2020-10-10
322
The paper deals with the way the new European currency is conceived in English mass media, particularly the use of structural metaphors to convey the negative and positive attitude towards the currency.
The research involves compilingand editing of a corpus consisting of articles dealing with the Euro currency according to the degree of technical language used, their supported readership, and their ideological and political stance.
Before analyzing examples from the subcorpora (from two national broadsheet newspapers) we will briefly introduce the theoretical background on metaphors to which we referred, and the methodology we followed to identify the two structural metaphors relating to the new currency.
Our starting point was the work by Lakoff and Johnson on the cognitive theories of metaphors, which defines metaphor as ‘understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another’ and covers the potential this entails of highlighting certain aspects of the concept expressed while hiding others incompatible with the metaphor.
The analysis showed that both frequency lists included among the most common content words the terms entry, joining and launch. It led us to the idea that the Euro is treated as A CONTAINER metaphor (entry creates an opposition between what is inside to what remains outside). Then both joining and launch can be viewed as expressions of the metaphor THE EURO IS A MECHANICAL OBJECT (join portrays two mechanical objects coming into contact to connect with each other).
We found other words to add to the metaphors, e.g. spatial prepositions in, inside, into, out, outside and within.
A basic analysis clearly shows that one of the newspapers (the Guardian) has more positive mentions and the ambiguous ones are about as frequent as the negative. On the other hand, not only does The Times have many more negative examples, but its ambiguous cases are slightly more frequent than the positive ones. A qualitative examination of a few examples from the two newspapers will also illustrate the different discourse strategies they adopt in their treatment of the topic.
|
|
|
Linguistic Insights. Corpora and Discourse
Practicum 11.18
Translate the italicized word combinations in Text 11b into Russian
PROGRESS TEST 11 
Topic 12. Encouraging / discouraging
I. General
Practicum 12.1
Study communication strategy of Encouraging / Discouraging
| Step 1 | Assess the situation either favourable or challenging |
| Step 2 | Support your view with arguments |
| Step 3 | Opt for ‘If I were you’ phrase when discouraging the partner from doing something, or prod him when encouraging |
You can either follow all the three steps or rely on two of them proceeding from Step 1 to Step 2 or Step 3.
Practicum 12.2
Arrange the Encouraging / Discouraging vocabulary in 3 groups relating to 3 steps of communication strategy
| Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 |
| I am not sure that was the best option | Recent findings show | If I were you, I’d |
I am afraid it is not a good idea
From my experience
I have a hunch you shouldn’t have done
I am not sure if you should
According to recent research
That was sensible / thoughtful of you
Statistics claim
Personally I would not rely on
You may frown on it still it might be a good idea
I suggest you should
I hold / take it that you’d better not
I do like / appreciate your contribution
I would think twice before
Go for the gold!
You are up to the task / have a potential
Perhaps you might consider (doing)
Why don’t you try to / Why not do
II. Encouraging / Discouraging Practice
Practicum 12.3
Encourage:
-your employee struggling with a stressful situation that is affecting his performance
-your colleague, sharing her current marriage problems
Discourage:
-your ex fellow student who would like to pursue a career in the interior design
-your colleague with two children (aged 2-6) is offered a promotion which involves a lot of traveling
Text 12a
The text to follow deals in talking science (computers). Study the text and use it as a starting point for communication
Less PowerPoint, More Powerful Points
“Pauline, prepare my presentation for our colleagues in Portsmouth. The slides I showed last September in Southampton will suffice. ” As Pauline reviews those 35 slides, she reflects on the time it had taken to produce them. She remembers the rows and rows of bullet points; the endless discussions when the finance director objected to a point on slide 27 (as if anyone would be still awake); the glee on the CEO’s face when he thought that animation and the sound of car brakes would be “more interesting”. How can she break it to her boss that the procurement team had found his presentation tedious and that the slides had produced a collective yawn. The outcomes were that the message failed to be delivered, that the CEO lost respect and that the over-reliance on PowerPoint gave another shockingly bad example about the nature of good communications. To present well requires good preparation.
|
|
|
PowerPoint is a good slave but a bad master. It is not a good preparation tool as it freezes out the many better ways to engage the audience. So it should be an afterthought, not forethought. The presenter must engage the audience and ensure they are focused on one issue. If PowerPoint is over-used to list endless bullet points or statistics, it becomes a distraction. The audience will not be led by the presenter nor given a single clear message. And to refocus the attention of the audience, the B key should be employed to blank the screen (pressing B again will display the slide once more).
Think first about the audience and the purpose of the event. Construct an outline before considering the key points to cover. Consider using prompt cards but ensure that they are easy to read. Decide how much time each section needs and then, very importantly, what will make the key points stick in the minds of the audience. Above all, encourage participation and the need of the speaker to use their PowerPresence in preference to their PowerPoint.
Pauline finally makes up her mind to say something: “About that presentation in Southampton, have you considered …”
J. Ellwood. The Times
Practicum 12.4
Translate the italicized word combinations in Text 12a into Russian
Practicum 12.5 
Practicum 12.6 
Practicum 12.7 
Practicum 12.8
Account for the most natural pattern of communicative behaviour of Pauline in the suggested settings
- encouraging her boss to rely more on rapport with the audience and their feedback than on PowerPoint
- discouraging her colleagues from over- and misusing animation and sounds
Practicum 12.9
Practice Encouraging / Discouraging strategy in the following situation
Being a coach on a presentation training you are to teach your trainees how to take advantage of the power of visualization. Potential benefits are: attention, motivation, comprehension and memorability (for illustrations see – http://www.visual-literacy.org/stairs_of_viz/stairs_of_viz.html)
Encourage your traineesto rely on the following tips
- employ repetition to facilitate recognition;
- use contrast to focus attention for easier and quicker detection and memorability;
- be consistent in the use of colours, shapes, symbols
- reframe issues by presenting them in a new, insightful perspective;
- intrigue viewers through new metaphors, patterns; visual effects and unexpected moves
Discourage your trainees from potential pitfalls of visualization
- overloading the image with unstructured elements by packing too much into a single picture
- overuse of stereotypical pictures (as cliché pictures that have become a common place and may thus cause negative or indifferent reactions)
- abusing or confusing with visual schemas
Practicum 12.10
Practice Encouraging strategy in the following situation (to be done in writing:
a free-lance journalist is working on a report on improving presentation skills for an Online Women's Magazine (he encourages to rely on the right visualization format and graphic elements, such as simple icons – symbols with a clear connotation, realistic images – more or less accurate rendering of reality, charts - abstract conceptual graphic representation or information)
III. Communication Practice
Team work
Your team is to take the floor at an open doors day to present your university and encourage the audience to apply. Choose a visualization format.
Text 12b
The text to follow deals in talking science (presentations). Study the text and use it as a starting point for communication
