Context:

England defender Jess Carter is being interviewed in an England news channel on the controversy surrounding the Women's World Cup final.

In this extract, the football player is answering a question about how she felt regarding the incident.

Audience: General public / media

Tone: Personal, empathetic toward Rubiales.

-Philip? 

-Oh, I disagree entirely. I think it's just blown out of proportion. I mean I think there are

-                                                                                                                                           {Er… but you would say that cause you're a man 

-                                                                                                                                                   {more important things to concern ourselves about. I don't think it's a sexual act, nec… necessarily. You have to…you know… in all acts… if it.. if it were a crime, you have to con… sider intent. I mean, crime is divided into two elements. Actus reus and, um…

-                             {There he goes…

-There he goes (laughs). Sorry. Yeah

-                                                  {There he comes…

-                                                  {and.. and.. actus reus and mens…

-                                                                                                      {unintelligible

-                                                                                                      {mens rea. And the man, you have to consider his intent, and his intent, I'm sure, it wasn't any… anything sexual. He just made it. In his eyes I'm sure he, he, he was just a bit o… bit over the top.

It’s… er… really _____ to be honest… um… sad that…er… such a _____ moment like that, like them winning the World Cup, has been, in my opinion, _____ for Hermosa herself.

Ask students: Why do you think the speaker feels this way? (sad / special / tarnished)

-The speaker feels happy about what happened after the World Cup. (F)

The speaker believes the moment was important for Spain. (T)

The speaker says that something negative affected the celebration. (T)

The speaker watched everything live during the match. (F)

The speaker thinks the situation should never happen at work or in public. (T)

By reading it, we can mention that the register of this piece is informal. Along with the use of hesitations, the use of contracted forms like “it’s”, “didn’t”, “wasn’t” and the lexico-grammatical choices with unsophisticated words like sad, something, people, photos, etc. Additionally, the speaker uses colloquial expressions such as “to be honest” and "this can’t be real", which add a natural, conversational tone. These choices indicate that the speaker is not trying to sound very formal and is trying to connect with the audience.  She also seems careful as to how she talks about the incident given the seriousness of the event.

Moreover, Carter might want to sound as if she is feeling sorry about the whole situation, trying to empathize with Hermoso and with all women affected by this scandal. Those feelings might be stronger in this case since she was one of the protagonists of the Women’s World Cup final, having a similar role to the Spanish player, but in this case, being part of the opposing team, England.

However, the text also has clear marks of spokenness in the hesitations the news anchor makes. The following sentence serves as an example:

"It follows his refusal to resign after being accused of forcibly kissing a winner of the… uh… Women's World Cup on the lips."

Since "World Cup" is the common name for a football championship involving male players, the hesitation before the noun phrase "Women's World Cup" might be the result of a conscious effort to provide the correct name for a women's sports event that has just started to get more attention in recent years.

At the beggining, the reporter says: ''We're gonna start with some breaking news...'' Using the word ''breaking'' implies that the news are urgent. Besides, the idea of "breaking news" is very similar to the concept of "Brand new information", which is key, considering that the repoter aims to attract the audience´s attention by presenting them with something that they didn´t know before.

“Forcibly kissing”, “refusal to resign”, and “accused of lying” carry emotional and ethical weight, positioning the actions as morally questionable. For example, the adverb forcibly shows a lack of consent. Using this adverb makes listeners to think that consent was absent or contested. Also, by choosing these words, the speaker signals a strong moral seriousness.

It is also remarkably important to highlight the repetition of the word "accused" when refering to both the President of Spain´s football association and Jenny Hermoso, since none of them have been proven guilty of the incident, they are just "accused of" until proven otherwise.

1- Famous people should always behave carefully.

2- A kiss is a sign of celebration

3- Athletes should focus on sports, not politics

4- People accused of misconduct should resign immediately

The text belongs to the news report genre. According to Bakhtin, it’s a secondary speech genre, as this is a highly organised form of cultural communication. It is a written text intended to be read aloud, in this case by a journalist who is reading a written text since it’s compact and structured, not like actual spoken language, which is sparse: with pauses, hesitation and incomplete sentences.

Context of situation.

Field: Sports news.

Tenor: Neutral and formal tone directed towards the general public. Reporter-audience relationship.

