REPRESENTATION OF COMMUNICATIVE TECHNIQUES IN PEDAGOGICAL MANAGEMENT DISCOURSE

Molchanova V.A.

Moscow City Pedagogical University
Moscow, Russia
e-mail: varybina@yandex.ru

 

Currently, studying various typical types of discourse and exploring methods for modeling them under given contextual and situational parameters remains a pressing issue in linguistics. The purpose of this study is to describe a method for identifying verbal and nonverbal means of expressing communicative techniques used by representatives of a typical type of discourse, such as pedagogical and managerial, using the example of a conversation between an administration representative and a new employee.

Classifying the concept of "discourse" by the type of interaction of those participating in it, many scientists, for example E.I. Sheigal [9], distinguish institutional discourse as one of its varieties in this aspect. The institutional type of discourse is defined as communication within the framework of relations determined by status and role [8, p. 122]. Among the key features of the institutional type of discourse, O.F. Rusakova notes the following: 1) forms of expression characteristic of social institutions; 2) regulation of the subject worldview; 3) models of behavior depending on social roles [7, p. 41]. Among the types of institutional type of discourse, a distinction is made between scientific, administrative, political, pedagogical, etc. [8, p. 122].

At the intersection of two institutional types of discourse—administrative or managerial and pedagogical—is pedagogical managerial discourse, the object of analysis in this article. This type of discourse is characterized by the interaction of administrative participants at educational institutions with their subordinates or with other individuals involved in the educational process, such as students' legal guardians.

The study of pedagogical management discourse also involves examining the linguistic and non-linguistic means used by its participants in various communicative situations to achieve their practical objectives. Thus, speakers employ a range of communicative techniques that influence their addressees, which are understood as speech tactics necessary for achieving their intended goals in specific communicative contexts [1].

Various researchers in the field of speech influence have identified a large number of diverse communicative techniques, the objectives and names of which may both differ and complement each other. Among the communicative techniques widely used and studied by such linguists as O.S. Issers [2], O.N. Parshina [6], V.I. Karasik [3] and others, the following can be listed: a) aimed at creating a comfortable communicative environment: explanatory technique, technique of unity and support, technique of raising the importance of the interlocutor, coordinating technique, technique of maintaining subordination, evaluative technique, etc.; b) aimed at avoiding cooperation and associated with confrontation: technique of avoidance, technique of violating subordination, technique of belittling the interlocutor, etc.

It is also necessary to take into account certain constant values inherent in speakers within the framework of pedagogical management discourse, namely their age, gender, social status, individual psychological aspects, the nature of relationships with addressees, etc., since the model of speech behavior of communicants largely depends on them [5, p. 13].

Further, as an example, the speech of a representative of pedagogical management discourse will be analyzed, characterized by the following parameters:

1. Situation: date – 22.01.25, oral conversation between an administration representative and a new employee.
2. Participants: sender – deputy director for education, socialization and additional education of a Moscow comprehensive school, female, 50-60 years old; addressee – new employee, 20-25 years old.
3. Characteristics of the relationship: formal, equality based on profession (teachers), inequality in social status (the addressee has a higher social position), inequality in age (the addressee is older), inequality in experience (the addressee is an experienced teacher, the addressee is a beginner), the addressee depends on the addresser.
4. Text: volume – 1358 p.z. without spaces, style – formal business, genre – oral conversation, topic – explanation of the main tasks of the new employee’s activities in the current and upcoming academic years and discussion of his future career plans.

It is worth noting that all statements classified as genres of pedagogical management discourse have a number of similar distinctive features, among which the following should be highlighted: gender-marked characteristics, status-related characteristics, professionally oriented characteristics, basic principles of effective public speech in general, as well as depending on its stylistic and genre focus, and some others.

As a supporting element of the analysis carried out, and also to give it a certain systematicity and consistency, it was based on the structural model of the linguistic personality of Yu.N. Karaulov [4], which implies verbal-semantic, linguacognitive and motivational levels.

