Lingua Inglese 3 Unit 3 PDF

lOMoARcPSD|12683824 Lingua Inglese III a.a. 2022/2023 (Catenaccio Paola, Nikitina Jekaterina, Sturiale Massimo) - Appunti del corso (Unità 3) Mediazione Lingiustica (Università degli Studi di Milano) Studocu is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 LINGUA INGLESE III – UNIT 3 (Sturiale) 13/02/2022 The main features of a text are: Mode = the channel of communication. Language will vary depending on whether we are writing or speaking. Manner = indicates the relationship between the writer, the speaker and the interlocutor or readers. It implies stylistic features like formality and informality. A text may be formal depending on your relationship. Formal vs. informal. The way texts are presented on blogs and on the internet sometimes differs from how the language is used and presented on the printed media. Field = the subject matter. The field implies the discourse (specialized discourse). Popularization This is the cover of a famous book. This book was published in 1967. Desmond Morris was a zoologist, and he wrote this book to popularize and demystify science, in order to make science available to the majority of people. This was the first non-fiction scientific text which turned to be a best-seller. The reason behind the success of this book it is because it was published in different episodes in the tabloid newspapers on the Daily Mirror. Tabloids are read by the majority of people. He was the first media celebrity scientist. “For a scientist … to popularize science was to exploit his or her own community. By the 1970s, popularization was an activity in which all, but a few high-profile “visible” scientists engaged at considerable professional risk. (Christopher Dornan quoted on p.45) Probably, scientists were not willing to appear on media. Scientific popularization was not considered to be okay among scientific community, whereas in very recent years, it is the opposite. In the recent past, many scientists looked at involvement in the popularization of science as something that might damage their career; now, they are being told by the great and the good of science that they have no less than a duty to communicate with the public about their work. Something has changed. Scientists are pushed towards popularization in order to communicate with the lay people. In the 1970s it wasn’t common to see scientists visible in the media and, in a way, this was a big no to accept to be visible in the media. The English language in the Media BCC (1986) vs ITV (2003) Even the English language has gone through this process of popularization. In the 1980s, for the very first time, three journalists joined together, and they wrote a book on the History of English. A book which wasn’t addressed to scholars, to linguists, it was one of those books addressed to the lay people, to people with an interest on knowing how the English language has emerged. People who wanted to know how a language originally spoken on a small island in the middle of nowhere now has become the global language, a language which is spoken as a native language all over the planet, in different continents. It was the right book at the right time. This was the time when people started to discuss about English as a global language. This is a non-fiction-scientific book. This book was turned into a documentary by the BBC. This was the very first example of non- fiction-scientific book related to language. This happened again with Melvyn Bragg. Between the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, we see the need to popularize something like language. This didn’t happen just on printed books. Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 The English language on the radio Interest in language from journalists. David Crystal (2004) In 2004 he published “The Stories of English”. David Crystal is an academic and he wrote this book for the lay community. His skill is to make the average reader feel like an expert in the history of linguistics, for he combines the wit and readability of Bill Bryson with the authority that comes with being one of the world’s leading experts on the English language. “The Stories of English” reads like an adventure story. Which, of course, it is. In this we have the core of popularization, we have a leading expert, a full professor of English linguistics who write a book on the history of the English language meant for the general public. How is this possible? This is possible thanks to the readability. How can a text be readable? Readability = use of simple language, or the use of specialized terminology together with normal language. This new history of English language is entertaining and informative. That is the main core of popularization. Popularization aims at informing but at the same time entertaining, trying to be accessible to many. Crystal’s Stories on The Guardian David Crysyal’s “Story of English” was reviewed in newspaper. The title “an informative introduction to English”. Informative is the same adjective as used by Steven Pinker. The main communicative function of popularized text is that of informing people. Books about the history of the English language come in two main varieties. First there are the traditional textbooks: written by scholars and read mainly by undergraduates. These tend to be dry compilations of facts about loan words, vowel shifts and the levelling of inflections. Then there is the popularizing tradition. Aimed at a non-specialist audience, this genre cuts through the philological minutiae to tell the inspiring tale of the obscure Germanic dialect that transcended its origins to become a global lingua franca used by more people in more parts of the world than any other language in history. More on Crystal (2014) and … on the popularizing tradition This is David Crystale’s latest production together with his son. A book about accents. He even made phonology and variation accessible. Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 Bill Bryson (1990) He wrote the very first popularized book of the English language, “Mother Tongue – the English language”. This book is read like a novel even though it deals with specific topics. “Mother Tongue is one of the most stimulating books yet written on this endlessly fascinating subject.” “A delightful, amusing and provoking survey, a joyful celebration of our wonderful language, which is packed with curiosities and enlightenment on every page.” Popularization Non-specialist audiences […] are not always passive recipients of scientific [… ] but can be significant actors in intellectual development so that popularization often has a direct impact upon what research is done, how it is done and how it is interpreted. (Whitley, 1985) Once scientists began to embrace popularization, once scientists realized how important popularization was also for their discipline, they lent not only increase public understanding and knowledge about scientific matters but lent to public interest in certain areas of science that people fell touched more directly on their own lives. For example, during the pandemic, people wanted to know more. This is why popularization is important, in order to involve and to have people think critically. These preferences and perceptions from the general public also became influential in deciding what research projects receive funding. The more interest you have in a particular field, the more research is funded on that topic. Scientists are increasingly called on strengthen their public profile by making their work more accessible to a wider public. The more people talk about it, the better. What is Popularization? Popularization is a vast class of various types of communicative events or genres that involve the transformation of specialized knowledge into ‘everyday’ or ‘lay’ knowledge, as well as a recontextualization of scientific discourse, for instance, in the realm of the public discourses of the mass media or other institutions. The term popularization refers to the process by which specialized knowledge is shared with a non- specialized public. Currently popularization takes countless forms and has generated numerous genres that continue to increase thanks to the internet. The internet has favored it and the social media more than that. If we think of different kind of genres, podcasts, blogs, forums, etc. These are all different genres that has emerged in recent years and have played an important role in scientific dissemination of knowledge. Recontextualization = present some topic and put it in a different context. The context is that of lay people. The process whereby specialized knowledge is transferred from the context of production to another context for another purpose. The context is that of not the community of speakers, but it is the context of general knowledge. The transmission of intellectual products from the context of their production to other contexts. Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 Familiar spheres of science popularization Non-fiction Special interest Institutions publications Corporate Newspapers Movements Entertainment Interest groups Image of important fields of popularization with which most reasonably educated people in western culture would be expected to be familiar with. This is one of the main roles of school education, to have people being able to read and understand newspapers, to be able to read specialist interest publications. An average educated person should be able to read this kind of text. Ex: Each newspaper contains specific section where we might find example of popularization and popularizing text. Institutions, corporate, movements and interest groups, we have other dimensions that we might not immediately associate with the process of popularization. Popularization is not to be considered as inferior to specialized knowledge, it is a different kind of knowledge. Popularization has become an established aspect of science because it fulfills important purposes. There are different arguments in favor of popularization: 1. The practical argument 2. The democratic argument 3. The cultural argument 4. The economic (professional) argument The practical argument: people need an understanding of science to cope with everyday life in a world dominated by technology and scientific theories and concepts. Popularization is fundamental in order to have people to be an integrant part of society. The democratic argument: people are entitled to know more about the science underlying many issues and phenomena in order to make informed and responsible decisions about them and their immediate effects on their lives and on contemporary society. The cultural argument: science is part of our cultural heritage and has profoundly influenced our view of the world and of human kind’s place in it; thus, one needs a grasp of what science is in order to understand culture. Now, we are expected to have some basic scientific knowledge and literal knowledge. The economic (professional) argument: a scientifically literate workforce is necessary for a sound and flourishing economy in most countries. Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 1. What sphere of popularization this is drawn for? This is institutional, it is from the government. 2. What arguments for popularization would be most appropriate for explaining the need for this kind of popularization? It is social argument in order to have people behave in a responsible way. What is the sphere of popularization in this text? Entertainment. This extract is taken from “Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything”. Billy Bryson is a very popular and very famous non-fictional-scientist. Popularization The activities of communicating and transmitting science can be considered as a continuous process of recontextualization and reformulation, in which press releases or scientific articles are the initial steps and scientific news for the layman are possibly the final ones. Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 20/02/2023 Newspapers Newspaper format Keeping Up Appearances = a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke. It originally aired on BBC1 from 1990 to 1995. The central character is the eccentric and snobbish middle class social climber, Hyacinth Bucket, who insists that her surname is pronounced “Bouquet”. The sitcom follows Hyacinth in her attempts to prove her social superiority, and to gain standing with those she considers upper class. H: “Oh, this is better. These people look more our sort”. R: “How can you tell?” H: “They’re reading full-size newspapers. I’d never strike up a conversation with anybody who reads the tabloids”. “Broadsheet” and “tabloid” are two terms used to indicate different newspapers. Broadsheet = is a compound noun. The term is made up of the adjective “broad” + the noun “sheet”. A synonym is full-size newspaper. A newspaper printed on a very large piece of paper. Tabloid = is a newspaper printed on a small piece of paper. Attitudes: denotative vs connotative meaning Denotative meaning = the explanation given by the dictionary. The dictionary denotes something. Denotative is the meaning of a word. Connotative meaning = the extra meaning which a word is given by a particular culture. “Broadsheet” and “tabloid” have a denotative meaning and connotative meaning. If we compare the two: BROADSHEETS (full size newspaper) / TABLOIDS / POPULAR PRESS QUALITY PRESS A newspaper that is printed on large sheets of A type of popular newspaper with small pages that paper, or an advertisement printed on a large sheet has many pictures and short, simple reports. of paper. The tabloid press. In Britain, the broadsheets are generally believed The tabloid newspaper. to be more serious than the tabloids. They are more concerned with gossip/celebrity Broadsheets are more reliable. private life. In Italian would be “cronaca rosa”. Provide Provide Minor scandals of celebrities National and international news. Entertainment stories Public affair Crime Serious commentary Sports - The guardian - The times - The sun - The independent Newspapers are also associated with class. Broadsheets papers are read by educated people, tabloids are read by the mass, not necessarily educated people. Newspapers mark classism, in British culture, they express your attitude. People might evaluate you from the kind of newspaper you read. Apart from the content, what is important is also the way they present themselves to the readers. Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 Tabloids Tabloids = format, smaller and more manageable than broadsheets papers, style, simple and concrete language, light, bright, vivid writing, shorter stories, extensive use of photographs and graphics. In Britain there is a temptation among quality papers to move towards the tabloid style. Tabloidization = to move towards a tabloid in the sense that even quality papers now use a lot of pictures, entertaining stories, colorful images on the frontpage, different tonalities of color, short stories, compact news, advertising, popular culture, telegraphic headline, extensive use of photographs. Sending a message with an image is easier, faster, and more sensational than a written page. Broadsheets Clear and direct style → international style Government and politics → human interest stories and entertainment This new trend is called Infotainment (information + entertainment) Inform and, at the same time, entertain. 22 JULY 2021 “The Times” o Pingdemic o Prince George → the news is given by a big photograph and a small caption. “The Guardian” doesn’t share the same news. “The Sun” follows “The Times”. o George’s birthday o Pingdemic “The Metro” o We have a play of word, “Shelf-isolation” instead of “self-isolation”. This is how different news are dealt with. Graphology Some common graphological features of newspapers are as follows: Banner headline: at top of the page, extends across the whole width. Strapline (or overline): additional headline above the main headline. Sub-headline (or sub-deck): subsidiary headline below the main one. Crosshead: sub-heading that appears in the middle of a story, breaking up the text. Byline: text that credits the writer; occasionally accompanied by a photograph. Standfirst: introductory material separated from the main article. Reverse out: when white print is used against a black background. Drop letter: letter that is dropped down so that it extends over two, three, or more lines, usually the first letter of an article. Caption: wording beneath a photograph or illustration. Newspaper circulation 2020 – 2022 Tabloids are more popular; they sell more than broadsheets. They deal with light news, and they are widely read. Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 Types of newspapers: HEADLINES TABLOIDS BROADSHEETS More factual, informative, they care more Often dramatic, emotive, sensational. about the content rather than how it is said. Use of journalese [refers to the kind of Less reliance of journalese. vocabulary which is typically used in newspapers] (horror, hell, row, etc.). More use of complex, polysyllabic vocabulary. Simple vocabulary. Language more formal. Less use of Language often informal – use of slang, compression/ellipsis. everyday expressions, abbreviations. Humor sometimes present but often ironic, Often humorous and inventive. Frequent sophisticated. use of puns and alliteration. Bias may be present but is likely to be less Bias may be obvious. obvious. Types of newspapers: VOCABULARY TABLOIDS BROADSHEETS Simple, direct. Avoidance of complex. Polysyllabic words. Often dramatic, sensational, forceful (huge, massive, stamp out, crack down, etc.). Use More complex, sophisticated. Use of of hyperbole. polysyllabic words. Use of journalese (rap, snub, dash, clash, More formal, factual and informative boost, etc.). Modifiers used to provide information rather Modifiers often have an emotional impact. than for emotional impact. Use of collocations (buddy blonde, love rat, Bias may be evident through choice of lexis Hollywood hunk). but is usually less blatant. Informal (kids, cops, docs). Individuals who gesture in stories ma be Bias may be very apparent through the use referred to more formally. of words with obviously positive/negative connotations. Individuals who feature in stories may be referred to familiarity (use of first names). Types of newspapers: GRAMMAR TABLOIDS BROADSHEETS Short sentences, often simple or compound. Compound sentences often broke up to form two simple sentences. Sentences frequently begin with “and” or “but”. Constructions may resemble speech – e.g. Longer sentences that make more demands grammatically incomplete sentences, use of on the reader. More frequent use of complex contractions. Contractions are typical of sentences. More subordinate clauses. spoken language. Grammar more formally “correct”. Subordinate clauses often enclosed within Punctuation more formal and complex. dashes rather than commas or Wider range of cohesive devices employed. parentheses. Frequent use of pre-modification, often for emotional effect. Use of simple connectives (especially and, but, now) to achieve cohesion. Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 Types of newspapers: DISCOURSE STRUCTURE TABLOIDS BROADSHEETS Opening paragraph usually summarize key Opening paragraph also usually a summary facts. but may give more information. Short paragraphs – often only one sentence Paragraphs are usually longer. long. Articles usually longer, more detailed. Closing paragraph may contain the “latest” Closing paragraph may give background news. information. Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 27/02/2023 Most of the readers receive information about science and technology thanks to either broadsheets or tabloids. Types of news story 1. Event story = describes what happened in the event of some action or happening – typically some accident, natural disaster, act of violence, crime, economic setback etc. – but also discoveries and otherwise surprising and unexpected events. It reports something that happened usually very recently which is regarded surprising or significant. 2. Issue report = is grounded in a communicative event and acts typically to describe the criticisms, accusations, demands, warnings, discoveries or announcements of some authorized source such as a politician, community leader, lobbyist, professional expert or scientific researcher. It reports the views of somebody authoritative or an issue or an important question. In science stories, we would expect to hear what researches / experts / specialists say about an issue. Task 1 1) What type of news story is represented in texts 1 and 2 taken from the article “Kids at risk of deadly meningitis and measles – as vaccination rates fall AGAIN” (The Sun, 18 September 2018)? 