Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

Discourse Analysis

The Study of Language

By

George Yule)

CHAPTER

11

Dr. Ahmed Abdulateef Sabti

Book,Examples,P

142

Newspaper Headline:

Trains Co llide,Two Die

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

Notice:

No Sho es, No Se r vice

Par a gr aph:

MyTown

ynatalwasina smalltown,ver yclos etoRi yadhcapitalof Saudi

Arabia.Thedis tantbetwee nmytown andRi yadh

mile sexactly.The

nameof this

Al masani

thatmeansinEnglis hFactor ie s.Ittakes thisname

fromthe

carre r

.Inmy c hil dhoo dI r eme mber thatpeo pleli ve.It

wasver ysi mple.Mos tthepeo plewasfar mer.

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

INTRODUCTION

Through

the

exam ple

of

Trains

collide

two

die

we

kno w

th at

wh at

h appened

in

the

first

part

was

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

the

cause

of

what

happened

in

the

second

part

We

can

a ls o

make

se n se

of

notice s

like

No

shoes,

no

service

on

shop

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

windows

in

s ummer

We

can

unders tand

that

you

are

wearing

no

shoes,

you

wil l

rece ive

no

serv ice

We

are

able

to

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

cr eate

complex

d iscours e

interpretations

of

fragmentary

lin gui stic

messages

NOTES

We are capable of more than simply

recognisin g

correct vs.

in corr ectfor ms.

Wecop e with frag me nts in newspa pe rsan dno tices forexa mp le.

We have the ability to cr eate complex in terpretation sof

ragmentary lin guis ticmessages.

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

prod uceou rselves an d wh ic h ap pe arto brea k a lot of r ule s of the

rathe r wetry to ma kesen se of it.

So, how can wedo all o f that?

Discour se:

It is langua gebeyondthe

sentence.

So,

Discourseanalysis:

The study of langua gein

text

and

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

conversa tion

Wha tis Discours eAnalysis

Cohesion

Cohesion

can be descr ibed as ties and connections which exist within

a text

Pronouns,

r eferences,

lex ica l

con n ections,

ter ms

wh ich

s hare

com mon

eleme nt

of

meanin g,

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

connectors

are

cohesiv e

links

w ithin

text

w hich

give

us

some

ins ight

in

our

judgements

on

whether

something

is

well

written

or

not

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

TEXTS

What helps usmake sens eof a text is that it m us t havea cer tain

str uctu rewith

cohesion

and

coher ence

Cohesion:

The ties a ndconnections tha t existwithin atext.

Ex ample :

My

fat her

onc e

bou gh t

a Lin coln con ver ti ble

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

He

did it by

sav in g

every

pen ny

he

cou ld.

Th at ca r

woul d be

wor th a for tu ne

nowadays

However

he

sold

it

to help payfor my coll ege educa ti on.

Sometimes

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

th in k

con ver ti ble.

Cohesi veties

:Maintaining

r ef

er e

nce

connections to

mo ney

and

time

co nn ec t or

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

Coher ence

The qua lityof being

logica l, consistent

and for ming

aunified whole.

Ex ample

My

fat her

bou gh ta

Lin coln con ver ti ble

Th e car

driven byth e police was

red

Tha t

colour

her

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

She

consist sof th ree

lett ers

. However,

a letter

fast asatel eph one cal l.

Coherence

The

key

to

the

concept

of

coherence

fitting

together

is

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

not

something

that

exists

in

words

or

structures,

but

something

that

exists

in

peopl e

It

is

peopl e

who

of

what

they

read

and

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

hear

They

try

to

arrive

at

an

interpretation

that

is

in

li ne

with

their

experience

of

the

way

the

world

is

We

need

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

to

create

meaningful

connections

which

are

not

actuall y

expressed

by

the

words

and

sentences

We

need

to

fill

in

many

gaps

which

exist

in

the

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

text

Thi s

factor

is

described

as

coherence

Here is a goo dexample, adapted from

Widdow son

(1978).

Her:

Him :

Her:

O. K.

She makes a r equest of him to perfor m

action

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

He stat es

reason

why he

cannot comply

with

request

She

undert akes

to perfor m action

If

this

is

rea so n ab le

a na lys is

of

w h at

took

plac e

in

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

the

c on v ersati on

th e n

it

is

cl ear

that

lang u ag e

us e rs

must

have

lot

of

k no wle dg e

of

how

co nv ersati on

works

th a t

is

not

s impl y

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

knowledg e

A speechevent:

activityinwhich

par ticipantsinter act via langua gein some

conventionalway to ar rivea t s omeoutco me.

