Text and Discourse Analysis: Cohesion, Coherence, and Communicative Events | Appunti di Lingua Inglese

LINGUA INGLESE

05/02/2024

text or discourse?

the terms text and discourse are used in a variety of ways by different linguists and researcher

text: from Latin textus which both means texture (something that has been wowen) and text (esp. Scriptures) and

Italian: tessuto vs testo

→ threads sewn together to form fabric, a verbal text is made up of a number of inter-connected parts

why a string of sentences can be considered a text? because is cohesive, so it means that there are relationships

between different part of the text

there are two types of cohesive relations

- lexical

- grammatical

COHESION

GRAMMATICAL LEXICAL

reference - subsitution – ellipsis - conjunction collocation - repetition

•REFERENCE

it indicates the way in which we work out the meaning of the words

→ there are elements whose meaning can only be worked out referring to somethingelse, it cannot be established

autonomously (we have to refere to somethingelse)

→ we may refere to the situational context or to other parts of the text itself

if we need to refere to the context we talk about a specific fenomenon called

deixis: a term used for those words whose meaning cannot be established on its own but we need to rely to the

situational context

it is a system based on a deictic centre (it tipically corresponds to the speaker)

deictic markers:

- person deixis: I, you, we (ambiguity)

- time deixis: now, then (proximal or distal)

- place deixis: here, there (proximal or distal)

<proximal: something close to the deictic centre / distal: something distant to the deictic centre>

<ambiguity:in dicourses that aim to persuade people, for example you can use you in an adv to persuade and to make

feel people as an indvidual or as a group>

reference has to do also with elements in the text (not only outside it as in deixis), so we can divide it into:

- endophoric reference: it has to do with entities that are internal to the text

- exophoric reference: it has to do with words that can only be explained with references o the external social, political

or situational circumstances of the text

within the categorization of endophoric reference, we distinguish between:

anaphoric reference: is used when we understand the meaning of a term referring to something that was previously

said (we first introduce the entity with a name or noun or whatever and then we have the reference)

cataphoric reference: is the opposite thing, so first we have the reference and then the term

(is less common than anaphoric and it is usually used for suspance)

es. It is everyone’s favorite subject. English linguistics is in high demand these days

06/02/2024

•SUBSTITUTION and ELLIPSIS

they involve the replacement of one textual element by another

if you can substitute maybe one specific word/element with another more generic it means that this is a text and not

simply a string of sentences → there is a cohesive tie

substitution requires the element replaced by a more generic one

es. my computer is very old. I should get a new one

whereas in the ellipsis there is a substitution by zero

es. my aunt brought a cake and my grandma her famous lasagna

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LINGUA INGLESE

text or discourse? the terms text and discourse are used in a variety of ways by different linguists and researcher text : from Latin textus which both means texture (something that has been wowen) and text (esp. Scriptures) and Italian: tessuto vs testo → threads sewn together to form fabric, a verbal text is made up of a number of inter-connected parts why a string of sentences can be considered a text? because is cohesive, so it means that there are relationships between different part of the text there are two types of cohesive relations

lexical
grammatical COHESION GRAMMATICAL LEXICAL reference - subsitution – ellipsis - conjunction collocation - repetition
REFERENCE it indicates the way in which we work out the meaning of the words → there are elements whose meaning can only be worked out referring to somethingelse, it cannot be established autonomously (we have to refere to somethingelse) → we may refere to the situational context or to other parts of the text itself if we need to refere to the context we talk about a specific fenomenon called deixis : a term used for those words whose meaning cannot be established on its own but we need to rely to the situational context it is a system based on a deictic centre (it tipically corresponds to the speaker) deictic markers :
person deixis : I, you, we (ambiguity) - time deixis : now, then (proximal or distal)
place deixis : here, there (proximal or distal) <proximal: something close to the deictic centre / distal: something distant to the deictic centre> <ambiguity:in dicourses that aim to persuade people, for example you can use you in an adv to persuade and to make feel people as an indvidual or as a group> reference has to do also with elements in the text (not only outside it as in deixis), so we can divide it into:
endophoric reference : it has to do with entities that are internal to the text
exophoric reference : it has to do with words that can only be explained with references o the external social, political or situational circumstances of the text within the categorization of endophoric reference, we distinguish between: anaphoric reference : is used when we understand the meaning of a term referring to something that was previously said (we first introduce the entity with a name or noun or whatever and then we have the reference) cataphoric reference : is the opposite thing, so first we have the reference and then the term (is less common than anaphoric and it is usually used for suspance) es. It is everyone’s favorite subject. English linguistics is in high demand these days 06/02/
SUBSTITUTION and ELLIPSIS they involve the replacement of one textual element by another if you can substitute maybe one specific word/element with another more generic it means that this is a text and not simply a string of sentences → there is a cohesive tie substitution requires the element replaced by a more generic one es. my computer is very old. I should get a new one whereas in the ellipsis there is a substitution by zero es. my aunt brought a cake and my grandma her famous lasagna

