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Facoltà di Studi Umanistici

Corso di Laurea in Lingue e ComunicazioneLingua IngleseThe language of written advertisements Luisanna Fodde a.a. 2014/2015Slide2

Discourse Analisys1- Language in UseD.A. deals with language in context, linking the text/utterance with its social situation.1960s and 1970s out of work in different disciplines: linguistics

, psychology, antropology,

sociology.Contribution of semiotics and the French structuralists approach to the study of narrative.Dell Hymes: speech in social settings (1964);Language as social action: speech-act theory, conversational maxims (Austin, 1962; Searle, 1969, Grice, 1975),

pragmatics, i.e. the study of meaning in context (

Levinson

, 1983; Leech, 1983).

 Slide3

Discourse Analisys1- Language in UseEvery day we encounter or take part in a wide range of different types of spoken

interactions….Each situation has

its own conventions and formulae, different role relationships, different purposes and different settings.Discourse analysis is interested in all the above

creating a fundamental distinction

between

:

LANGUAGE FORMS (grammatical

,

lexical

, phonological) and DISCOURSE FUNCTIONS (what we do with the language)Slide4

Discourse Analisys1- Language in UseD.A. is interested in the relationship between discourse forms (grammatical, lexical

, phonological) and discourse

functions. Forms are the RAW materials which enable students to use language FUNCTIONALLY.British D.A. was greatly influenced by the work of M.A.K Halliday’s functional approach to language (1973). His framework emphasizes the social

functions of language and the thematic and informational

structure

of speech and

writingSlide5

D.A. is interested in the relationship between discourse forms (grammatical, lexical, phonological) and discourse functions.

Forms are the RAW materials which

enable students to use language FUNCTIONALLY.

A text is “language that is functional”, that is to say …….“language that is doing some job in some context” (Halliday in Halliday & Hasan, 1985/ 1989: 10).

In this functional perspective, a text is therefore always seen as being strictly related to:

1- its

Context of Situation, which is defined as the immediate social and situational environment in which a text is being realized,

2- the

Context of Culture

which is the ‘outer’, more external, or ‘higher-order’ context surrounding both the text and its specific Context of Situation. Slide6
Slide7

A text, therefore, is basically made of meanings that, in order to be communicated, need to be encoded and expressed through a system of graphic

, phonic or visual signs. As a thing in itself, it is

a consistent semantic unit. Slide8

A text is both an object, a product of its environment, of its Context of Situation and Context of Culture, and an instance of

social meaning in a specific situation. The relation between text and context

is a systematic and dynamic one: - on one hand, a text is the result of the context in which it is being realized and where language is being shaped to function purposefully; - on the other hand, a context is then realized in turn by the text: through a text a context is being created. (Halliday in Halliday & Hasan, 1985/ 1989: 10-11). Slide9

Context of Situation Context of Situation is seen as being comprised of 3 components, or values, or dimension of variation:

Field, Tenor and Mode, or, respectively: FIELD: what is going on?

TENOR: who is taking part? MODE: how are the meanings being exchanged? Slide10

Field, Tenor and Mode. Field

– the nature of the ongoing social speech event and its subject matter, what is being spoken about; Tenor – the human participants in the interaction and the relationship between them, involving their status and discourse roles, as well as the attitude they take towards the subject matter and their interlocutors, Mode

– the way that language is functioning in the interaction, which involves a series of features such as the degree to which the process of interaction is shared by the interlocutors, its ‘channel’, its ‘medium’ etc. (see Halliday & Hasan, 1985/ 1989: 12)Slide11

Discourse AnalisysSemantic meaning (without the context) serves a pragmatic purpose [pragmatics: what people mean] Utterance (enunciato). Linguists sometimes use utterance to simply refer to a unit of speech under study. The corresponding unit in written language is text. Importance of context and shared knowledge.Overheard during a flight:“I think we should keep him somewhere safe where he doesn’t hurt anyone”;Slide12

Discourse Analisys1- Language in UseLanguage as communicative purpose (function) Text: actual use, not an abstract unit of language (its purpose or function, something to act upon)What a terms denotes vs what it refers to  Slide13

Discourse AnalisysSlow Children Crossing  P1’s intention P2’s interpretation mediated through mediated through DISCOURSE DISCOURSE P1-------------------------------------- TEXT ------------------------------------P2 speaker encoding decoding

listener writer reader

“I think we should keep him somewhere safe where he doesn’t hurt anyone”  Slide14

Discourse AnalisysSemiotics (Barthes) 

Sign = Signifier + Signified

SIGNIFIER = physical representation of a thing or of a concept. It is the EXPRESSION.