Speec h eventscan be a

debate

inter view

discuss ion

or a

casual

convers ation

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

It isa

socialsitua tion

invol ving

par ticipants

who

necessaril yhaveasocial

r ela tionship

of somekind,

and whomayhavepar ti cular

purposes

What peop le

say

and

do

dif fer

accord ingto the

circumstances

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

UTTERANCES

When we

analy se

speech event ,

we take into

co nsid eratio n

social f actors

, i.e. the:

1.

Par ticipants:

Th e

roles

of the speaker and the li sten er,

their

r ela tionship

a ge

educa tion

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

E.g.: fr ie nds,strangers,men,wome n,young,ol d,of equalor

unequalstatus

2.

Setting:

Wher e

and

when

are they speaki ng?

3.

opic:

Wha t

are they talk in gabout?

4.

Function:

Why

they are s peaki ng?

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

THE SOCIAL FACTORS

It may include an obvious speec hact,

suc h as

this

complaining

However,it may alsoinclude

other utterances that may

lead

to a

cent r alaction.

For instance,

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

is

NOT

made by means of a single

speec h act suddenly uttered.

It is

typic ally

a speec h event as

seen in the followingexample:

SPEE CH EVENTS

Him:

He r:

Him:

He r:

Is it broken?

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

Him:

He r:

Him:

He r:

What kind is it?

Him:

He r:

Yeah.

Him:

Do you have a minute ?

He r:

Sure.

Him:

Oh, great .

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

EXAMPLE

The pr eviousexamplemaybe calleda

speec hevent

without a

centr alspeech act

of

reques t

There was

no

actua lreq uest st at ed.Wecan

c haracterize

as a

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

pr e

r equest

so thatthe hear erhasthe c hanceto sayno.

sure

Ac knowledging that she has time.

Willingto do the unstated action.

NOTES

A conversa tion

An ac tivityinwhichtwoor mor e

people taketur ns a tspeaking.

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

Typically,only

one person

spea ksata time and

ther etend sto be

avoidanceof silence

know why

B:

A:Yes but you knew where he was going.

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

over lapp ing

CONVERSATION ANALYSIS

Usually,

par ticipants

wait until one

speaker

indica tes

tha t heor shehas

finished

,bysig naling a

completionpoint

Howdo speakersmar kthei rtur nsas

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

complete

By asking a question.

By pausing at the end of a completed syntactic str ucturelike

a phrase or sentence.

Eye contact.

CONVERSATION ANALYSIS

Also,byshowingthey want to saysomething,

pa r ticipantscan:

St ar tto make

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

shor tsounds

,usuall yrepe ate d,whi le

thespeakeristal king

Bodyshifts

Fac ialexpr ess ions

to signal thattheyhavesome thing

tosay

Ba sicall y,a conversati onlo oksli kethis:

I spe ak

,youspeak

I speak

youspeak

CONVERSATION ANALYSIS

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

Resear c hhas showndiff erentexpectationsof

convers at ionalst yleand dif fer entst rat egiesof

pa r ticipationin convers at ion.

Forexample:

Rudeness

f one speaker cuts in on another speaker

Shyness

If one speakerkeeps waiting for an oppor tunity

to take a tur n and noneseemsto occur.

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

TURN

TAKING

way may simply be adhe ring to slightly differe nt

co nven tion sof

turn

taking

Long

avoid havin g nor malcompletion pointsby:

Avoiding

the us e of

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

paus es

at the

end

of a s enten ce.

Maki ng their sen tences

r un on

by us in gconn ectors su c has

and, and th en,so, but

Placing

paus es

at points wherethe message is clear ly

in complete.

Preferably fi ll ingthe pause wit hhesitati on mar kers suc h as

er

, um, uh

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

ah

Avoiding

eye contact

TURN

TAKING

A:

favouri te

restaurantbecause

they

enj oyFrenc hfoo dand when theywere

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

you

know

er

amazingandthey

er

real ly real lyli kedit.

B:

Whatwas that restaurant?

= Paus e

You k now,

er

= Fille rs

EXAMPLE

Note how the pauses (marked by ?) are placed before and after verbs rather than

at the end of sentences, making it difficult to get a clear sense of what this person is

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

saying until we hear the part after each pause.

The most noticeablefeat uresof conversa tional

co

operative

i. e.

Par ti cipantsare co

op eratingwi thea c hot her.

Philosopher

PaulGrice

describ edthe

co

oper a tive

principle

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

with it s

four maxim s.

(Maxi ms=Rules)

re qui re d

,a t

the sta te a t w hic h i t occurs,by the accepte dpur pose or

(Gri ce,

1975

THECOO PERATIVEPRINCIPLE

THEGRICEA NMAXIMS

1)

Quantity maxim:

Make you r con tribution as

infor mative as is require d,but no t mor e,or le ss, than

is require d.

