Creating a speech portrait of a modern Chinese teacher in online media

Riashenkova Aleksandra Aleksandrovna Lecturer; Department of Foreign Languages; Ural State University of Economics Postgraduate student; Department of Intercultural Communication, Rhetoric and Russian as a Foreign Language; Ural State Pedagogical University 45 Narodnaya Volya str., office 519, Sverdlovsk region, Yekaterinburg, 620144, Russia ryashenckova@yandex.ru

"Linguistic personology" as a scientific field has a long history. The term was first introduced by Neroznak V. P., which he defined as "the field of linguistics, the subject of study of which is personality in communication" [cit. po 6, p. 7].

The central concepts of linguopersonology are the terms "linguistic personality", "speech portrait".

The term "linguistic personality" is associated with the scientific activity of linguist Y. N. Karaulov. He defined the term as "the totality (and the result of the realization) of the abilities to create and perceive speech works (texts)" ^{[4, p. 245]}. He divided the linguistic personality into three levels: "verbal-semantic", "linguistic-cognitive" and "pragmatic" or "motivational" ^{[4, p. 238]}. The concept of a "linguistic personality" was studied by scientists Karaulov Yu. N., Karasik V. I., Madalieva E. V., Kochetkova T. V. and others.

The term "speech portrait" entered science together with the monograph of M. V. Panov, who analyzed the phonetic features of the speech of such historical figures as Peter I, Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, M. V. Lomonosov and others. M. V. Panov also drew a line between a collective speech portrait and an individual one. ^{[7, pp. 418-447]}. Speech portraits were done by Alysheva Y. S., Astashova O. I., Leorda S. V., Nikiforova M. V. and others.

Currently, there are many classifications for describing speech portraits. These can be portraits from the first person and from the third person; portraits painted according to the memoirs of contemporaries, and portraits based on media texts; detailed portraits and portraits-essays ^{[6, p. 84]}.

In addition to these terms, the terms "speech image", "idiostyle", "idiolect" are used in research in this scientific field ^{[6, p. 9]}. The variety of terms used in research on linguistic personology indicates the lack of a single terminological apparatus, thereby emphasizing the relevance of this study.

Education is of great importance in Chinese culture. Let's give an example of the state exams that had to be passed before entering the civil service. The very fact of passing the exam had a huge social weight: those who could not pass the examination test returned home and became respected members of society. Exam preparation allowed a person to climb up the social elevator, regardless of the result of the exam. It is worth noting that only men were allowed to take the exam ^{[8, p. 30]}.

Self-study and self-education have a long history in China. Due to the outbreak of coronavirus infection in 2019, schoolchildren and students were transferred to online education. At the same time, the popularity of online services providing access to online courses has increased ^{[10, p. 96]}. One of these services is the bilibili platform, which is very popular among the Chinese population, since on this platform it is possible to access movies, TV series and videos uploaded by ordinary users. In addition to free videos, users also have the opportunity to purchase video courses divided into a certain number of lessons. Before starting the course, users are given the opportunity to watch a promotional video that briefly describes the advantages of the purchased product.

We analyzed two videos posted by bloggers on the platform bilibili.com in order to sell educational video tutorials.

Two online Chinese text analyzer programs were used in the study. The first Text Analyzer program was used to quantify the vocabulary used. The second program, Chinese Text Analyzer, was used by us to determine the approximate level of text according to the HSK exam system. The new HSK exam has six levels, duplicating the CEFR levels. However, in recent years, the Chinese Hanban has reformed the international HSK exam, expanding it to nine levels. A document has been officially released with a list of lexical units required to master each HSK level. At the moment, the new system has not yet been introduced into widespread use, however, the Cathoven program indicates vocabulary from the recently added levels.

The first video, "英语零基础直达六级（开开开学学学））", was recorded by a blogger under the pseudonym Freya ^[16].

According to the information provided in the profile, Freya received the highest score in English in the secondary school and university exams. In addition, she holds a master's degree in interpretation from Wuhan University, was a translator at the World Ecology Exhibition, participated in the National Debate Competition for the Cup of the Society for Foreign Studies and was a presenter of morning lessons in applications and.

Blogger Freya does not give his Chinese name, preferring a pseudonym in the Western manner. This choice cannot be called accidental. The expansion of borders allowed the Chinese to communicate more with residents of other countries, learning foreign languages opened up opportunities for intercultural communication. China is a rapidly developing country whose population is an active user of the Internet. According to experts, in 2022 the number of active Internet users numbered more than one billion people ^{[3, p. 54]}. Modern Chinese youth are influenced by Western mass culture through the Internet. The hedonistic beginning of mass culture influenced Chinese cultural values ^{[1, p. 36; 3, p. 57]}. In contrast to the traditional Chinese understanding of mass culture as the culture of different segments of the population, modern Chinese mass culture has acquired Western features: "commodity character, focus on entertainment, its simplification and "secularity"" ^{[11, p. 10]}.

