5. What Makes Language Difficult to Understand? Что делает устный текст трудным для понимания?

The Accessibility of the Linguistic Structure

(e.g. simple / complex sentences; short / long phrases; simple / difficult; familiar / unfamiliar words)

The Accessibility of the Interactional Structure (e.g. politeness, relationship between a speaker and a hearer)

Contextual Factors

1. The speaker

It is easier to understand

1. a familiar speaker

2. a consistent accent

3. one speaker (rather than many)

4. naturally slow speakers

5. naturally expressive speakers

2. The Time factor

It is easier to understand

1. where the hearer has plenty of time, no pressure to reply quickly

2. short messages

3. The external support factor

It is easier to understand language within a visual context e.g. photographs short video map diagram

physical object – machinery, etc. (particularly within a context of use)

4. The information gap factor

It is easier to understand if you need to know the context of what the speaker is saying since the need to know constitutes the purpose of listening — focuses its attention, ensures comprehension in context.

Conceptual Structure

Temporal relationships

It is easier to understand a sequence of events if you are told about them in order they happen

А В С D – events

1 2 3 4 – telling Example

A 1 The little girl wandered alone in the wood

В 2 She picked some flowers for her mother

С 3 as she held the flowers in her hand

D 4 she suddenly saw a big bad wolf

D 1 the little girl suddenly saw a big bad wolf

С 2 as she held the flowers in her hand

В 3 which she had picked for her mother

A 4 as she wandered alone in the wood.

Language Language is the dress of thought. Samuel Johnson A thing well said will be wit in all languages. Dryden Think as a wise man but communicate in the language of the people. Yeats	Язык Язык – одежда мысли. Самюэль Джонсон Хорошо выраженная мысль звучит умно на всех языках. Драйден Мысли мудрено, но говори на понятном всем языке. Итс
Brevity Brevity is the soul of wit. Shakespeare Brevity is the best recommendation of speech, whether in a senator or an orator. Cicero	Краткость Краткость — душа ума. Шекспир Краткость — лучшая рекомендация для речи как сенатора, так и оратора. Цицерон

6. Writing that Works. Paragraph Unity. Words and Phrases that Commonly Function as Transitional Devices Построение абзаца. Слова и словосочетания для передачи логической связи в тексте

When every sentence in a paragraph contributes to develop one central idea, the paragraph has unity. If a paragraph contains sentences that do not develop the central idea, it lacks unity. One way to make sure that your paragraph has unity is to provide a topic sentence, which is a sentence within a paragraph that clearly states the central idea of that paragraph. If every sentence in the paragraph directly relates to the topic sentence, the paragraph will have unity. Beginning a paragraph with the topic sentence helps both the writer and the reader. The reader knows immediately what the paragraph is about. Placing the topic sentence at the end of a paragraph emphasizes the central idea because all the sentences build up to that idea. (It makes reading the paragraph more difficult.) Therefore, it is best to place topic sentences at the end of paragraphs only occasionally.

Paragraph coherence. An effective paragraph has not only unity but coherence: that takes the reader logically and smoothly from one sentence to the next. The reader clearly recognizes that one sentence or the idea that is next, and so on.

Transitions between sentences. Transitional devices are words and phrases that help the reader to move smoothly from one sentence to the next and see the logical relationships between the sentences.

Words and phrases that commonly function as transitional devices

To express result therefore, as a result, consequently, thus, hence

To express example for example, for instance, specifically, as an illustration

То express comparison similarly, likewise

To express contrast but, yet, still, however, nevertheless, on the other hand

To express addition moreover, furthermore, also, too, besides, in addition to

To express time now, later, meanwhile, since then, after that, before that time

To express sequence first, second, third, then, next, finally