• CONJUNCTIONS

words that connect various sentences additive and, for, furthermore, in addition, likewise, in other words adversative however, byt, yet, though, on the other hand casual because, so, then, fot this reason, as a result temporal one day, then, finally, up to now, the next day continuative well, now, of course, anyway, surely, after all

REPETITION is obtained when the same word is repeated over and over in a text (in political discourses and advertisement, repetitions are very common because repeating one word or a string of words may makes the text cohesive and help the audience to follow much better) two types of repetition: simple repetition : you repeate the same word complex repetition : repetition of a word that shares the same root es. this text aims to clarify some misunderstandings and suggest ways that the Arab Spring allows for a new thinking about revolution and revolutionary theory
COLLOCATION bond created between words, the way words are used together → linked to te language used words releated by collocation arise from patterns of language use es. black coffee in 1981 circa, two scholars, De Beaugrade and Dressler reflected on the same topic: a text is a comunicative event and, to be considered a text, that must satisfy 7 criteria text-internal criteria text-external criteria cohesion intentionality coherence acceptability informativity situationality intertextuality
COHESION → visible criteria includes those functions that are used to indicate the existence of relationship at the level of surface structure (es. syntax and lexis)
COHERENCE → not visible criteria (not surface level) it is not a linguistic device, but it has to do with our cognitive reasoning it concernes the ways in which the components of the textual world, es. the configuration of concepts and relations which underlie the surface text, are mutually accessible and relevant it is the impression a text leavs of being unified in some way: it arises when a hearer or a reader understands the writer’s communicative purpose, as a result of a shared background knowledge of he world (es. it’s raining, let’s go inside) → the cognitive processes that take place in the construction of textual coherence include activation (of knowledge), connecting and decomposition (of concepts), and memory → coherence is about creating text that are logical and make sense how can you achieve a coherent text? by logical ordering (time, cause-consequence), smooth topic transitions (use of transitions words), heading and subheading (only in written texts), layoutt and formatting (only in written texts) <cohesion: texts connections can be seen / coherence: text connections can be inferred>
INTENTIONALITY the speaker or writer use cohesion and coherence so as to achieve a specific goal through their words
ACCEPTABILITY at the other end of the communication spectrum, the recipient expects a cohesive and coherent text from the speaker
INFORMATIVITY a text has to contain new information for the reader the degree of informativity of a text indicates how much of the text is new or unexpected to the receivers it is an essential feature of aany communicative event, since we speak or write to convey a message, to provide those who listen or read our text with new information

what do discourse analysts study? → basically anything the language of humour power relationships in doctor/patient interviews dialogue in chat rooms the discourse of the archives, records or files of psychoanalyst the conversation at a dinner table the scripts of a given television programme the study of racism through the use of discourse how power relations and sexism are manifested in the conversation between men and women openings and closings in different types of conversations representations of black/white people (or any race) in the written media (magazines, newspapers, etc.) the use of linguistic politeness legal discourse used in trials Genres a genre is a categorization which consists of features (characteristics) and functions so we see a text and we are able to say what genre it belongs to and what its aim/purpose is based on its feaatures es. a video about cooking tutorial have some features that help us to immediatelly understand that it is a video about cooking definitions:

