Diskurtso erreferituaren erabilera jendaurreko debateetan

Abstract

Debates have been limited and assessed within a socio-discursive perspective of the language (Bronckart 1996). There are three main areas of interest described in this research: the first one is didactic, making a proposal for the teaching of debates. The second one is linguistic, analysing debates from a discursive and pragmatic point of view. Finally, the third one is psycholinguistic, trying to analyse the different linguistic resources used by 12-14 year-old teenagers when taking part in a public debate.

Once explained our interpretation of oral and debate, a special feature of debate itself has been analysed: reported speech. It is absolutely essential to bring the others' voices into the practice of debate. Reported speech is a very valuable resource to be able to do that. Reflection on heterogeneous declarative discourse has been carried out, setting up reported speech.

This research has been carried out with empirical texts. Its corpus has consisted of six different debates — one corresponding to adult-experts and five to teenagers. Within them reported speech has been analysed: what its main characteristics are, when and how it is used, differences between adults and teenagers, if any, etc.

It has been proved that reported speech in debates has its own use and functions, which are hardly definable only taking syntax into account. Apart from that, it has been demonstrated that teenagers and adults do no use the previously mentioned resource in the same way.