2) Give at least three reasons for your answer. This is taken from “The Sun”. Here we have the use of kids, typical example of journalism, we don’t have children. Use of jab as a verb, “jab” is a noun, a term for “vaccination”. “JAB IT” reminds us of DO IT as a phrase. The container is “The Sun”. It is a scientific piece of news, but the style of the newspaper is there: use of informal tense, use of very striking headlines. This is the reason why knowing the kind of newspaper is important in terms of analyzing the news. How would you classify this report? It is an issue report. It is about an issue, which is vaccination, and it offers the views of authoritative figures, and it also contains warnings and calls for urgent actions. As it is typical of The Sun there is an excessive use of pictures which usually accompany the kind of news. Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 Task 2 Read the text “Human noise affects animal behaviour, studies show” [The Guardian, 3 Feb. 2021] (including the caption to the photograph) and complete this short task. 1) What kind of news story is it? 2) Give 2 reasons for your answer. It is not an event story. This kind of report shows how human behavior and human noise can affect insects’ behavior. It reports on a discovery. Task 3 Read the texts “Anti-vaxxers are still spreading false claims as people die of measles”, Helen Stokes-Lampard, (The Guardian, 21 August 2018) and “The Times view on regional speech: Accentuate the Positive. Prejudice against accents from certain parts of the country is irrational and harmful” (The Times, 2 November 2022). We usually think that the popularization of specialized knowledge it’s just related to science and technology. Specialized knowledge includes also linguistic, language. In terms of the subject matter/content/topics Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 they deal with, the two articles differ in terms of the subject matter. One is scientific, the other one is also scientific, but it deals with another branch of human knowledge that is language. “Anti-vaxxers are still spreading false claims as people die of measles” = We can see that the article by The Guardian and the article by The Sun deal with the same topic, the problem of reassuring parents that vaccinating the children is important. As you can see, it is not just the message, but how the massage is given. “The Sun” is more direct (JAB IT) whereas “The Guardian” uses a more indirect tone, a softer tone. If we read the article of “The Guardian”, we can see that in the headline the bias is clear. “The Guardian” is taking a position against the anti-vaxxers. The bias in tabloids is usually clear and direct. What does “we” refer to? The people in general. Who does the “I” refer to? The author. What we know, in this particular example, is that the author of the article is part of the scientific community. What does she do? She is a GP (general practitioner). To us, it is not direct the meaning of the acronym GP, it is a culture specific term. What does MMR stand for? In order to fully understand we need to do a little bit of research. It is a kind vaccine. For British readers, MMR is clear, it is a culture-bound term (limited by or valid only within a particular culture). On the other hand, we need to do a little bit of research. MMR stands for Measles, Mumps, and Rubella. When we read any text, it is not just a micro language, it is language and culture “The Times view on regional speech: Accentuate the Positive. Prejudice against accents from certain parts of the country is irrational and harmful” = It is more impersonal. In the first text we have the use of the first person. If we look at Text 1, one of the obstacles that non-English readers have is understanding some terms which are related to British culture. Once we understand those terms, reading the article is not a problem. The first article does not make use of specific terminology. It contains terms that an average educated reader fully understands. What is the subject matter of this article? This article is about accents. One thing that we need to further investigate, something that is a culture issue, something that is typical of British culture. The key words are to be found in the first sentence of the article. “Every English speaker has an accent”. “To have an accent” is a collocation, it is a verb, it is like “to have breakfast/ to have dinner”. What does “to have an accent” mean? Either showing your identity or to speak a language with clear original features. Whereas in Italy we have a more democratic attitude to accents, they are not barriers in Italy, whereas in England to have an accent can be discriminating. It is not a mystery that in the English language there is a new term: “accentism” that means discriminating people just for their accent. In order to fully understand this article, we need some sociolinguistic background. It is irrational and harmful considering that there are some accents which are better than others. We have two completely different articles dealing with specific subject matters. “Article 1” is a call to have people vaccinate their children, “Article 2” is a call to stop discriminating people because of their accent. Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 Exercise: Then look at the statements below and decide which apply to the two texts. Text 1/2 … a) Is written by a professional journalist: none b) Reports a discovery: none c) Is written by someone with specialized knowledge of the topic: 1 d) Is one in which a journalist reports the warning of a medical expert: none e) Expresses the personal opinion of an expert: 1 f) Presents an argument: both g) Gives priority to fact rather than opinion: 2 h) Ends with a recommendation: both i) Is the opinion of the newspaper: 2 Different types of editorials Personal opinion (op-eds, opinion editorial): o Written by opinion-makers, intellectuals or experts who are invited to express their views. Example, the article published by “The Guardian”. Institutional discourse: o Editorials that express the opinion of the newspaper (written by the editor or senior journalists). Conventions of hard news stories and editorials WRITING HARD NEWS STORIES WRITING EDITORIALS http://y2u.be/PsHaFIKeu1c http://y2u.be/fvOgOWD-rPM When we read a newspaper, we read written language. Not all written language is the same. When we read a newspaper article, we read a text which is different from an academic text. They have different style. The style is not only in the kind of language you use (informal vs. formal), but it is on how the information is presented (the 1. What is the main purpose of an editorial? To structure). In academic English it is important to persuade, to convince, taking a position. Example, structure the writing into sections. In newspaper the article from “The Times”. article, the way the news is presented, it is 2. Does an editorial typically begin with facts? different. In newspaper writing, the journalistic No. An editorial usually begins with a provocative style is characterized by going straight to the statement. It is a statement about the writer’s point. The most important thing always goes at the position of an issue. beginning. 3. How are facts used in an editorial? Facts are 1. What does the journalist mean by “hard used to support the argument. news”? An event story. 4. What is the purpose of admitting that 2. What expression is usually utilized to refer opposing arguments or positions may be to the structure of a news story? The inverted partially right? It makes the writer appear more pyramid. objective and being objective is more convincing. 3. In what order do journalists present facts 5. Is the last paragraph more or less when they write a news story? All the important significant than the final segment of a hard information goes at the beginning and the rest at news story? Is so, why? It is more important the bottom. Descending order of importance. because it is in the last paragraph that the author 4. Why do journalists use the inverted sums up the entire article. pyramid structure instead of preferring the academic or chronological style? Because it is the most efficient way to communicate important information. Most readers don’t read the whole story, so even if they quit, they already read the most important information. Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 6/03/2023 Main differences between “hard news stories” and “op-eds” Hard news stories Op-ed Personal opinion (of opinion maker; intellectual; Presentation of news as facts. expert). Typical structure: Typical structure: Nuclear structure: “who”, “what”, “where”, Summary of issue “why”, “when” in initial position. Analysis/persuasion Inverted pyramid (most newsworthy Pragmatic conclusion information concentrated at the beginning). Satellite structure: segments of Example: advice, recommendations, warnings. information with minimal textual cohesion. Cohesive texts, with each part carefully linked. We have hard news stories and opinion editorial. For example, the one which was published in The Times about “accentism” in Britain was an example of op-ed. We learned that hard news stories mainly deal with the presentation of news as fact. Typical structure of hard news stories. What is the typical structure? Nuclear structure = “Who? What? Where? When? Why?” are located in the initial position. Inverted pyramid = unlike academic texts, hard news stories usually start with the main issue, the main idea right at the beginning of the text. Satellite structure = segments of information with minimal textual cohesion. Newsworthiness Newsworthiness comes from newsworthy. Newsworthy = of sufficient interest to warrant mention in the news; regarded by the media as meriting such attention; topical. This is also the definition of newsworthiness, which is the act of making something newsworthy. What science stories get into the news? Newsworthiness and news values Generally, events are newsworthy if they are: Timely: recent. The events reported in the news are recent. Negative: war, disaster, crime. Novel: unexpected or bizarre. Related to celebrities: regarding celebrities and VIPS. Geographically close to the prospective readership. Culturally close to the prospective readership. Attributable to an authoritative source (with quotes reported). Factual: include supporting evidence. Numerical: the bigger, the more newsworthy. The more people involved, the better. Personal: focused on individual experiences. Relevant: affects readership. Continuous: similar events already in the news. Events which have already made news. (Caroline de B. Clark: Views in the News, 2006 pp. 19-20) Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 Task 1 Why