Communication Strategies of an English Speaker in Popular Science Media Discourse (Based on TED Conference Materials)

This article aims at studying the communication strategies of English speakers in popular science media discourse from the pragmalinguistic point of view. As a material of the research, speeches of TED (technology, entertainment, design) Conference speakers, who spread their ideas to the wide variety of communicants, were reviewed. This project aims to popularize ideas of technological innovations in society through the Internet. The choice of the material for the study is due to the specifics of the genre of popular public lectures, whose intention is not only and not so much informing, but forming a positive attitude towards the subject of the lecture. Therefore, the authors consider communication strategies as an option for the communicant to implement a speech behavior plan aimed at achieving a communicative goal and implying a choice of linguistic means whose combination is a dynamic, flexible and conscious process. Based on an integrated pragmalinguistic approach, which includes general scientific methods (observation, analysis, composition, model building) and linguistic research methods (descriptive and comparative analysis, stylistic analysis, quantitative analysis), the study identified three communication strategies that actualize the speech behavior of the speakers: attraction strategies, strategies for presenting new knowledge and persuasion strategies. The attraction strategy is based on two tactics: of attraction and of retention of attention. The attraction strategy in popular science media discourse is inextricably linked with the strategy of presenting new knowledge, which consists of the tactic of explanation and the tactic of considering information from a new angle. The third strategy is represented by three tactics: of pointing at a favorable perspective, of illustrating, and of referring to an authority. Each tactic was represented and described with a certain set of communicative steps. A quantitative analysis of the frequency of implementation of the studied strategies has shown that intentional acts were actualized by speakers in an uneven manner; however, the highest percentage in terms of frequency of use is characteristic of the persuasion strategy, followed by the attraction strategy and the strategy of presenting new knowledge. The tactics most in demand in public lectures on a popular science subject are those of retention of attention, of explanation, and of pointing at a favorable perspective. Thus, the actualization of the studied strategies reveals the communicative specificity of the discourse practices of English-speaking speakers in the space of modern popular science media discourse. A comparison of the receives result with results of an analysis of communication strategies on materials of other foreign languages is of the interest for future research.

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