2)

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

Quality maxim:

Saythe tr uth .

3)

Rela tion maxim:

Be rele vant.

4)

Manner maxim:

Be clear, brief and orde r ly.

We assu me th at peo pleare

telling thetruth

being

r elevant

, and

tr ying to be asclearasthey can

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

During a lunch break, one woman asks another how she likes the

sandwich

she is eating and receives the following answer.

Oh, a sandwich is a sandwich

EXAMPLE

Logically , this reply does not seem to be informative at all "not communicative"

However, if the woman is being co-operative and adhering to the Quantity maxim about

being ?as informative as is required,? then the listener must assume that her friend is

communicating something. To evaluate the

sandwich

, her friend has responded without

an explicit evaluation, thereby implying that she has no opinion, good or bad, to express.

That is, her friend has essentially communicated that the sandwich isn?t worth talking about.

Hedges:

Wo

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

rds

or phr ases used to indica tetha t

we ar e

saying is

suf ficie ntlycor r ector complete.

Theyareconcer nedwit hthe

Gricean

maxi ms.

ca utiousnotes

Weuse them to

showtha twe ar econcer nedab out

following themaxims

while being co

operative

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

pa r ticipantsin convers at ion.

HEDG ES

Concer ningthe

Quality

maxim:

(foraccurac y) as in

Hishairw askindof long

AsfarasI know

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

notcer tai n

Thinkorfee l

notknow

Mayorcouldhappen

notm ust

EXAMPLES

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

In the first version, we will be assumed to have very good evidence for the statement.

e.g.,

Jackson is guilty

or

I think it?s possible that Jackson may be guilty.

Concer nin gthe

Quantity

maxim:

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

Con cer ni ngthe

Rela tion

maxim:

(to mention somethin g uncon nected)

Concer nin gthe

Manner

maxim:

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

EXAMPLES

IMPLICATURES

Implica tur e

is the grasping of an implicit meaning

beyond the literal sense of what is explicitly

stated.

Implicature is also an additional conveyed meaning.

Example:

Carol: Are you coming to the party tonight?

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

Seemingly, Lara?s statement is not an answer and Lara doesn?t say

Yes

or

No

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

Yet, Carol immediately interpreted the statement as meaning ?No? or ?Probably not?.

Carol appears to depend, at least partially, on the assumption that Lara is being

relevant and informative, adhering to the maxims of Relation and Quantity.

In fact, Lara?s original answer contains relevant information, thus, Carol could

work out that ?exam tomorrow? conventionally involves ?study tonight,?

and ?study tonight? precludes ?party tonight.? Thus, Lara?s answer is not simply

a statement about tomorrow?s activities, it contains an

implicature

an additional conveyed meaning

) concerning tonight?s activities.

What is meant by the previous example?

To describe the conversational implicature involved in Lara?s statement, we need

to use our background knowledge (about exams, studying and partying) to arrive

at interpretations of what we hear and read is a critical part of doing

discourse analysis.

NOTES

We do not need to be told what is nor mallyfound ina

su per mar ket.

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

Weknow thatthere is foo ddis playedonshe lvesarrangedinais le s,

withsho ppingcar tsandc hec koutcounter s.

Th istype of

knowledge

is what we call a

schema

We

usua lly

interpr eta tions

of wha twerea dby u sing alot

mor e infor ma tion

THAN

is

pr esentedin words

on the pa ge

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

ba sed on ou r

expec ta tions

of w ha t

nor mally happens

So me time s

cr ucial infor ma tion

is

om itted

from impo r tant instr uction s

on the assump tion that

every bo dykn ows

the scen ario.

Th istype of

knowledge

is called a

script

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

Schema:

A conventionalknowledgestructur etha t

exists in

mem or y

E.g. the super mar ketexperience.

Plural:sc hemasorsc hema ta.

Script:

Adynam icsc hema

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

i.e.instead of the setof the typical fixedfeaturesin a sc hema,

a script has a seriesof conventional actions that take place.

E.g. going to the dentist, eating at a r estaurant.

SCHEMASAND SCRIPT

script

is essentially

dynamic

sc hema

Sc hema :

a set of typ ica lfixed feat ures.

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

Scri pt :

aseries of convent ion alac ti onsth at ta kepla ce.

Script: Coug hsyr upme di cine:

Fillthe measure cup to line and repeat every

to

hours.

Our understanding of wha t we r ead is not only based on

wha t we see on the pa ge

language structures

), but also on

other things tha t we have in mind

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 Discourse Analysis - Chapter 11

knowledge structures

).

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