Adaptation-theory

1AdaptationTheory1.IntroductionVerschueren’sAdaptationTheoryappearedasacompleteandmaturetheoryin1999whenhisbookUndersatndingPragmaticswaspublished.Comparedwithtraditionalviewsonpragmatics,Verschuerendetachespragmaticsfromthetraditionallinguisticbraches,regardslanguageuseastheobjectofpragmatics.Onhisapproach,“pragmaticsdoesnotconstituteanadditionalcomponentofatheoryoflanguage,butitoffersadifferentperspective”(Verschueren,2000:2).Hedefinespragmaticsas“ageneralcognitive,socialandculturalperspectiveonlinguisticphenomenoninrelationtotheirusageinformsofbehaviour(ibid:7).Hetakespragmaticsasafunctionalperspective,insteadoftakingitasonebrachoflinguisticsalongasidewithphonology,morphology,syntaxandsemantics.2.LinguisticchoicesmakingUsinglanguagemustconsistofthecontinuousmakingoflinguisticchoices,consciouslyorunconsciously,forlanguage-internaland/orlanguage-externalreasons.Thesechoicescanbesituatedatanyleveloflinguisticforms:phonetic,phonological,morphological,syntactic,lexical,andsemantic(Verschueren,2000:55-56).Makingchoicesisatwo-wayprocesswhichrequiresthechoicebothintheproducingandinterpretinganutterance.Therearesomefeaturesintheprocessofchoicemaking:Choicesareindeedmadeateverypossiblelevelofstructurewhichrangesfromphonetic,phonological,morphologicaltosyntactic,lexicalandsemantic,etc;Speakersdonotonlychooseformsbutalsostrategies;Theprocessofchoicemakingmayshowvariousdegreesofconsciousness;Choicesaremadebothinproducingandinterpretinganutterance;Alanguageuserhasnofreedomogchoicebetweenchoosingandnotchoosing,exceptthatatthelevelwhereheorshecandecideeithertoouselanguageortoremainsilent;Influencedandrestrictedbythesocialandculturalfactors,choicesarenotequivalentforeveryuser.3.ThreekeynotionsoflanguageuseVariability:isthepropertyoflanguagewhichdefinestherangeofpossibilityfromwhichchoicescanbemade.Itisdynamicratherthanstatic.E.g.A:WhereisActon?B1:Hediedtwoweeksago.2B2:HehasbeenasleepinthearmsofGod.B3:Hewenttohislonghome.Negotiability:choicesarenotmademechanicallyoraccordingtostrictictrulesorfixedfrom-functionrelationships,butratheronthebasisofhighlyflexibleprinciplesandstrategies.E.g.A:Howismyboyinschool?B1:Hemustbetaughtrightfromwrong.B2:Heneedstobebroughtbackintothemainstream.Adaptabilityenableshumanbeingstomakenegotiablelinguisticchoicesfromavariablerangeofpossibilitiesinsuchawayastoapproachpointsofsatisfactionforcommunicativeneed.Itisbasedintheprevioustwopropertiesoflanguagevariablityandnegotiability.E.g.A:Howdoeshegetalongwithhisclassmaates?B1:Thestudentisabully.Heisquarrelsomeandbrowbeats,frightensorhurtssmallerorweakerpuplils.B2:Heneedshelpinlearningtousehisleadershipqualitiesdemocratically.4.FouranglesofadaptationContextualcorrelatesofadaptability.Itincludesalltheingredientsofthecommunicativecontextswithwhichlinguiticchoiceshavetobeinteradaptable.Therangegoesfromaspectsofthephysicalsurroundingtosocialrelationshipsbetweenspeakersandhearersandtheinterlocutors’stateofmind.PhysicalworldProductionSocialworldinterpretationMintalworldStructuralobjectsofadaptability.Theprocessofchoice-makingtakesplaceatallpossiblelevelsoflinguisticstructurethatinvolvesvariabilityofanylayerofstructure,fromsoundtodiscourse.Thelanguageuserselectslinguisticstructuresinawiderangeoflinguiticrealitiesinordertoadapttothespeficcontext.Richard:CanIdriveyouhome?Elexandra:Nothanks.Thetrainisjustupthestreet.Itwon’ttakemelongatall.Philip:Sheisasmartyounglady,andverynice.Dynamicsconcernsmorethenatureanddevelopmentovertimeoftherelationshipbetweencontextandstructure.Itreferstoactualprocessesofadaptationinwhich,languageusegeneratesmeaningdynamicallybymakinguse3ofthecontext-andstructure-relatedtools.E.g.1.Iherebybequeathallmypossessionstomywife.(Onlyafterdecalringthissentenceincourtcanthewishbecomeeffective.)2.ItakeMaryAlicetobemyweddedwife.(inaCatholicweddingceremonyandthisoathcanbedeclaredvoidatalatertimeifthemarriageisnotconsummated.)Salience.Itclearlyshowsthestatusofadaptationprocessinpeople’sminds.Degreeofthesalienceoftheadaptationprocessesarebasicallyafunctionoftheoperationofthereflexiveawarenessinvolvedinlanguageuse.Notallchoices,whetherinproductionorinterpretation,aremadeequallyconsciouslyorunconsciously.Somearevirtuallyautomaticandothersarehighlymotivated.Inallthesefouraspects,the‘mindinsociety’playsacrucialroleinmakingevrydecision.Theusingoflabguagetoexpressmeaningisadynamicprocess,inwhichtherelationshipbetweencontextandstructureisinfluencedbythedifferentdegreesofsalience.TheAdaptaionTheorypresentsthemajorconcptualframeworkforuniversalpragmaticphenomena.5.AdaptbilityandadaptationAdaptabilityisthepropertyoflanguagewhichenableshumanbeingstomakenegotiablelinguisticchoicesfromavariablerangeofpossibilitiesinsuchawayastoapproachpointsofsatisfactionforcommunicativeneeds.Adaptationisadynamicprocessinwhichlanguageproducersmanipulatelinguisticstructurestoadjusttothecontextualdemandsinaccordancewiththeirintentionssothattheycansucceedinachievingtheiroveraallcommunicaativeneeds.Theadaptabilityoflanguageisoneoftheprerequisiteswhichmaketheprocessof