Examine language interaction in context and the construction of meanings

Andreea-Raluca Moise

Analysis of a portion of the film ‘Secrets and Lies’ (1996)

The field of discourse analysis emerged from a number of disciplines like

linguistics, sociology and psychology, which shared the same interest i.e. the

study of language in interaction. Diverse linguistic tools associated with discourse

analysis tackle the ways in which language is used in real contexts between

people within a variety of socio-cultural backgrounds. This area is also of

significant interest to ELT because the study of talk in natural contexts facilitates

an understanding of how language is constructed in the mind. This aspect is

believed to bring a tremendous contribution to the development of relevant

teaching materials and appropriate learning activities that would help learners

use their L2 proficiently.

The scope of this paper is to analyze how language is used in interaction in a

variety of contexts and how meanings are constructed in discursive practices. It

is based on the film ‘Secrets and Lies’ directed by Mike Leigh and is divided into

two parts. The first part constitutes the film analysis and the second part

represents the teaching section. The point of departure is Gee’s ‘building tasks’

of language along with other tools relevant to Gee’s approach to discourse study

(Gee 2011: 6-25).

The present analysis will also tackle different speech functions and specific

concepts like linguistic politeness, identity and face. When discussing identity,

the analysis will also include comments concerning other three ‘building tools’ i.e.

‘the identities, the relationship and the politics building tools’ (Gee 2011: 106-

125). The context shall be presented in all scenes because it represents an

essential characteristic of the manner in which people use language to interact.

The paper shall also tackle the functions of speech that contribute to identifying

how language is apprehended by the other speakers.

In the opening scene of the film, the spatial setting is a cemetery and the

attention of the audience is directed towards a burial. Most of the mourners are of

African origin and their song creates an overall thrilling atmosphere. A close-up

presents Hortense crying, making the audience reach the conclusion that the two

shared a special relationship. This emotional setting undergoes a scene

transition and the audience witnesses the last arrangements before a wedding.

The first scene in which we can analyze an array of aspects of language in

interaction is the one in which Monica and Maurice have a meaningful exchange.

The physical setting in which the conversation takes place is the living room and

judging by its appearance it may well point to a middle-class family.

Monica’s first utterance about the noisy children can be easily interpreted as

serving an affective function. Maurice’s reply to his wife’s phatic inquiry “At least

they can play out around here” is somehow confusing for the audience. Tracy

and Robles assert that utterances have an additional meaning besides the

conventional one i.e. an ‘interactional meaning’ (2013: 8-9). The ‘interactional

meaning’ of this sequence of utterances can be strongly connected with a

historical context that occurred long before the current focal event. The

significance of Maurice’s response may be construed in two ways i.e., referring to

some background information about his childhood or expressing regret about not

having children. He may have lived in a poor neighbourhood with no playground

near his house.

The notion of ‘identity’ refers to how people construct an identity for themselves

and for others through their ‘expressive choices’ (Tracy and Robles 2013: 20).

Maurice’s keen eye on detail is a matter of ‘identity’ and is disclosed when he

notices Monica’s new piece of clothing. This aspect can be related to his job as a

professional portrait photographer, which creates an identity for him as a person

paying significant attention to detail. By uttering “It’s nice”, he is complimenting

his wife for her good taste in choosing the outfit combination and later he

compliments her again for doing a wonderful job with the house. Maurice’s way

of expressing and his affective gesture of touching her vest signal a relationship

of closeness between the two.

In their conversation about the girl in the picture, Monica builds two identities i.e.,

one as a person showing a rather distanced attitude toward the girl “She survived

it though, didn’t she?” and the other one as a caring wife who wants her husband

to be happy: “we could always ask her to come over”. Monica is also creating an

identity for Roxanne, placing her in a rather bad light “She’s back on the streets

now”. For an outsider, this assertion is open to interpretation. It can serve as a

referential utterance in a context known both to Monica and Maurice or it can be

perceived as a ‘face-threatening act’ to Roxanne’s social status.

Evidence of Monica’s social distance towards Roxanne and her mother is overtly

shown when she describes the mother-daughter relationship as being similar to a

puppet show: “There’s no show without Punch”. The identities she builds for

them may well threat their face wants or deprive them of a ‘social good’ such as

being treated with respect, particularly by family members.

In relation to ‘Significance’, it is highly important for Maurice to visit Cynthia: “I

must get down to see her”. In contrast, Monica believes that his intention is not

that socially significant to her and suggests that a conversation over the phone is

more than enough: “You speak to her on the phone”.

In the following scene, the audience is presented with two other characters i.e.,

Cynthia and Roxanne who enact through their language a tumultuous

relationship in which repressed feelings of anger surface abruptly. The physical

setting of the interaction is the living room of the house. In the opening scene

Roxanne’s grudge against Cynthia can be noticeably observed in the manner

she conveys her messages i.e., using directive utterances like “Well, shut up,

then!” or “Leave it out!” that serve as orders.