Thus, the following characteristics were found in the analyzed speech utterance:

• at the verbal-semantic level:
• word usage in accordance with the topic (general pedagogical, administrative topics - «meeting», «lead», «workload», etc.);
• among the cliches of speech etiquette: asking for forgiveness («"I'm sorry..."»), use of the name when addressing («"Vadim, don't be offended..."»);
• Among the gender-marked features are the characteristic features of female speech: the use of adverbs of intensification and doubt («maybe», «this is very good»), implicit commands, for example, through the use of initial forms of verbs («The main thing is to go out and listen to their meeting…» etc.), highlighting the presumptive nature of the statement («You can just listen, so to speak, to understand how to do it…»);
• Among the status-related features is the use of the informal «you» when addressing an employee due to the age difference and a lower position in the service hierarchy («Vadim, you...»), the use of the personal pronoun «I» to convey subjectivity («…I said that it would be necessary…»);
• among the professionally oriented features is the use of management vocabulary in the 1st person («we’ll get by», «we’ll decide», etc.);
• Among the basic features of effective public speaking is the prevalence of complex sentences over simple ones («And they said that they would also help with equipment later."»), the union of the addresser and the addressee («"We'll decide later"») and others;
• Among the basic principles of effective public speaking, depending on its stylistic and genre focus (genre: oral conversation) is everyday vocabulary («…Now we’ll somehow make it to the end of the year…»), omissions («"So that you can talk to them, like people do, like they already do, I mean."»).
• at the linguacognitive level:
• verbal description of concepts through the use of thematic vocabulary («meeting», «workload», «candidacy», «advisor», etc.);
• verbal expression of value-normative markers – wages, training and development of personnel, etc.;
• among gender-marked signs are doubts, advice;
• among the status-related features (administrative position) – vocabulary of instructions and orders;
• Among the professionally oriented characteristics are assignments and resolution of emerging difficulties;
• Among the basic features of effective public speaking is the brevity of expression of ideas;
• Among the basic principles of effective public speaking, depending on its stylistic and genre focus (genre: oral conversation), is the continuous maintenance of communication by addressing by name, using the pronoun «you», and direct persuasion.
• at the motivational level:
• Among the gender-marked characteristics are friendliness and affability;
• among the status-related features is the manifestation of a superior position;
• Among the professionally oriented features is the administration of work processes;
• Among the basic characteristics of effective public speaking is consistency;
• Among the basic principles of effective public speaking, depending on its style and genre (genre: oral conversation) are repetition and encouragement to take further steps.

Thus, a thorough examination of the selected speech revealed the use of the following communication techniques: explanatory language, unity and support, and elevating the interlocutor's importance. The implementation of each of these will be discussed in detail below.

The explanatory technique is reflected as follows:

• at the verbal-semantic level: word usage associated with the explanation and directives of the work plan and organization of activities («to look,» «to recommend,» «to provide,» etc.); expression of status-related features (the use of the personal pronoun «I» to convey subjectivity – «…I said that it would be necessary to send the person to courses…»); expression of professionally oriented features (administrative vocabulary), expression of the basic principles of effective public speech of the oral conversation genre (everyday vocabulary – «…This direction will be closed in general…» and the preferred use of simple sentences – «She told me so."») and others;
• at the linguacognitive level: the expression of status-related and professionally-oriented features (vocabulary of attitudes, orders and instructions – «That is, we will decide on the content later."»); expression of the basic features of effective public speech (brevity of expression of ideas – «We will decide everything together."»); expression of the basic principles of effective public speech in the oral conversation genre (persuasion directly – «The main thing is that you understand that this direction will be yours."») and others;
• at the motivational level: the expression of status-related characteristics (manifestation of a superior position – «…but we need to understand whether you are ready to lead this from September.»); expression of professionally oriented features (management of work processes – «…We can give you a full load"»); expression of the basic features of effective public speech (consistency); expression of the main principles of effective public speech of the oral conversation genre (repetition – «He can also listen to all of this, so that he can at least understand how it will be in the future. You can just listen, so to speak, to understand how to do it."») and others.

