Previously, Interchange author Jack C. Richards considered talk as transaction. Here, he explores talk as performance.
The third type of talk that can usefully be distinguished has been called talk as performance.
This refers to public talk, that is, talk that transmits information before an audience, such as classroom presentations, public announcements, and speeches. For example, here is the opening of a fall welcome speech given by a university president:
“Good morning. It’s not my intention to deliver the customary state of the university address. There’s good reason for that. It would seem to me to be presumptuous for someone who has been here not quite seven weeks to tell you what he thinks the state of the university is. You would all be better prepared for that kind of address than I am. However, I would like to offer you, based on my experience – which has been pretty intensive these almost seven weeks – some impressions that I have of this institution, strengths, or some of them, and the challenges and opportunities that we face here… I also want to talk about how I see my role during the short time that I will be with you …”
Spoken texts of this kind, according to Jones (1996:14),
… often have identifiable generic structures and the language used is more predictable. … Because of less contextual support, the speaker must include all necessary information in the text – hence the importance of topic as well as textual knowledge. And while meaning is still important, there will be more emphasis on form and accuracy.
Talk as performance tends to be in the form of monolog rather than dialog, often follows a recognizable format (e.g., a speech of welcome), and is closer to written language than conversational language. Similarly, it is often evaluated according to its effectiveness or impact on the listener, something that is unlikely to happen with talk as interaction or transaction.
Examples of talk as performance are:
- Giving a class report about a school trip
- Conducting a class debate
- Giving a speech of welcome
- Making a sales presentation
- Giving a lecture
The main features of talk as performance are:
- A focus on both message and audience
- Predictable organization and sequencing
- Importance of both form and accuracy
- Language is more like written language
- Often monologic
Some of the skills involved in using talk as performance are:
- Using an appropriate format
- Presenting information in an appropriate sequence
- Maintaining audience engagement
- Using correct pronunciation and grammar
- Creating an effect on the audience
- Using appropriate vocabulary
- Using an appropriate opening and closing
Teachers sometimes describe interesting differences between how learners manage these three different kinds of talk, as the following anecdotes illustrate.
I sometimes find with my students at a university in Hong Kong that they are good at talk as transaction and performance but not with talk as interaction. For example, the other day one of my students did an excellent class presentation in a course for computer science majors, and described very effectively a new piece of computer software. However, a few days later when I met the same student going home on the subway and tried to engage her in social chat, she was at a complete loss for words.
Another teacher describes a second language user with just the opposite difficulties. He is more comfortable with talk as interaction than with talk as performance.
One of my colleagues in my university in China is quite comfortable using talk socially. If we have lunch together with other native speakers, he is quite comfortable joking and chatting in English. However, recently we did a presentation together at a conference and his performance was very different. His pronunciation became much more “Chinese” and he made quite a few grammatical and other errors that I hadn’t heard him make before.
References and Further Reading
Read all the posts in this series:
Teaching speaking #1 – Conversational routines
Teaching speaking #2 – Styles and functions of speaking; talk as interaction (i)
Teaching speaking #3 – Talk as interaction (ii)
Teaching speaking #4 – Talk as transaction
Teaching speaking #5 – Talk as performance
Teaching speaking #6 – Teaching talk as interaction
Teaching speaking #7 – Teaching talk as transaction
Teaching speaking #8 – Teaching talk as performance
Teaching speaking #9 – Evaluating performance on speaking activities