Hymes (1974) has proposed an ethnographic framework which takes into account
the various factors that are involved in speaking. An ethnography of a communicative
event is a description of all the factors that are relevant in understanding how that particular communicative event achieves its o!ectives. "or convenience# Hymes uses the word $%&A'()* as an acronym for the various factors he deems to e relevant. +e will now consider these factors one y one. ,he Setting and Scene ($) of speech are important. $etting refers to the time and place# i.e.# the concrete physical circumstances in which speech takes place. $cene refers to the astract psychological setting# or the cultural definition of the occasion. ,he -ueen.s /hristmas message has its own uni0ue setting and scene# as has the %resident of the 1nited $tates. annual $tate of the 1nion Address. A particular it of speech may actually serve to define a scene# whereas another it of speech may e deemed to e 0uite inappropriate in certain circumstances. +ithin a particular setting# of course# participants are free to change scenes# as they change the level of formality (e.g.# go from serious to !oyful) or as they change the kind of activity in which they are involved (e.g.# egin to drink or to recite poetry). ,he Participants (%) include various cominations of speaker2listener# addressor2addressee# or sender2receiver. ,hey generally fill certain socially specified roles. A two3person conversation involves a speaker and hearer whose roles change4 a 5dressing down. involves a speaker and hearer with no role change4 a political speech involves an addressor and addressees (the audience)4 and a telephone message involves a sender and a receiver. A prayer oviously makes a deity a participant. (n a classroom a teacher.s 0uestion and a student.s response involve not !ust those two as speaker and listener ut also the rest of the class as audience# since they too are e6pected to enefit from the e6change. Ends (&) refers to the conventionally recogni7ed and e6pected outcomes of an e6change as well as to the personal goals that participants seek to accomplish on particular occasions. A trial in a courtroom has a recogni7ale social end in view# ut the various participants# i.e.# the !udge# !ury# prosecution# defense# accused# and witnesses# have different personal goals. 8ikewise# a marriage ceremony serves a certain social end# ut each of the various participants may have his or her own uni0ue goals in getting married or in seeing a particular couple married. Act sequence (A) refers to the actual form and content of what is said9 the precise words used# how they are used# and the relationship of what is said to the actual topic at hand. ,his is one aspect of speaking in which linguists have long shown an interest# particularly those who study discourse and conversation# and it is one aout which ( will have more to say in chapter 1:. ;thers too# e.g.# psychologists and communication theorists concerned with content analysis# have shown a similar interest. %ulic lectures# casual conversations# and cocktail party chatter are all different forms of speaking4 with each go different kinds of language and things talked aout.