Showing papers on "Discourse analysis published in 1986"

Attention, intention, and the structure of discourse

Abstract: In this paper we explore a new theory of discourse structure that stresses the role of purpose and processing in discourse. In this theory, discourse structure is composed of three separate but interrelated components: the structure of the sequence of utterances (called the linguistic structure), a structure of purposes (called the intentional structure), and the state of focus of attention (called the attentional state). The linguistic structure consists of segments of the discourse into which the utterances naturally aggregate. The intentional structure captures the discourse-relevant purposes, expressed in each of the linguistic segments as well as relationships among them. The attentional state is an abstraction of the focus of attention of the participants as the discourse unfolds. The attentional state, being dynamic, records the objects, properties, and relations that are salient at each point of the discourse. The distinction among these components is essential to provide an adequate explanation of such discourse phenomena as cue phrases, referring expressions, and interruptions.The theory of attention, intention, and aggregation of utterances is illustrated in the paper with a number of example discourses. Various properties of discourse are described, and explanations for the behavior of cue phrases, referring expressions, and interruptions are explored.This theory provides a framework for describing the processing of utterances in a discourse. Discourse processing requires recognizing how the utterances of the discourse aggregate into segments, recognizing the intentions expressed in the discourse and the relationships among intentions, and tracking the discourse through the operation of the mechanisms associated with attentional state. This processing description specifies in these recognition tasks the role of information from the discourse and from the participants' knowledge of the domain.

The Social construction of literacy

Abstract: This book presents a social perspective on literacy and on its acquisition. The term 'literacy' is notoriously vague, and in the opening chapter of this collection, Jenny Cook-Gumperz examines the historical background which came to equate 'universal literacy' with the resolution of society's ills, and questions why, when this objective has been so nearly realised in Western society, some people are clearly considered more 'literate' than others. The central thesis of the book is that literacy is now equated with school performance, but that educational assessments of literacy are often woefully inadequate. The empirical studies of classroom life that form the core of the book examine classroom interactions in a variety of settings and tellingly illustrate the need for students to acquire discourse strategies that are socially 'approved'. The volume as a whole presents a new perspective on literacy acquisition - as not simply a cognitive process but a socially and communicatively based skill. The original methodological approach provides for a fine tuned analysis that increases our understanding of communicative interaction in general and has wide ranging implications for educational theory and practice.

Units in the production of narrative discourse

Abstract: (1986). Units in the production of narrative discourse. Discourse Processes: Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 391-422.

Towards a phonology of conversation: turn-taking in Tyneside English

Abstract: Remarkably little is known in detail about the phonetics and phonology of naturally occurring conversational talk. Virtually nothing of interest is known of the interactional implications of particular kinds of phonetic events in everyday talk: in particular about the ways in which participants in talk deploy general phonetic resources to accomplish specific interactional tasks. This is in part a consequence of the tendency of recent research on the phonological aspect of discourse to limit itself to ‘intonation’ as an area of primary interest. This work has moved away from the type of phonological analysis, such as that of Halliday (1967), that states intonational systems in terms of grammatically defined units or sentence types. Workers such as Brazil (1975, 1978, 1981), Brown, Currie and Kenworthy (1981), and Coulthard and Brazil (1981) have pursued Bolinger's suggestion that the relationship between intonation and grammar is ‘casual not causal’ and have sought to relate ‘intonation’ to discourse categories rather than to grammatical ones. These, and similar attempts to deal with aspects of discourse phonology, have suggested some organizational features which traditional linguistic accounts have not dealt with. On the whole, however, these recent attempts have been less than satisfactory for one or more of the following reasons.