SIGNIFIED =

meaning. It is the CONTENT

.

CONTENT

may be:

denotative

(the ‘brain’ definition)

connotative

(the ‘deeper’ meaning - see, for ex., the word ‘dog’). Slide15

Discourse AnalisysSemiotics (Barthes) 

“There is no place like home”

(Dorothy, “The Wizard of Oz”).HOME (signifier, physical representation, the expression : morphological,

phonetical, lexical)

HOME

(signified, the content):

Denotative content

: the brain definition: home as a building, the place where I live;

Connotative content

: the deeper meaning, the warmth, the atmosphereSlide16

Semiotics – Barthes Objects have meanings. Such meanings may be:

symbolic

(= connotative meaning)they have a metaphorical meaningtaxonomic (=denotative meaning)they are included in a system where things are named and organized. They are classified. Slide17

Barthes and the Rhetoric of ImagesSlide18

Semiotics – BarthesObjects, regarded as symbols, have connotative meaningsConnotative meaning of objects can be:

Existential

Related to life but with non-human elements – market Aesthetic Related to design – for instance, still nature Technological Related to technology – i.e., when the object is useful for something elseSlide19

Discourse Analisys2- Communication Knowing a language (intuitive) vs knowing about a language (explicit knowledge of encoding conventions). Linguistic competence. But our interpretation of a discourse involves more than our linguistic competence.

Examples: He done

somefing really evil and now I’m gonna kill ’im. Her as was has gone from we. We as is will go to she. We also consider what is appropriate in a given situation. Norms and forms of a languageTask: ways in Italian to express disgust, from most formal to most informal.Slide20

Discourse Analisys2- Communication Proposition (we talk about something)Reference (we make a connection with context)Examples: His flight should be here any minute. I’m on my way

Speech Act Theory (John Austin 1962, John Searle 1969)Locutionary

ActIllocutionary ForcePerlocutionary Effect  Slide21

Discourse Analisys2- Communication Speech Act Theory (John Austin 1962, John Searle 1969)Locutionary ActIllocutionary ForcePerlocutionary Effect “Is there any salt?”  

In uttering the locution "Is there any salt?" at the dinner table, one may thereby perform the distinct locutionary act of uttering the interrogatory sentence about the presence of

salt, as well as the illocutionary act of requesting salt (illocutionary force of request), and the further perlocutionary effect of causing somebody to hand one the salt.Slide22

Discourse Analisys2- Communication Speech Act Theory (John Austin 1962, John Searle 1969)Direct and Indirect Speech ActsExample (after a dinner with friends):Man:

Let’s have coffee at

our placeWife: You’re working tomorrow……This is an indirect speech act. The wife could have expressed the same message with a direct speech act:Man: Let’s have coffee at our place

Wife: I am tired

, I

want

to go to sleep

 Slide23

Discourse Analisys2- Communication Speech Act Theory (John Austin 1962, John Searle 1969)Direct and Indirect Speech ActsDirect Speech Act: grammatical form and communicative function (i.e. illocutionary force) correspond.Indirect Speech Act: grammatical form and communicative function do not correspond.

Is there any salt?? 

Other examples (requests and proposals): Would you like to meet for a coffee? - I have class….Can you call Samantha?Slide24

Discourse Analisys2- CommunicationDell Hymes’s 4 aspects of communicative competenceHymes' original idea was that speakers of a language have to have more than grammatical competence in order to be able communicate effectively in a language; they also need to know how language is used by members of a speech community to accomplish their purposes.Four kinds of judgement

:1- Whether (and to what degree) something is formally

possible2- Whether (and to what degree) something is feasible3- Whether (and to what degree) something is appropriate in relation to the context in which it is used4- Whether (and to what degree) something is actually performedSlide25

Discourse Analisys2- Communication1- possible2- feasible3- appropriate4- performed1- Something possible within a formal system is grammatical2- (

ambiguity) Visiting aunt

can be boring; I met a man with a glass eye called Eric; two sisters were reunited after 8 years at a checking counter;3- (an act of communication which is pragmatically effective

as an act of communication): using

language

inappropriately in different

contexts

4- Co-occurrence (collocations): patterning in language; idioms; proverbs:

They

are

been

being

careful

;

too

many

cooks

spoil

the

broth

; by and large; by hook or by

crook

…..Slide26

Discourse AnalisysUsing language functionallyWhat we are doing with language (i.e.

instructing, requesting, informing,

exemplifying) is as importatnt as what we are saying.The illocutionary force of performing an act:Has he got news for youThis possible act of asking/requesting can become

an informing speech act when

/

if

contextualized in terms

of the

surrounding

text and of the key feature of the situationD.A. IS CONCERNED WITH THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE AND THE CONTEXT OF ITS USE.Slide27

DA and Written DiscourseCohesion and Coherence«Clare loves potatoes. She

was born in Ireland

».The two sentences are cohesive (Clare/she)….The pronoun provides a link with the proper noun Clare in the 1° sentenceBut they are only coherent if …………….Cohesion is only

part of coherence in reading and writing.

