General Purpose

As we discuss in the lesson Speaking Strategy: Organization of Ideas, there are three main reasons a speaker has for sharing information.

Here is that list of the main reasons that are most common:

• Explaining - Simple exchange of information
  • A description
  • A process
  • A sequence of events
  • A comparison
• Persuading - Trying to convince the person listening that something is true
  • Presenting only your opinion
  • Contrasting with an opposite opinion
  • Selling a product
• Entertaining - Keeping attention and making the topic interesting and fun
  • Encouraging an emotional reaction to what you say

A speaker may combine purposes in order to communicate more effectively with the audience. For example, children's shows often combine entertainment with explanations. This keeps the child's attention through humor, interesting characters, and dramatic stories to ultimately teach them a principle or value.

Exercise 1: Debate Listening

Here is an example of how purpose and organization can be connected. Watch this video and identify what the main purpose is. What do you think the secondary purpose is?

Answer Key

Main Purpose: Why are these two men speaking? Well, the main purpose here is to entertain. You should have noticed as you were listening that the speakers were mainly informal, making jokes frequently among the information they gave. This informality is one of the signals. The topic is another signal. This is not a serious topic debated in a serious way.

Secondary Purpose: By looking at the organization of the information, it is clear that one of the purposes is to present an opinion. The speakers are using persuasive language and the organization of introducing a reason, giving facts and examples, and concluding with a statement of what the listener should do or understand based on what was just said. However, it doesn't seem that either speaker really cares if the audience changes their minds on the topic. The most important thing to the speakers is winning the debate competition. This signals that the persuasive purpose is secondary to the entertainment purpose.

Purpose of Specific Statements

On a smaller scale, it is also important to recognize the purpose behind an individual statement. Pragmatics is the word we use to describe how the context (spoken and cultural) can influence the meaning of what is said. While sometimes the meaning of a statement is clear, others are dependent on an understanding of language patterns and cultural norms. In this section, we will talk about a few of these pragmatic purposes.

Rhetorical Questions

A rhetorical question is when a speaker uses a question to move the conversation forward, but does not want or expect an answer. The major clue for whether or not a question is rhetorical is if the speaker only gives a short pause before continuing.

Notice how many of these questions are not questions the speaker really expects an answer to. He does expect the others listening to continue the conversation, but when he asks "Why not?" he isn't actually expecting anyone to actually give reasons why. The purpose of the question is to introduce an idea.

Rhetorical questions are often used for these reasons:

• To introduce an idea that the speaker will immediately continue to explain
  • And what did we learn from the research by Millar & White? In their study from 1988...
• To get or keep the listener's interest:
  • You know how I go to the store every Thursday? Well, yesterday...
• To encourage the listener to reflect while listening:
  • Why do you think our sales are low this quarter? Our advertising has increased...

Additional Information on Rhetorical Questions: https://www.thoughtco.com/rhetorical-questions-for-english-learners-1211983

Indirect Requests & Suggestions

Another purpose the speaker might have in stating something is avoidance. In an effort to be polite, American English speakers often say or ask things indirectly. While the explicit statement has one meaning, there is an implied request or suggestion included that the speaker expects the listener to understand. Saying things too directly can be considered offensive, so the listener has to use what is said to understand a second meaning. This is most common in informal settings.

Examples:

Is it cold in here to you? = Can you increase the temperature?

Are you wearing that to the party? = You should change your clothes.

Have you finished that document? = Please make this a priority. I'm waiting for it.

Wow. It's getting late. = You should leave. or I'm going to leave now.

Exercise 2: Find the purpose

Here is an example video giving a brief history of salt. Try to identify the general purpose of what the speaker is saying.

Comprehension Questions

1. What is the main purpose? What is the secondary purpose? How do you know?
2. What is the speaker's opinion on this topic?

Answer Key

1. The main purpose is to explain. You can see this in the organization of the major details. The speaker is focused on the history and the reasons why salt is so commonly used. The secondary purpose is perhaps to persuade. You can notice this in his conclusion. The language used in the comparison makes salt sound good, but pepper has more negative words in the details. The conclusion states the persuasive argument directly.
2. The speaker has the opinion that pepper is boring and that we should use more variety of spices.

Exercise 3: What's the purpose?

This is a clip from a television show that shows a Christmas gift exchange. There are several examples of specific statements with clear purposes. Watch the video and then answer the comprehension questions.

Comprehension Questions

1. Why do the speakers say these things?
   • "If I excuse myself abruptly, don't be alarmed."
   • "But look, he signed it!"
   • "Do you realize what this means?"
   • "What did you do?"
   • "It's not enough, is it?"

Answer Key

1. "If I excuse myself abruptly, don't be alarmed."
   • To indirectly say he expects he won't like the gift and will leave if he doesn't like it. He says this to "prepare" her not to be offended by his actions.
2. "But look, he signed it!"
   • To suggest that the friend is focusing on the wrong thing.
3. "Do you realize what this means?"
   • This is a rhetorical question. He does not expect her to answer it, he is using it to introduce his new idea.
4. "What did you do?"
   • This is also a rhetorical question. She can see what he did and doesn't actually need an explanation. She is expressing surprise at his response.
5. "It's not enough, is it?"
   • This is an apology.