A Study of Public Speech from Ethnographic Perspective

李卓凡

1 Introduction

Ethnography of Communication is a description of all the factors that are relevant in understanding how that particular communication event achieves its objectives.And Dell Hymes uses the word SPEAKING as an acronym for the various factors he deems to relevant.So for studying how special speeches are used for public speech and also for the application of ethnography approach，this paper will study public speech from ethnographic perspective，particularly this paper will analysis I am Elocutionist，a Chinese public speak show and TED Talks in American in terms of SPEAKING Theory.I am elocutionist，a Chinese public speech contest show and a western TV show TED Talks，both are TV public speech shows，and each serial of these two shows is updated in time.And as a hot public show，study of TED has gotten people a lot study attention.So based on the previous application of ethnography and study of public speech，this paper will study two hot public speeches I am elocutionist and TED Talks from ethnography perspective.

2 Analysis of Two Public Speech Programs on the Basis of SPEAKING

By this SPEAKING formula，speech is treated as a complex language activity.After I used long time for getting deep understanding of these study materials，I analyzed them based on SPEAKING theory.There are 8 factors in SPEALIMG，and because 4 factors（S，P，E，G）are invariable in these two public show，so I analyze them together and show study result of these four factors by chart.But the remaining fours factors（A，K，I，N）are variable in different shows and even different from each serial in the same show.Before analyzing these two speeches，a brief introduction of them is needed here.TED is an abbreviation of Technology，Entertainment，Design.And TED originally is a kind of conference created by Richard Saul Wurman to spread ideas by excellent people from different fields in 1984 and it is mainly addressed online.The same as TED，I am elocutionist is also a TV or online public speech program.But it generated from China and is also a competition program.

In terms of invariable factors，we can find that these two TV public speech shows have the same setting.TV public speech is not only physical setting but also psychological setting for public speech.And in S，there is another factor，which is scene.Participants are free to change scenes，as they change the level of formality（e.g.go from serious to joyful）or as they change the kind of activity in which they involved.Then for participants，both of them have lecturer and audience，because normally，a speaker is the main actor of a publish speech show，and audience may appear under stage.They can be TV audience or field audience.But in I am elocutionist has more participants，judges and host.This is because I am elocutionist is not only a public speech but also a contest for public speech.Participants shows characters of those present and their relationship，such as sex，age，social status，role and role relationship（Wardhaugh 366）.Continuously，we find that there is much similarity for E（ends）between I am elocutionist and TED Talks.The essence of TED Talks is spreading ideas and also for any public speech，spreading idea is their goals.But for Chinese public speech show I am elocutionist，it has another purpose，which is to win the speech contest.And we can find that the public speech shows have the same（G），genre—lecture.It is marked in special way in contrast with cause speech.

In variable factors，normally a greeting part and an acknowledgment are must in a speech show of its A factor.But sometimes speakers also adopt a unique way of act sequence.And in analyzing“K”，key features for speech are humorous，direct and moving，but we also notice that sometimes two of tones will mixed in one speech for not departing topic.Then“I”is interpreted，and we know that two shows are both in oral form and use standard languages of their countries.Besides，a wider scope of instrumentalities is studied，such as quoting famous sayings，telling a story or using some metaphorical strategies.Lastly，“N”is interpreted in a cultural view.By analyzing“N”，we get that common knowledges and shared understandings between a speaker and audience can help speaker set a cognitive setting for his speech and easier get his public speech goal.

References

[1]Ronald，Wardhaugh.An Introduction to Sociolinguistics，5thed.Oxford：Blackwell Publishing Ltd，2006.