Mode: Written to be spoken.

Context of culture and situation → The incident occurred in a post-#MeToo era, where there was special awareness of inappropriate behavior towards women, especially by men in positions of power. The kiss is seen not just as a personal act, but as a cultural and political issue.

In this text, language is doing more than just reporting an event, it’s working in three ways at the same time. First, it constructs by selecting specific facts and organising them in a way that makes sense to the audience. It tells us what happened, who was involved, and why it is important to address the situation. Second, it enacts a social relationship: the journalist speaks to the audience with a formal and neutral tone. Finally, it engenders well-structured communication. The structure moves from the incident, then the response and the legal consequences and the ongoing situation.

As regards the context of culture, it can be observed that the participants belong to the mass communication sphere, more precisely to the journalistic sphere. The news presenter is an English woman who belongs to the BBC News, which is a press agency from England. She is in communication with Guy Hedgecoe, a correspondent from Madrid in Spain.

With regard to the context of situation, it involves an incident that occurred following the Women's World Cup final in 2023. After the final match in which Spain pitted against England, Luis Rubiales, the President of Spain’s Football Federation kissed Jenni Hermoso, a Spanish footballer, on the lips in the moment of celebration that was transmitted live internationally. This act sparked a significant public controversy and a wide backlash, as many perceived the kiss as inappropriate, especially in the professional sports context and the growing conversation around consent, gender equality, and sexual harassment in society. 

Regarding the type of text, it contains features of writtenness although it is a spoken text. We can observe that the journalist might be reading, probably from a teleprompter, even though it is spoken language. Some characteristics that indicate the writtenness is the use of a higher number of lexical items or lexical density such as: Spain, Football, Federation, asked, President, Luis, Rubiales, resign, kissed, player, lips, following, Women, World, Cup, final, call, step, down, comes, Spanish, prosecutors, opened, investigation, kiss, amounted, sexual, assault, striker, Jenni, Hermoso, resisted, calls, quit, saga, caused, turmoil, Spain, Madrid, Guy, Hedgecoe, latest. Another characteristic of writtenness in the text is that it is more organized and there is a lack of word repetition. 

Concerning the news presenter, as a native speaker, she sounds neutral, clear and serious. It can be observed that effectively she is reading from the teleprompter because of her eyes movement. Besides, we can see that she produces her phonemes with a marked articulation of her vocal organs. 

Luis Rubiales: Calls for resignation over Jenni Hermoso kiss. 

After that, the students will do the following activities:

1- Match the words with their definitions.

1. Resign                                         a. unwanted or non-consensual physical contact

2. Kiss                                              b. a state of confusion, disorder, or unrest

3. Sexual assault                             c. a physical gesture of affection

4. Striker                                          d. a player in football responsible for scoring goals

5. Turmoil                                         e. to step down from a position

2- Listen to the audio and identify whether the following statements are true or false.

1. The Football Federation supports Luis Rubiales.
   
   

2. The kiss was on the cheek.
   
   

3. The incident took place after the Women's World Cup final.
   
   

4. The Spanish prosecutors are not involved in the case.

5. Luis Rubiales resigned from his position.

Examples of questions:

 "Do you think the reaction to the kiss was justified? Why or why not?" 

"How should sports organizations handle controversies like this one involving their officials and players?" 

“Do you think women face these kinds of situations more often than men in the world of sports?”

1. Participants: There is a streaming show host and two participants, a man named Philip and a woman. 

2. Time: It is a conversation from 2023.

3. Place: streaming program and/or radio. 

4. Field: It is an opinion among participants of a radio or streaming program about the incident that occurred between Rubiales and Hermoso in the Women's World Cup, in which the president of the association kisses the player (Jenny) after winning the World Cup.

5. Tenor: Semi-formal; possibly colleagues or guests on a panel. It includes clashing viewpoints, reflecting both gendered power relations and differing communication styles (emotive vs. rational).

6. Mode: It is a spoken channel, spontaneous, and an overlapping conversation. 

• Semantics: The semantics indicate differing interpretations of the act: one speaker frames it as a symbol of male entitlement and misogyny, while another downplays it as not serious and not necessarily sexual, invoking legal terminology. 