do you think the following newspaper story was newsworthy (i.e. considered worthy of becoming news)? No amount of alcohol is safe, health experts warn Alcohol consumption at all levels can have damaging health implications, according to a report in The Lancet. The research, which claims to be the most comprehensive of its kind, pours cold water on previous reports that said drinking in moderation could have health benefits. The report's researchers have called for global medical guidance to be revised. [Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/24/health-impacts-of-drinkingno-level-of-alcohol-safe-lancet- study.html 24 August 2018] What makes this story newsworthy? Which of the general characteristics which may characterize newsworthiness is/are present in this text? Authoritative source, which is the research and the report. It is recent, relevant, factual, negative, continuous, numerical and culturally close. Parameters of newsworthiness 1. Threshold “An event becomes news if it is on a large enough scale to get over the threshold of news interest”. A story must appear significant enough in terms of scale to growth threshold of interest. It must be significant, and it must be important. Not newsworthy More newsworthy “Thousands escape injury in South America “Small earthquake in Chile – not many dead” quake” These two quotes refer to the same event but viewed from contrasting perspective. One of which is obviously more newsworthy and became so by emphasizing the scale of the event. “However consequential science’s tiny claims might be, they tend not to become news”. “An event becomes news if it is on a large enough scale to get over the threshold of news interest. For example, the classic bad headline is “Small earthquake in Chile – Not many Dead”: it does not look much like news. “Thousands Escape Injury in South American Quake” does a much better job: same story, but bigger. Scientists, however, are rather more used to talking in terms of small earthquakes. Everything is moderated and qualified: in science no claim can be too small. This means that however consequential science’s tiny claims might be, they tend not to become news”. 2. Meaningfulness, relevance, consonance A story has to mean something to the readers for them to understand it, it should be relevant it they are to take the trouble to read it. In this respect cultural and geographical proximity are important factors. Further, what is read has more weight if it is consonant with readers’ existing beliefs and attitudes. 3. Co-option composition “If a story can be co-opted – that is, linked to one that is already running – it may have more chance of making it into the news. Composition regards the position where a given article is published in the paper, e.g., on the science section, or on a general news page, in each case the story will be competing with other science stories or with the latest political scandal respectively”. 4. Frequency, unexpectedness, continuity “By definition frequent events can be anticipated, and this is liked by journalists because they can prepare texts, or at least notes, in advance. However, frequency is a factor which only rarely applies to science and technology, which are by definition unexpected. And the unexpected is something which can help build news value. Continuity refers to how long a story will run. Stories that build up over time are good in journalism: the public becomes involved and develops familiarity with the main actors”. Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 5. Competition Although scoops are rare in science, journalists like to publish stories before their colleagues. Unambiguity, negativity “Stories have better news value if they are clearly good or bad. Bad news is certainly more newsworthy than good news. This helps explain why events involving risk attract so much coverage and are often treated in newspapers in apocalyptic tones”. 6. Facts, sources, reliability “'Facticity' is good news value. And science and technology can easily provide it”. Facts are also useful for establishing a scale and create the extension of a scale of a phenomenon, greatly add to the impact of news. Doubly so if they are communicated by people in a position of authority and prestige in their field of expertise. Elite, personalization “An event with scientific and/or technological relevance is all the more interesting if it regards elite nations, elite social groups or elite people; further interest is added if the persons involved are famous; in any case, personal details about scientists, members of scientific teams, represent an extra element of attraction for the general public’s interest”. Task 2 Consider the factors of meaningfulness, relevance and consonance in the following newspaper report. “Before you hit up a beer garden or mix yourself a cocktail this bank holiday weekend. We’ve got some news that may stop you in your tracks. No amount of alcohol is safe to consume, according to a large-scale global study of 28 million people in 195 countries. The study published in The Lancet suggests any health benefits of alcohol are outweighed by its adverse effects on other aspects of health, particularly cancers. Basically, we should avoid it altogether”. [Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/just-in-time-for-the-bank-holiday-you-need-to-stop- drinking-alcohol_uk_5b7fbc63e4b0348585ff4737, 24.08.2018] This piece of news is obviously culturally close to the intended readership. Something that people normally do in Britain. During a bank holiday people meet with friends in pub/beer garden to have a drink. What makes the news meaningful? It is an issue that the readers recognize as culturally relevant, it is meaningful as it is also about health issues, and this is meaningful to the readers. The topic is also related to something which is typical of their culture. It is culturally relevant since it refers to particular habit during bank holiday and it is consonance with received knowledge that alcohol is not really good for the reader. Task 3 Identify elements of co-option in the following news story. “So much for a glass of wine a day for your health’s sake – all alcohol is bad for you, according to a damning report. The global study, which claims to be the most comprehensive of its kind, pours cold water on previous reports, that espouse the protective effects of alcohol under some conditions”. [Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/24/health-impacts-ofdrinking-no-level-of-alcohol-safe-lancet- study.html, 24 August 2018] References to previous reports. The received opinion that a glass of wine a day is good for you, which has in turn come from other reports. The article therefore draws on these to present a new angle. Task 4 What is the principal newsworthiness factor in the following passage? What other factor of newsworthiness does it affect? Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 “Alcohol, says, their report published in the Lancet medical journal, led to 2.8 million deaths in 2016.It was the leading risk factor for premature mortality and disability in the 15-49 age group, accounting for 20% of deaths… The study was carried out by researchers at the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), who investigated levels of alcohol consumption and health effects in 195 countries between 1990 to 2016. They used data from 694 studies to work out how common drinking was and from 592 studies including 28 million people worldwide to work out the health risks.” [Source: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/aug/23/no-healthylevel-of-alcohol-consumption-says- major-study, 23 August 2018] Unlike the previous article published by “CNBC”, “The Guardian” provides us with important figures. What do we know? We are impressed by the number of deaths, we are also impressed by how data were connected, the length of investigation, they compare their fundings with previous fundings and the number of people involved. There is a lot of emphasis on numbers. What is the most important newsworthiness factor? Facticity, continuity and the reference to reliable sources. Concluding remark “A good story needs facts; readers enjoy facts – but they have to be facts that are meaningful or relevant or consonant”. (Jane Gregory, Steven Miller. 2000. Science in Public: communication, culture and Credibility. Perseus Publishing, pp. 114). Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 13/03/2023 The sources of scientific journalism The first time we hear about scientific developments or breakthroughs is frequently through the press. Skilled (any journalist specializes in a particular sector) science journalists are in tune with the twists and turn of scientific discovery and able to translate that into universally understandable words within hours: they are right at the front line of science communication. But why are they particularly skilled? Is how they find sources but also how they present the specialized knowledge to the non-specialists. In other words, they translate the scientific news into universally understandable words. This is the basis of popularization. We will watch a short film where, veteran science journalist, Tim Radford, tells us the 'three great stories in science' and explains what is, and is not, important when reporting science to the masses. What does the masses mean? The non-specialist public. Tim Radford is a freelance journalist and a founding editor of Climate News Network. He worked for The Guardian for 32 years. He won the Association of British Science Writers award for science writer of the year four times. Communicating science … journalism The clip can be divided into different sections. Each section presents how the journalist organized the logical progression of his talk. 1. Introduction 2. Tim Radford 3. Three great science stories 4. Writing a science story 5. The recipe 6. Don’t take science seriously 7. Take the reader seriously, try and make the specialized knowledge as accessible as possible. Makes sure that the reader understands what you are talking about. The target audience in a newspaper is the non-specialist. This is the main difference between academic discourse and journalistic style. Academic and journalistic text differs in their structure. The academic text follows a structure which is very predictable and clear (introduction, body, conclusion) whereas in newspaper articles journalists prefer the “inverted pyramid” style (the most important information is at the beginning). The