Book of abstracts of the GERAS International Conference 2024: Language use in specialized contexts from an ESP perspective
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: ESP is a well-established field of research and teaching within applied linguistics characterized by much diversity.In my talk, by recognizing the human capacity to volitionally modulate voice in response to specific social contexts (Pisanski et al. 2016), I aim to examine how the use of voice is constitutive of language use and the construction of context.Airline pilots, for example, need to be proficient and fluent in the genre and register of Airline English to communicate with each other and traffic controllers.Yet if pilots speak with a low, deep, and slow voice without much inflection, they may not sound trustworthy by invoking fear, especially for passengers.Thus, voice, along with the verbal patterns that create spoken discourse, contributes to a particular practice, while also helping listeners create speaker identity.To explore the use of voice, I focus on a group of practitioners who thoroughly "work" with language, namely, voice artists.First, I review aspects of vocal communication (Gobl and Chasaide 2003, Kjeldgaard-Christiansen and Hejná 2023, Podesva and Callier 2015) to examine the vocal variation of speech production used by voice artists to move the thoughts and feelings of listeners.Then a case study is provided, which includes: 1) an analysis of voice artistry across different genres, for example, film trailers, computer animation games and American Superbowl announcements to see how voice work shapes meaning and 2) an analysis of an interview with a voice artist working in Hollywood, with a focus on the development of a professional user of voice, including the preparations made when given a script to convey different meanings and emotions, depending on the ambiance of the context to be constructed.Finally, a critical reflection is provided from an ESP perspective.My presentation, by attending to spoken discourse, using new technologies as a source of data and an occupation typically not in focus (Belcher 2006), will hopefully help language learners "find their voice".
Institution: ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences
Language: English
Subfield: Linguistics and Language
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7045769697