Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T15:13:12.908Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

11 - Activity Types and Genres

from Part I - Fundamentals of Sociopragmatics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2021

By
Dawn Archer ,
Piotr Jagodziński  and
Rebecca Jagodziński
Edited by
Michael Haugh ,
Dániel Z. Kádár  and
Marina Terkourafi
Michael Haugh
Affiliation:
University of Queensland
Dániel Z. Kádár
Affiliation:
Hungarian Research Institute for Linguistics, and Dalian University of Foreign Languages
Marina Terkourafi
Affiliation:
Leiden University
Get access

Summary

This chapter critically compares how the concepts of activity type and genre tend to be used within the field of pragmatics. Both concepts are broadly concerned with the way in which we categorize our experiences, and develop thereby expectations about communicative behaviour within a given context. In spite of these similarities, they have very different conceptual histories. Activity types were introduced into pragmatics by Levinson (1979), having been inspired by Wittgenstein’s (1958) notion of language games. Genres can be traced back to ancient Greek literature, and have since been applied within multiple disciplines, including art and art criticism, literary studies, rhetoric, sociology, linguistics and, more specifically, pragmatics (Bazerman, 1997; Mayes, 2003). The focus of the chapter is on mapping the development and usage of these terms within the pragmatics (or a concomitant) discipline. We also comment upon concepts that seem to share "a considerable family resemblance" (Linell, 2010: 42) with activity types and/or genres. They include footing, frames (and framing), speech events, speech activities, schemas, scripts, and prototypes.

