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Nonresponsive performance in radio broadcasting: A case study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 August 2006

Juan Antonio Cutillas-Espinosa
Affiliation:
Universidad de Murcia
Juan Manuel Hernández-Campoy
Affiliation:
Universidad de Murcia

Abstract

The present study analyzes the speech of a radio presenter in a local station in Murcia and compares it to the audience's linguistic behavior as shown in the phone calls received during the program. We also analyze the data obtained in an interview with the radio presenter. Our results, which show a radical divergence between the presenter's speech and that of his audience, are contrasted with both Audience Design and Speaker Design theoretical tenets, using the explicit knowledge of the presenter's attitudes and opinions to contrast theory and fact. We conclude that neither model offers a completely satisfactory explanation of the patterns found. Finally, we reflect on the need to consider not only performance, but also the script (in the form of a professional voice used following a particular linguistic policy based on sociolinguistic norms and attitudes to language) that condition the individual linguistic behavior, thus suggesting the need to consider community-specific factors in the explanation of stylistic variation.We are very grateful for Peter Trudgill, David Britain, Natalie Schilling-Estes, Dennis Preston, Dagmar Scheu, Rafael Monroy, and José Jiménez-Cano for comments on earlier versions of this paper.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2006 Cambridge University Press

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