Mundtlig Sprogproduktion 3 Fall 2010

Jens Kirk & Kim Ebensgaard Jensen Almen Engelsk, AAU

Signposting 1. What is signposting? Signposting is the use of linguistic devices (a.k.a. signposts) that signal the structure and progression of your presentation. Signposts are thus expressions that outline and structure the points of information or line of argumentation in the utterance/conversation. Mondahl and Svensen operate with what they call fillers and gambits, which they consider to be functionally different. However, we shall conflate filler and gambits in the same category and refer to them as signposts. 2. Signposting and structure of presentation Like I mentioned last semester, presentations should be clearly structured, and the structure itself should be clear, not just to the speaker but also to the audience. You can use signposts to indicate, for instance, the change from the opening to the main body, and to introduce the ending of your presentation. Signposts can also be used to indicate the progression from one point to another in the main body.1 English has a wide inventory of various types of signposts. Here are some of the examples which I mentioned last semester: 'to begin with', 'first of all', 'secondly', 'then', 'finally', 'as you may know', 'this means', 'on the other hand', 'let us now turn to', 'on the contrary', 'furthermore', 'to sum up', 'moreover', 'moving on to'. Here is another list of useful signpost expressions (lifted from http://www.englishclub.com/speaking/presentations-lang.htm): Introducing the subject I'd like to start by... Let's begin by... First of all, I'll... Starting with... I'll begin by... Finishing one subject... Well, I've told you about... That's all I have to say about... We've looked at... So much for... Now we'll move on to... Let me turn now to... Next... Turning to... I'd like now to discuss... Let's look now at...

...and starting another

Analyzing a point and giving recommendations Where does that lead us?
1 See the lecture on Presentation Techniques for more on the structure of presentations.

Mundtlig Sprogproduktion 3 Fall 2010

Jens Kirk & Kim Ebensgaard Jensen Almen Engelsk, AAU

Let's consider this in more detail... What does this mean for ABC? Translated into real terms... Giving an example For example,... A good example of this is... As an illustration,... To give you an example,... To illustrate this point... We'll be examining this point in more detail later on... I'd like to deal with this question later, if I may... I'll come back to this question later in my talk... Perhaps you'd like to raise this point at the end... I won't comment on this now... In conclusion,... Right, let's sum up, shall we? I'd like now to recap... Let's summarize briefly what we've looked at... Finally, let me remind you of some of the issues we've covered... If I can just sum up the main points...

Dealing with questions

Summarizing and concluding

Ordering Firstly...secondly...thirdly...lastly... First of all...then...next...after that...finally... To start with...later...to finish up... 3. Signposting and the five discussion functions According to the Andersen text on discussion skills, there are basically five (super) functions , all of which are relevant to the type of academic discourse that you are expected to be able to engage in when doing a university level degree in English: opining explaining reporting agreeing/disagreeing suggesting

While they are all relevant to more interactive discourse, such as discussions, the three first ones are especially relevant to presentations. You will find that, when you do a presentation, you often ... the functions. One moment, you may be reporting someone else's research, then you may be explaining 2

Mundtlig Sprogproduktion 3 Fall 2010

Jens Kirk & Kim Ebensgaard Jensen Almen Engelsk, AAU

your own findings or explaining some theoretical concepts; you may find yourself stating your opinion on something or reporting someone else's opinion. It is extremely important the you make it clear to the audience when you do what in your presentation. 3.1 Signaling the functions When you are explaining something, let them know. If you are stating your own opinion, let them know. If you are reporting someone else' opinion, let them know. When you are reporting someone else's work, let them know. If you are stating that you agree or disagree, let the audience know. If you are suggesting something, let the audience know. Fortunately, you can signal the functions through signposting and language choice. For example, expressions like 'it is my view that...', 'I think that...', 'It seems to me that...', 'the way I see it...' clearly signal that you are now going to give your opinion, while 'according to X...', 'X states that ', 'X has found that ', 'X argues that...' clearly indicates that you are going to do some reporting. 3.2 Word choice But there is more to it than just indicating the functions. You choose between a lot of different words and expressions, and each word or expression serves a specific purpose or carries specific details, information or implied meaning; and you should be mindful of this when you choose which signposts you want to use. For instance, there is a world of difference between 'X states that...' and 'X claims that...' (the latter implies that you disagree with X), and, if explaining something, 'the reason is...' and 'the reason might be...' and 'the reason could be...' are also very different in terms of modality (the first one expresses certainty, the second one expresses uncertainty, and the last one expresses weak possibility. Note that it is not enough to just choose appropriate signposts, you also have to consider the actual content words you use, because they may carry with them connotations that may result in you sending messages that you are not aware of. Here is an example from an oral exam I once censored, in which the topic was differences in the international roles of the UK and the USA: Meanwhile, the US were out saving the world from communism. 4. Signposting and style You should be aware that different styles and registers come with different signposts, so, when you do a presentation, you should consider 1) the communicative function of the signpost (as discussed above) 2) the appropriateness or compatibility of the signpost and the register you are operating within 4.2 Register As Anderson points out in relation to agreeing and disagreeing, for instance, there are informal, neutral and formal signposts, formality being a matter of register. It is important that you are able to use a signposts whose formality matches the formality of the context, or situation, in which the presentation or discourse takes place. For example, an academic environment often calls for a more or less formal register which is clearly objective and free of too many elements from subjective language. Here is an example, from the same oral exam, of a student who used the filler 'of course' which expresses the natural order of things (a very dangerous filler to use in academic discourse) in conjunction with a strongly subjective lexical word: It is, of course, ridiculous to suggest 3

Mundtlig Sprogproduktion 3 Fall 2010

Jens Kirk & Kim Ebensgaard Jensen Almen Engelsk, AAU

abolishing the monarchy - which is the sort of utterance that does not belong in academic discourse. 4.3 Variation You should also make sure that there is variation in the signposts you use. So instead of using the same signpost over and over again to indicate the progression into a new point, in the main body, make sure that you use a couple of different ones, so you do not just go 'and then...', 'and then...', 'and then...'. 5. Signposting and communicative skills and oral exams Note that, when you are assessed at the exam in terms of your mundtlig sprogfrdighed, you are not just going to be assessed in terms of how good your grammar is and whether you speak fluently or not, you are also assessed in terms of your overall communicative skills in English, including the ability to do a clearly structured presentation, to discuss and argue in English, to use the appropriate registers and style and to do clear signposting. Some useful links http://www.englishclub.com/speaking/presentations-lang.htm http://www.businessenglishpod.com/learningcenter2/2006/07/12/bep-102-transcriptpresentations-signposting-your-presentation/ (podcast) http://www.wiziq.com/tutorial/22293-Signposting-in-Presentations http://www.asdatoz.com/Documents/Website-%20Objective%20vs%20subjective%20ltr.pdf http://www.differencebetween.net/language/difference-between-objective-and-subjective/ http://myhome.hanafos.com/~philoint/lecture/eng-data/formal-or-informal-1.htm http://www.englishonline.org.cn/en/exams-work/ielts-preparation-articles/article-eleven