The reception of unity and support is reflected as follows:

• at the verbal-semantic level: word usage associated with providing assistance («we will provide», «we will solve», «they will help»); the use of the following clichés of speech etiquette: asking for forgiveness («»I’m sorry that today turned out that you had to wait…”), use of the name when addressing («"Vadim, please don't be offended."»); expression of gender-marked features (adverbs of intensification - «"This is very good"»); the expression of status-related features (addressing an employee informally due to the age difference and a lower position in the service hierarchy, but at the same time to establish closer contact – «"I'm sorry…"», «"...so that you get money..."»); expression of the basic features of effective public speech (unification of the addresser and the addressee – «"We'll decide later"»); expression of the basic principles of effective public speech of the oral conversation genre (everyday vocabulary – «…Now we’ll somehow make it to the end of the year…», «"...so that you get money..."») and others;
• at the linguocognitive level: the expression of status-related features (vocabulary demonstrating readiness for cooperation – «You can work there with Yana M. later…»); verbal expression of value-normative markers (training and development of personnel – «"There are courses there, and you can go to them and study."»); expression of professionally oriented characteristics (resolution of emerging difficulties – «We'll figure it all out together. And they said they'll help with the equipment later, too."»); expression of the basic principles of effective public speech in the oral conversation genre (continuous maintenance of communication by addressing by name, using the pronoun «you»), etc.;
• at the motivational level: expression of gender-marked characteristics (kindness and friendliness, apologies – «"This is very good."», «»I’m sorry that today it turned out that you had to wait.”); expression of the basic principles of effective public speech in the oral conversation genre (motivation to take further steps – «"The main thing is that you understand that this direction will be yours."», «The main thing is to go out, listen to their meeting, and see what they recommend we do.».) and others.

Next, we will consider the technique of raising the importance of the interlocutor, which is reflected in the following way:

• at the verbal-semantic level: using the following clichés of speech etiquette: praise («-I'll probably want to take a leave of absence to work next year." "- This is Very good."»), use of the name when addressing («"Vadim, please don't be offended."»); expression of gender-marked features (adverbs of intensification - «"This is very good"») and others;
• at the linguacognitive level: expression of the basic principles of effective public speech in the oral conversation genre (questions demonstrating interest in the recipient – «»Maybe we should talk to Tatyana V. first?”) and others;
• at the motivational level: the expression of gender-marked characteristics, also associated with age (friendliness and affability, some familiarity – «»I’m sorry that today it turned out that you had to wait.”) and others.

It should be noted that the speaker's use of the described communicative techniques is uneven as the conversation unfolds. Some techniques predominate at the beginning of the utterance, while others dominate at the conclusion. The use of certain communicative techniques is noted throughout the utterance. The extent to which they are used in specific parts of the utterance also varies: some are used only once, while others are represented in several consecutive sentences or even repeatedly within a single syntactic construction.

Table 1 schematically presents the use of communicative techniques in the analyzed statement in its various parts, namely in the introduction, central part and conclusion, and also demonstrates the degree of expression of a particular communicative technique in the designated parts of the discourse.

 

Table 1

The use of communication techniques in various parts of pedagogical management discourse and the degree of their expression (X – low degree of expression, XXX – high degree of expression)

 

	Introduction	Central part	Conclusion
Explanatory technique	XXX	XXX
Reception of unity and support	XXX	XXX	XXX
A technique for elevating the importance of the interlocutor		X

 

Table 1

Use of communication techniques in various parts of the pedagogical management discourse and the degree of their expression (X – low degree of expression, XXX – high degree of expression)

 

	Introduction	Central part	Conclusion
Explaining technique	XXX	XXX
Technique of solidarity and support	XXX	XXX	XXX
Technique of raising importance of the interlocutor		X

 

Thus, the conducted analysis of the use of communicative techniques and their reflection in one example of utterances from the pedagogical management discourse under study represents only a rough draft of a method for modeling verbal communication in this discursive situation. Future work is expected to refine, clarify, and expand the developed method for describing pedagogical management discourse by obtaining and analyzing new practical material, as well as by exploring new ways to structure and process the research material.

