Discourse Part II: Top - Down Chapter 4.2.7

Overview This presentation continues the topic of figure/ground and how this relates to discourse, that is, how we describe what we see in a visual way (ASL discourse style). It is a ‘topic-comment’ style of description, sometimes called ‘top-down’.

Background to Figure In the last presentation we talked about the figure-ground distinction and how even though the figure is what we are interested in learning more about, the ground or context is important to frame the picture – to give the figure meaning. In ASL, we start with the frame, establishing the background or context first.

Framing as Drawing The paper frames the picture. That is, the context frames the content. Then comes the outline of major elements within the frame. Finally, come the details.

Top-Down Top-down is another way of talking about starting with the ‘big-picture’ or the frame and then beginning to focus on the details. If you draw a house, you start with the outline of the house before you draw the windows and door. The same is true with verbal descriptions.

Menus Thinking of how we choose food from a menu is a good example of how this translates to words. What kind of restaurant is this? What kind of food do they offer? We have a sense of how big the menu is even before we begin to read. As we open it, we read through the main headings: appetizers, soup & salads, entrees, desserts and beverages to get a sense of choices.

Top-Down This top-down or (context to particular) way of thinking is useful when describing things as well as with reading. If you are in a familiar place, you can assume a familiarity with much of the context and skip it but sometimes good to check. Let’s say you frequent a particular restaurant for their seafood and never had their pasta. At some point, you may want to read that part of the menu too.

Top-Down Describing the Mall Department stores Clothing stores Shoe stores Jewelry stores Coffee shops & cafes Book stores You see these headings on the Mall map and from this “top” description you read “down” to find the specifics.

Pictures to Practice The following slides offer sample scenes for you to practice this “top-down” approach to describing them. Start with the big picture, identify the type of place, then the main elements, and finally move to the details. At the same time, think WHY you might be describing each – how this would be interesting to the DB people you know.

Conclusion To use ASL well means learning to think visually. Most DB people who use Sign Language as their primary language grew up using a variety of ASL. The next step is to learn to think tactually and to convert ASL to a tactual mode. We will return to this topic in Discourse IV.