Cynthia is a middle-aged woman working in a factory and judging by her

conversation with her bitter daughter she is resentful of her youthfulness and

enacts a childish identity of someone who is unhappy, pitiful and who mourns

after her lost youth: “At your age, I could’ve had the pick of the crop”. In contrast,

Roxanne’s negligent appearance and unladylike body language portray a woman

who has no reason to be content or satisfied: “Well, what’s there to smile about?”

In relation to ‘Connections’, Cynthia is a bitter character who builds connections

between the misfortunate events in her life and the people who surround her, as

if she never had a choice to do things her own way. She portrays an unhappy

woman who has difficulty in accepting changes and she considers that the main

reason for which her brother hasn’t visited or invited her by now to see his house

is Monica: “He’d have us up there to see it by now, I expect, if it wasn’t for her”.

Through her disrespectful language “Toffee-nosed cow”, she enacts an identity

for Monica as a snobbish person and construes a relationship of social distance

and animosity. By uttering such a contemptuous remark, Cynthia is performing a

face-threatening act, which affects Monica’s social good of being treated with

respect.

In terms of ‘Significance’, it seems highly important to Cynthia to see her

daughter step out with a man on her arm. Her language clearly reflects how

much value it has to her because her utterances do not look as pieces of advice,

but have the function of commands: “you wanna get yourself a bloke/That’s what

you wanna do”. It may be inferred that having a man by your side is a social good

for Cynthia, who did not succeed to keep a man beside her. In contrast, Roxanne

does not regard Cynthia’s opinion as being that significant to her: “I don’t wanna

get anything. I’m quite happy here”.

Cynthia’s emotional frustrations resulting from unfulfilled needs surface and she

begins to place the blame on her family members, particularly on Roxanne: “then

I got saddled with you. That was my downfall, darlin’”. In terms of building

relevance between ideas, Cynthia connects her “downfall” with the moment she

got pregnant with Roxanne.

The identities they build in interaction are strongly linked to the way they talk.

Tracy and Robles claim that ‘identities shape talk (2013: 8). If identities shape

talk, one can assume that a person’s identity is shaped by education, social class

and professional background. Cynthia and Roxanne use a lot of British slang

such as “arse”, “toffee-nosed”, “bloke” and “knickers”. The use of informal speech

is also observed in the use of verb alternatives like “dunno” and “wanna”. In

addition to this, Cynthia’s utterance “I was stuck at home at the age of ten,

looking after Maurice and your granddad” bears referential function, making the

audience infer that she did not have time for school because she had to work and

take care of her family after her mother’s demise.

Another significant scene that illustrates the discourse patterns related to the

construction of meanings in interaction is the ‘counselling scene’. The physical

setting in which the conversation takes place is a social institution, thus it can be

further stated that the scene depicts an exchange in an institutional setting. The

institutional activity can be regarded as a counselling session that is being held in

the social worker’s office. As in the previous scenes, meaning is build on various

levels and the purpose of the talk in the above mentioned spatial setting is

strongly linked to a historical context i.e. Hortense being given for adoption as a

baby.

Concerning the level of formality, Jennie signals a social relationship of

closeness which is revealed in her language choices like addressing Hortense by

her first name and making inquiries about her personal life. Although, some of

Jennie’s utterances are directives “Come this way”, “Have a seat”, “Make

yourself at home”, she expresses them in a gentle manner that displays

politeness and solidarity.

As previously mentioned, the initial exchange between Jennie and Hortense is an

example of common interaction that fulfils an affective and referential function.

This ordinary conversation led by Jennie may be intended to make Hortense feel

more comfortable and to signal relations of closeness by showing interest in her

life. Then, the social worker’s utterances become even more referential in

function. She is tracking events in Hortense’s life by posing questions like “So

what d’ you do?”, “Where’d you live”, “You thinking about getting married?”,

“D’you have children?” etc.

In relation to ‘Connections’, Jennie considers that the death of Hortense’s mother

is relevant to her decision to discover the identity of her birth mother: “mum died

two months ago now. (…)/ Perhaps that’s what made you start on this”. With

regard to identity, the social worker informs Hortense about her mother’s possible

personal identity, referring to her attitude about meeting Hortense: “…she may

not want to see you”. Jenny seems to warn Hortense about her biological

mother’s negative face needs, like having her privacy respected, which may be in

contradiction with her positive face needs to feel included in a family. In relation

to ‘Significance’, Jennie points out that her desire to meet her mother may not be

as significant to her mother as it is to her.

The final scene proposed for this film analysis shows Maurice knocking on

Cynthia’s door. The physical setting of the conversation is the house in which

Cynthia and Roxanne live. There is an indisputable disparity in housing styles.

Maurice and his wife live in a spacious house with six bedrooms, while Cynthia

and Roxanne are presented in a claustrophobic dwelling. These spatial settings

tremendously contribute to indicate class difference and distinct social

relationships.

