Language and Television Sports commentaries and documentaries LO: to understand how language is adopted in television contexts

Overview – what can we say, generally, about the way language is affected by the medium of television? As the name implies, broadcasting, unlike texting or phone conversations, is a one-to-many form of communication. When broadcasting was first developed as a medium, it would have been highly planned and scripted – in what ways may this have changed and why? How immediate is this form of communication? Although the mode is primarily spoken (or may be blended mode – consider news reports with ticker-tape headlines), how many of the features of the written mode does it demonstrate?

How are the ways in which we communicate via radio and television different? TV Implications Where, and when, are you most likely to tune in? (Consider the impact of iPlayer and so on as well!) How will these situational contexts impact on the way we listen/watch…? When watching/listening, how likely are you to be doing something else at the same time? …and thus on the way broadcasters use language? How likely is it that you will watch/listen to the whole of a programme? How do broadcasters make allowance for ‘late arrivals’ and channel-hopping? Comment on the quality of the speech-sound received, and what might affect this? What limitations might degraded sound quality place on the quality of spoken communication? How does each media establish location and identity of speakers, and show action? How does the presence/absence of images influence language use?

Sports commentaries Sports commentaries are a well-established form of broadcast. They are necessarily spontaneous or instantaneous in some respects. For soccer commentaries on BBC Radio FiveLive, there is a commentator (often two, who speak for half of each of the game's two halves) and an expert summarizer. There is usually also an anchor person in the national studio, while, on some match days, there will also be reporters and commentators at other grounds. As well as these people, whom the audience hears, there will be production and technical staff in attendance. The challenge for the commentator is to tell the audience what is happening for all periods of live action, to invite the summarizer to make further comments and judgements during breaks in play and briefly during the play and to bring in reports and score flashes from other grounds.

The language of sports commentary, adapted from Norman and Shortis (2006) Radio TV Description of what is happening (narrative) Creating an accurate ‘picture’ of the action (spatial orientation) Identification of players/teams Explanation and interpretation of action (analysis) Conveying atmosphere and emotional impact of event/venue (stimulus) Simulating a sense of companionship: commentator as fellow-fan (empathy) To what extent are these features important for radio or TV sports commentaries?

Carry out an investigation of these two commentaries of the same match, recorded simultaneously. How are they different? How are they similar? Consider context. The language of sports commentaries: some common features and conventions • frequent player identification using surname only • alternation between narrative commentator and analysis expert • variation in prosodic features (pace, dynamics, intonation) to convey drama of action • minor sentences and ellipsis/elliptical expressions • semi-technical texis associated with sport in question • sport-specific usages of common words e.g. 'heading' • switches in verb tense: predominantly simple present tense • frequent metaphorical/ figurative/ idiomatic uses of language.

Considering the context of television as a medium, how might a documentary differ from a sports commentary? Watch this clip from ‘Fry’s Planet Word’. As you watch, annotate your copies of the transcript with the language levels. Remember: GRANNY (graphology) – not relevant for a transcript! LIKES (lexis) GIVING (grammar) SURPRISE (semantics) DINNER (discourse) PARTIES (pragmatics) This is a highly interesting documentary and well worth watching to help consolidate your learning in English Language!

Original writing task Write an extract from a TV documentary that discusses how language is influenced by technological advancements. Remember for this task, that you need to demonstrate both excellent understanding of the form and genre of the task, but also the language issues, theories and concepts. Remember that you also need to identify, quite clearly, the demographic of your target audience. Who is likely to tune into BBC Four? BBC Three? Channel 5? If this is a Netflix programme, how might that influence the way people write?

Extension Follow this link for an example of a sports commentary and an example of the level of detail in terms of language/context you would need to demonstrate for success in the examination.