big difference is also in how the subject matter is dealt with. What characterizes scientific journalism is the use of either specialized terminology but in a way that is accessible to the non-specialists. Task 2 Watch the 1995 BBC programme “An English Accent. Received Pronunciation: pronunciation regarded as correct or proper …”, take notes on the main points and name/label possible sections. A documentary which the BBC presented in 1995. What are documentaries? They are an important genre; the aim of a documentary is that of popularize specialized knowledge. The documentary started with an introduction, that we have different arguments and then a conclusion. A documentary is a sort of hybrid genre. A documentary is not an academic text. This documentary deals with something which so told specialized knowledge, we can say specialized discourse. This is an example of when the two types blend together very well, on the one hand the specialized knowledge and on the other the journalistic discourse; make sure that the content is available to the masses. Defining RP What the definition of RP given by David Crystal in the dictionary and the documentary have in common? The topic. What is the aim of the documentary? To inform. A documentary it’s an informative text. The documentary, as a newspaper article, is informative. The main aim is to inform and to talk about a specific topic and being as precise and as exhausted as possible. The two texts have this is common, even though they belong to different worlds. The documentary is journalistic, the definition by David Crystal is academic. Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 Received Pronunciation (RP) The name given to the regionally neutral accent in British English, historically deriving from the prestige speech of the Court and the public schools. The term indicates that its prestige is the result of social factors, not linguistic ones. RP is in no sense linguistically superior or inferior to other accents: but it is the accent (more accurately: a set of accents) which tends to be associated with the better-educated parts of society and is the one most often cited as a norm for the description of British English, or in teaching that dialect to foreigners. The BBC originally adopted RP for its announcers because it was the form of pronunciation most likely to be nationally understood, and to attract least regional criticism – hence the association of RP with the phrase ‘BBC English’. These days, the BBC, as indeed educated speech at large, displays considerable regional variation, and many modified forms of RP exist (modified RP). RP no longer has the prestigious social position it once held. In the eyes of many (especially of the younger generations), regionally marked forms of accent are more desirable. The present-day situation is plainly one of rapid change. See Estuary English. (David Crystal, A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, 6th ed.). Talkative head(s) Talking heads = are people who appear in television discussion programs and interviews to give their opinions about a topic. [journalism] J.C. Wells is an expert and is used as a talking head. He was invited by the BBC to give his authoritative interpretation of the fact. New features and current trends Letters to the Editor He is complaining that RP is changing. What phonological change is he complaining about? He is complaining about “l” vocalization. So? So? l-vocalization Vocalization of “l”, i.e. the use of a vowel or semivowel of the o type in place of a dark “l”, thus milk (mɪok), table (teɪb) Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 Task 3 Which source(s) do journalists turn to? Read the text “Sluggish Cognitive Tempo (SCT) a new condition”. What is the function of this text? It is an argumentative text. It is similar to an op-ed. Is this an academic text or a journalistic text? The first part seems academic. There are specific terminologies related to the topic. Another big difference between journalistic style and academic style, is the use of citation and references. We can distinguish a text (academic vs. journalistic) from its function, from the way it is written but also from the way it is organized. Each text has some specific structural elements. Questions 1. According to the text, is Sluggish Cognitive Tempo (SCT) a new condition? No, theories about the condition have existed, at the time this text was written, for nearly thirty years. 2. How is SCT described in the New York Times article? It is described as a new condition. 3. Why does the New York Times consider SCT newsworthy? The number of papers on SCT contained in an issue of scientific journal also the opinion of authoritative scientists and the large number of people who are potentially affected by the disease. Also, the newspapers say the scientists have identified a new disorder. So, here we see familiar elements of newsworthiness taking precedence over other facts. Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 4. What aspect of SCT does the New York Times article focus on? The New York Times article focuses particularly on supposed link between the pharmaceutical companies and scientists, i.e. a conflict of interests and possibly unethical relations. 5. Does this text see science news, even in a highly reputable paper, as accurate and balanced? No, the New York Times combines elements of newsworthiness like the potential size of the phenomenon, size of the original publication, importance of the scientists with more scandalous aspects, like possible unethical relations between scientists and pharmaceutical companies. 6. What, therefore, seems to be the priority of the newspaper when reporting on scientific debate. To create news. Academic and journalistic discourses Fact-checking = the action of verifying facts, esp. in the context of journalism or other writing: the work involved in checking or establishing the facts of a matter. What a journalist should do before publishing an article. Make sure that what you are about to publish is real. Academics do not check facts by asking people or looking at other newspaper articles. Academics check their resources by quoting others. Peer review = to subject to, or evaluate by, peer review; to referee (a paper). An academic text, before being published it goes through a close check by other academics. Usually in passive. Citation An academic writer does not write in a vacuum, expressing only their own ideas on a topic. An academic text needs to be situated within the context of what others have written on the same topic. An academic writer needs to refer to sources (journal articles, books, research findings) to outline the general thinking about a topic, typically in the introduction, and to provide specific evidence to support his or her main points. Quotation, paraphrase, or summary are always identified using an in-text reference, using either an author-date or a numerical system linked to the full reference at the end of the article. Academic language Give the exact words of another author, shown inside quotation marks “...”. They Quotation can be just a few words, a single sentence, or a longer section of a text. An idea described in one or two sentences in the original source may be Paraphrase paraphrased, i.e. expressed using the writer’s own language. An idea that is described through a whole article or a chapter of a book can be Summary summarized when cited. In-text reference In each case, an intext reference is given to show the source of the quotation. N.B.: Most citations are summarized to fit in with the flow of the text and the writer’s own “voice”. Where does science in the news come from? "Journalists look for stories in different places. The peer reviewed scientific literature is a good source, and newspapers often publish stories about work that has already been published in Nature, the New England Journal of Medicine... This is an easy (or, perhaps, lazy) strategy for the journalist – the story is reliable, they have all the details in front of them, and they do not even have to leave their desk". It also suits scientists: they do not get pestered by journalists looking for the facts, and... it means they have also complied with one of the traditional rules of science popularization – they have published in a peer- reviews journal first and gone public second.... Most academic journals insist that papers be submitted to them be original, that is, not published elsewhere. Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 20/03/2023 What is the role of the “introduction” section in an academic text? The introduction in academic text is particularly important, why? It introduces the topic but also gives direction, it is a sort of roadmap of the text. The introduction will explain, will refer to the logical progression of the argumentation. The introduction in academic text is where research questions are also mentioned, not just the general outline. 1. Introduction 2. How did RP emerge? a. John C. Wells and the History of Received Pronunciation b. Jack Aitcken on the Influence of Received Pronunciation in Scotland 3. Has it stayed the same over the years? a. Received Pronunciation: A Changing Accent b. John Wells on the Queen’s English 4. What’s happening to RP now? a. People’s Attitude Toward the Queen’s Speech b. John Wells on New Features and Current Trends in Received Pronunciation c. Received Pronunciation and the stage: The South vs the North 5. Concluding remarks In academic text, we have main sections and sub-sections. In order to describe the changes which are taking place in RP, what are the main changes which are described? One of the main changes is about the pronunciation of vowel sounds. The substitution of the short-front-close vowel sound with the short-long vowel sound. There is a change in the quality of the vowel sound. All those changes are not introduced by mentioning to technical terminology, but Wells manages to make all those explanations as accessible as possible to the larger public. Task 3 Questions 1. According to the text, is Sluggish Cognitive Tempo (SCT) a new condition? No, because theories have demonstrated that this condition has been for at least 30 years. 2. How is SCT described in the New York Times article? It is described as a new condition. 3. Why does the New York Times consider SCT newsworthy? Because of the number of articles published in a special issue of a journal. 