Lecture Notes for PBGS 6343, TESL Program Faculty of Education, University of Malaya.

1. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico, PhD
University of Malaya
23 February 2012

2.  language beyond the sentences
- story, conversation, lecture, etc.
 discourse analysis
– study of language in text
and conversation
 defining discourse (insert)

3. conversation discourse
Objects
of DA talk
Speech
writing
events

4. coherence
propositions

5.  ties and connections within texts
 cohesive ties -maintain reference to the
same people or things

6.  cohesive ties : show how writers structure
what they want to say
 crucial factor in judging well-written
works
 A little girl went for a walk in the park.
While there, she saw a rabbit. Since it was
injured, she took it home.
Source: O’Grady and Archibald, 2009:p220

7.  marks the relationship of what follows to what
comes before
 My father once bought a Lincoln convertible. He
did it by saving every penny he could. That car
would be worth a fortune nowadays. However, he
sold it to pay for my college education. Sometimes, I
think I’d rather have the convertible.
 verb tense –past tense connects past events to the
present
Source: Yule, 2006:p.125

8.  individual sentences include elements that
can be interpreted by referring to the
information in the preceding utterances
 old information : assumed by the speaker as
available to the hearer
 new information: knowledge introduced into
the discourse the first time
▪ A man is knocking at the door – new info
▪ The man is knocking at the door – old info

9.  S1 Once upon a time there was a merchant
with two sons. – new information
 S2 The older son wanted to be a teacher.
topic: the older son
 S3 He spent his time reading and studying.
he = the older son; old information
 S4 As for the younger son, he preferred
to travel and see the world.
new topic: the younger son
transition/connector : “as for”
Source: O’Grady & Archiblad, 2009: p220.

10. substitution
Cohesive
reference devices ellipses
(Halliday,
1976)
conjunctions

11.  everything fits together
 exist in people, not in word structure
 make sense of what they hear and see
- understood relative to what they perceive
or experience in their world
 involved in interpretation of all discourse; in
conversation where WHAT IS MEANT IS NOT
PRESENT IN WHAT IS SAID.

12. A: Can you have dinner with me tonight?
A makes a request
B: I have a date.
B states the reason why she cannot oblige
 no cohesive ties? - how does A interpret
the reply of B?
 language users know that conversation is not
simply linguistic knowledge.

13.  Conversations
 Debate
 Interviews
 Discussions
 Lectures
 variation in what people say and do
in different circumstances

14.  roles of speakers and hearers and their
relationships
- friends, strangers
men, women
young, old
equals, status
 topic of conversation
– what the discourse is about
 setting of conversation

15. 1. conversation – an activity where two or
more people take turn in speaking

16.  how do conversations go?
 one person speaks at a time
 silence between speaking turns is avoided
 if two participants talk at the same time,
one of them stop talking
 Culture - specific

17.  participants wait until one speaker indicates
that s/he is done by signaling
COMPLETION POINT –marked by:
a. asking questions
b. pausing
 other participants can indicate their desire to
take speaking turns:
a. making short sounds while one is talking
b. gestures indicating they have
something to say

18. Turn-taking
•participant cuts
rudeness in on another
speaker
• participant waits
silently for
shyness opportunity to take a
turn and none seem
to occur

19.  long-winded speakers politicians, professors
 avoid completion points occur together:
1) keep the turn, don’t pause at the end of
sentences - make run-on sentences by using
connectors: -and, then, so, but
2) place pauses at points where the message is
clearly incomplete - fill the pauses with
hesitation markers: er, uh, ah

20.  contributes in keeping conversations going
 subtle indicators as ways of organizing
turns and negotiating social interaction
through language

21.  sort of, kind of, as far as I know, correct
me if I’m wrong, I’m not absolutely sure
 one is not really sure that what s/he is
saying is sufficiently correct or complete

22. if the speaker reports something
 s/he THINKS or FEELS (NOT KNOW)
 is POSSIBLE or LIKELY (NOT CERTAIN)
 MAY or COULD (NOT MUST) happen

23.  take away assertiveness in statements
 soften the impact of words or phrases
> I was sort-of-wondering
maybe if....
I think that....

24.  I think it’s possible that she may have stolen
the money.
vs. She stole the money.
 I may be mistaken, but I thought I saw them
kissing at the bar last night.
vs. I saw them kissing at the bar last night.

25.  deciding on what is implied
in the conversation
 drawing inferences about what is
meant but not actually said

26. A: Are you having dinner with me tonight?
B: I’ve got an exam tomorrow.
 B is not answering A’s question.
 A takes B’s answer as No or Probably not
 implicature concerning tonight’s activities
> study tonight means no going out tonight

27.  additional conveyed meaning
 appeals to a background knowledge shared
by the participants
critical part of a discourse
 A and B shared a background knowledge
about exams and partying

28. A. John was on his way to school last Friday
He was really worried about the math
lessons
 INFERENCE: information not stated in text
Inf 1: John is probably a student
Inf 2: on his way to school – walking/riding
a bus to school
Source: Yule, 2006:pp131-132

29. B. Last week he had been unable to
control the class
Inf 3: John is a teacher, that he’s
not happy
Inf 4: He is probably driving a car

30. C. It was unfair of the math
teacher to leave him in charge.
Inf 5: John reverts back to his
student status
> Inf 3 is abandoned

31. D. After all, it is not a normal
part of a janitor’s duty.
 Interpretation of the text is based on the
reader’s/hearer’s expectation of what
normally happens (schema or script)

32. “Make your conversational
contribution such as required, at
the stage at which it occurs, by
the accepted purpose or direction
of the talk exchange in which you
are engaged.” (Grice 1975:45)

33.  assumption:participants are
cooperating with each other in
most conversations by making
their appropriate contribution.

34. a. be relevant
 Would you like to go to a movie?
I have to study for an exam.
NO > RELEVANT
 Have you finished your term paper yet?
It’s raining cats and dogs today, isn’t it?
IRRELEVANT: speaker wants to change
the subject

35.  make your contribution one that is true
(do not say things that are false or for
which you lack adequate evidence)
– FACTUAL BASIS
 What’s the weather like?
 It’s snowing
 suspension of the Maxim of Quality is
justified: Politeness – avoid hurt feelings

36.  make your contribution as
informative as is required
--no more, no less
How was the test?
 Oh, just like any other test.

37.  B has no opinion
 B does not think the test is
worth talking about
 B does not want to discuss the
topic any further

38. Where does the doctor live?
1) In Damansara; in KL
- for curiosity
2) In T2-02 Internation House,
Section 17 PJ
-detailed answer for specific
purpose, e.g. to visit)

39.  avoid ambiguity
-- be clear, brief, orderly
 The woman John lives with
– the woman is not
John’s wife

40.  Youwill be fortunate indeed if
you can get him to work for you
> ambiguous
You will be glad to have you
on your staff
It’s not easy to get him to do
any work

41. O’Grady and Archibald. 2009.
Contemporary linguistics.
Canada: Pearson Canada, Inc.
Yule G. 2006. The study of language.
Cambridge: CUP.