RIASSUNTO BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Before talking about discourse analysis it is important to give an explanation of what are

“text” and “discourse”.

Text: A text is every kind of spoken or written communication. Everything can be a text,

from something as complex as a book or a legal document to something as simple as a

song, a novel or the back of a cereal box.

Discourse: The discourse is the combination of the text and the context, in fact language

works depending on the context and the intentions of the speakers. For example if my

daughter says, “I’m hungry,” I interpret it as a request for food, since I am her caregiver,

but if my friend says, “I’m hungry,” I interpret it as a suggestion to eat together, influenced

by the social dynamic of friendship where we are not responsible for feeding each other.

So while the Discourse is the conversation itself, DISCOURSE ANALYSIS is the “study of the

language in use”. To do discourse analysis means that we must take account of the

individual words of the text, the co-text (the words that surround them) and the context

(the real-life situations).

Imagine to hear a conversation between two students: Kiran says to Rana, "You got an

iPhone, you cow." Normally we perceive "cow" as an insult, but then we see that Rana is

laughing instead of getting upset, so we understand that the two friends were joking and

that the expression “cow” was used in a friendly way because of their friendship. This

shows how the meaning of words can change depending on how they’re used.

CHAPTER 1-THINKING ABOUT THE TEXT

People have 2 different types of skills: productive language skills (speaking, writing) and receptive

language skills (listening, reading), this explains why we understand more words than we actively

use.

COHESION is that tool that helps the different parts of a text to stick together and make sense as a

unified whole.

For example in the statement “We showed it to him yesterday, but he forgot” the pronoun "him" is

uninterpretable because we know the word’s usual function, but we don’t know who "him" refers

to, while in the example “Vikram said he hadn’t seen the book before. We showed it to him

yesterday, but he forgot.” the pronoun “him” is interpretable, because it is a word that refers

specifically to someone or something, in this case: Vikram.

The ANAPHORIC REFERENCE occurs when a word or a phrase points back to something that has

already been mentioned in the text, as we have already seen in the second example: “Vikram said

he hadn’t seen the book before. We showed it to him yesterday, but he forgot”. Here HIM refers

back to VIKRAM.

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RIASSUNTO BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Before talking about discourse analysis it is important to give an explanation of what are

“ text ” and “ discourse ”.

Text : A text is every kind of spoken or written communication. Everything can be a text,

from something as complex as a book or a legal document to something as simple as a

song, a novel or the back of a cereal box.

Discourse : The discourse is the combination of the text and the context, in fact language

works depending on the context and the intentions of the speakers. For example if my

daughter says, “I’m hungry,” I interpret it as a request for food, since I am her caregiver,

but if my friend says, “I’m hungry,” I interpret it as a suggestion to eat together, influenced

by the social dynamic of friendship where we are not responsible for feeding each other.

So while the Discourse is the conversation itself, DISCOURSE ANALYSIS is the “study of the

language in use”. To do discourse analysis means that we must take account of the

individual words of the text, the co-text (the words that surround them) and the context

(the real-life situations).

Imagine to hear a conversation between two students: Kiran says to Rana, "You got an

iPhone, you cow." Normally we perceive "cow" as an insult, but then we see that Rana is

laughing instead of getting upset, so we understand that the two friends were joking and

that the expression “cow” was used in a friendly way because of their friendship. This

shows how the meaning of words can change depending on how they’re used.

CHAPTER 1-THINKING ABOUT THE TEXT

People have 2 different types of skills: productive language skills (speaking, writing) and receptive language skills (listening, reading), this explains why we understand more words than we actively use. COHESION is that tool that helps the different parts of a text to stick together and make sense as a unified whole. For example in the statement “We showed it to him yesterday, but he forgot” the pronoun "him" is uninterpretable because we know the word’s usual function, but we don’t know who "him" refers to, while in the example “Vikram said he hadn’t seen the book before. We showed it to him yesterday, but he forgot.” the pronoun “him” is interpretable , because it is a word that refers specifically to someone or something, in this case: Vikram. The ANAPHORIC REFERENCE occurs when a word or a phrase points back to something that has already been mentioned in the text , as we have already seen in the second example: “Vikram said he hadn’t seen the book before. We showed it to him yesterday, but he forgot”. Here HIM refers back to VIKRAM.