4. What aspect of SCT does the New York Times article focus on? It focuses on supposed link between pharmaceutical companies and scientists and in a way a conflict of interest. 5. Does this text see science news, even in a highly reputable paper, as accurate and balanced? No, the New York Times combines elements of newsworthiness. Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 6. What, therefore, seems to be the priority of the newspaper when reporting on scientific debate. To create news. This article is an academic article because of: Quotations/referencing and footnotes Text conventions Academic and journalistic discourses Fact-checking = the action of verifying facts, esp. in the context of journalism or other writing: the work involved in checking or establishing the facts of a matter. What a journalist should do before publishing an article. Make sure that what you are about to publish is real. Academics do not check facts by asking people or looking at other newspaper articles. Academics check their resources by quoting others. Peer review = to subject to, or evaluate by, peer review; to referee (a paper). An academic text, before being published it goes through a close check by other academics. Usually in passive. Citation An academic writer does not write in a vacuum, expressing only their own ideas on a topic. An academic text needs to be situated within the context of what others have written on the same topic. An academic writer needs to refer to sources (journal articles, books, research findings) to outline the general thinking about a topic, typically in the introduction, and to provide specific evidence to support his or her main points. Quotation, paraphrase, or summary are always identified using an in-text reference, using either an author-date or a numerical system linked to the full reference at the end of the article. Academic language Give the exact words of another author, shown inside quotation marks “...”. They Quotation can be just a few words, a single sentence, or a longer section of a text. An idea described in one or two sentences in the original source may be Paraphrase paraphrased, i.e. expressed using the writer’s own language. An idea that is described through a whole article or a chapter of a book can be Summary summarized when cited. In each case, an intext reference is given to show the source of the quotation in In-text reference order to avoid any accusation of plagiarism. N.B.: Most citations are summarized to fit in with the flow of the text and the writer’s own “voice”. Where does science in the news come from? "Journalists look for stories in different places. The peer reviewed scientific literature is a good source, and newspapers often publish stories about work that has already been published in Nature, the New England Journal of Medicine... This is an easy (or, perhaps, lazy) strategy for the journalist – the story is reliable, they have all the details in front of them, and they do not even have to leave their desk". It also suits scientists: they do not get pestered by journalists looking for the facts, and... it means they have also complied with one of the traditional rules of science popularization – they have published in a peer- reviews journal first and gone public second.... Most academic journals insist that papers be submitted to them be original, that is, not published elsewhere. Parameters of newsworthiness 1. Threshold 2. Meaningfulness, relevance, consonance 3. Co-option composition 4. Frequency, unexpectedness, continuity 5. Facts, sources, reliability “An event with scientific and/or technological relevance is all the more interesting if it regards elite nations, elite social groups or elite people; further interest is added if the persons involved are famous; in any case, Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 personal details about scientists, members of scientific teams, represent an extra element of attraction for the general public’s interest”. Task 1 From peer-reviewed scientific journals to newspaper articles. Jonathan Harrington, 2000, Sallyanne Palethorpe and Catherine Watson, “Monophthongal vowel changes in Received Pronunciation: an acoustic analysis of the Queen's Christmas broadcasts”, Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 30/1-2, pp.63-78. Was it newsworthy? It was newsworthy. Article structure = typical structure of an academic article. A structure which is expected to be found in an academic text. 1. Abstract 2. Introduction 3. Method 4. Results 5. Discussion 6. Acknowledgments 7. References Introduction = contextualize the study by referring to other studies in the field. We know this by intext- reference. The authors included a very long intext-quotation and other form of quotations. Also, the research questions are mentioned in the introduction. References = they are organized in the alphabetic order. The year of publication is put at first, in order to make it easier for the reader to recognize the reference. Nature The same year, the same authors published the same research not for a specialized journal, but for Nature, a scientific journal used by larger public. The title is different. What was a 17 pages article, was reduced in just a one-page article. Johnatan Harrington, Sallyanne Palethorpe and Chaterine Watson, 2000, “Does the Queen speak the Queen’s English? Elizabeth II’s traditional pronunciation has been influenced by modern trends”, Nature, 408, 21/28, 2000, pp. 927 – 928. The fact that the news was about the Queen Elizabeth it made news in the UK. 21 December 2000 Daily Mail The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper. “It's not the Queen's English” “It’s not the Queen’s English” THE QUEEN NO LONGER SPEAKS THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH, AND IS INSTEAD STARTING TO SOUND LIKE A COCKNEY, NEW RESEARCH HAS REVEALED. Professor Jonathan Harrington, who led the Buckingham Palace-backed study, said the analysis had revealed significant changes in the Queen's vowel sounds when contrasting her Christmas speeches from the 1950s and the 1980s. "Although modern received pronunciation has resisted many of the stigmatised features of the London cockney accent, such as aitch dropping, it has nevertheless been influenced by cockney - for example in the tendency to pronounce the 'l' in milk as a vowel. "Our results show that there were significant changes in at least one formant for 10 of 11 vowel sounds and in both formants for five of 11 vowel sounds from the 1950s to the 1980s Christmas broadcasts." The article reproduced by The Daily Mirror is in typical inverted pyramid style. In order to find out that the changes have been reported in the Queen Speech, we have to read at least section 3 of the scientific article. Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 … down under The Sydney Morning Herald 21 December 2000 “Queen gets the message: English just ain’t what it was 50 years ago”. The same piece of news was published in Australia. … the US The Buffalo News 21 December 2000 “Queen’s accent has changed, but it remains quite English”. … and on broadsheets The Guardian 23 December 2001 “And a very heppi Christmas to you all. Queen’s English slipping? A little perhaps. But keep orf the Estuary when you talk to the Earl of Onslow”. Melvyn Bragg = is a journalist with a specific specialization in linguistics. David Crystal = is an academic who also writes books which are aimed at the popularization of English language. Still newsworthy in 2022 Op-ed, they are not written by journalists but are experts who are usually invited by newspapers to give their opinion. The Times (5 June 2022) Jonathan Harrington “Fencey that: the Queen’s accent has got, like, less posh. Analysis of the monarch’s Christmas broadcasts shows her cut-glass vowels have taken on a commoner’s touch”. From journal to (online) newspaper: what gets in; what gets left out? The case of: “Monophthongal vowel changes in Received Pronunciation: an acoustic analysis of the Queen’s Christmas broadcasts”, 2000. or “Does the Queen speak the Queen’s English? Elizabeth II’s traditional pronunciation has been influenced by modern trends”, 2000. First: the title “Monophthongal vowel changes in Received Pronunciation: an acoustic analysis of the Queen’s Christmas broadcasts”. What can we say about this title? We have very specific LSP terminology. “Monophthongal” is a term which is expected to be understood by the community of linguist; probably the normal reader wouldn’t understand it. Long titles are usually divided into two parts, and they are divided by a semicolon. The main title is “Monophthongal vowel changes in Received Pronunciation”. How would you classify this string of words? It is a noun phrase. A phrase is the smallest unit of syntactical structure. This is a noun phrase because we have the head noun which is “changes”. The head noun is pre-modifier and post-modifier. We have a heavily modified noun phrase. In the other part of the article, “an acoustic analysis of the Queen’s Christmas broadcasts”, we have a noun phrase. The head noun is “analysis”. By looking at “acoustic” and “monophthongal”, we know that this research is about phonetics. These are lexically dense noun phrases with pre and post modification (prepositional phrases). What is the big news? The big news is that RP is changing. The vowels of RP are changing. The fact that the Queen has been used as a case study to demonstrate that in a lifetime the speech of a person may change, is secondary. The Queen has been used as a case study, but it is not the most important thing. What counts in scientific terms is to demonstrate that RP is changing and since the Queen was the only Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 living person who could guarantee recordings on a regular basis of her speeches, it made the Queen an easy target to be investigated. It was a good resource for scientists. “Does the Queen speak the Queen’s English? Elizabeth II’s traditional pronunciation has been influenced by modern trends”. 1) “Does the Queen speak the Queen’s English? Elizabeth II’s traditional pronunciation has been influenced by modern trends”. 2) “It’s not the Queen’s English”. 3) “And a very heppi Christmas to you all”. 4) “Queen gets the message: English just ain’t what it was 50 years ago”. For newspapers, what is the most important thing? The Queen. In the title there is a change of focus. It was clear that the Queen was more newsworthy than monophthongal changes. Conclusion The title of the article in the scientific journal tells the expert reader what king of analysis is offered and indeed requires a certain amount of expertise to understand. In the newspapers headlines conclusions or central findings of the study are the focus. This is a general trend, a piece of news is taken from scientific journal and then turned into news published in newspapers. Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 27/03/2023 RECAP: IN or OUT? Usually, journalists use what we call peer-reviewed journals, so articles which are published in specialized journals. What sources are discarded in the leads? From specialized journals to newspapers, something gets lost. Structure: Summary Introduction Method Results = The final sections of the original paper, the discussion and the conclusion, are the preferred source for the beginning, or “lead”, of the news stories. Why? The scientific article is addressed to the scientific community, and it reviews the issue and also previous work carried out by colleagues to justify the undertaking; additionally, a lot of space is given to the method. If we look at the article on monophthongal vowel changes, the section of the introduction was about four pages long, with clear reference to previous work done on the same topic. This is understandable: for the scientific community to be convinced of the viability of the results it must be demonstrated that they were achieved by following a scientifically sound method. Fellow scientists would follow that section most carefully, possibly looking for flaws in the research design. This is what happens in the peer-reviewing process. Most or all scientific articles, before being published they go through a peer-reviewing process. Lay readers (and editors) are not so much interested in the complexities of data collection, collation and analysis, or nuances of the statistics as in the results and their relevance to their daily lives, and these are found in the discussion and conclusion. Other sources Peer-reviewed articles are not the only sources, particularly in the age of Internet. There are also other ways in which journalists can access information from experts (like contacting individual members of a research team, who can summarize the research; or enacting other scientists who give opinions or analysis of the research). In their news articles journalists frequently include information provided by other, related sources. These may be individual members of the research team or fellow scientists expressing an opinion about the study/analysis, etc. There are obvious advantages to this practice: o Such sources can provide authoritative but also very convenient summaries and evaluations of the research findings. o Bu also because it gives exposure to the academics themselves, and the institutions they come from. As we know, popularization is either useful for journalism but also for academics and universities because academics researchers are constantly pushed to make their research accessible to the general public. Reporting What is important in news is reporting. How the words of experts are reported in the news. Verbal reporting verbs [“say”, “add”, “warn” (but not “write”)] create an impression of immediacy. Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 Citations are an important part of academic journals/academic articles. Citations are important because they need to demonstrate that that particular topic/argument has been thoroughly researched and in order to avoid the authors to be accused of any form of plagiarism. For newspaper articles, also citations or other people words are used, and they are used with reporting verbs. They blur the line between speech and writing, between direct interview (and access) to a privileged prestigious source and reading a document and quoting it. It is clear that the journalists rely heavily on the original article (they also quote other authoritative written sources such as scholarly comments on the article) but the wide use of ‘said’ presents them as though the statements were made in a face –to face interview or a press conference. At a stroke this humanizes the news and implies the prestige of the newspaper that can access these figures at the top of the information chain and hence make the reporting seem more credible and reliable. Citations in scientific news Citations / quotes are a very conspicuous part of newspaper’s reports. This is not surprising because citations can help make the news seem credible and reliable, they can also add to the prestige and profile of the newspaper itself suggesting it has directive access to authoritative figures. "A quick look through newspaper stories will confirm that a huge amount of news is talk. That is, the original sources are very often verbal (interviews, speeches, press conferences) and this is then followed up by further verbal input in the form of expert witness comments. For this reason, Verbal processes … are extremely common". (de B.Clark , p.84) Part 1: citations In science stories, attributing words to somebody other than the reporter is important because it defers to the superior knowledge of scientists. We are more likely to trust their word on scientific matter rather than the journalist's words. As citation is such a common feature of journalism, journalists need a repertoire of techniques to prevent their reports or stories from becoming monotonous. “Verbal processes are important in newspaper writing because they express reference to a source which is not the reporter (The Prime Minister announced... witnesses said), and this raises the level of newsworthiness by merit of attribution. However, these processes also allow reporters to express their own point of view by citing other people, who may be witnesses or experts, whose opinion coincides with the reporter’s, and who cannot be contested” Direct citations These are the first and most common form of citation used in newspapers. It is also known as “direct speech”. Example: [D1] President Slump said: [D2] “The world is flat”. Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 Split between the citation and the sentence in which it appears. The first sign of the division are the speech marks which enclose the citation. Direct citation = there is a fracture between the syntax of D1 [the overall text] and D2 [the discourse of the cited statement] because it entails the maintenance of two different deictic centers (affecting tense, space and time adverbs and person-reference words), as a result of the two different enunciations being put in relation one to another; the two segments are connected through juxtaposition and they are signaled by graphic markers such as (:). Indirect citations Also known as “indirect speech”. Example: [D1] President Slump said that the world is flat [D1]. There is no fracture between the citation and the sentence it occurs in. What we get is the writer version of somebody else’s words, which normally come in a subordinate clause (usually that clauses). No speech marks. Indirect citation = there is only one discourse, D1, with a single deictic center, a subordinate clause introduced by a conjunction, and the correspondent agreement of tenses; this involves a semantic process whereby the gist of the expert’s statement is reported hypo tactically, being processed in order to adapt to the new subordinate syntactic status with shifts in pronouns and verb forms (person, mood, tense); the resulting statement is – in Halliday’s words – “twice cooked”. Integrated citations Example: President Slump said that the world is “flat”. Example: Flat is the word President Slump used to describe the world. Integrated citations have some similarities with direct citations with the difference that they directly quote only segments of the original statement. The rest of the citation is more similar to indirect citation. Therefore, this type of citation is a combination of direct and indirect citation. Integrated citation = it has the form of indirect citation but with segments – of greater or lesser extension – signalled as being cited directly/literally with clear graphic or typographic marking, mainly with quotation marks or marked fonts (boldface or italics). This type of citation allows mixing syntactic traits of direct and indirect style, a phenomenon rejected by grammarians but frequently used by journalists. Inserted citations Example: In the words of President Slump, the world is flat. Inserted citations are words of someone else introduced in a sentence without reporting verbs but with expressions (like "in the words of", "according to", etc.). Inserted citations = cited words or sentences are brought into the main discourse by means of markers such as... ‘in the words of X’, ‘according to X’, which have the function of assigning explicit words to a particular agent (literal or non-literal, depending on the use of graphic signs of quotation) without any communicative verb. Task 1 New fertility procedure may lead to 'embryo farming', warn researchers Technique could also lead parents to create ‘ideal’ future children only possible impact on society must be planned for now, say specialists Ian Sample Science editor @iansample Wed 11 Jan 2017 19.00 GMTLast modified on Wed 14 Feb 2018 20.44 GMT A new lab procedure that could allow fertility clinics to make sperm and eggs from people’s skin may lead to “embryo farming” on a massive scale and drive parents to have only “ideal” future children, researchers warn. [Integrated citation] Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 Legal and medical specialists in the US say that while the procedure – known as in vitro gametogenesis (IVG) – has only been demonstrated in mice so far, the field is progressing so fast that the dramatic impact it could have on society must be planned for now. [Indirect citation] “We try not to take a position on these issues except to point out that before too long we may well be facing them, and we might do well to start the conversation now,” said Eli Adashi, professor of medical science at Brown University in Rhode Island. [Direct citation] The creation of sperm and eggs from other tissues has become possible through a flurry of recent advances in which scientists have learned first to reprogram adult cells into a younger, more versatile state, and then to grow them into functioning sex cells. In October, scientists in Japan announced for the first time the birth of baby mice from eggs made with their parent’s skin. [Indirect citation] The technology is still in its infancy and illegal to attempt in humans in the UK and the US. But, writing in