Lingua inglese 1

LEZIONE 1:

How do we read english texts?

- we are not native speakers

1. linguistic competence

2. different cultural perspective

3. location

4. time

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First step:​ linguistic signs (grammar, morphology, syntax)

- language as an abstract entity

- rules

- use of the linguistic code (pragmatics)

Second step:​ extralinguistic criteria (cultural elements

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- language simultaneously reflects reality and constructs it to be a certain way

think about the press: when i read a newspaper the POV makes a difference

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language involves: acting / interacting / thinking / talking in a proper manner, with proper

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terms, in the proper moment - that’s why appropriateness belongs tu politeness studies

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(yes, please​ / no, thank u​ )

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however, english changes according to different factors:

- the reason for communication

- the setting

- the people we are addressing ​

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- whether we’re speaking or writing: differences between a spoken register and 3

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written registers (fiction, newspaper, academic prose, poetry, manual etc.)

Language is changed and manipulated by a number of causes:

- time - this has to do with the history of language, years ago language was different

- social groups - level of education

- age of users

- gender - ex: women use a lot of diminutives ​

varieties of english:​ british and american are the most known, but there also are australian,

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canadian, caribbean, irish, west african etc…

- geographical dialects

- social class

Standard English​ : the language variety that has been codified in dictionaries and textbooks

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Non-standard​ /​ V

ernacular English:​ conversation, can be used by fictional characters, but

is generally rare in written english

Idiomatic expressions:

- He’s not my cup of tea - non è il mio tipo

- It’s her bread and butter - è il suo pane quotidiano

Differences between written and spoken english:​ the written language develops following

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social functions - we write differently according to the type of texts:

● tourist texts

● newspapers

● literary texts

● recipes

● manuals ​

What is a text? it’s an extended structure of syntactic units, such as words, groups and

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textual units, that is coherent and complete - what we read should make sense - we should

understand it from beginning to end.

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It is a communicative event, but it also refers to our​ interpretation of the event.

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Coherence: do we know what the text is about? Do we understand it? is it the way we

expect it to be? ​

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Text types:​ texts can be grouped into categories according to their linguistic and

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conceptual features and their​ purpose:

- informative

- descriptive

- persuasive

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Cohesion: the way in which the components of the text are mutually connected within a

sequence ​ ​

- this is created if i know the grammar rules - grammar cohesion - and through

conjunction​ : ​

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Zack arrived and sat down.

Advertisements

example 1:

Image:​ the woman is having a bath, she’s smiling, looking at someone else - WAAF (women

auxiliary air force)

Text:​ descriptive, informative

Layout:​ image at the center, te brand, the product

Physical properties:​ the use of the size and the font - the title is big, in capital letters and in

bold

Product representation / description

Coherence and cohesion

- the personal role is more important - beauty

example 2: ​

Hudson Corporation, based in New Jersey, USA, makes top-of-the –range luggage and

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travel accessories

. It is a well-known brand name in the USA. Its suitcases and bags are

associated with high quality, traditional design and craftsmanship. Hudson emphasises in its

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advertising that its products are ‘made in America’. Recently, the company’s market share in

the USA has decreased. One reason for this has been the increased competition from Asian

companies selling similar products at much lower prices.

- informative text

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• Range of products – ampia gamma di prodotti

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•​ Range of prices – gamma dei prezzi

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• Market share – quota del mercato ​

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A few years ago, the management decided to boost sales by entering the European market,

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focusing initially on Switzerland, Germany, France and Italy. They set up a branch office and

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warehouse facility in Zurich, which would be the base for their European expansion

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• To boost sales = incrementare le vendite

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•​ To give a boost to the economy = dare una spinta all’economia

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• Boost = lancio pubblicitario

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• Booster = promotore

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• Branch office = filiale, succursale

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• Warehouse = magazzino (bonded warehouse = deposito doganale)

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• Data warehouse = database per gestire i dati di un’azienda

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onversation 1

Sabra​ : Hello. Can I speak to Anna, please?

Jan​ : Who’s speaking?

Sabra​ : It’s Sabra.

Jan​ : Hello Sabra. I’m afraid she’s not here.

Sabra​ : When will she be back?

Jan​ : About eight o’clock. Can I take a message?

Sabra​ : Please. Can you tell her I can’t come on Friday. Thanks. Bye

Jan​ : Bye ​ Conversation 2

Caller​ : Hello. Can I talk to Mrs Sharp, please?

Jan​ : Speaking.

Caller​ : Hello. I’m calling about your cooker delivery. They will call tomorrow between seven

and one.

Jan​ : Hold on a moment. I’ll get a pen. So that’s tomorrow, Tuesday, between seven and

one?

Caller​ : Yes. That’s right.

Jan​ : That’s fine. Thanks for calling.