The Bulge: A Theory of Speech Behavior and Social Distance

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is threefold. Firstly. I want to outline the major ways in which the study of rules of speaking can provide insights into the norms and values of a speech community. Secondly. I will discuss ways in which the same material can provide information about the interaction process and the situations in which interlocutors negotiate their relationships with one another. Lastly, I will put forth a theory concerning patterns of interaction within a general middle class American speech community. This article is available in Working Papers in Educational Linguistics (WPEL): http://repository.upenn.edu/wpel/vol2/iss1/3 THE BULGE: A THEORY OF SPEECH BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL DISTANCE 1

Critical Theory Since 1965

Abstract: An overwhelmingly rich display of critical theory. -Rocky Mountain ReviewCritical Theory Since 1965 (originally published in 1986 and now in paperback) is a collection of theoretical writing by thirty-eight contemporary theorists and, as background, eighteen important intellectual precursors. It is by far the most complete representation of critical theory available, including phenomenologists, structuralists, deconstructionists, Marxists, feminists, reader-response critics, dissenters, and eccentrics, and supplying the background texts necessary of a working understanding of contemporary critical vocabulary and thought.The volume includes selections from Chomsky, Searle, Derrida, Foucault, Frye, Bloom, Kristeva, Fish, Baktin, Berlin, Lacan, Heidegger, Wittgenstein, Lukacs, Levi-Strauss, and Blanchot, among many others.

Plan recognition and discourse analysis: an integrated approach for understanding dialogues

Abstract: One promising computational approach to understanding dialogues has involved modeling the goals of the speakers in the domain of discourse. In general, these models work well as long as the topic follows the goal structure closely, but they have difficulty accounting for interrupting subdialogues such as clarifications and corrections. Furthermore, such models are typically unable to use many processing clues provided by the linguistic phenomena of the dialogues. This dissertation presents a computational theory and partial implementation of a discourse level model of dialogue understanding. The theory extends and integrates plan-based and linguistic-based approaches to language processing, arguing that such a synthesis is needed to computationally handle many discourse level phenomena present in naturally occurring dialogues. The simple, fairly syntactic results of discourse analysis (for example, explanations of phenomena in terms of very local discourse contexts as well as correlations between syntactic devices and discourse function) will be input to the plan recognition system, while the more complex inferential processes relating utterances have been totally reformulated within a plan-based framework. Such an integration has led to a new model of plan recognition, one that constructs a hierarchy of domain and meta-plans via the process of constraint satisfaction. Furthermore, the processing of the plan recognizer is explicitly coordinated with a set of linguistic clues. The resulting framework handles a wide variety of difficult linguistic phenomena (for example, interruptions, fragmental and elliptical utterances, and presence as well as absence of syntactic discourse clues), while maintaining the computational advantages of the plan-based approach. The implementation of the plan recognition aspects of this framework also addresses two difficult issues of knowledge representation inherent in any plan recognition task.

Dialectical analysis as a normative reconstruction of argumentative discourse.