The name in China is selected from an unlimited number of hieroglyphs, the process itself is of great importance. The selection of a name comes from the meanings of hieroglyphs and is not limited to a list of already existing names ^{[5, p. 12]}. At the same time, the practice of choosing a secondary name is common in China. In territories where bilingualism is more widespread, the choice falls on a foreign name ^{[5, p. 12],[14, p. 508]}. The reasons for choosing a name depend on the context. Experts note that this may be due to an attempt to adopt the culture of the language being studied. Thus, many students studying a foreign language choose a foreign name as a symbol of culture. In addition, many Chinese entrepreneurs doing business with foreign partners call themselves by the name native to the foreign partner, instead of their native Chinese ^{[5, p. 16]}. Choosing a secondary name is the key to successful communication with foreign partners.

Researchers note that some Chinese choose either a rare name or a word that is not a name, but seems euphonious to a Chinese person, thus disrupting intercultural communication ^{[14, p. 509]}.

Approximate text level video — HSK 6. The most commonly used lexical items — 英语，我们，阶段，学习，单词，基础，loveliest ("English language", "we", "stage", "to teach", "word", "basis", "history" — translation ours). Most of the words are related to the topic of the video — English.

The video is shot in a special room with a monochrome background. During installation, the background was changed to a school-themed one: a piece of paper in a cage and stylized stationery that you may need while studying at school (pencil, ruler, pen, notepad, paper clip). The choice of background can be explained by the theme of the video — an educational course.

Blogger Freya's speech has a high tempo and is characterized by the use of "we" statements. Here are some examples:

("Then we will move on to the intermediate level of education")

("We will get acquainted with short texts in English")

同时，我们的语法武装也会进行升级，让 手指我们为更长更难的句子做好准备 ("At the same time, our grammar Arsenal will be improved to prepare us for longer and more complex sentences")

Thus, the blogger brings himself closer to the audience, shows that she, along with the students of the course, will go through the same path of learning English. Collectivity is one of the key characteristics of Chinese culture. Cohesion in a group, following its rules is the key to successful functioning in society ^{[9, p. 155]}.

In addition, the blogger uses whole sentences and individual words in English in speech:

Hello everyone! I’m your English teacher Freya! ("Hello everyone! I am your English teacher Freya!")

say no ("Probably more than half of them will instinctively say no")

This can be explained by the desire to show competence and knowledge of the English language, however, the above two phrases appear only at the beginning of the video.

The second commercial is dedicated to the reading course — 英语的平平高, hosted by morty老师 ^[15]. According to the course information, Morty has ten years of experience teaching English. Morty's education is not known, but potential students are informed about the popularity of his previous courses and master classes. This fact should show the authority of the teacher's figure.

We consider it important to note the choice of the blogger's name. The name Morty, as well as the channel avatar chosen by the blogger, is a character in the popular animated series "Rick and Morty", broadcast on the American TV channel Cartoon Network ^[13]. We assume that the popularity of this series and its impact on modern popular culture influenced the choice of the name Morty by a Chinese blogger.

Approximate the language level of the text — HSK 6. The most commonly used lexical items — 阅读, 级阅, 我们, 高级, 大家, 单词, 读课 ("read", "level read", "we", "advanced", "we all", "words", "the lessons of reading"). The most frequently used words in the video are related to reading, which is the topic of the course

The video was shot in an interior resembling a casually furnished living room resembling a personal office. The room looks modern, and in the background, viewers can see shelves with a huge number of books. The choice of room design can be explained by the desire to get closer to the audience, to show their own relevance and consistency.

The manner of presentation of the material is relaxed, but at the same time the speed of the monologue is high, there is an unobtrusive musical accompaniment in the background, the use of special effects is minimal. The author of the video tries to bring the style of the video closer to the "lifestyle blog", which are especially popular on the YouTube platform.

Not only the interior of the room, but also Morty's speech is designed to show "Westernism": the blogger begins and ends the video with the words 哈喽 (hālóu) and 拜拜 (báibái), formed from the English "Hello" and "Bye-bye". At the same time, Morty's speech presents such traditional Chinese moral and ethical norms of Confucianism as diligence and hard work ^{[12, p. 68]}:

着重培养大家的精神战力。培养大家的能力与耐心从而跨过理解更高难度文章的这个坎 ("note on the development of the spiritual power of each. By overcoming difficulties in understanding more complex texts, you will develop your skills and patience")

The importance of Chinese traditions and culture is emphasized not only at the personal level, but also at the state level ^{[2, p. 201]}.

Based on the analysis, we can draw the following conclusions:

· Bloggers choose foreign pseudonyms, thus creating the impression of closer contact with English-speaking culture. However, traditional Chinese values are also presented in the video.

· The education of bloggers is not pedagogical. Bloggers often have experience in organizing events related to the English language. Information about education and teaching experience comes from the authors of online courses, supporting documents are not provided.

· Bloggers try to get closer to the audience through the environment of the room and speech.

Thus, the Chinese teacher-blogger is a modern personality who seeks to interest his audience in learning English. The key features of the speech portrait are the choice of a foreign pseudonym, the use of Anglicisms or English words in speech, as well as a high rate of speech. The manner of speech, the interior of the shooting room, and the special effects used during installation play an important role in the image of a modern teacher-blogger.