Cohesion

is a guide to coherence

,

which

is something created by readers in the act of reading a text.

Coherence

is

the feeling

that

a text

makes

sense

and

that

it

is

not

a

jumble

of

sentences

.Slide28

DA and Written DiscourseCohesion and Coherence«Clare loves potatoes. She

was born in Ireland

».The two sentences are cohesive (Clare/she)….The pronoun provides a link with the proper noun Clare in the 1° sentenceBut they are only coherent if …………….Cohesion is only

part of coherence in reading and writing.

Cohesion

is a guide to coherence

,

which

is something created by readers in the act of reading a text.

Coherence

is

the feeling

that

a text

makes

sense

and

that

it

is

not

a

jumble

of

sentences

.Slide29

DA and Written DiscourseProcessing a textThe surface of a text is characterized by ‘markers’ of various

kinds.For example –ed

suffix is a marker of pastness.Cohesive markers/devices (pronouns, determiners, demonstratives, other items….)create links across sentence boundaries and chain together items that are related.

However, reading a text is more complex

than

that.We

have

to interpret it and this depends as much on what

both

author

and

reader

puts

/

brings

into

it

.

The

reader

makes

cognitive

links

in the text and

recognizes

textual

patternsSlide30

DA and Written DiscourseProcessing a textThe reader makes cognitive links in the text and recognizes

textual patterns.

These patterns are manifested in functional relationships between pieces of text (textual segments): phrases, clauses, sentences or groups of sentences.Such relationships can be of various kinds:Phenomenon-reason; phenomenon-example;

cause-consequence;Problem-solution; instrument-achievement.

There

are

signals/clues

that

tell us how we should interpret the functional

relation

between

segments

.

They

are the

supporting

evidence

to the cognitive

activity

of

deducing

the relation.Slide31

1- Second sentence is reason for the 1° (PHENOMENON-REASON)2- CAUSE –CONSEQUENCE (first two segments, subordination as

supporting evidence). First 2 segments

taken together as one single segment are in contrast with the rest. Note the signal provided by the syntactic parallelism…Slide32

COHERENCE and COHESION I am tired because I went to bed late yesterday (a well cohesed and cohered sentence).

I am tired because I will go to bed late tonight

(a badly cohesed and cohered sentence)Slide33

COHERENCE and COHESION Semantic coherence (= meaning) depends on: Lexical cohesion

Syntactical cohesionSlide34

Lexical cohesionDirect repetition SynonymsSuper-ordination

Antonyms

Specific going to general referenceOrdered seriesSlide35

Lexical cohesion (examples)Direct repetition: We want freedom, we

want happiness and we want moneySlide36

Lexical cohesion (examples)Synonyms: We demand freedom, we

want happinessSlide37

Lexical cohesion (examples)Super-ordination:

The European Union has been organized as a federal state for commercial purposes. Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK

(… etc.) are its countries.Slide38

Lexical cohesion (examples)Antonyms (=opposite): Above the tree there was a bird;

below a cat was watching at itSlide39

Lexical cohesion (examples)Specific going to general reference:

Cuba is interesting sounds, exotic tastes and sexy freedom

. It is a marvellous country where to go on holidaySlide40

Lexical cohesion (examples)Ordered series:

The submarine was

sixty meters below the sea level. Then it reached 30 m. Slide41

DA & GRAMMARSpoken and written discourse show grammatical connexions between individual clauses and sentences

.3 types of

grammatical links or cohesive devices:REFERENCEELLIPSIS/SUBSTITUTIONCONJUNCTIONSlide42

DA & GRAMMARREFERENCELinks or cohesive devices: Pronouns, demonstratives, determiner the and expressions

like such a.(for a complete list, cfr.