Abstract: In this paper the author argues in favour of applying analysis, particularly in relation to argumentative discussions, and presents a theory for adoption äs the toöl for the normative analysis of argumentative discourse. The argument for normative analysis consists of a demonstration ofthe Van Ferneren and Grootendorst dialectical argumentation theory in Operation. Confining the analysis to the Identification of the type of dispute charactenzing the confrontation stage of a critical discussion, the analytical Instrument is applied to a specimen of political discourse, the purpose of this exemplary analysis being to compare dialectical analysis with pure description. Tfie author points out some advantages of normative reconstruction in terms of surveyability and discernment. l. Dialectical analyis and the description of discourse In my opinion, a theory of verbal communication and interaction which purports to be practical must be normative äs well äs descriptive. In this paper, therefore, I would like to make a plea for a normative extension of the prevailing methodology in discourse analysis. I shall substantiate my contention on the basis of a dialectical analysis of the confrontation stage of a political discussion. In order to comment constructively on a sample of discourse, one has to know the purpose of the verbal utterances comprising this discourse and to what extent the verbal behaviour is adequate in view of this purpose. Verbal acting is a form of goal-directed behaviour and has to be treated accordingly. 0165-4888/86/0006-0001 $2.00 Text 6(1) (1986), pp. 1-16 © Mouton de Gruyter, Amsterdam 2 Frans H. van Eemeren This means that in order to get satisfactory analyses, Systems of norms muist be established which are relevant to the various types of discourse. Risky äs; it may be, a normative element has to be incorporated in the theorizing processs. The modification in the description of discourse I propose does not simply consist of paying attention to norms which are äs a rule operative in languafge use, äs for example the Gricean maxims. Any and all norms which may fuirther the pursuit of a particular language goal must be taken into account. Tlhis may result in the construction of Systems of norms which are partially dlisregarded by the language-users involved or which are even unknown to therm. In order to avoid inconsistencies and other defects, every System of nonms proposed for analytical purposes must be scrutinized with respect to both its 'problem validity', relating to the language goal concerned, and its int(ersubjective validity', relating to the language-users. A normative construict evaluated in this way is suitable for an adequate description and appreciatine (positive or negative) point of view is advanced with respect to an opinion. In compound disputes two contradictory points ofview (one positive and ome negative) are propounded with respect to one and the same opinion, äs in the following example: Peter: 'You should never take an aspirin with milk.' Agnes: On the contrary: you should!' Simple single disputes, in which a single positive or negative point of view with regard to a single opinion is advanced and subjected to doubt, represent the baue form of dispute. All the other Standard types of dispute can be analyzed äs composites of simple single disputes. If we indicate the expression of doubt with a question mark, we can then characterize the two variants of the basic form of a dispute as^follows: (a) Peter: 'You should take an aspirin with milk!' Agnes: 'Should I?' Analysis of(a) äs a simple single dispute: party I : +/p (party I = Peter) partyll : ?/(+/p) (party II = Agnes) (b) Peter: 'You should never take an aspirin with milk!' Agnes: 'Shouldn't I?' Analysis offb) äs a simple single dispute: party I : -/p (party I = Peter) partyll : ?/(-/p) (partyll = Agnes) It is important to observe that expressing doubt, while it may accompany tfo adoption of the opposite point of view, is not identical to the adoption of the opposite point of view. In variant (a) of the basic form of dispute, fa example, Agnes does not necessarily have to take the position that you shoull not take an aspirin with milk, and in variant (b) she does not necessarily hav3 to take the position. that you should. Not all disputes need be compounc. Besides compound multiple disputes and compound single disputes, simpe multiple disputes and even simple single disputes can also occur. Dialectical analysis of argumentative discourse 5 Since dialectical analysis of the confrontation stage of a critical discussion consists of an identification of the type of dispute at the heart of the discussion, the analysis amounts to establishing the exact composition of the conflict of opinion underlying the discussion. Crucial for this is the detection of standpoints, positive or negative, and expressions of doubt, explicit or implicit. When these are known, further analysis is äs easy äs shelling peas. Unfortunately, in real discourse, standpoints and doubts are often only implicated or tacitly assumed, so that serious problems of Interpretation may arise. 3. Analysis of a sample of political discourse Let us now analyse the confrontation stage in a sample of political discourse. For the sake of clarity, in this institutional context I will concentrate on a deliberation of party representatives trying to reach agreement on the question of whether or not to vote for a proposal concerning the abolition of a certain provision of the Act of Settlement. Before revealing their standpoint to the public, they have to reach a unanimous position on the matter, and this means there is no need for them to play up to the audience, äs politicians so often do, but the

Discourse Performance in Older Adults

Abstract: Thirty-three elderly women, whose mean age was 76.2 years, and eighteen middle-aged women, whose mean age was 45.6 years, were assessed on a number of linguistic discourse tasks. The women were well educated, and most of them were or had been engaged in the teaching profession. Each woman was given 1) narrative discourse tasks involving recall of stories, summarizing stories, giving the morals of the stories, 2) procedural discourse tasks, 3) interview to assess cognitive functioning and communicative abilities, and 4) the following cognitive tests: Block Design, Symbol-Digit, Raven Coloured Progressive Matrices, and Word Fluency. The findings were that the older group generally performed more poorly than did the middle-aged group on most of the discourse tasks and cognitive tests. Within the older group, measures of quality of discourse were generally negatively related to age and positively related to scores on cognitive tests.

Studying writing : linguistic approaches

Abstract: Writing in the Perspective of Speaking - Wallace Chafe On the Dynamics of Written Communication in the Light of the Theory of Functional Sentence Perspective - Jan Firbas Given and New Information and Some Aspects of the Structures, Semantics, and Pragmatics of Written Texts - William J Vande Kopple Writing Process and Written Products in Composition Research - Stephen P Witte and Roger D Cherry News Schemata - Teun A van Dijk Overlapping Patterns of Discourse Organization and Their Implications for Clause Relational Analysis in Problem-Solutions - Michael Hoey The Discourse Status of Commentary - Chaim Rabin Cognitive Models and Discourse Analysis - Carl H Frederiksen

Consummatory Versus Justificatory Crisis Rhetoric.