The situation frame of the interaction displayed in this particular scene is two

family members chatting. Although, the characters attempt to follow the patterns

of a day-to-day exchange, the language they formulate reveals an outstanding

relationship with significant emotional load. Cynthia portrays a woman having

severe issues with her emotional health. She is well aware that her daughter

resents her and she does not refrain from disclosing their current relationship to

Maurice: “I dunno what she wants/ Apart from me under a bus/…/ Me head in the

oven”.

Maurice proposes a social activity in the form of a birthday party: “You know,

have a get-together/ Come on, it’s Roxanne’s birthday. In terms of ‘Significance’,

Cynthia expresses overtly that it means a lot to her to be invited by her brother in

his new dwelling: “thought you’d never ask/ (…)/ You’ve been there nearly a

twelve-month”.

The use of minimal responses like “right”, “yeah”, “okay” throughout their

communication constitute significant interactive and affective functions. She also

uses endearment terms such as “darlin’” and “sweetheart”, which confirm a

degree of familiarity and closeness.

In conclusion, it can be assumed that the language used by these speakers

clearly reflects how meaning is built on various levels. Every scene reveals the

importance of language in expressing feelings and in outlining social

relationships. The description of various utterances and their functions provides

an outstanding insight into the speakers’ identities. These scenes indicate that

language cannot be interpreted without a context and that an utterance is

markedly influenced by what is previously said. The settings contribute to

portraying the characters and to disclosing differences on several levels.

Teaching Section

The second part of this paper constitutes the language teaching section. In this

section I have chosen a part of the ‘counseling scene’ to illustrate how language

in use and conversational patterns can significantly contribute to designing

teaching materials that concentrate on various aspects of meaning according to

diverse cultural and societal values. There are four activities based on the

‘counseling’ scene and the fragment proposed for this teaching section is

included in the Appendix. The target group consists of Romanian high school

learners who have an upper intermediate command of English.

The objectives of ‘Activity 1’ seek to draw learners’ attention on linguistic choices

regarding politeness and address forms which are culturally determined.

Learners have to identify how the speakers greet and address each other and to

comment upon the reasons for which the speakers construct meaning in a

particular way. Moreover, learners have to compare the address forms used by

the speakers with linguistic norms in their speech community.

The purpose of ‘Activity 2’ is to propose learners to work in pairs and imagine a

telephone conversation. This task is intended to assess learners’ communicative

competence in a social practice.

‘Activity 3’ is to check learners’ understanding of the role of imperatives in a

specific context and the meaning conveyed by their use. This task also seeks to

determine learners to provide other structures that express polite ways of getting

people perform actions.

The last Activity assesses learners’ knowledge of culture, particularly the social

expectations people have when engaging in a conversation.

Ways of exploiting a part of the ‘counselling’ scene for language teaching

Activity 1. The use of address forms in different speech communities.

a. How is greeting performed between the two speakers?

b. How can you comment upon the choice of address forms?

c. The social worker addresses Hortense by her first name (FN). Is this linguistic

choice different from the one used in an institutional setting in your country?

Explain the cross-cultural differences that may exist. If necessary, support your

arguments by providing examples of other institutional settings in which greeting

and addressing are expressed differently.

Activity 2. Language in a telephone conversation to arrange meetings or make

appointments.

Work in pairs and act out a short conversation which Hortense had on the

telephone. What was the purpose of the call?

Activity 3. Ways in which language is used to get people to do something.

a. How is the social worker expressing her attempts to get Hortense do

things? Give examples from their interaction.

b. Is Jennie polite or impolite? Are they equal in status or not?

c. How would you change these sentences to sound more polite?

Activity 4. Language and social expectations

a. Comment upon Jennie’s gesture of eating candy while discussing with

Hortense. Do you think she is making Hortense feel uncomfortable or

not?

b. Is this gesture common in institutional settings in your country? Are there

any exceptions?

List of References

Gee, J. P. (2011) How to do Discourse Analysis: A Toolkit. London: Routledge

Tracy, K and Robles, J. S. (2013) Everyday Talk. 2nd edn. London: The Guilford

Press

Leigh, M. (2006) Secrets and Lies [online] available from

[ 26 October 2013]

APPENDIX

Part of the counseling scene proposed for the teaching section

Duration: 19:39 to 20:09

S.c = Social counselor

H = Hortense

S.c: Hello?

Hortense. Hello. Jennie Ford.

Nice to meet you.

H: Oh, hi

.

S.c: Come this way.

How are you? All right?

H: Fine, thank you.

S.c: Good.

Sorry about this prison cell.

Have a seat.

Make yourself at home.

Before we go any further,

have you got any ID?

Passport, driving licence?

H: Yeah.

S.c: Get used to this red tape. You’d like a Rolo?

H: No, thank you.

S.c: You sure?

H: Yeah.