LEZIONE 2:

Minimal text:​ a word or a very short sentence that tells me something i should do

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ex:​ keep off the grass, keep left, danger, exit

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We understand the signs a

nd we get the message, according to the context

, because in

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some cases we can have an​ alienation o

f the message (when we find it out of its context)

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- communicative discourse: the reader’s reconstruction of the writer’s intended

message ​

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what is important is both the textual (the sound, the typography, the vocabulary, the

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grammar) and contextual meaning (the pragmatics)

- text type

- topic, purpose

- setting

- social, cultural, historical setting

- author

- reader ​

- we have to think: why is the text written in this way? what does it mean? what does it

look like? what is it about?

ex- Newspaper headline:

- tabloids: easy to read

- broadsheet ​

Life on Mars - war of the words

: the newspaper is about life on mars, a debate on the

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possibility of life there - the headline puts in a nutshell the main point of the story, and i

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captures the reader’s attention + typographical make up: the font is bold and large

How are headlines written?

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● Ellipsis – words have been missed out, the omissions can be guessed from the

context or the co-text

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● The dash

: two balanced phrases «Life on Mars» «War of the words»

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● Alliteration

: «war» «words» - rhythm, prosody Sound effect = memorability of the

headline

Headlines

1. typography ​

2. sound and rhythm (alliteration)

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3. grammar and structure (ellipsis, dash)

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4. vocabulary (war instead of debatem dispute, quarrel...)

Intertextuality ​

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•H. G. Wells’ s SF novel The War of the Worlds (1898)

•Orson Welles – radio drama of the novel 1938

•La guerra dei mondi (War of the Worlds) movie directed by Steven Spielberg

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We understand where a text alludes to, or references, another text: Every text (and we

can insert any cultural object here: image, film, web content, music etc.) is a mosaic of

references to other texts, genres, and discourses.

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Intertextuality

: what does it mean?

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● Inter

: a prefix from Latin, where it meant “between,” “among,” “in the midst of,”

“mutually,” “reciprocally,” “together,” “during”

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● Textuality

: all of the attributes that distinguish the communicative content under

analysis as an object of study

It’s a quality that seems to have rubbed off (quasi rubata) on the residents of Bertolli’s

hometown

● CRAMMED

● FULL

● ITALIAN

● FLAVOUR

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headline: A plane crashed on the motorway. Four people were on board. Luckily, no one

died

1. Lucky escape as plane skids onto motorway

2. And they all lived

3. Actress Lisa’s amazing jet crash escape

4. Four got out of this alive

5. Cleese’s film pal in plane crash escape

6. Cleese girl jet miracle

We understand that everyone lived, but not what exactly happened, or how many people

were involved, it’s very cryptic.

LEZIONE 3: ​

English language and advertisement: the language is used, ofc, to persuade people to

buy a product; at the core of advertising language is the idea of pushing consumers to

purchase goods that maybe they don’t need. The texts don’t always reflect the truth.

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the language must be - used as a means of communication - it must be effective - and

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deliver a message to a target audience

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The principal aims are:

1. to catch the viewer’s attention (with visual images, slogans, jingles, that are used as

attention-getting devices)

2.

Examples:

1.

It's a printed advertisement of a train.

Colors:​ the background is black and the writings in white, this catches immediately the

viewer’s attention.

Drawings:​ it’s children’s drawings, they play with the numbers’ shapes

Headline:​ concise and short

This is taken from a scottish newspaper, Edinburg - London was a very long distance travel,

usually very expensive

2. ​

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Here we have colors. The man is holding trainers in his hands, in the background we can

see he’s in the countryside and another man in the back (who’s probably younger). The

product (Bertolli’s spread) is most certainly italian and is targeted to uk consumers.

- The brand “Bertolli” produces different food products and relocates the idea of italy in

the markets, where brands are sold.

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Headline​ : “little” is sarcastic, because he’s smaller than the other guy, but he’s sold; “alberto”

is in blue and in a different font from the rest of the sentence;

3. ​ ​ ​

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Here we see there is a connection between the written text a

nd the visual

: when we can’t

sleep we say we should “count sheeps”. Again there’s a wordplay.

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The product is medical, the target are patients.

The advertisement is in black and white, because they’re considered to be more classy and

effective.

Advertising:

- the promotion of goods and services through various media, drawing on a range of

linguistic strategies and targeting a potential consumer group

- a form of communication in which we find ourselves every day (consciously or

unconsciously) ​

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Here we have a Harley Davidson advertisement.

Visual:​ we see a motorcycle, in the background the american countryside ​

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Headline:​ the writer of the texts immediately addressed the viewer, with the use of “I” - the

message is the opposite of the headline

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Slogan:​ “legend” it’s a metaphorical term - it’s not an ordinary bike

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Body Copy:​ use of “could”

, colloquial terms, “machine”

, again we see a metaphorical term,

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“handlebar” + “stretched-out profile” are technical terms, repetition of “to hold back”

, then

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again the motorbike is called “ride”.