Abstract: The question posed in this study is: Are there differences in rhetorical strategy and tactic between discourse initially constituting the sole response of our government to states of emergency and discourse accompanying, justifying, and rationalizing specific military moves undertaken in response to crises? To provide a partial answer to this question, five presidential messages were analyzed and placed into two categories: consummatory rhetoric‐where presidential discourse initially constituted the only official reply made by the American government; and justificatory rhetoric‐where presidential discourse was part of a larger, military retaliation taken by the government. Differences and similarities between these two kinds of talk are detailed, and implications for crisis rhetoric are presented.

Medical professionals and parents: A linguistic analysis of communication across contexts

Abstract: The study is based on analysis of videotaped conversation that occurred in five different settings involving various family members and medical professionals in a single pediatric case. We examine (1) the elaboration and condensation of information through spoken and written channels; (2) the negotiation of information exchanged in interactions characterized by different participant structures; and (3) the methodological benefit of examining interaction across contexts. We find that (a) information is negotiated, as well as discovered, during the medical interviews; and (b) information exchanged is often less resilient than participants' cognitive schemas which precede and apparently outlive the exchange of information in the interaction. These findings contribute to an understanding of the negotiation of meaning as well as the creation of context in interaction. (Discourse, interactional sociolinguistics, context, doctor–patient communication, spoken and written language, schema theory)

The Use of the Simple Present in the Speech of Two Three-Year-Olds: Normativity Not Subjectivity.

Abstract: In our research, we wish to illuminate different types of discursive intentions which are structured into discourse via the verb inflections and auxiliaries, together with their entailed social effects. In the present report, we examine the use of the simple present by two three-year-olds, and argue that analyses in terms of tense or aspect are not adequate to account for its use. One needs to recognize the way in which the form implicitly refers to norms and thereby entails a type of impersonal motivation - especially as it is just this feature of the use of this form that structures the ongoing activity into a nondialogic, normative activity. (Simple present, normativity, subjectivity, activity-types, nondialogic discourse, the constitutive role of language, American English)

The Meaning and Discourse Function of the Past Tense in English.

Abstract: The past tense is often used inconsistently, even by very advanced ESL learners. In this article, it is suggested that a major cause of the problem is a failure by teachers and students to recognize the extent to which a speaker's point of view and purpose in performing a speech act condition the choice between the present and past tenses in actual discourse. Following an analysis of the meaning and discourse function of the past tense, suggestions are offered for teaching and practicing this tense in context.

Discourse structures in bilingual families

Abstract: This study investigated the discourse structures in six bilingual German‐English families. The parents followed the concept of one person‐one language. The children were taped in natural interaction with their parents. At the time of the first recording, the children were aged either 2;4 or 2;8, and they were taped a second time six months later. The parents’ discursive strategies were related to the children's acquisition of the minority language. The analysis showed that children were more likely to speak the minority language if the respective parent employed a similarly or more child‐centred mode of interaction than the parent who spoke the majority language.

The Effect of Mode Discourse on Student Writing Performance: Implications for Policy

Abstract: To determ ine the reliαbility of evalua tion decisions about student writing compeenncy across modes of discourse, a large sample of students was randomly assigned a writing task in one of four modes of discourse. Analysis of the data revealed significat differences between the mean score of narrative writing and scores for descrip­ tive, expository, and persuasive writing. The decision consissency analysis also found that on the average, 30% of the students were misclassified across the modes of discourse. It follows from these results that modes of discourse do not appear to be interchangeable for making decisions about the overall writing competency of either groups of, or individual, students.

"Motherese" of Mr. Rogers: a description of the dialogue of educational television programs.

Abstract: Dialogue from 30-min samples each from Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood was described. Three aspects of language were measured: grammar, content, and discourse. The findings indicate that...

Discourse Analysis and Reflexivity

Abstract: This Note reviews shortcomings and claims of discourse analysis (DA). In particular, it focuses on the relationship between DA and reflexivity. It argues that DA could not succeed as its supporters...