Releasing tension when the frame dissolves

Bateson (1972: 182) observes that play is intrinsically labile or unstable: the play bite can become real; the football match can degenerate into violence. This applies as much to play-as-rehearsal as it does to play-as-fun. It was seen in the previously cited exchange how simulated situations often bring out any underlying tensions that can be found within a group. At such

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moments, the lamination of frames present in the classroom are de-layered or, as Goffman (1974: 359-60) would put it, 'downkeyed' such that the participants’ awareness that their role-play is embedded within a classroom frame disappears and the simulation becomes unkeyed. In other words, in their own minds, the simulation becomes real. An example of this can be seen in the negotiation between the members of Group A, where, as in the previous example, the tension between Dieter and Antoine surfaces. In the following exchanges, the customers, Dieter and Koji, have just indicated that they would be prepared to pay their suppliers, Antoine and Mario, 165 per unit:

EPISODE 8: HANDS UP!

Dieter: ((pointing his finger like a gun)) we are serious (2) we are serious (.) and when you say one times again we are not serious (1) you can go (2)

Ant: go where? =

Dieter: ((still pointing)) = it’s [right?* Ant: [@*@@@ = Dieter: =hands up =

All: = @@@@

Here, Dieter’s pointing finger is not accompanied by a smiling face that might indicate play. He is truly angry at Antoine’s attitude and, at that moment, does not seem to be aware that he is in a language role-play but sees

himself in a negotiation where his integrity has been impugned. There seems to be a real danger that the situation will become irretrievable when he points his finger at Antoine and tells him that he can go. As a BizLang colleague, Toby, subsequently observed (Appendix 2), "They were getting quite swept

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away in the whole thing".32 Although Antoine attempts to defuse the moment with his riposte 'go where?', it is, in fact, Dieter himself who manages to retrieve the situation by cleverly evoking another frame which recasts his utterances as mere play. He uses his already pointing finger to conjure up a world universally associated with it, that of the cowboy western or the

gangster movie. When children play at cowboys or gangsters, they often use the pointing finger to represent a gun. By changing the threatening gesture into one belonging to children's play, Dieter demonstrates that he is aware that he is in a simulated frame and, in that moment, the tension is released.33

4.8 Conclusion

This chapter demonstrates how the research participants exploit and have fun with the play-as-rehearsal frame which is common in the language class, and especially so in the BizLang training room. Speakers are able to provoke laughter by using words and phrases that simultaneously refer to both the simulated frame and the language lesson frame in which it is embedded. This blending of frames can be used for various purposes. It can show up the contrast between the two worlds it evokes, such that a biro can represent a treasured gift. It can also allow learners to assert power in ways that would not be possible in the lesson frame alone. They can subvert or assert the established order. The play between frames also allows them to break free of

32 _{In nearly all cases, course participants maintain their self-control. However, an episode comes to}

mind from my own experience where one learner in a particularly lively role-play, threw a pen at another who was supposedly on the same 'team' and then walked out of the classroom. He apologised profusely for his behaviour afterwards.

33

It was this moment in the pilot study recording that made me realise the potential importance of body language and gesture in the research. All my subsequent recordings were video recorded rather than being audio only.

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the restricted role of learner which sometimes only lets them 'animate' particular words and phrases. A BizLang colleague, Geraint, put it thus:

'It's the irony of being forced into this ridiculous role-play which they'll play the game and take seriously for a long time but they have to be in control of when they remove themselves from it and if they can do that with a laugh, all the better." (Appendix 3)

Another colleague, Josh, equates the undermining of the role-play with the undermining of authority:

"Sometimes it seemed to be breaking the rules and breaking conventions and breaking the role-play." (Appendix 2)

Through playing with frames, the learner can claim a voice which is his own. On the other hand, as Gordon (2008: 324) points out, this is a liminal world where '..footings of the participants may be uncertain, a world where frames can dissolve and pretence can evaporate'. In other words, although there is a fluidity and give between frames which the learners can employ for their own playful ends, that very porosity also carries dangers which are potentially face threatening.34

The exchanges in this chapter reveal how learners play by blending the frames that are available to them. The data demonstrates that doing this can have useful social impacts: it allows the speaker to become 'author' and 'principal' as well as 'animator' of the words he utters; it lets him choose the topic of interaction where otherwise he could not; it permits him to subvert or,

34

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indeed, assert the established order and, finally, it allows him to rescue potentially embarrassing situations.

All the examples cited involve the use of language. However, the degree to which play is dependent on language varies in each episode. When Bilel offers a biro to David in EPISODE 3, the humorous incongruity of the moment is primarily generated by the physical prop, although the

accompanying words - 'here's our big gift from our company' - are vital in triggering humour. At the other end of the scale, when Dieter shouts 'hands up!' (EPISODE 8), the humour of the moment relies heavily on his

interlocutors' understanding of the associations which the words carry with them. In the next chapter, language moves centre stage as the extent to which the participants play by using words and phrases which carry

particular associations and connotations is investigated. These associations evoke different frames which the speakers compare and contrast for comic effect.

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