A PROBLEM OF THE EVASIVE SPEECH ACTS IN THE TELEVISION DISCOURSE: NON-VERBAL ASPECTS

A PROBLEM OF THE EVASIVE SPEECH ACTS IN THE TELEVISION DISCOURSE: NON-VERBAL ASPECTS

Author:  Isayeva Snezhana N.

Abstract:  The author focuses on the problem of evasive speech acts in the television discourse taking into consideration cognitive mechanisms of (de)focusing. The goal of the study is to examine some verbal and non-verbal means involved in the production of evasions. The analysis shows that manual gestures (batons) as well as some key verbal elements can serve as an additional mode of redirecting attention from the primary focus to the secondary one.

Keywords:  evasion  ◆  television discourse  ◆  cognitive mechanisms  ◆  gestures  ◆  batons  ◆  gesture-speech relationship