Bài giảng Tiếng Anh Lớp 9 - Discourse analysis 7 - Trương Văn Ánh

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1. DISCOURSE ANALYSIS 7 Trương Văn Ánh Trường Đại học Sài Gòn 1
2. Chapter 3 Making sense of discourse Discourse coherence Coherent discourse is distinguished from random sentences by the existence of certain text-forming and cohesive devices. What is the role of cohesion in the establishment of coherent discourse? 2
3. Two texts: 1. Jack is a good student. He learns excellently and he always gets good marks. 2. Jack gets to school early. He gets good marks and he likes films. The meanings of the sentences in text 1 relate to each other. It is a coherent discourse. The meanings of the sentences in text 2 don’t relate to each other. It is not a coherent discourse. 3
4. Speech acts When using language, we not only make propositional statements about objects, entities, states of affairs and so on, but we also fufil functions such as requesting, denying, introducing, apologizing, etc. Identifying the speech act being performed by a particular utterance can only be done if we know the context in which the utterance takes place. Speech act is an utterance as a functional unit in communication. (Richards et al, 1985: 265). 4
5. A speech act has three kinds of meaning: a. Locutionary meaning (propositional meaning) is its basic literal meaning conveyed by its particular words and structures. A locutionary act is the saying of something which is meaningful and can be understood. Ex: I am hungry. (I am suffering from my hunger) b. Illocutionary meaning (illocutionary force), the effect the utterance, might have on the hearer. An illocutionary act is using a sentence to perform a function. 5
6. Ex: A: I am hungry. (Give me something to eat) B: I’ll bring you some hamburger. The illocutionary meaning of “I am hungry” is A indirectly requests B to give him something to eat. c. Perlocutionary act is the results or effects that are produced by means of saying something. From A and B the result is that A will eat some hamburger. 6
7. When we make up a sentence, it has not only proposition/meaning but also some function. The functions of sentences are grouped into six kinds: Representative Expressive Directive Rogative Commissive Declarative 7
8. Classification of speech act: Six types (Six functions of sentences/clauses) 1. The representative describes a state of affairs in the world: asserting, stating, claiming, affirming, making hypotheses, describing, predicting, reporting, etc. The representative can be true or false. Ex: Lan: What are you? Diep: I am a teacher. “I am a teacher” is a representative. Diep states his job. 8
9. 2. The commissive commits the speaker to a course of action: promising, vowing, threatening, offering, etc. Ex: (Diep to Lan): I’ll love you for ever. Diep indirectly promises to love Lan for ever. 3. The declarative changes the world by bringing about or altering the state of affairs it names: dismissing, sentences, naming, announcing, declaring, etc. Ex: (Judge) I now declare you are innocent. 9
10. 4. The directive intends to get the listener to carry out an action: commanding, requesting, begging, warning, challenging, inviting, suggesting, giving advice, etc. Ex: (Aunt Hai Lua): The pigs are shouting. (Uncle Hai Lua): Feed them. “Feed them” is a directive. 5. The expressive indicates the speaker’s psychological state or feeling/attitude about something: greeting, apologizing, complaining, thanking, etc. 10
11. Ex: The food is fabulous. The speaker shows that he likes the food. 6. The rogative refers to a special kind of directives which deals with requests for information and which is typically in form of a question. Ex: Lan: What are you? Diep: I am a teacher. “What are you?” is a rogative: Lan directly asks/requests Diep for some information on his job. 11
12. Classify the following utterances into different kinds of speech acts. a) I have just got a letter from my friend in Paris. b) Just a moment please. c) Thank you so much for your kind words. d) I name him Mr Only one. e) Let’s go to the cafeteria. 12
13. KEY a) representative b) directive c) expressive d) declarative e) directive 13
14. Background knowledge The things we know about the world assist us in the interpretation of discourse. Ex: She is Thi No in our class. From the acquired knowledge, we know that she is ugly. 14
15. Using background knowledge: propositional level Frame theory suggests that human memory consists of sets of stereotypical situations, or “frames”, which are constructed out of our past experiences. Ex: Going to the doctor. We know that someone is ill and he has to go to the doctor so that the doctor will cure his illness. 15
16. There are different frames in different fields such as economy frame, shopping frame, etc. Schema theory Like frame theory, schema theory suggests that the knowledge we carry around in our heads is organized into interrelated patterns. These are constructed from given information and they enable us to make predictions about new information. 16
17. Using background knowledge: functional level When studying functions, the question is not “what is the speaker/writer trying to tell us about events and things in the world?” but “what is the speaker/writer trying to achieve through language?” There are two exchanges where the invitation is understood and not understood. 17
18. 1. A: I have two tickets to the concert tonight. B: I have a test tomorrow. A: What a pity. 2. A: I have two tickets to the concert tonight. B: It’s nice. What are you going to see? A: A great symphony by Mozart. B: It’s interesting. I hope you will enjoy it. In the second exchange, B is obtuse when A would like to invite him to the concert. 18
19. Bottom-up text processing Bottom-up processes are those which are involved in assimilating input from the smallest chunks of discourse: sounds in speech and letters in texts, afterwards moving to more and more general features. This technique is frequently applied by lower-level learners who turn much attention to decoding particular words, thus losing the more general idea, that is the meaning of a given piece of writing. 19
20. Top-down text processing Top-down processing starts with general features of a text, gradually moving to the narrower. This approach considers all levels of communicative products as a total unit whose elements work collectively, in other words, it is more holistic. When learners are to get acquainted with the main idea of a particular communicative product they should take advantage of top- down approach, while when answering detailed true-false questions they would benefit from bottom-up reading. 20
21. THE END 21