• Ideational Meaning:

This relates to the content of the message, focusing on what is being represented. It's about the world that is being depicted, such as actions, events, processes, and participants.

In the text: For example, the statement "I think it’s about..." involves prediction and judgment about the topic. The semantic content is about expressing a hypothesis or speculation.

• Interpersonal Meaning:

This refers to the social interaction, the relationship between the speaker and the audience. It deals with how the speaker establishes roles, gives commands, asks questions, makes statements, and expresses feelings.
In the text, when the woman says, "I think it was disgusting," the interpersonal function is at play, where she is expressing her personal emotional reaction and establishing her stance on the issue, engaging with the other participants.

• Textual Meaning:

This focuses on how the message is organized to form coherent and relevant discourse. It includes things like the logical flow of ideas, organization of information, and thematic structures (e.g., the theme and rheme structure, given-new information).

• Theme and Rheme
  Example:
  "And the man, you have to consider his intent."

• Theme: And the man (who is in focus).

• Rheme: you have to consider his intent (what is said about the theme).
  → The speaker places the aggressor as the theme, which shifts the focus of the act towards the aggressor’s intentionality rather than the effect on the victim. This reinforces a male-centered perspective in the discourse.

• Wording 

1. "Er... but you would say that cause you're a man": The hesitation ("Er") and informal phrasing ("cause") reflect an informal register, contributing to the conversational tone of the debate.

2. "I think it's just blown out of proportion.": The use of "blown out of proportion" is a colloquial expression, reflecting how the speaker minimizes the seriousness of the situation.

3. "You have to consider intent.". This choice of words introduces legal discourse. The use of the word "intent" frames the debate in a legal context, shifting the discussion from emotional or moral to more technical and objective reasoning.

4. "In his eyes, I'm sure, he was just a bit over the top": The use of "I'm sure" and "a bit over the top" introduces hedging, making the statement less assertive and more tentative, reflecting the speaker's attempt to downplay the severity of the action.

• Lexico-grammar: The woman frames the incident as an example of social injustice and gendered power, interpreting the man’s behavior as symbolic of broader patriarchal entitlement. Her focus is on the impact of the action, particularly on women, and how it reflects a systemic problem rather than a personal misunderstanding. 

  Philip frames the same event through a lens of individual intent and legality. His tone is noticeably more detached, rational, and minimizing. He focuses on the motivation behind the act, insisting that it was not necessarily sexual or malicious. 

1. Lexical Choices: The words and vocabulary chosen to convey meanings.

In the text, the term "entitlement" is a specific lexical choice that conveys a sense of male privilege or expectation. Words like "act" and "intent" are chosen for their legal connotations, indicating a shift toward a more rational, technical discourse.
For example: "Crime is divided into two elements: actus reus and mens rea." Here, "actus reus" and "mens rea" are Latin legal terms used to discuss the elements of a crime.

Grammatical Structures: The grammatical forms and structures used in the sentence (e.g., tense, modality, voice, and clause structure).

In the text:

1. Modality is expressed through words like "have to" or "I'm sure," which indicate a degree of necessity or certainty.

2. Mood: The "mood" in a sentence indicates whether the speaker is making a statement (declarative), asking a question (interrogative), or giving a command (imperative).
   In the text:

1. "I think it's just blown out of proportion" is a declarative, expressing an opinion.

2. "But you would say that cause you're a man" is an interrogative-like challenge, questioning the assumption.

3. The use of active and passive voice impacts the focus of the sentence. For example, "He just made it" is active, with an emphasis on the subject (he), whereas "It was done" would shift the focus.

4. Clausal structure: Sentences such as "You have to consider intent" are imperative, directing the listener's attention and establishing authority in the conversation.

5. Clause Complexes: The connection between clauses (coordination and subordination).
   In the text: A sentence like "You have to consider intent, and crime is divided into two elements..." is a compound sentence with coordination ("and"), linking related but separate ideas.
   Subordination is also present: "In his eyes, I'm sure he was just a bit over the top" – this is a complex sentence where the subordinate clause ("I'm sure he was just a bit over the top") provides additional information.