Analyzing the use of various communicative techniques in various parts and genres of pedagogical management discourse generally helps us develop an understanding of possible ways to model this type of discourse and, based on this, identify common and specific features of the speech of its various representatives. Furthermore, the analysis provides opportunities to identify the most effective methods of influencing addressees within the context of the type of discourse being studied.

 

Literature

1. Goykhman O.Ya., Nadeina T.M. Speech communication. 2nd edition, revised and enlarged. Moscow: INFRA, 2006. 272 p.
2. Issers O.S. Communicative strategies and tactics of Russian speech. Moscow: KomKniga / URSS, 2006. 288 p.
3. Karasik V.I. Language circle: personality, concepts, discourse. Volgograd: Peremena, 2002. 477 p.
4. Karaulov Yu.N., Krasilnikova E.V. Russian linguistic personality and the tasks of its study // Language and personality. Moscow, 1989. Pp. 3-10.
5. Nikolova A. Speech tactics and linguistic markers of disagreement and conflict when motivating to action // Russistics 2003: Language, communication, culture. P. 13-19.
6. Parshina O.N. Russian political speech: theory and practice. 2nd ed., corrected and enlarged. Moscow: LKI Publishing House, 2007. 232 p.
7. Rusakova O.F. Critical discourse analysis // Modern theories of discourse: multidisciplinary analysis. Ekaterinburg, 2006. Pp. 36-48.
8. Rusanova M.A. The concept and main characteristics of institutional discourse in the communicative aspect // Current issues of translation, linguistics, history of literature and folklore: collection of articles. XI Intern. scientific conf. of young scientists (Ekaterinburg, February 10, 2023). Ekaterinburg: Publishing house of UMC-UPI, 2023. pp. 122-126.
9. Sheigal E.I. Semiotics of political discourse. Moscow; Volgograd: Peremena, 2000. 368 p.

 

References

1. Goikhman O.Ya., Nadeina TM. Rechevaya kommunikatsiya [Speech communication]. 2nd ed., revised and enlarged. Moscow: INFRA, 2006. 272 p. (In Russian)
2. Issers OS. Communicative strategies and tactics of Russian speech. Moscow: KomKniga / URSS, 2006. 288 p. (In Russian)
3. Karasik VI. Language circle: personality, concepts, discourse. Volgograd: Peremena, 2002. 477 p. (In Russian)
4. Karaulov Yu.N., Krasilnikova EV. Russian linguistic personality and tasks of its study // Language and personality. Moscow, 1989. pp. 3-10. (In Russian)
5. Nikolova A. Speech tactics and linguistic markers of disagreement and conflict when prompting to action // Russistsika 2003: Language, communication, culture. pp. 13-19. (In Russian)
6. Parshina ON. Rossiyskaya politicheskaya rech': teoriya i praktika [Russian political speech: theory and practice]. 2nd ed., corrected and enlarged. Moscow: LKI Publ., 2007. 232 p. (In Russian)
7. Rusakova OF. Critical discourse analysis // Modern theories of discourse: multidisciplinary analysis. Yekaterinburg, 2006. pp. 36-48. (In Russian)
8. Rusanova MA. The concept and main characteristics of institutional discourse in the communicative aspect // Current issues of translation, linguistics, history of literature and folklore: collection of papers of the XI International Scientific Conference of Young Scientists (Yekaterinburg, February 10, 2023). Yekaterinburg: UMC-UPI Publ., 2023. pp. 122-126. (In Russian)
9. Sheigal EI. Semiotics of Political Discourse [Semiotics of Political Discourse]. Moscow, Volgograd: Peremena, 2000. 368 p. (In Russian)