Halliday and Hasan, 1976: 37-9)Anaphoric reference: looks back in the textExophoric reference: refers to the world outside the text (not truly cohesive, because its is not text-internal, but part of the reader’s active

role in creating coherence)Cataphoric

reference

: we

have

to

read on to understand the relation between the items and the referents (engaging the reader’s

attention

)Slide43

DA & GRAMMAR1. A ANAPHORIC REFERENCEProblems with ‘it’ and ‘this’ ‘that’Also in other languages we

may have problems

with some cohesive items (‘sua’ in Italian, her? Your?; ‘lei’ , you?, she?)These items can be used when an entity has already been marked as the focus of attention, using by using a

deictic word: a, the, my, this, that

…Slide44

DA & GRAMMARANAPHORIC REFERENCE«Analyzing where a business stands in relation to its market and competition, enables

it to identify potential

opportunities for growth and potential threats. It is then possible to set strategic objectives and to predict the human financial resources needed to achieve them» (Intelligent Business, Intermediate, Longman: 23)«

Globalisation is forcing businesses to make cost

savings

by

reducing operating

costs

. One way to do this is by outsorcing…» » (Intelligent Business, Intermediate, Longman:

58)

“

Germany's

Angela Merkel

has restated her support for Jean-Claude

Juncker

to take over as

president

of the European Commission, at a mini-summit in Sweden

. The

chancellor said that while she was "happy" to say she wanted

Mr

Juncker

for the

top job

,

it

was not "the main topic" of the two-day talks

.”

(BBC news, 10 June 2014)Slide45

DA & GRAMMAR1.b EXOPHORIC REFERENCERelated to the immediate context. Reference to a world shared by both sender and receiver.«Leave

it on the table»The Pope, the PM, the Queen.

Problems with L2 students:«Do you like the classical music?» (music being heard)«Do you like classical music?» (are you fond of that type of music?)“The secure video conference room in the basement of the West Wing fell silent. Next to

me, Secretary Bob Gates sat in his shirtsleeves with his arms folded and his

eyes fixed intently on the screen. The image was fuzzy, but unmistakable. One of

the two Black Hawk helicopters

had clipped the top of the stone wall surrounding the compound and crashed to the ground. Our worst fears were coming

true..”(The Times, 10 June 2014)Slide46

DA & GRAMMAR1.C CATAPHORIC REFERENCERelated to referents to come, to be mentioned later. Reader’s attention hooked.The untold

message is: «Read on and find out more».

«It has often been compared to New Orlean’s Mardi Gras as an outdoor celebration. Certainly New York’s Mulberry Street and surrounding block have been as crowded over the last few

days as Royal and Bourbon Streets in the French Quarter

are for the

Mardi

Gras. More

than

three million people are estimated to have celebrated the 61° annual

Feast

of the San Gennaro down in Greenwich

Village

since

it

began

on

Thursday

».

(The

Guardian

, 15

September

1987,

quoted

by McCarthy M. 1991: 42)Slide47

DA & GRAMMAR – Cohesive devices2. Ellipsis and SubstitutionEllipsis: Omission of elements. Speaker/writer choice made on a pragmatic assessment of the situation.«The children

will carry the small boxes, the adult

the large ones»(anaphoric);«If you could, I’d like you to be back here at 5.30»(cataphoric, but usually in front-placed subordinate clauses);Verbal ellipsis, more complex:A: Will

anyone be waiting? B: Bill will, I think (

auxiliary

echoing ellipsis

)

A:

Has she remarried? B: No, but she will one

day

,

I’m

sure

(

auxiliary

contrasting

)Slide48

DA & GRAMMAR – Cohesive devices2. Ellipsis and SubstitutionWhole stretches of clauses may be omitted:«Matteo Renzi said he would add

80 euros to some salaries as

soon as he could, and he has»Substitution is similar to ellipsis as it operates wither at the nominal, verbal or clausal level.- One(s). I offered hima an

ice cream. He said he didn’t

want

one.- Do: Why

don’t

you find another boyfriend? I might do that.-So/

not

: Do

you

need

a lift?

If

so

,

wait

for me,

if

not

,

I’ll

see

you

there

.

-

Same

: He

chose

the

beef

, I

chose

the

same

(I

did

the

same)Slide49

DA & GRAMMAR – Cohesive devices3. ConjunctionA conjuction presupposes a textual sequens, and signals a relationship between segments of the discourse.

