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DISCOURSE ANALYSIS AND VOCABULARY

DISCOURSE ANALYSIS AND VOCABULARY. Bring a discourse dimention to teach vocabulary Not abandoning vocabulary teaching , instead offering a supplement to conventional vocabulary teaching Using traditional and recent , more communicative approaches in vocabulary teaching and activities.

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DISCOURSE ANALYSIS AND VOCABULARY

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  1. DISCOURSE ANALYSISAND VOCABULARY

  2. Bring a discoursedimentiontoteachvocabulary • Not abandoningvocabularyteaching, insteadoffering a supplementtoconventionalvocabularyteaching • Using traditionalandrecent, morecommunicativeapproaches in vocabularyteachingandactivities

  3. LexicalCohesion Repetiton of wordsandthe role playedbycertainbasicsemanticrelationsbetweenwords in creatingtextuality. Reiteration: eitherrestating an item in a laterpart of thediscoursebydirectrepetitionor else reassertingitsmeaningbyexploitinglexialrelations. • Hyponymy (rose-flower/ chair-furniture) • Synonymy (commence-begin)

  4. Reiteration • Is extremelycommon in English discourse, • Addsnewdimensionsandnuancestomeaning, • Servestobuildupincreasinglycomplexcontent.

  5. Implicationsforlanguagepedagogy • Disturbingthelexicalpatterns of textsmayleadtounnaturalnessandinauthenticity at thediscourselevel. • Simplificationmaymeanunnaturalamount of repetition. • Observinglexicallinks in a textcould be usefulforlanguagelearners in variousways. • Lexicalreiterationsupplieslearnerswithmeaningful, controlledpracticeandchancestoimprovetheirtext-creatinganddecodingabilitiesbyprovidingmorevariedcontextsforusingandpractisingvocabulary.

  6. Lexis in talk • Lexicalrelations can be appliedtospoken data as well. • Relexicalisation: speakersreiteratetheirownandtakeuponeanother’svocabularyselections in one form oranotherfromturntoturnanddevelopandexpand in doingso.

  7. Theconnectionbetweendevelopmentandmodificationandreworking of lexicalitemsusedbeforemakestheconversationdevelopcoherently. • Inthisway, neitherside is dominant in theconversation, whichmakestheconversation a jointactivity (ethnometodologicalapproachto D.A.). • Relexicalisation of someelementsprovidesaggrementandcontributiontorelevance.

  8. Conversationclasseswheretopicsarepre-set may be verysuitableforthiskind of development. • As thetransitionfromsuperordinatestohyponymsandfromsynonymstoantonyms is a commonfeature of conversation, students can be equippedtousethisskillbyregularpractice. • As soon as thenecessaryvocabulary is met, languagelearners can be encouragedtousecommunicativevalue of theselexicalitems at an earlystage.

  9. Textualaspects of lexicalcompetence • Sometimesourexpectations as to how wordsareconventionallyusedaredisturbedwhenthewritersarrangeusuallexicalrelationsforparticularpurposes of thetext. Thedepressingfeature of Allen’sdocuments is thepicturewhichemerges of smart but stupidmilitaryplanners, theequivalent of America’smadderfundamentalists, happilyplayingthefoolwiththefuture of the planet. ( TheGuardian, 13 November 1987: 15)

  10. Thereareotherreadjustments of lexicalitemswhicharevalid in particulartextsonly. • Theirinterpretationsmay not correspondtodictionarydefinitions. • Thegoodlistener/reader has todecidewhenwordsarebeingused as synonymousorwhenthesesamewordsareusedtostressthedifference in meaning-potential.

  11. Discourse-specificlexicalrelations can be calledinstantialrelations(J. Ellis, 1966). • Althoughtheserelationsfrequentlyfound in texts in alllanguages, theproblemslearnersencounterwithsuchusesareusuallypsychologically-generated. • Becausetheycometotextswiththeexpectationsthatthewordshavefixedrelationshipswithoneanother.

