reviewers * Be diplomatic, no defensiveness * Personalise the response. Sign off with your name and title * Proofread. Before posting the response, ask a colleague to proofread it for spelling, grammar and tone. Too emotional > Wait Remember + Your real audience is not the complaining customer, but the potential ones scrolling the reviews before booking EXAMPLES Dear guests, We apologize for the diseases that you had during your stay. We tried our best to find an available room despite your early arrival and in order to show you our displeasure for your dirty room, we offered a 50% discount off your room charge. We hope that you will give us another chance and we will be more careful in the future. Thank you for your review. Martina Ferioli Director Customer Service Dear client, We are very sorry for what happened. We completely understand that your flight was long and you were tired, but you did not request an early check-in, so we were not able to know the exact time of your arrival. About the dirty room, I hoped that our treatment after the error was enough, but if it didn't, l'm happy to offer you a 50% discount for a future reservation. l'm so sorry. Thank you for your review Hotel Dear guest, We feel very sorry for your experience. We understand that a long flight can be exhausting and we generally provide an early check-in when requested. We investigated about your complain and apologised for the inconvenience. The dirty room was immediately changed. Making profit is never more important than taking care of our guests, indeed we will be happy to offer you a 30% discount on your next stay in our hotel. Hope our answer may satisfy you Hotel