TOURISM AS SPECIALIZED DISCOURSE

1
TOURISM AS SPECIALIZED DISCOURSE
2
TOURISM

• HAS ONLY RECENTLY STARTED TO BE INVESTIGATED FROM
  A LINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVE
• PROBABLY BECAUSE ITS LANGUAGE MIRRORS THE
  COMPLEXITY OF THIS FIELD, WHICH IS DEFINITELY
  HYBRID (geography,art, history and architecture
  are among the disciplines which influence tourism)

3
LANGUAGE AND TOURISM

• TOURISM USES LANGUAGE TO MANIPULATE REALITY
  TURNING AN ANONIMOUS PLACE INTO A TOURIST
  DESTINATION
• LANGUAGE IS THE MOST POWERFUL DRIVING FORCE IN
  THE FIELD OF TOURISM. ITS AIM IS to persuade,
  lure, woo and seduce millions of human beings,
  and, in so doing, convert them from potential
  into actual clients (Dann, 1996 2)

4
AS A CONSEQUENCE,

• THE NEED FOR LANGUAGE EXPERTS IN THIS FIELD IS
  GROWING STEADILY
• (the writing of effective promotional materials
  requires a high level of language competence and
  is vital to achieve success in a field
  characterized by keen competition)

5
LANGUAGE AND TOURISM

• THE LANGUAGE OF TOURISM ORGANIZES ITS DISCOURSE
  ACCORDING TO SPECIFIC LEXICAL, SYNTACTIC AND
  TEXTUAL CHOICES
• HOWEVER, IS THIS ENOUGH TO LABEL IT AS
  SPECIALIZED DISCOURSE?

6
TOURISM AS SPECIALIZED DISCOURSE

• M.V. Calvi (2005 33) defines the language of
  tourism as un linguaggio dalla fisionomia
  sfuggente which does not have a well-defined
  content and clear functional boundaries as it is
  influenced by a vast range of disciplines like
  history, geography, art, etc. and encompasses
  different communicative functions (informative,
  persuasive, argumentative).

7
TOURISM AS SPECIALIZED DISCOURSE

• ALTHOUGH THE FIELD OF TOURISM IS GREATLY
  INFLUENCED BY OTHER DISCIPLINES, ITS LANGUAGE
  SHOWS PECULIAR LEXICAL, SYNTACTIC AND TEXTUAL
  FEATURES WHICH JUSTIFY ITS INCLUSION AMONG THE
  MANY LSPs

8
SOME KEY TERMS

• DISCOURSE
• A complex term used in linguistics and in the
  social sciencies
• Discourse analysis indicates the study of whole
  units of communicative exchanges produced in a
  particular speech community
• Language is analysed both in its form and in its
  function

9
SOME KEY TERMS

• GENRE
• We use this term to refer to a set ot text types
  defined according to extralinguistic criteria,
  e.g. the communicative function they serve in a
  given discourse community

10
SOME KEY TERMS

• TEXT TYPE
• The classification criterion used is mainly
  linguistic
• Texts are grouped together according to the
  linguistic features they share

11
TOURIST TEXT TYPES

• A FIRST BROAD CLASSIFICATION IS BETWEEN
• A) SPECIALIZED TEXTS ADDRESSED TO EXPERTS IN THE
  TOURIST FIELD (e.g. papers on the marketing of
  tourism, on the sociology and psychology of
  tourism, on the language peculiarities of tourist
  texts)
• B) PROMOTIONAL TEXTS ADDRESSED TO THE GENERAL
  PUBLIC (i.e. to potential tourists)

12

• AMONG THE TEXT TYPES AIMED AT NON-SPECIALISTS,
  NIGRO (2006) IDENTIFIES THE FOLLOWING 4
  TYPOLOGIES
• 1) LEAFLETS
• 2) BROCHURES
• 3) TRAVELOGUES
• 4) TRAVEL GUIDES

13

• HOWEVER, THE RANGE OF TEXT TYPES IS WIDER (e.g.
  tourist adverts, package-tour itineraries,
  unsolicited promotional letters, etc.)
• DANN (1996) CLASSIFIES TOURIST TEXT TYPES
  ACCORDING TO THE MEDIUM THEY USE(AUDIO, VISUAL,
  WRITTEN, SESORY) AND TO THEIR STAGE IN THE
  TOURIST CYCLE (PRE/ ON,/POST TRIP)