  12. Instantialrelationsoftenpresentimportantstylisticfeatures in text: • Creative lexicalusage, • Devices of evaluationorirony, • Particularfocus. • Bydefinition, eachcase has tointerpretedindividually. • Theachersshouldraise an awarenessthatsuchuses of typicalvocabularyareoftenreadjusted in individualtexts.

  13. VocabularyandOrganisation of text

  14. Here I wanttospendsome time examiningthisissue. First I proposetolookbriefly at thehistory of interest in theproblem, thenspendsome time on itsoriginsandmagnitudebeforeturningto an assessment of thepresentsituationandapproachestoitssolution. Finally, I wanttohave a shortpeek at thepossiblefutureprospects. Thesewordsstand in a place of segments of text. Theyarecalleddiscourseorganisingwordsbecausetheyorganiseandstructuretheargument. Thesewordsbuildupexpectationsaboutthewholediscourse. Theyoperatepredictivelyandretrospectively.

  15. The Characteristics of Some Discourse-organizing Words in the PassageAbove • this preceding text check-up • issue anticipating problem-solving processes • problem  seeking for solutions • assessment  performing evaluation of the problem and providing solutions • solution  fulfillment of task

  16. How manysuchwordsarethere in a languagelike English? • Winter (1977-78) vocabulary 3 • Francis (1986) anaphoricnouns • Jordan (1984) vocabularyindex

  17. Signallinglargertextualpatterns • Besidesrepresentingsegments of textandparcellingupphrases, discourseorganisingwordssignaltoreaderwhatlargertextualpatternsarebeingreliased. • E.g. • Problem-solutionpattern • Claim-counterclaimpattern(Hypothetical-real)

  18. Thewords in yellowpredict (solutionin theheadline, concern) andreinforce (solution, problem) the problem-solutionpattern.

  19. Discourseorganisingwordsfor problem-solutionpattern SeeJordan’s (1984) wordlistforclaim-counterclaimpattern p. 80

  20. Registerandsignallingvocabulary • Register is closelyrelatedwithlexicalselection. • Lexicalchoicedepends on • Context (textbook, magazine, newsreport) • Audience (cultured, educated, readers of popular press) • Writtenorspokenstyle • Idiomsaregoodmetaphorsfortextualsegments.

  21. The Employment of Idioms • Restriction of idiom application:  It is not always easy to find natural contexts in which to present idioms or idiomatic expressions. • Characteristics of idiom application:  Idioms or idiomatic phrases are applied to (1) organize discourse, and (2) signal evaluation.

  22. Modality • Modality is generallythoughttobelongtoclosedclass of modalverbs (must, may, can, will, etc.) andtreated as part of thegrammar. • However, thereare a lot of words (nouns, verbs, adverbsandadjectives)havingthesameorsimilarmeaniningswiththemodalverbs. E.g. Appear, assume, doubt, look as if, actually, certainly, possiblyandnounsandadjectivesrelatedtothem.

  23. Means of Making Modality in English • Modal Verbs • Adjectivals • Participials • Nominal Modal Expressions (be able to, be going to… ) • Modal-like Adjectives (necessary, probable, certain, advisable… ) • Modal-like Adverbs (necessarily, probably, certainly, perhaps, maybe… ) • Parentheticals (I think, I believe, I’m sure… )

  24. Comparison of Neutral and Modalized Sentences • I suppose it’s possible the cat just may have sat on the mat. • The cat sat on the mat.

  25. Thesemodalitywordscarryimportantinformationandareconcernedwithassertion, tentativeness, commitment, detachmentandotherimportantaspects of interpersonalmeaning. • Discourseanalystshavepresentedthatmodality is crucial in thecreation of discourse. • Holmes (1988) showsthatthelargervocabulary of modallexicalitems is oftenunder-presented in theteachingmaterials.

  26. Tasks for Teachers and Learners • Is it possible to delimit procedural vocabulary? • What happens if the most common signaling words are not known by learners? • If all languages have text-organizing vocabulary, can the teaching/learning process capitalize on transfer in some ways?

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