• Phonemes and Graphemes:

1. Repetition and hesitation: 

• “-And i… i…it's… an example of a man feeling that he's entitled to do this to a woman”: the false start and the pauses indicate that the speaker, in this case the woman, is emotionally charged. It also shows disfluency, which is typical in spontaneous speech. 

2. Informality: 

• "a bit o…”: it is a shortened form of “bit of”. This demonstrates casual spoken English and the elision of a sound. 

3. Overlapping: speakers talk over to other. 

4. Markers: 

• "Er…" / "Yeah": they demonstrate informality and filled pauses. 

5. Laugh: It is non-lexical but carries meaning — here, it’s sarcastic or mocking, signaling disagreement or disbelief.

• Delicacy: There is a contrast in delicacy between speakers. Philip uses legal concepts, and he uses a high level of delicacy as he tries to be more objective and legal, while the woman has a lower level of delicacy because she uses more general terms and a sarcastic tone. 

• Lexical Density

1. The discourse is low in lexical density, with many pauses, reformulations, and filler words.
   Philip introduces terms with higher lexical density: actus reus, mens rea, intent. He attempts to increase the density to elevate and legitimize his discourse, while the woman remains on a more accessible, direct, and emotional level.

2. Writtenness and Spokenness

1. Oral: interruptions, laughter, reformulations.

2. Philip attempts a more "written" (more planned) type of discourse, but struggles to maintain it without sounding forced or disconnected from the communicative context.

3. Orality allows the woman to connect more emotionally with the audience and to highlight the contrast between lived experience and rationalization.

1. What is the first speaker's main opinion about the incident?
A. She thinks it was romantic.
B. She believes it shows a sense of entitlement and was disgusting. ✅
C. She says people are overreacting.
D. She defends the man’s behavior immediately.

2. What is Philip’s opinion about the incident?
A. He completely agrees it was inappropriate.
B. He says it was criminal.
C. He thinks it has been exaggerated. ✅
D. He refuses to comment.

3. How does the woman react to Philip’s opinion?
A. She agrees with his legal explanation.
B. She interrupts and mocks him. ✅
C. She asks him for more details.
D. She leaves the discussion.

4. What legal concept does Philip mention?
A. Habeas corpus
B. Lex talionis
C. Actus reus and mens rea ✅
D. Prima facie and legal tender

5. What is the tone of the conversation as it progresses?
A. Calm and informative
B. Angry and violent
C. Playful and humorous
D. Tense and argumentative ✅

• Do you agree more with the first speaker or with Philip? Why?

• If this happened in your country, how would people react?

• Should actions like this be punished even if they were not meant to offend?

• What role does gender play in how people interpret situations like this?

1. The incident happen during the Men´s world cup.

2. The president of Spain's football association has been suspended.

3. Jenny Hermoso said she gave consent to the kiss.

4. The Spanish Football Federation plans to take legal action against the football president.

5. More than 80 players have said they’ll boycott matches.

1. Do you think FIFA made the right decision? Why or why not?

2. What do you think about the reaction of the players?

3. What are some other examples (from sports or other areas) where someone in power acted inappropriately?

4. Why is consent important in all kinds of interactions?

In this piece of discourse, the English presenter Lewis Vaugha-Jones first greets the audience and then talks about the main news for that day, which was the suspension of the president of the Spanish football federation for kissing the Spanish midfielder Jenny Hermoso without her consent at the Women's World Cup final medal ceremony.

After watching this part of the video, we could notice that the tenor of the presenter is delivered in a spoken, formal and calm way to the audience, without giving his thoughts on the issue. His rate of conveyance was fast paced at moments, but clear overall; we assumed that the mode of the text was scripted as he speaks calmly to read the information from a teleprompter. For that reason, his speaking style is delivered in a formal manner by using rich lexical items. Moreover, he uses body language- such as the movement of his eyebrows, the movement of his mouth or the change in his speech- to make emphasis on key-words such as legal (/ˈliːɡᵊl/ ◯○), refusal (/rɪˈfjuːzᵊl/ ○◯○) and suspended (/səˈspɛndɪd/ ○◯○). 

