ERIC Number: EJ1305209
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2409-3351
EISSN: N/A
Cognitive Dynamics of Stancetaking in Risk Discourse Situation
Ushchyna, Valentyna
Advanced Education, v12 p142-149 2019
This article studies the cognitive dynamics of stancetaking in the discourse situations associated with risky behaviour and perilous decisions. The objective of this work is to find out what linguistic and cognitive mechanisms are used by speech participants to conceptualise a discourse situation as a situation of risk, and analyse the ways the stances on the discussed problem (here, the risk of addicting to FACEBOOK, as well as other social networks) are taken by discourse partners under different circumstances and varying communicative conditions. The overall theoretical framework for the study synthesises socio-constructionist and sociocognitive approaches to discourse analysis of risk and stance. In the post-modernist model, speakers use discourse to construct versions of the world which are variable, functional and consequential. Gilles Fauconnier's mental spaces theory (1994, 1997) served a methodological tool for re-assembling the ways stances on risks are taken in discourse interaction. Risk-taking has always been an integral part of human behaviour. We are constantly forced to make decisions that lead us towards unknown or uncertain consequences that can be potentially hazardous or even life-threatening. The study shows that the field of risk-taking in everyday life is extremely wide, embracing a diverse range of spheres such as household activities, gambling, sports, finance, medicine, technology or politics. Because risk pervades such a substantial part of our lives, it can be claimed as one of the fundamental concepts of the human conceptual system, thus, cognitive mechanisms of risk conceptualisation, as well as the linguistic ways of discursive stancetaking on risk have been determined, analysed and described in the present research.
Descriptors: Cognitive Processes, Risk, Decision Making, Speech Communication, Language Usage, Discourse Analysis, Postmodernism, Safety, Vignettes, Phrase Structure
Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. 37 Peremohy Avenue, Building 7 Office 718, Kyiv 03056, Ukraine. Tel: +38-044-204-85-37; e-mail: ae.fl.kpi@gmail.com; Web site: https://kpi.ua/en
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A