Oral and Written Language: Understanding Textual Communication
Oral and Written Language
Unit of Communication
A message is the minimum unit of communication that has full meaning. It consists of elements connected by grammatical and syntactic relationships. In spoken language, it’s marked by pauses and intonation. In written language, it appears between punctuation marks like periods.
A text is a set of coherent statements. It’s the maximum unit of communication, expressing the entirety of the sender’s intended message. The statements within a text are related and unified through mechanisms of coherence. A text must be adequate to its purpose and can be expanded or reduced.
Oral vs. Written Language
Writing is the vehicle that transmits culture and holds paramount importance in professional life.
Oral communication is how we connect with family and friends. Mastering it is crucial in academic settings, as a significant part of professional and personal development relies on defending our viewpoints publicly. These skills are not acquired spontaneously.
Characteristics:
Oral:
- Acquired spontaneously during early years.
- Develops in real-time between physically present speakers.
- Expressed through sounds transmitted through air or other media.
- Often complemented by non-verbal communication.
- Syntax may be less strict, with repetitions and less emphasis on paragraphs, tone, and register.
- Low or null planning; statements are often improvised.
Written:
- Acquired through formal education.
- Develops in the space of the written word; participants (writer and reader) are not necessarily present simultaneously.
- Expressed through letters or graphic symbols on paper or other media.
- Often accompanied by visual elements like fonts, icons, etc.
- More careful syntax, avoiding repetition.
- Tends to maintain a consistent tone and register.
- Higher level of planning, especially in formal documents.
Textual Properties
Adequacy
Adequacy refers to a text’s adherence to social, personal, and linguistic norms that govern communication. An adequate text:
- Adapts to the intended audience.
- Is appropriate to the speaker/writer and the context.
- Aligns with the purpose of communication.
- Uses an appropriate level of formality.
- Respects social norms and courtesy.
- Uses language appropriate for the audience’s comprehension level.
Coherence
Coherence is the property that gives a text unity and meaning, allowing for interpretation. It stems from the internal relationships between its parts and its adequacy to the context.
Relationship with Reality:
A coherent text’s messages don’t contradict common sense or the normal understanding of the world.
Internal Relationship:
A text is coherent if:
- It has a clear and consistent topic.
- Its statements don’t contradict each other.
- Information is presented in a logical and hierarchical order.
- All elements contribute to the overall meaning.
Types of Coherence:
- Local Coherence: Exists when words and statements have meaning and don’t contradict each other.
- Linear Coherence: Exists when each statement logically connects to the preceding one, advancing the information flow.
- Global Coherence: Exists when all content is unified by a central theme, creating a hierarchical structure where each part contributes to the whole.
Mechanisms of Cohesion
These are linguistic resources that help perceive the unity and coherence of a text, connecting its parts and relating them to the whole.
Connectors:
Words or phrases that indicate relationships between statements, showing how they are connected.
- Semantic Connectors: Indicate relationships like addition (and), contrast (however), or consequence (therefore).
- Metadiscursive Connectors: Organize information (firstly, secondly), introduce comments (for example), or signal digressions (by the way). They can also explain (that is), rectify (however), summarize (in conclusion), or mark transitions (in any case).
- Conversational Connectors: Used in spoken language to establish contact (right?), seek confirmation (of course), or express agreement (okay).
Literary Movements
Conceptism and Cultism
These movements emerged during the Baroque period, characterized by skepticism and a departure from Renaissance balance. Both movements sought similar literary effects: artifice, stylistic difficulty, exaggeration, contrast, and surprise. Conceptist writers often used cultist elements and vice versa.
Cultism:
Represented by Luis de Góngora, cultism aimed to create a highly cultured poetic language. It emphasized formal beauty, colorful imagery, and sensory experience. This was achieved through elaborate language, using literary devices like hyperbaton and cultismos (obscure vocabulary) already present in earlier literature. A prime example is Góngora’s poem”Fábula de Polifemo y Galatea”
Prose:
Besides the picaresque novel, other prose forms flourished:
- Short Stories: Initiated by Cervantes'”Novelas ejemplares” short story collections gained popularity, covering a wide range of themes. Notable authors include María de Zayas and Alonso de Castillo Solórzano.
- Byzantine Novels: Inspired by earlier Byzantine novels, these works often featured adventure and romance. An example is Lope de Vega’s”El peregrino en su patria”
- Allegorical Novels: Represented by Baltasar Gracián’s”Criticón” these novels used allegory to explore moral and philosophical themes.