Ethnography of Speaking

I found the practice of the kros to be very interesting. One aspect of it that I found intriguing was the fact that the people in Gapun have two languages; an older language, Taiap, that is used primarily by women and is used in the kros, and a newer language, Tok Pisin, that is used among men, who generally do not participate as actively as women do in the kros. At the time the article was written, it was said that anyone under the age of 14 only knew how to speak Tok Pisin, which most likely means that the Taiap language will soon become obsolete.

Analysis of class speech situation:The genre of speech is class discussion, which takes place in a classroom setting. The participants are the students, whose purpose is to contribute to the discussion and to learn, and the teacher, whose purpose is to teach the students and help them understand the subject. The sequence of events is usually something along the lines of: teacher comes in, she presents the topic of the day’s lesson, she writes notes on the board while engaging the students in a discussion about the subject matter, students voice their ideas and ask questions, the lesson ends, the teacher explains the homework assignment, class ends. The mood of the class is usually very relaxed, with the teacher and the students conversing without many formalities, such as hand-raising. The language used is oral and written, with many of the students taking notes on what the teacher writes on the board. Finally, the norms of interaction are that the students show respect for the teacher by paying attention and participating, by being on time for class and not being disruptive. The teacher leads the class and controls where the conversation goes. What I find interesting about this analysis is that it describes a speech environment that is similar to most of the classes that I, and probably most other students, have been in for my entire school career.