Chapter 7 Discourse analysis - Teaching Plan

1Chapter7DiscourseAnalysisObjectivesThestudentswilllearnthebasicdefinitionsofdiscourseanddiscourseanalysis，informationstructure，differencesbetweencohesionandcoherence,discoursemarkers,conversationalanalysis,andcriticaldiscourseanalysis.Studentswillbeableto1)knowthebasicdefinitionofdiscourseanddiscourseanalysis;2)identifygivenandnewinformation,topicandcomment,andmeanwhileunderstandthedefinitionofcontrastunderinformationstructure.3)distinguishcohesionandcoherence,andunderstandthedefinitionsoffiveitems,i.e.reference,substitution,ellipsis,conjunction,andlexicalcohesion.4)identifythediscoursemarkersinatextandknowtheirfunctionsincontext.5)distinguishthesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenconversationalanalysisandcriticaldiscourseanalysis.KeyPoints1)fivetypesininformationstructure2)differencesbetweencohesionandcoherence3)conversationalanalysisandcriticaldiscourseanalysisProcedureThe1stPeriodCONTENTS:7.1Discourseanddiscourseanalysis7.2Informationstructure7.1DiscourseanddiscourseanalysisFirst,theteacherwilldistinguishthesevendifferentitemstohelpstudentsgetasolidunderstandingofthedefinitionofdiscourseasfollows:Discourse/textParagraphSentenceClausePhraseWordMorphemeThen,theteacherwillaskstudentswhateachwordmeans.Afterashortdiscussioningroups,theteacherwilltellstudentstheanswersorally.Inordertomakestudentshaveabetterunderstandingofdiscourse,theteacherwilldistinguishdiscourseandtextasfollows:OralproductionWrittenproduction1.Discourse=Text2.Discoursevs.Text3.DiscourseOraldiscourseWrittendiscourse(i.e.text)24.TextOraltext(i.e.discourse)WrittentextFinally,theteacherwillprovidewiththedefinitionsofdiscourseindifferentways:1.Classicdefinition:Discourseis“languageabovethesentenceorabovetheclause”(Stubbs,1983:1).2.Discourse:astretchoflanguagelongerthananindividualsentence(structuraldefinition)3.Discourse:astretchoflanguagerealizingacompletecommunicativeevent.(functional/pragmaticdefinition)Asforthediscourseanalysis,theteacherwillpresentitwithsixparts:1.Discourseanalysisandotherrelevantterms2.Discourseanalysisvs.pragmatics3.Definingdiscourseanalysis4.Discourse:grammaticalityvs.coherence5.Thegoalofdiscourseanalysis6.TopicsofdiscourseanalysisFirstly,inPart1,theteacherwilldistinguishdiscourseanalysisfromdiscourselinguistics,discoursestudies,textanalysis,andtextlinguistics.Inpart2,theteacherwilldisplaythedifferencesbetweendiscourseanalysisandpragmatics.Part3willpresentthedefinitionofdiscourseanalysis.Discourseanalysisisthestudyofhowsentencesinspokenandwrittenlanguageformlargermeaningfulunitssuchasparagraphs,conversations,interviews,etc.Parts4,5and6aretransitivepartswhichintroducethemainideasoffollowingcontents.7.2InformationstructureTwogroupsofsentencesaredisplayedonthescreenfirstly:(1)A:WhatdidMarydo?B:Sheatethebread.(2)A:Whoatethebread?B:Maryatethebread.↓Informationstructure:Giveninformation+NewinformationAccordingthetwoexamples,thedefinitionofthegiveninformationandnewinformationaredemonstrated:3Giveninformation:theinformationthattheaddresserbelievesisknowntotheaddressee.Newinformation:theinformationthattheaddresserbelievesisnotknowntotheaddressee.Then,theteacherwillofferthedefinitionsoftopicandcommentdirectly,andrequiresstudentstofigureoutthetopicandcommentinasentenceinthelightofdefinitions:Thetopicrepresentswhattheutteranceisabout;thecommentissaidaboutit.(8)ThekingofFranceisbald.↓↓TopicCommentThe“contrast”willbeintroducedinthesameway:Anounphraseissaidtobecontrastivewhenitoccursinoppositiontoanothernounphraseinthediscourse.(17)A:DidTomseetheghost?B:No,Johndid.(18)A:DidTomseetheghost?B:Yes,Tomsawtheghost.The2ndPeriodContents:7.3CohesionandCoherence7.4DiscourseMarkersFirstly,thedefinitionofcohesionispresentedasfollows:Cohesionisanimportantfieldofstudyindiscourseanalysis.Itreferstothegrammaticaland/orlexicalrelationshipsbetweenthedifferentelementsofadiscourse.Thismaybetherelationshipbetweendifferentsentencesorbetweendifferentpartsofasentence.Someexamplesarepresentedtohelpstudentstounderstanditinabetterway:(24)A:IsJanehere?B:No,sheisn’t.(25)Youcanleadahorsetowaterbutyoucan’tmakehimdrink.In(24)thereisalinkbetweenJaneandshe,whilein(25)thelinkisbetweenahorseandhim.Theselinksshowcohesioninavividway.4Then,fivetypesofcohesivedeviceswillbeintroduced,includingreference,substitution,ellipsis,conjunction,andlexicalcohesionwithsomeexamples.Referencepronouns(e.g.it,they,he,she,them,etc.),demonstratives(this,that,these,those),thearticlethe,anditemslikesuchasSubstitutionnominalnominal(toreplaceanounornounphrase),verbal(toreplaceaverbphrase)andclausal(toreplaceaclause)substitution.Ellipsisthreetypesofellipsis,i.e.nominal,verbalandclausalConjunctionTheconventionalsub-classificationoftheseconnectiveitemsdistinguishescoordinatingconjunctions(e.g.and,or,but)andsubordinatingconjunctions(e.g.because,when,unless)—alsoreferredtoascoordinatorsandsubordinatorsrespectively.Certaintypesofadverbialarealsoreferredtoasconjunctiveadverbs,orsimplyasconjuncts,forexample,however,moreover,indeed,neverthelessandtherefore.LexicalcohesionRepetition:Therewasacatonthetable.Th