Discourse Part II: Top - Down

Chapter 4.2.7

Overview

• This presentation continues the topic of figure/ground and how this relates to discourse, that is, how we describe what we see in a visual way (ASL discourse style).

• It is a ‘topic-comment’ style of description, sometimes called ‘top-down’.

Background to Figure

• In the last presentation we talked about the figure-ground distinction and how even though the figure is what we are interested in learning more about, the ground or context is important to frame the picture – to give the figure meaning.

• In ASL, we start with the frame, establishing the background or context first.

Framing as Drawing

• The paper frames the picture.

• That is, the context frames the content.

• Then comes the outline of major elements within the frame.

• Finally, come the details.

Top-Down

• Top-down is another way of talking about starting with the ‘big-picture’ or the frame and then beginning to focus on the details.

• If you draw a house, you start with the outline of the house before you draw the windows and door.

• The same is true with verbal descriptions.

Menus

• Thinking of how we choose food from a menu is a good example of how this translates to words.

• What kind of restaurant is this? What kind of food do they offer? We have a sense of how big the menu is even before we begin to read.

• As we open it, we read through the main headings: appetizers, soup & salads, entrees, desserts and beverages to get a sense of choices.

Top-Down• This top-down or (context to particular) way of

thinking is useful when describing things as well as with reading.

• If you are in a familiar place, you can assume a familiarity with much of the context and skip it but sometimes good to check. Let’s say you frequent a particular restaurant for their seafood and never had their pasta. At some point, you may want to read that part of the menu too.

Top-Down Describing the Mall

• Department stores• Clothing stores• Shoe stores• Jewelry stores• Coffee shops & cafes• Book stores• You see these headings on the Mall map and from

this “top” description you read “down” to find the specifics.

Pictures to Practice

• The following slides offer sample scenes for you to practice this “top-down” approach to describing them.

• Start with the big picture, identify the type of place, then the main elements, and finally move to the details.

• At the same time, think WHY you might be describing each – how this would be interesting to the DB people you know.

Conclusion

• To use ASL well means learning to think visually.

• Most DB people who use Sign Language as their primary language grew up using a variety of ASL.

• The next step is to learn to think tactually and to convert ASL to a tactual mode. We will return to this topic in Discourse IV.