The CATAPHORIC REFERENCE is the opposite of anaphoric reference and it occurs when a word or a phrase points forward to something that will be mentioned later in the text. For example in “When he arrived, John was surprised”, the word HE refers forward to JOHN, which appears later in the sentence. In summary, anaphoric references look back to previous information, while cataphoric references point forward to information that will come later. Together, these are known as Endophoric References (co-text), they refer to parts within the text. There are also Exophoric References (context), which refer to something outside the text. EX. I can’t believe it happened again / IT refers to an event the speakers are familiar with but that was not mentioned. WE can be inclusive or exclusive Inclusive WE: refers to speaker and listener ‘’We should have lunch together’’ Exclusive WE: refers to speaker and other people, not include listener ‘’We’d appreciate if you’d be quite’’ In the next section, the text will examine five main categories of cohesion : reference , substitution , ellipsis , conjunction , and lexical cohesion. 1) REFERENCE Halliday and Hasan list 3 types of reference:

Personal
Demonstrative
Comparative  Personal references use pronouns or names to identify the people or things/entities being talked about in the conversation or in the text Subjects: I, you, he, she, it, we, they Objects: me, you, him, her, it, us, them Possessive modifiers: my, your, his, her, its, our, their EX: “HE went to the store” (the Possessive heads: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs pronoun refers to a person) Exercise.

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life. (Anaphoric R: HE points back to A MAN)
Just do it. (Exophoric R: points outside the text) 3.Before she went home, Sally had to say goodbye to her boyfriend. (Cataphoric R: SHE points forward to SALLY)  Demonstrative references use words like THIS , THAT, THESE or THOSE to indicate if something is near or far from the speaker = these references are selective.  "This" means something near the speaker. EX: “THIS book is interesting”  "That" means something away from the speaker EX: “THAT apple look fresh”

Substitution is a technique to replace words or ideas with shorter ones to avoid repetition while keeping ideas connected.  Nominal substitution: Replaces nouns with words like "one" or "ones." Example: “I need my red pen. Do you want the blue one?” ( "one" replaces "pen" ).  Verbal substitution: Replaces actions or verbs with forms of "do." Example: “I’ll leave before you do.” ( "do" replaces "leave" ).  Clausal substitution: Replaces whole ideas with words like "so" or "not." Example: “Is she going to the party?”  “I think so.” ( "so" replaces "she is going to the party" ).  “I think not.” ( "not" replaces "she is not going to the party" ). Why it’s useful: Substitution makes sentences shorter and avoids unnecessary repetition.

3. ELLIPSIS Ellipsis is a technique used to leave out unnecesary words that are obvious from the context.  Nominal ellipsis: occurs when a noun is omitted because it is understood from the context. Example: “Mia went home and ate dinner.” (We understand Mia did both actions).  Verbal ellipsis: occurs when a verb is omitted because it is understood from the context. Example: “He can play the guitar and she can too.” (The phrase “play the guitar” is omitted after “she”).  Clausal ellipsis: leaves out whole clauses that are understood from context. Example: “I will go to the party if you will” (The phrase "I will go to the party" is omitted after “you will”). Why it’s useful: Ellipsis avoids repeating unnecessary words, making sentences flow better. 4. CONJUCTIONS Conjunctions are used to connect ideas and show how they are related.  Temporal conjunctions: show time relationships. Example: “I went home, then I ate dinner.” ( "then" shows the order of events).  Causal conjunctions: show cause and effect. Example: “I went home so I could eat dinner.” ( "so" explains why).  Adversative conjunctions: show contrast or unexpected results. Example: “I went home but there was no dinner.” ( "but" shows contrast).  Additive conjunctions: add more information. Example: “I went home and dinner was already served.” ( "and" adds another fact).