14

• TOURIST TEXT TYPES (AS TOURISM ITSELF) ARE HYBRID
  GENRES
• Different text types often share a number of
  linguistic and discoursive strategies, giving
  birth to hybrid texts which can hardly be
  classified as belonging to a particular genre.
  (Nigro, 200664)

15
DANNS CLASSIFICATION OF TOURIST TEXT TYPES

• PRE-TRIP ADVERTS, LEAFLETS, BROCHURES
• ON-TRIP TRAVEL GUIDES, TRAVELOGUES
• POST-TRIP TRIP REPORTS, REVIEWS

16
LEAFLETS

• IT IS USUALLY A SINGLE SHEET OR A FOLDED PIECE OF
  PAPER
• ALTHOUGH PRACTICAL INFORMATION IS SOMETIMES
  PROVIDED, THE MAIN COMMUNICATIVE PURPOSE IS TO
  PERSUADE POTENTIAL TOURISTS TO VISIT A PLACE OR
  FACILITY
• THE MESSAGE IS USUALLY SHORT AND CLEAR
• THE AESTETIC COMPONENT IS PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT
  (prevalence of pictures)

17
BROCHURES

• HAVE TWO MAIN COMMUNICATIVE FUNCTIONS
• 1) to provide practical information which
  visitors may use in their trip decision making
  and planning processes (informative)
• 2) to establish an image of the destination as a
  viable alternative when planning future trips
  (persuasive)
• (Fesermaier, 2000 in Nigro 2006)

18
BROCHURES

• According to Mason (2004) brochures display an
  almost fixed set of moves
• A) evaluative claims about the place/facility to
  visit
• B) brief history of the resort/facility
• C) guided tour of the main attractions
• D) practical details (e.g. how to get there)
• E) regulations (e.g. restrictions concerning
  animals, food, photography, etc)

19
BROCHURES

• EACH MOVE HAS ITS OWN COMMUNICATIVE FUNCTION
  WHICH IS BEST SERVED BY A SET OF LANGUAGE
  FEATURES
• TO EACH SHIFT OF MOVE CORRESPONDS A CHANGE IN THE
  PREVAILING LANGUAGE FEATURES
• e.g. evaluative claim present tense, use of
  superlative forms, thematization of adverbials of
  place brief history past tense, thematization
  of adverbials of time guided tour use of
  imperative forms, increase in the use of personal
  pronouns

20
TRAVELOGUES

• CAN BE ARTICLES WRITTEN BY (SPONSORED)
  JOURNALISTS AND PUBLISHED IN THE TRAVEL SECTIONS
  OF NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES
• CAN BE TRIP REPORTS WRITTEN BY INDEPENDENT
  TOURISTS AND POSTED ON TRAVELOGUE SITES IN THE
  INTERNET (e.g. www.travelhog.net)

21
TRAVELOGUES

• THE PREVAILING FUNCTION IS NARRATIVE (they
  sometimes include negative comments on the places
  visited or on the facilities used they often
  offer advice on how to best do things)
• TEXT IS USUALLY PREVALENT (and can be quite long)
  BUT THE ICONIC COMPONENT IS ALSO PRESENT
• THEY ARE OFTEN ORGANIZED INTO SECTIONS (like
  travel guides)

22
LEXICAL ASPECTS

• Lexis is the most visible feature of specialized
  discourse.
• It is mainly through lexis that a particular
  specialized language can be set apart both from
  general language and from other specialized
  languages.
• General language is the mortar used to mix
  specialized lexis (Cortellazzo,1994)

23
LEXICAL ASPECTS

• Hoffman (1998) proposes a breakdown of
  specialized lexis into three categories
• specific vocabulary (i.e. highly specialized
  terms) e.g. APEX (Advanced Purchase Excursion
  Fare)
• common specific vocabulary (i.e. common words
  which have been subjected to semantic
  restriction) e.g. package tour
• general vocabulary (i.e. common words which have
  not been subjected to semantic restriction) e.g.
  trip

24
LEXICAL ASPECTS

• Contrary to other fields, the language of tourism
  is not shared by a restricted group of
  specialists
• Its promotional and persuasive function makes it
  an accessible register (most of the time)
• However, all lexical choices are carefully made
  to suit the different psychological motivations
  which urge tourist to travel. This is achieved by
  exploiting the lexical strategies of KEYWORDS
  and LANGUAGING