a class of communicative events (set of text) sharing a set of communicative purposes established and recognised by a specific discourse community and exhibiting similar patterns in terms of structure, style, content and intended audience (Swales 1990)
the classification of texts into genres derives from the way in which “texts are perceived, categorized and used by members of a community” (Swales 1990)
a particular style of literature, film or music that you can recognize because of it special features → genre analysis focuses on elements of recurrent language use (grammar, lexis, rhetorical practices), thus connecting texts with the communities in which they are used
close relationship between text and context on account of the functional nature of language
in every situation the speaker will try to find the linguistic resources that are more appropriate to the context
the concept of “appropriatness” is culture-specific (culture of a country, of ethnic groups, of organisations, of institutions…) → for each text/video/script/speech there are rules to follow (things that are appropriate and things that are not to say) → conventions concerning the linguistic behaviour associated with a certain situation → there is a strong relationship between language, text function and the sociocultural expectations of text users https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rouDIzhgVcY → generic presidential campaign predictable formula:
a carefully scripted speech over a montage of stock footage, with plenty of sun-dappled scenes of the heartland
the candidate interacting with smiling citizens
allusions to that other terrible party and/or the current awful president, in black and white or sepia tone. (things have been terrible for so long!)
images of our proud history and illustrious ancestors … also in black and white or sepia tone. (things were so much better then!)
a rainbow of citizen ethnicities and middle-class workplaces
standing ovations and smiling voters
lens flares Genre Studies - Glossary (genre terminology)

• communicative purpose : communicative goal that can be achieved through language

• rhetorical move : functional unit in a text that reflects the communicative purpose of a specific part of a text

• step : the building block of a move (es. the greeting of the audience, one step can be “goodmorning ladies and

gentlemen…)

• rhetorical structure : combination of the moves and the steps in a group of texts

• obligatory move : a move that occurs in all of the texts

• quasi-obligatory move : a move that occurs in most of the texts

• optional move : a move that occurs in less than 50% of the texts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YBtspm8j8M → generic brand video appropriateness, expectations what elements “must” be there? what elements make you think this is an advertisement addressed to American audiences? what can you say about the voice over? 12/02/ perception of reality we record/experience reality through our senses and then we categorize it through the language understanding and dealing with reality is something we can do as we rely on our senses and brain → the way in which we percieve reality is very affected by the language “we can’t know reality directly. We don’t percvieve of things themeselves. What we prcieve as reality is in part created by our minds and this creation isn’t only the unconscious work of the mind as a machine” → without language there could be no thought, therefore, our knowledge of the world is shaped/affected/formed by language -discoursive construction: from adolescent to teenagers- the term teenagers immediatelly starts a discoursive construction: a teenager is rebellious, brooding, unpredictable, dresses in an unconventional way through language reality is produced another time: the speaker encodes the event, so is narrating in his/her words any text: represent reality for the producer and recreates reality for the recipient (activates a certain idea of reality in the recipient) es. two political parties have conflicting texts = conflicting construction of reality cellulite is a sickness = worry and do something about it cellulite is an imperfection of the skin = maybe I’ll buy a cream ↓ two conflicting construction of reality (different perceptions) the language changes constantly, but only a certain type of people have the power to make this kind of change (politicians, journalists) the arrival of social media changed the system, because due to them also “not known”people can influence the language -news is discursively constructed- discourses exercise power as they transport knowledge on which the collective and individual consciousness feeds this emerging knowledge is the basis of individual and collective action and the formative action that shapes reality -news is socially constructed- news is constructed, is something that is created: it is a representation of the world in language and so inevitably news, like every discourse, constructively patterns that of which it speaks es. “an undocumented immigrant saved a child dangling from a Paris balcony” “illegal immigrant steals vehicle and tries to evade persuing officers”: two different headlines that could be published by journals (both or just one) → people are going to buy the journals that matches his/her ideas and perception of reality the media do not simply and transparently report events which are ‘naturally’ newsworthy in themselves ‘News’ is the end-product of a complex process which begins with a systematic sorting and selecting of events and topics according to a socially constructed set of categories → a piece of news is not “found” but an event is selected and transformed into “news” news is not a value reflection of fact , why? because is consists of language and it can persue and ideological function (it shapes reality) events are newsworthy if they are:

timely: recent
negative: war, disaster, crime
novel: unexpected or bizarre
geographically and culturally close
related to celebrities

Text and Discourse Analysis: Cohesion, Coherence, and Communicative Events, Appunti di Lingua Inglese

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LINGUA INGLESE

• CONJUNCTIONS

• communicative purpose : communicative goal that can be achieved through language

• rhetorical move : functional unit in a text that reflects the communicative purpose of a specific part of a text

• step : the building block of a move (es. the greeting of the audience, one step can be “goodmorning ladies and

• rhetorical structure : combination of the moves and the steps in a group of texts

• obligatory move : a move that occurs in all of the texts

• quasi-obligatory move : a move that occurs in most of the texts

• optional move : a move that occurs in less than 50% of the texts