This text correlates the spheres of news, law and sports together, and this is reflected in the choice of lexis in it. The phrases “welcome to the program”, “breaking news”, “our sports correspondent Joe Linsky has more” denotes the journalist jargon; phrases like "provisionally suspended", "did not consent", “take legal action against her” are part of the vocabulary used in the legal field; "FIFA", "suspended", "football-related activities", "winner of the Women's World Cup" are associated to the sports, most specifically, football field. Regarding the grammatical structures, we identify a mix of simple, compound and complex sentences, where several reporting speech verbs (“"accused"," said", "did not consent") and passive voice (“has been provisionally suspended", “was accused”) were used, which are two structures typically used in formal discourse and common in the journalism field.

The audience to which this text was delivered was mainly the English society. It uses accessible language to talk about complex themes and, even though it is formal, it uses a conversational tone to set a closer social distance between the presenter and the viewer. Even if the news has international relevance, as the Women's World Cup final was disputed between England and Spain, this news was especially meaningful for them, as they were participants in the ceremony. We might add that maybe some of the “More than eighty players [that] have now said they'll boycott games until he quits” could be part of the English football team. In addition, it also sets some conventional agreements between the audience and the program about gender dynamics in sports, consent and bodily autonomy, as this news is not only focused on sports, but on the social and political implications of it.

To finish with the analysis of this oral presentation, we would like to mention that even though this fragment is a spoken text, it demonstrates the key features of a formal script, in addition, there is a higher lexical density than grammatical intricacy. Through its structured delivery, specific lexical choices, and formal tone, the piece illustrates how spheres of news, law, and sports intertwined in the presentation of current events. The fact that the presenter is reading from the teleprompter makes the situation well organized and easy to articulate every word, so that this man can use his body language to reinforce the objective nature of the broadcast and the professionalism that he embodies.

1. Do you usually watch TV programmes? What kind of programme is presented in the picture? Tick the correct answer.

• Cartoons.        

• News.       

• Reality show.      

• Sports.       

• Documentary.        

• Sitcom.

2. Have you heard about this situation in the women’s football league? Which topics do you think are related to the news?

• Entertainment.              

• Consent.             

• Respect.               

• Winning a cup.                  

• Trust.                   

• Public and professional behaviour.                  

• Justice.

1. What does consent mean to you, and why is it important in every context—especially in public and professional settings?

2. What role does social media play in shaping public opinion in situations like this?

3. Think about your time at school. Are there any rules that can help make our space and environment feel safer and more respectful for everyone? Which ones?

Ex: You must respect people’s personal space.

These show how she reacts emotionally and mentally to what happened.
The interpersonal metafunction shows how people relate in the conversation. She tries to be honest and clear. She says “in my opinion” and “to be honest.” She does not speak directly to the interviewer but instead talks in a way that is directed to the audience watching the interview. She never says “you,” but talks generally. Still, she shows respect by smiling, which creates a polite and distant tone.
The textual metafunction is about how the language is organized to create meaning. She uses markers like “in my opinion” and “to be honest” to structure her ideas. Her message is also naturally organized. First, she shares how she feels, then explains when she saw the photo, and finally gives her opinion about how serious the kiss was.

CONTEXT OF CULTURE: A radio debate, where the host takes calls from different people to discuss their opinions on current news.

CONTEXT OF SITUATION

• participants: The host, male participant/listener (lawyer), female participant/listener

• field: Radio program - the host gives the listeners a space to express their opinions on the controversy about Spanish Football Official Luis Rubiales

• tenor: Semi-formal. The participants don't seem like friends or collegues to be completely informal, they have to be professional

• mode: Spoken - what the participants say is spontaneous and they do not follow a script - they talk over one another.

• Entitled

• Disgusting

• Blown out of proportion

• Intent

• Actus reus and mens rea

B) Do you think these words and phrases are possitive, negative or neutral? Account for your opinion.

-And i… i…it's… an example of a ________ feeling that he's entitled to do this to a ________. I think it was disgusting. 

-Philip? 

-Oh, I ________ entirely. I think it's just blown out of proportion. ________ I think there are

-                                                                                                                                           {Er… but you would say that cause you're a man 

-                                                                                                                                                   {more important things to concern ________ about. I don't think it's a sexual act, nec… necessarily. You have to…you know… in all acts… if it.. if it were a ________ , you have to con… sider ________ . I mean, crime is divided into _________ . Actus reus and, um…

-                             {There he goes…

-There he goes (laughs). Sorry. Yeah

-                                                  {There he comes…

-                                                  {and.. and.. actus reus and mens…

-                                                                                                      {unintelligible

-                                                                                                      {mens rea. And the man, you have to consider his ________, and his intent, I'm sure, it wasn't any… anything sexual. He just made it. In ________ I'm sure he, he, he was just a bit o… bit over the top.