25
LEXICAL ASPECTS

• A further peculiar characteristic is the use of a
  technique called languaging (Potter in Dann
  (1996 183), i.e. the use of foreign and invented
  words in tourist texts to create a situation of
  asymmetry between sender and receiver of the
  tourist message
• some examples
• If you are lucky, you may also see the world
  famous Sri Sri Radha Londonisvara (from The
  London Discount Guide leaflet)
• Camden Town is the London smorgasboard par
  excellence (from he Original London Walks
  leaflet)

26
LEXICAL ASPECTS

• Another commonly employed technique is the use of
  key words referring to one of the following
  psychological themes
• PLEASURE
• PLAY
• INTERACTION
• ESCAPE

27
KEYWORDS RELATING TO THE FOUR MAIN THEMES OF
TOURISM PROMOTION
28
LEXICAL ASPECTS

• In the field of tourism the vast majority of
  specific vocabulary (in Hoffmanns sense) is
  ascribable to the many disciplines which
  characterize it (history, geography, art, etc)
• An example
• The Henry VII Chapel, in the easternmost part of
  the abbey, is an outstanding example of late
  perpendicular architecture, with spectacular
  circular vaulting on the ceiling. The wooden
  choir stalls are carved with exotic creatures and
  adorned with colourful heraldic flags. (From
  Lonely Planet London, 2004 126)

29
SOME COMMON WORD FORMATION TECHNIQUES

• Specialization of words borrowed from everyday
  language (e.g. package gt package tour) or from
  other specialized languages (e.g. congestion lt
  from medicine gt air traffic congestion)
• Creation of acronyms (e.g. BB bed and
  breakfast LTB London tourist board LHR
  London Heathrow airport)
• Creation of compounds (e.g. half-board holiday
  farmhouse theme park one way ticket)

30
SYNTACTIC ASPECTS

• THE SPECIFICITY OF MORPHOSYNTACTIC FEATURES IN
  SPECIALIZED LANGUAGES IS NOT A QUALITATIVE BUT A
  QUANTITATIVE MATTER

31
SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF SPECIALIZED DISCOURSE

• NOMINALIZATION from a verb phrase to a nominal
  phrase
• E.g. when you arrive at the hotel gt upon arrival
  at the hotel
• USE OF PASSIVE FORMS
• E.g. the tour guide will show you all the major
  sights of the citygt you will be shown all the
  major sights of the city

32
SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF SPECIALIZED DISCOURSE

• SUBSTITUTION OF RELATIVE CLAUSES WITH ADJECTIVES
• E.g. The town of Chioggia, which is nearbygt the
  nearby town of Chioggia
• OMISSION OF SUBJECT AND AUXILIARY IN RELATIVE
  CLAUSES CONTAINING A PASSIVE FORM
• E.g. charming little towns which are surrounded
  by vineyards gt charming little towns surrounded
  by vineyards

33
SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF SPECIALIZED DISCOURSE

• USE OF PRESENT PARTICIPLE INSTEAD OF FULL
  RELATIVE CLAUSE AS PREMODIFIER (the present
  participle is used as an adjective)
• - E.g. the little town which is charming gt the
  charming little town
• USE OF PAST PARTICIPLE INSTEAD OF FULL RELATIVE
  CLAUSE AS PREMODIFIER (the past participle is
  used as an adjective)
• E.g. one of the churches which is most fully
  decorated gt one of the most fully decorated
  churches

34
SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF SPECIALIZED DISCOURSE

• TRANSFORMATION OF THE VERB OF THE RELATIVE CLAUSE
  INTO A PRESENT PARTICIPLE
• E.g. the three tiers of frescoes which represent
  the life of Mary gt the three tiers of frescoes
  representing the life of Mary
• USE OF NOUN PHRASE APPOSITION TO DEFINE ANOTHER
  NOUN
• E.g. youll pass Adria, a sleepy little river
  town

35
SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF SPECIALIZED DISCOURSE

• FRONTING (THEMATIZATION) OF NON- FINITE (i.e.
  ing, -ed, to) ADVERBIAL CLAUSES
• E.g. Buried in the north aisle of the Chapel of
  Henry VII is Elisabeth Tudor
• Travelling north, well stop along the way to
  visit Pisa
• To taste genuine food, go to one of the local
  open-air street markets