Type Sub-types

ExamplesElaboration apposition In other words clarification or ratherExtension addition (adversative) and/but variation alternativelyEhancement spatio-temporal there/previously

causal-conditional consequently/in that case(Halliday

1935: 306)Slide50

DA & GRAMMAR – Cohesive devices (reference)Slide51

Syntactical CohesionReference: Personal pronounsDemonstrative reference DEIXIS

Comparative reference

Substitution Ellipsis Conjunctions Slide52

Syntactical Cohesion - DeixisWhen considering the text, reference can be endophoric or exophoricEndophoric deixis refers to other elements within the textEx: Mark is here. He is 10 years old

Exophoric deixis refers to elements outside the text – in the context

Ex: Let’s go to there (people speaking know where the club is)Slide53

When looking at reference terms, deixis can also be ANAPHORIC or CATAPHORICAnaphoric deixis occurs whenever a term has a reference before it appearsI love Sting’s songs. His last CD is terrificCataphoric deixis occurs whenever a term has a reference after it appearsI love his songs. Sting’s last CD is terrificSlide54

Syntactical cohesion – Deixis (examples)Personal pronouns (Endophoric – anapora/cataphora – vs. exophoric reference). Examples:Mary

went to the cinema. She wore a yellow coat (anaphora – endophoric reference)

She went to the library. Mary wanted to buy a book (cataphora – endophoric reference)Slide55

Syntactical cohesion Deixis (examples)Personal pronouns (Endophoric – anaphora/cataphora – vs. exophoric reference). Examples:

Dialogue between two girl-friends (exophoric reference)

: o       A: I saw him at the pub yesterday.o       B. Oh, did you? Was he cute, wasn’t he?Slide56

Syntactical cohesion - Deixis (examples)Demonstrative reference (deixis)o   Come here! (= exophoric deixis)

o   Do you like

this? (= exophoric deixis)o   To be or not to be. That is the question. (= anaphoric, endophoric deixis)Comparative reference (which tells the reader to look at the text with a specific purpose in mind)There’s never been a better time to immerse yourself in the thrill of being part of the most exciting continent on earth – the home of couture, culture and cappuccinoSlide57

Syntactical cohesion (examples)Substitution: A hissing plume roars straight out of a hole in the sky some 30ft above. And the deluge carries on for another 30 m before tearing into the pool below’.

Ellipsis:

After all, jumping off a cliff into churning icy water is behaviour suitable only for the insane – so I’ve decided that I may as well go the whole hog (omission of ‘… and jump off a cliff into churning icy water). Conjunctions: And, that, but, etc.Slide58

EXERCISE: FIND OUT HOW COHESION AND COHERENCE ARE CONSTRUCTED (http://www.office-humour.co.uk/g/i/3792/)Rob is a commercial saturation diver for Global Divers. He performs underwater repairs on offshore drilling rigs. Below is an E-mail he sent to his sister.She then sent it to radio station 103.2 on FM dial in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, who was sponsoring a worst job experience contest. Needless to say, she won.Hi Sue,

Just another note from your bottom-dwelling brother. Last week I had a bad day at the office. I know you've been feeling down lately at work, so I thought I would share my dilemma with you to make you realize it's not so bad after all. Before I can tell you what happened to me, I first must bore you with a few technicalities of my job.

As you know, my office lies at the bottom of the sea. I wear a suit to the office. It's a wetsuit. This time of year the water is quite cool. So what we do to keep warmIs this: We have a diesel powered industrial water heater. This $20,000 piece of equipment sucks the water out of the sea. It heats it to a delightful temperature. It then pumps it down to the diver through a garden hose, which is taped to the air hose. Now this sounds like a darn good plan, and I've used it several times with no complaints. What I do, when I get to the bottom and start working, is take the hose and stuff it down the back of my wetsuit. This floods my whole suit with warm water. It's like working in a Jacuzzi.Everything was going well until all of a sudden, my butt started to itch. So, of course, I scratched it. This only made things worse. Within a few seconds my butt started to burn. I pulled the hose out from my back, but the damage was done. In agony I realized what had happened.The hot water machine had sucked up a jellyfish and pumped it into my suit. Now, since I don't have any hair on my back, the jellyfish couldn't stick to it. However, the crack of my butt was not as fortunate.When I scratched what I thought was an itch, I was actually grinding the jellyfish into the crack of my butt. I informed the dive supervisor of my dilemma over the communicator. His instructions were unclear due to the fact that he, along with five other divers, were all laughing hysterically.

Needless to say I aborted the dive. I was instructed to make three agonizing in-water decompression stops totaling thirty-five minutes before I could reach the surface to begin my BR chamber dry decompression. When I arrived at the surface, I was wearing nothing but my brass helmet.

As I climbed out of the water, the medic, with tears of laughter running down his face, handed me a tube of cream and told me to rub it on my butt as soon as I got in the chamber. The cream put the fire out, but I couldn't poop for two days because my butt was swollen shut. So, next time you're having a bad day at work, think about how much worse it would be if you had a jellyfish shoved up your butt.