Why it’s useful: Conjunctions clearly link ideas, making the relationships between sentences easier to understand.

5. LEXICAL COHESION Lexical cohesion refers to how the meanings of words create connections in a text. For example words like duck can have different meanings depending on the context ( bird on a farm, food on a menu). Words that often appear together, like farm and cow , are called 1.Collocations. There are:  Strong collocations are words that almost always appear together. For example: bad breath  Weak collocations are words that are related but don’t always appear together , like sons and teachers. While sons and teachers appears less frequently than sons and parents. Lexical cohesion also includes 2.Reiteration , the repetition the same word or idea. like run , ran , runner , and running , which all link back to the idea of run even though they change form. 3.Synonyms , words with similar meanings, also create cohesion. For example both child and kid mean “young person,” but Child is more formal while kid has a playful tone. 4.Subordination and Superordination describe hierarchies of words. For example, car is a type of vehicle , and Honda Jazz is a type of car. Content words (nouns, adjectives, verbs) provide the meaning of a sentence. Function words (like the, in, to ) organize sentences grammatically but don’t carry much meaning. THE MEANING OF COHESION Cohesion means connecting parts of a text to make it flow as a unified whole. Halliday and Hasan distinguish between structural cohesion and non-structural cohesion.  Structural cohesion focuses on the grammatical aspects that connect sentences.  Non-structural cohesion focuses on the semantic relationships of the text. SPOKEN LANGUAGE Historically, written language was valued more highly than spoken language because speech was ephemeral and difficult to analyze before the advent of technology. Writing was the primary way to convey prestigious information. In the future spoken language gained recognition for its significance in social interactions. The study of cohesion, discussed earlier for written texts, applies to spoken language as well. Conversations, political speeches, lectures, and everyday exchanges all display cohesive elements that help us interpret them as coherent texts. Spoken texts can vary greatly in terms of planning. Some are carefully prepared, like political speeches or news broadcasts, while others are spontaneous, such as casual conversations or chance encounters. CONVERSATION According to Sacks, Schegloff, and Jefferson (1974) a conversation is a spoken interaction between a few people, who take turns to talk. In real conversations, short pieces of conversation (called Turn Construction Units or TCUs ) work together to communicate meaning. So, even if someone just says "Yeah," it still makes sense in the context of the conversation. Example of conversation: A: “You want the book?” (a full clause). B: “The older edition?” (a phrase asking for clarification). A: “Yeah.” (a simple one-word reply).

Beginner's guide to discourse analysis, Schemi e mappe concettuali di Lingua Inglese

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Anteprima parziale del testo

Scarica Beginner's guide to discourse analysis e più Schemi e mappe concettuali in PDF di Lingua Inglese solo su Docsity!

RIASSUNTO BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Before talking about discourse analysis it is important to give an explanation of what are

“ text ” and “ discourse ”.

Text : A text is every kind of spoken or written communication. Everything can be a text,

from something as complex as a book or a legal document to something as simple as a

song, a novel or the back of a cereal box.

Discourse : The discourse is the combination of the text and the context, in fact language

works depending on the context and the intentions of the speakers. For example if my

daughter says, “I’m hungry,” I interpret it as a request for food, since I am her caregiver,

but if my friend says, “I’m hungry,” I interpret it as a suggestion to eat together, influenced

by the social dynamic of friendship where we are not responsible for feeding each other.

So while the Discourse is the conversation itself, DISCOURSE ANALYSIS is the “study of the

language in use”. To do discourse analysis means that we must take account of the

individual words of the text, the co-text (the words that surround them) and the context

(the real-life situations).

Imagine to hear a conversation between two students: Kiran says to Rana, "You got an

iPhone, you cow." Normally we perceive "cow" as an insult, but then we see that Rana is

laughing instead of getting upset, so we understand that the two friends were joking and

that the expression “cow” was used in a friendly way because of their friendship. This

shows how the meaning of words can change depending on how they’re used.

CHAPTER 1-THINKING ABOUT THE TEXT