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First thing we should watch is the headline​ :

● designed to catch the reader/viewer’s attention

● uses questions and commands in direct address to consumers (eg: ‘Stop paying too

much for your car insurance’)

It has to be eye-catching and designed with:

● short sentences

● scripts with bold and coloured letters

● puns and/or any other linguistic deviances

Body copy:

- designed to do informative and persuasive work (offering the solution to the problem

posed in the headline)

- uses first person reference, giving reasons to buy the product

Therefore, its language has to be precise, factual and

explanatory as it:

- shows or demonstrates the benefits of the product

- makes claims and proves those claims with facts and figures

- uses testimonials and success stories

- reports recent research about the product

- compares its product

- presents what makes that particular product or service unique (USP, Unique Selling

Proposition)

​ Signature:​ a small picture of the product or the graphic of the trade name of the product

and company

Slogan:

- accompanies the signature and constitutes a memorable phrase becoming a

touchstone for the product

ex: ​

1. L’Oreal: ‘because you’re worth it’

2. Tesco:​ ‘every little helps’

3. HSBC​ : ‘the world’s local bank’

Testimonial:

- a well-known actor, media personality, figure of authority

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slogan:​ “aura” + “science” = juxtaposition

- an ordinary member of the public attests to the value or worthiness of the product

(more appropriate in certain contexts, e.g.: domestic goods)

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In advertising, common words acquire an emotional / literal value depending on the

domain.

Some of the most frequent adjectives are :

- new

- good/better/best free

- fresh

- delicious

- sure

- clean wonderful special

ex:

Advertising an SUV

Most frequent adjectives:

- safe

- reliable

- large

- comfortable

- good-value

- strong

Advertising bottled water

Most frequent adjectives:

- healthy

- pure

- clear

- fresh

- good-value

Advertising jeans

Most frequent adjectives:

- stylish

- comfortable

- good-looking

- rugged

- good-value

Adjectives:

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(​ L’Oreal

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- Intense

- Rich

- Deep colour

Premodifying adverbs:

- Exceptionally moist

- Exceptionally lasting

- Exceptionally lipstick

The ultimate: ​

- The ultimate driving machine (​ BMW

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- discover the ultimate ice cream (​ algida

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- The ultimate body refining gel (​ Dior

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- Taste, the ultimate (​ Bombay Sapphire

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Brand name used as verbs: ​

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- When it really matters, Persil it

Brand names used as adjectives:

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- Very Valentino

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- Definitely Saint Laurent

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- Surprisingly Alfa Romeo

Compounding: ​

- Waterproof? Yes. Boyproof? NO (​ Aquaplus mascara

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- This lipstick is virtually touchproof, snackproof and kissproof (​ Max factor

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- Laughter-proof. Tear proof. Smudge proof. Max Factor introduces L

ashfinity

semi-permanent mascara

Adjective compound:

- Everlasting lipstick (adverb + verb)

- Skin friendly formulation (noun + adj)

- Traffic-stopping lips (noun + verb)

- Healthier looking hair (adj-verb)

- Silky-smooth hands (adj+adj)

However, it is quite easy to find examples of new words, phrases and constructions in the

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language of advertising (​ ‘cointreauversial’

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LEZIONE 4: ​ ​

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Linguistic innovation and verbal play help to make products and brands more memorable

(through particular characteristics of slogans, jingles, grammatical cryptic forms, puns,

stylistic creativity)

- Even if the language seems simple, advertisements are created by complex

structures of visual and verbal signs which aim to address a specific consumer.

- The addressee perception is different, since it depends ontheir social / cultural history

and knowledge.

- The language of advertising is used internationally

Linguistic features:

1. Phonological aspect

2. Lexical and morphological aspect

3. Syntactic aspect

4. Semantic aspect

Phonological aspect: ​ ​

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When we talk about the phonological aspect, we refer to: the use of rhyme

, the rhythm o

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the text, rhetorical figures like alliteration and assonance

, the graphic aspect of the text

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and transliteration

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The advertisement uses a very popular game at the time, Pac-man.

Alliteration:​ it’s a literary or rhetorical stylistic device that consists in repeating the same

consonant sound at the beginning of two or more words in close succession.

- it is commonly used in many languages, especially in poetry.

In the picture we see M&M’s on a woman’s belly.

some examples of alliterations:

Syntactic aspect:

it’s how you build up a sentence in english. ​

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In many cases we have a sentence structure where something is missing - incomplete

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sentences = Ellipsis - mostly interrogative (many rhetorical questions) and imperative

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clauses and exclamatives because they evoke the sense of personal communication in the

reader

Sentence structure

​ Ellipsis: ​ ​

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