frames of reference
Frames of Reference | Richard Colclough | March 7th, 2003
I'm a little puzzled about the discussion of frames of reference in the LEX module. I seem to have a handle on what this is about but can't really put it into words. To make matters worse, I've just read a little on schema theory and am confused by the apparent overlap between the two. Are they broadly the same or is there a subtle / significant difference? I'm basically thinking about how people construct meaning for new lexis.
Any help would be most welcome.
Cheers,
Richard
Re: Frames of Reference | Colin Graham | March 12th, 2003
Hi Richard,
I'm a little puzzled about the discussion of frames of reference in the LEX module.
I'm not surprised, if it's anything like TDA. I know from my TDA reading that there were at least 5 different terms used for (almost) the same kind of thing: frames, scripts, schemata, etc. It seemed that each linguist reinvented the terminology "in his or her own image" as it were.
I'm thinking about how people construct meaning for new lexis.
I like the idea put forward by Hoey (in Textual Interaction, I think) of thinking about 3 kinds of knowledge: genre, form and content.
Genre corresponds (roughly) to frame, and is knowing that you have to write a technical paper or memo or e-mail, for example. Form corresponds (roughly) to schema and, is knowing how to construct a generically correct technical paper, memo, e-mail. Content corresponds (roughly) to lexical choice and is more dependent on knowing who the readership of the document is going to be.
This suggests schema is invariant, form is variable and content depends on the choice of form and schema.
So, maybe referential frame is somehow including the addressee, or the knowledge that the writer has to have concerning the addressee, in order to communicate an unambiguous message. For example, "Don't send me any more spam!" could easily be in an e-mail to my mother (spam = tinned ham) or to a computer company (spam = unwanted e-mail). Without a frame of reference (= context?) it remains ambiguous.
Don't know if that helps or confuses...
Colin
\(^_^)/
Banzai!
with 
and 
