PHONOSTYLISTIC TRENDS IN THE GENRE OF UNIVERSITY LECTURING IN THE USA

Abstract

The article is meant to highlight phonostylistic specificities of American academic communication in the present-day university context. The main focus is laid on the ongoing transformation of the previously established requisites for the genre of lecturing, which is brought about by the new speaking tastes and preferences of the young. As a result, the traditional didactic mode of lecturing characterized by the prevalence of formal pronunciation style and prosodically unmarked phonation gives way to a much more phonostylistically lowered down enunciation. A comprehensive analysis of the material, which includes the study of the prosodic arrangement of the key parts of university lectures, appears to be particularly revealing in this respect. It transpires that modifications of tempo, loudness and pitch movement that go over and above neutral American pronunciation make for the overall friendly, conversational and interactive manner of instruction, which is part and parcel of academic discourse in the US.