the journal Science Translational Medicine, Adashi, along with Glenn Cohen, a professor of law at Harvard Law School, and George Daley, dean of Harvard Medical School, argue that it may be possible to make human eggs and sperm from skin “in the not too distant future”. [Integrated citation] IVG could offer fresh hope for infertile people, including those who are unable to have children after cancer treatment. Because chemotherapy can destroy reproductive cells, patients sometimes store their sperm or ovarian tissue to use once they have recovered. With IVG, it may be possible to collect skin cells from a patient and turn them into healthy sperm or eggs for use in IVF later on. The procedure could transform IVF in other ways too, the researchers say, by making egg donors obsolete and replacing the standard hormonal stimulation that is used to make women produce eggs. [Indirect citation] But alongside its potential benefits, IVG throws up a host of situations that pose fresh legal and ethical questions. If the procedure ever became simple and inexpensive, clinics could manufacture almost limitless supplies of sperm, eggs and embryos. “IVG might raise the specter of ‘embryo farming’ on a scale currently unimagined, which might exacerbate concerns about the devaluation of human life,” the researchers write. [Direct citation] For a couple having fertility treatment, IVG could mean that instead of doctors choosing the best from half a dozen or so embryos, they could select from a pool of hundreds. And while that may be a benefit, it could intensify “concerns about parents selecting for their ‘ideal’ future child”, the authors write. [Integrated citation] Cohen said he and his colleagues were not expressing their personal views on how IVG might be used. Instead, they wanted to start a debate about the potential ramifications of using the procedure in humans. Offering up one example, Cohen said: “For those who oppose embryo destruction, creating, say 100 embryos when you are only going to use five for implantation may seem problematic.” [Indirect citation / Direct citation] What were previously no more than science fiction scenarios may become more realistic with IVG, the researchers suggest. In one extreme example described by Cohen, skin cells might be collected from Brad Pitt’s hotel bathtub and used to make sperm for insemination. “Should the law criminalize such an action? If it takes place, should the law consider the source of the skin cells to be a legal parent to the child, or should it distinguish between an individual’s genetic and legal parentage?” the researchers ask in the article. [Indirect citation / Indirect citation / Direct citation] [In another hypothetical situation, IVG could be used to make sperm and eggs from more than two people. These could then be combined to make children with three or more genetic parents. The case raises serious questions about the rights and responsibilities of each contributing parent, the authors write. [Indirect citation] It will take many more studies, including experiments in monkeys and other animals, before scientists know whether IVG is effective and safe enough to attempt in people. The first steps in humans will be to make sperm from a man’s skin cells and eggs from a woman’s skin. In principle, it would be possible to make sperm from a woman’s skin cells and use them to fertilise her own eggs. Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 “When new technologies come out, the law is often accused of playing catch-up,” Cohen said. “Far better to think and discuss on the front end, even if some of this never comes to pass, than scramble on the back end to gap-fill, in my humble opinion.” [Direct citation / Direct citation] “With science and medicine hurtling forward at breakneck speed, the rapid transformation of reproductive and regenerative medicine may surprise us,” the authors conclude. “Before the inevitable, society will be well advised to strike and maintain a vigorous public conversation on the ethical challenges of IVG”. [Direct citation / Direct citation] It's not the Queen's English Daily Mail, 21 December 2000 The Queen no longer speaks the Queen's English, and is instead starting to sound like a cockney, new research has revealed. She may not drop her aitches or have a glottal stop, but over the last 40 years the Monarch's accent has drifted to one more like those of her subjects who are younger and lower in the social hierarchy, according to linguistic experts at Sydney's Macquarie University. Professor Jonathan Harrington, who led the Buckingham Palace-backed study, said the analysis had revealed significant changes in the Queen's vowel sounds when contrasting her Christmas speeches from the 1950s and the 1980s. The research, published in this week's edition of Nature magazine, concludes that the trend is towards a standard southern British accent, which is exemplified by female BBC broadcasters of the 1980s and subtly influenced by the London cockney accent. Professor Harrington said in the 1950s English accents were as clearly marked as the rigid social groups, but as class distinctions had become more blurred, so too had the boundaries between accents. "Although modern received pronunciation has resisted many of the stigmatised features of the London cockney accent, such as aitch dropping, it has nevertheless been influenced by cockney - for example in the tendency to pronounce the 'l' in milk as a vowel”. "Some of these changes in pronunciation in England have been led by younger members of the population, who reject received pronunciation because of its association with the Establishment." But he said acoustic analysis of the extent and direction of vowel changes in three formant frequencies taken from women BBC broadcasters in the 1980s revealed that the Queen had adopted some of the trends of a standard southern British (SSB) accent. "Our results show that there were significant changes in at least one formant for 10 of 11 vowel sounds and in both formants for five of 11 vowel sounds from the 1950s to the 1980s Christmas broadcasts." He added: "These results indicate that the vowels in the Christmas message have moved towards, but not attained, their SSB equivalents from the 1980s”. "Thus, there has been a drift in the Queen's accent towards one that is characteristic of speakers who are younger and lower in the social hierarchy. "We conclude that the Queen no longer speaks in the Queen's English of the 1950s, although the vowels of the 1980s Christmas message are still clearly set apart from those of an SSB accent." Prof Harrington added that the chances of a community preserving a particular form of pronunciation against social changes was as unlikely to succeed as King Canute's attempts to defeat the tides. Compare the two texts The citation techniques are very similar. In the second article we got either use of indirect citation, direct but there is also a repetition of the verb “said”, “added”. It is typical of a tabloid, the use of simple and informal style. We can find features of journalistic style in terms of citation technique, but it is important also to take Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 into consideration the context. The context is the kind of the newspaper which “host” the piece of news. This will also affect the kind of style used by the journalist. Part 2: citation and evaluation “The verb chosen to report speech (directly or indirectly) can convey the reporter’s point of view regarding the statement which follows. The verb can have evaluative connotations which guide the reader in “unpacking and interpreting the speaker’s statements, while what is said or reported remains faithful to the speaker’s statements”. News is rarely a totally neutral and objective reconstruction of reality. News is constructed and shaped by ideology, cultural values, and preconceptions and by the editorial policies of the newspaper it appears in. Usually, news is constructed in the image of the journalist and news corporations who produce it. Editorial bias is often revealed though grammar or evaluative / connotative language (i.e. language that conveys the idea that something is bad or good, relatively speaking). Evaluation can also come about in the choice of reporting verbs. Citations may report the sources words accurately, but the reporting words used may tell something about the journalist’s attitude towards those very words. Task 2 Look at the reporting verbs – they are all taken from the news stories about the dangers of alcohol. 1. Say/said 2. Says major study; 3. Says their report; 4. Says the paper; 5. They say; 6. They said; 7. The chief medical officer Sally Davis has said; 8. Said the reports; 9. Said the report’s senior author, Prof. Emmanuela Gakidou, 10. She [Dr Robyn Burton] wrote. Which would you consider neutral, and which would you define as marked? They are all neutral reporting verbs. Reporting verbs like “say”; “state”; “tell”; “add”; “write” all neutral and do not convey any kind of evaluation. Which clearly guide the reader to 'unpacking' and interpreting the importance of the facts reported? What are the possible reasons for the above answer? Task 3 1. Warned [headline] = marked 2. Wrote = neutral 3. Suggests = neutral 4. Commented = neutral 5. Added = neutral 6. Admitted = marked 7. Acknowledge = marked 8. Urged = marked 9. Reports that = neutral 10. Claim = marked Disendorsement Claim / admit are examples of the technique called disendorsement → by using these reporting verbs, the journalist doesn’t endorse the words of the source. These reporting verbs indicate that the journalist is not taking full responsibility for the citation (this may indicate that the journalist doesn’t fully agree or believe or guarantee the accuracy of the information). Downloaded by steven centeno ([email protected]) lOMoARcPSD|12683824 “The use of reporting verbs such as claim and insist (for example) suggest that what was said can be doubted. The reporter ‘disendorses’ (White 2002) or takes no responsibility for the utterances". “The global study, which claims to be the most comprehensive of its kind. The study claims to go beyond prior research because of the range of factors considered, including insights from 592 studies and 28 million people worldwide. Evaluation and newsworthiness Reporting verbs can be evaluative, they can convey a positive, neutral, negative attitude towards the source of the citation. Evaluative lexis, indicating

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