Keywords

activity typegenrelanguage gamesspeech eventsframes
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Sociopragmatics , pp. 206 - 226
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allwood, J. (2000). An activity based approach to pragmatics. In Blunt, H. and Black, W., eds., Abduction, Belief and Context in Dialogue: Studies in Computational Pragmatics. Ambsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 47–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allwood, J. (1976). Linguistic communication as action and cooperation. Gothenburg Manuscripts in Linguistics 2. Göteburg.Google Scholar
Archer, D. (2017). Politeness. In Baron, A., Gu, Y. and Steen, G., eds., The Routledge Handbook of Pragmatics. London: Routledge, pp. 384–98.Google Scholar
Bakhtin, M. (1986). Speech Genres and Other Late Essays. Translated by McGee, V. W.. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Barron, A. and Schneider, K. P. (2014). Discourse pragmatics: Signposting a vast field. In Schnieder, K. P. and Barron, A., eds., Pragmatics of Discourse. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 1–33.Google Scholar
Barlett, F. C. (1932). Remembering: A Study in Experimental and Social Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bawarshi, A. S. and Reiff, M. J. (2010). An Introduction to History, Theory, Research and Pedagogy. West Lafayette, IN: Parlor Press.Google Scholar
Bazerman, C. (1997). The life of genre, the life of the classroom. In Bishop, W. and Ostrom, H., eds., Genre and Writing. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook-Heinemann, pp. 19–26.Google Scholar
Belton, R. J. (1996). The Elements of Art. Art History: A Preliminary Handbook. www.academia.edu/23437708/Art_History_A_Preliminary_Handbook_1996.Google Scholar
Bhatia, V. K. (1993). Analyzing Genre: Language Use in Professional Settings. New York: Longman.Google Scholar
Bhatia, V. J. (2004). Worlds of Written Discourse: A Genre-Based View. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Bhatia, V. K. (2008). Towards critical genre analysis. In Bhatia, V. K., Flowerdew, J. and Jones, R. H., eds., Advances in Discourse Studies. London: Routledge, pp. 166–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biber, D. (1988). Variation across Speech and Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Button, G. (1992). Answers as interactional products: Two sequential practices used in job interviews. In Drew, P. and Heritage, J., eds., Talk at Work: Interaction in Institutional Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 212–31.Google Scholar
Claridge, C. (2012). Styles, registers, genres, text types. In Bergs, A. T. and Brinton, L. J., eds., English Historical Linguistics: An International Handbook. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 237–53.Google Scholar
Clark, H. H. (1996). Using Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Culpeper, J. and Haugh, M. (2014). Pragmatics and the English Language. Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Culpeper, J. and MacIntyre, D. (2010). Activity types and characterisation in dramatic discourse. In Eder, J., Jannidis, F. and Schneider, R., eds., Characters in Fictional Worlds: Understanding Imaginary Beings in Literature, Film, and Other Media. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, pp. 176–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eemeren, F. H., van. (2010). Strategic Maneuvering in Argumentative Discourse: Extending the Pragmadialectical Theory of Argumentation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Eemeren, F. H., van and Garssen, B. (2013). Argumentative patterns in discourse. In Mohammed, D. and Lewiński, M., eds., Virtues of Argumentation: Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference of the Ontario Society for the Study of Argumentation (OSSA), 22–26 May 2013. Windsor, ON: OSSA, pp. 1–15.Google Scholar
Forgas, J. P. (1979). Social Episodes: The Study of Interaction Routines. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Goffman, E. (1974). Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organisation of Experience. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Goffman, E. (1981). Forms of Talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Grice, H. P. (1975). Logic and conversation. In Cole, P., ed., Syntax and Semantics 3: Speech Acts. New York: Academic Press, pp. 41–58.Google Scholar
Grimshaw, A. D. (1990). Research on conflict talk: Antecedents, resources, findings, directions. In Grimshaw, A. D., ed., Conflict Talk: Sociolinguistic Investigations of Arguments and Conversations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 281–324.Google Scholar
Gumperz, E. (1972). Introduction. In Gumperz, J. and Hymes, D., eds., Directions in Sociolinguistics. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, pp. 1–26.Google Scholar
Gumperz, J. (1982). Discourse Strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanks, W. F. (1996). Language and Communicative Practices. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Hoey, M. (2001). Textual Interaction: An Introduction to Written Discourse Analysis. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hyland, K. (2008). “Small bits of textual material”: A discourse analysis of Swales’ writing. English for Specific Purposes, 27, 143–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hymes, D. (1962). The ethnography of speaking. In Gladwin, T. and Sturtevant, W., eds., Anthropology and Human Behavior. Washington, DC: Anthropological Society of Washington, p. 13–53.Google Scholar
Hymes, D. (1974). Foundations in Sociolinguistics: An Ethnographic Approach. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvannia Press.Google Scholar
Hyon, S. (2008). Convention and inventiveness in an occluded academic genre: A case study of retention-promotion-tenure reports. English for Specific Purposes, 27, 175–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, D. Y. W. (2001). Genres, registers text types, domains, and styles: Clarifying the concepts and navigating a path through the BNC jungle. Language Learning and Technology, 5(3), 37–72.Google Scholar
Levinson, S. (1992). Activity types and language. In Drew, P. and Heritage, J., eds., Talk at Work. Mouton: The Hague, pp. 66–100.Google Scholar
Levinson, S. (1979). Activity types and language. Linguistics, 17, 365–99.Google Scholar
Linell, P. (1998). Approaching Dialogue: Talk, Interaction and Contexts in Dialogical Perspectives. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linell, P. (2010). Communicative activity types as organisations in discourses and discourses in organisations. In Tanskanen, S., Helasvuo, M., Johansson, M., Karhukorpi, J. and Raitaniemi, M., eds., Discourses in Interaction. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 33–59.Google Scholar
Linell, P. and Thunqvist, D. P. (2003). Moving in and out of framings: Activity contexts in talks with young unemployed people within a training project. Journal of Pragmatics, 35, 409–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LoCastro, V. (2013). Pragmatics for Language Educators: A Sociolinguistic Perspective. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Luckmann, T. (1992). On the communicative adjustment of perspectives, dialogue and communicative genres. In Wold, A. H., ed., The Dialogical Alternative. Oslo: Scandinavian University Press, pp. 219–34.Google Scholar
Martin, J. R. (1984). Language, register and genre. In Christie, F., ed., Children Writing: Reader. Geelong, VI: Deakin University Press, pp. 21–30.Google Scholar
Martin, J. R. (1985). Process and text: Two aspects of semiosis. In Benson, J. D. and Greaves, W. S., eds., Systemic Perspectives on Discourse, Vol. 1: Selected Theoretical Papers from the Ninth International Systemic Workshop. Norwood, NJ: Ablex, pp. 248–74.Google Scholar
Matsuda, P. and Tardy, C. (2007). Voice in academic writing: The rhetorical construction of author identity in blind manuscript review. English for Specific Purposes, 26, 235–49.Google Scholar
Mayes, P. (2003). Language, Social Structure, and Culture: A Genre Analysis of Cooking Classes in Japan and America. Amsterdam: John Benajmins.Google Scholar
Miller, C. R. (1984). Genres as social action. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 70, 151–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mooney, A. (2004). Co-operation, violations and making sense. Journal of Pragmatics, 36, 899–920.Google Scholar
Neisser, U. (1976). Reality: Principles and Implications of Cognitive Psychology. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman.Google Scholar
Paltridge, B. (1997). Genre, Frames and Writing in Research Settings. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ross, R. N. (1975). Ellipsis and the structure of expectation. San Jose State Occupational Papers in Linguistics, 1, 183–91.Google Scholar
Sarangi, S. (2000). Activity types, discourse types and interactional hybridity: The case of genetic counselling. In Sarangi, S. and Coulthard, M., eds., Discourse and Social Life. London: Pearson Education, pp. 1–27.Google Scholar
Schank, R. C. (1982). Dynamic Memory: A Theory of Reminding and Learning in Computers and People. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Schank, R. C. (1999). Dynamic Memory Revisited. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schank, R. C. and Abelson, R. P. (1977). Scripts, Plans, Goals and Understanding: An Inquiry into Human Knowledge Structures. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Swales, J. (2004). Research Genres: Explorations and Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Taavitsainen, I. (2001). Changing conventions of writing: The dynamics of genres, text types, and text traditions. European Journal of English Studies, 5(2), 139–50.Google Scholar
Tannen, D. (1993). Framing in Discourse. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tannen, D. and Wallat, C. (1993). Interactive frames and knowledge schemas in interaction: Examples from a medical examination/interview. In Tannen, D., ed., Framing in Discourse. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 57–76.Google Scholar
Tardy, C. M. and Swales, J. M. (2014). Genre analysis. In Schneider, K. P. and Barron, A., eds., Pragmatics of Discourse. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 165–88.Google Scholar
Terkourafi, M. (2009). On de-limiting context. In Bergs, A. and Diewald, G., eds., Context and Constructions. Constructional Approaches to Language 9. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 17–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Terkourafi, M. (2001). Politeness in Cypriot Greek: A Frame-Based Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Thomas, J. (1995). Meaning in Interaction: An Introduction to Pragmatics. London: Longman.Google Scholar
van der Merwe, P. (1989). Origins of the Popular Style: The Antecedents of Twentieth-Century Popular Music. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Watts, R. J. (2003) Politeness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wittgenstein, L. (1958). Philosophical Investigations. 2nd ed. Translated by Ansycombe, G. E. M.. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Włodarczyk, M. (2016). Genre and Literacies: Historical (Socio)pragmatics of the 1820 Settler Petition. Poznań: Adam Mickiewicz University Press.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×