1) What are the participants' viewpoints?

2) Do you agree with any of the viewpoints? Which one? Why?

3) Provide more support to the viewpoint you agree with.

• female participant: she thinks what Rubiales did is wrong and condemns his actions by describing them as entitled and discusting

• male participant: he "disagrees entirely" and downplays the female participant viewpoint, according to him "there are more important things to concern ourselves about"

• "And i… i…it's… an example of a man feeling that he's entitled to do this to a woman. I think it was disgusting": entitled and discusting are very strong words that demonstrate the emotional viewpoint of the female participant - the repetition of "I" shows that the participan is struggling to put her emotions into words - Her opinion is based on morals and judgement

• "Oh, I disagree entirely. I think it's just blown out of proportion. I mean I think there are [...] more important things to concern ourselves about": Not only the male participant disagrees with the female participant's view point, but he adds the adverb entirely to add force to his statement - he thinks that Rubiales actions are not that bad (blown out of proportion) and tries to move the attention away from the matter (there are more importat things).

• Both speakers make accurate word choices to provide meaning in their statements. The female participant is guided by her emotions, her moral values and her judgement towards Rubiales's actions.The male participant uses law terminality to distance himself from the situation and seem more smart.

WRITTENNESS AND SPOKENNESS

There are many spokenness features within this extract

• discourse markers: I mean, you know

• hesitations: repetition of I and he, the use of "er"

• false starts: if it... if it were a crime

• speakers are spontaneous, they talk over each other

There are less writtenness features:

• "Actus reus, mens rea", "you have to consider his intent", "sexual act": provide a speficic framework related to laws and a more structured statement

LEXICAL DENSITY

This extract contains low lexical density as there are more spokenness features.

-Philip? 

-Oh, I disagree entirely. I think it's just blown out of proportion. I mean I think there are

-                                                                                                                                           {Er… but you would say that cause you're a man 

-                                                                                                                                                   {more important things to concern ourselves about. I don't think it's a sexual act, nec… necessarily. You have to…you know… in all acts… if it.. if it were a crime, you have to con… sider intent. I mean, crime is divided into two elements. Actus reus and, um…

-                             {There he goes…

-There he goes (laughs). Sorry. Yeah

-                                                  {There he comes…

-                                                  {and.. and.. actus reus and mens…

-                                                                                                      {unintelligible

-                                                                                                      {mens rea. And the man, you have to consider his intent, and his intent, I'm sure, it wasn't any… anything sexual. He just made it. In his eyes I'm sure he, he, he was just a bit o… bit over the top.

Students will read the title of the extract of the video and answer the following questions:

-Are you familiar with this news story? 

-What do you know about it? 

-Do you follow international football or the women’s world cup?

While-listening activity: 

Students will have to listen to the audio three times and put the text in order.

1. The Federation's call for him to step down comes after Spanish prosecutors opened an investigation into whether the kiss amounted to a sexual assault on the striker Jenny Hermoso.

2. From Madrid, Guy Hedgeco has the latest.

3. Spain's Football Federation has asked its President Luis Rubiales to resign after he kissed a player on the lips following the Women's World Cup final.

4. Luis Rubiales has resisted calls to quit in a saga that's caused turmoil in Spain. 

Post-listening task:

Students will be invited to give their opinions on the topic and discuss their points of view in a debate.

Should rubiales resign?

What would you do if you saw this happening?

How do you think the Spain's football federation should react to this?

How would you react if you see someone kissing another person without their consent?

How do you think most people react?

1. The video is about an incident during the celebration of the Women's World Cup. ___

2. The presenter is called Jenny Hermoso and the sports correspondent is Joe Linsky. ___

3. Jenny Hermoso was accused of kissing a player on the lips without her consent.  ___

4. England won the Women's World Cup. ___

5. No action from other football players was said to be taken after the incident. ___