36
SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF SPECIALIZED DISCOURSE

• USE OF SUPERLATIVE FORMS
• (the language of tourism is a kind of extreme
  language in which superlatives abound)
• some examples
• Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest
  occupied castle in the world. (Windsor Castle
  leaflet)
• for old Westminster is London at its grandest
  (The Original London Walks brochure)
• Some of the towers most famous prisoners were
  held around Tower Green (The Tower of London .
  Brochure)

37
SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF SPECIALIZED DISCOURSE

• USE OF THE PRESENT SIMPLE (to make the time of
  the holiday seem still and everlasting )
• E.g. Standing alone in the vast empty tract of
  the Salisbury plains and with origins dating back
  nearly 5,000 years, Stonehenge remains a place of
  wonder and mystery (Bath, Windsor Stonehenge
  brochure)
• The past is cast in stone and we take it all in
  ancient Westminster Hall, the Houses of
  Parliament, the Tower of London and Westminster
  Abbey. And to see it with a great guide is to
  have that past suddenly rise to surface. (The
  original London Walks brochure)

38
SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF SPECIALIZED DISCOURSE

• USE OF THE IMPERATIVE (not to give orders, but to
  urge the tourist to avail him/herself of the
  opportunities which are on offer)
• E.g. Gain a fascinating insight into the role of
  the Crown Jewels in royal pageantry with our
  introductory films Once inside the Treasury,
  marvel at the Imperial State Crown worn at the
  Opening of Parliament and be dazzled by the
  worlds largest, top quality diamond, Cullinan,
  set in the Sovereigns Sceptre (The Tower of
  London brochure)

39
SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF SPECIALIZED DISCOURSE

• USE OF MODAL VERBS (not to express deontic, i.e.
  personal or epistemic, i.e. logical meaning, but
  to express a way of behaviour, a mode of action
  to be taken by the tourist)
• E.g. On the way to Westminster Abbey you will
  hear about Leonardo Da Vinci, and get a chance to
  see a work of him. At Westminster Abbey you can
  hear more stories about other important people in
  the book like Isaac Newton, who is buried in the
  Abbey. A visit inside is not included, but after
  the tour you can go inside to explore on your
  own. (Quality Walking Tours, Golden Tours
  leaflet)

40
SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF SPECIALIZED DISCOURSE

• SPECIAL USE OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS (to achieve the
  goal of ego-targetting)
• E.g. London is our main course but we also serve
  up wonderful side dishes in the shape of Explorer
  Days to Stonehenge, Oxford, Bath, Hampton Court,
  etc. An explorer Day is an interesting, fun and
  inexpensive way to get the most of our visit to
  these not-to-be-missed places. After all, if
  youve only got a few fleeting hours to take it
  all in, why spend half your time wandering around
  trying to get your bearings?

41
SOME INTERESTING RESEARCH TOPICS

• HOW IS THE LANGUAGE OF TOURISM DIFFERENT FROM
  GENERAL ENGLISH?
• IS THERE PATTERNED VARIATION AMONG TOURIST
  RELATED GENRES?
• HOW DOES TOURISM DISCOURSE VARY ACROSS LANGUAGES?

42
POSSIBLE RESEARCH TOPICS AT LEXICAL LEVEL

• STUDY OF NOUN-ADJECTIVE COLLOCATIONS IN TOURIST
  TEXTS?
• USE OF LANGUAGING IN DIFFERENT TOURIST
  SUB-GENRES
• COMPARISION OF KEYWORDS IN THE FIELD OF TOURISM
  AND IN GENERAL ENGLISH

43
POSSIBLE RESEARCH TOPICS AT SYNTACTIC LEVEL

• DEGREE OF COMPLEXITY IN NOUN PHRASES
• DEGREE OF COMPLEXITY IN LEXICAL DENSITY
• DEGREE OF SENTENCE COMPLEXITY (i.e. use of
  hypotaxis)

44
POSSIBLE RESEARCH TOPICS AT TEXTUAL AND DISCOURSE
LEVEL

• PRESENCE OF MARKED THEMES IN TOURIST TEXTS
• HOW IS THE TOURIST INVOLVED IN DISCOURSE? (e.g.
  as a child who needs guidance as an expert as a
  non-tourist?
• HOW IS LANGUAGE USED TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN
  THE TOURIST CULTURE AND THE DESTINATION CULTURE?
• TREATMENT OF CULTURE-BOUND TOPICS (e.g. wheather,
  sex, security, etc.)

45
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

• LITTLE BY LITTLE, ONE TRAVELS FAR (Tolkien)
• FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
• Marco.piovaz_at_unito.it