Cohesion, Coherence and Discourse

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Cohesion, Coherence and Discourse
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She hid Bob then cooked it, whose sister rose
prices, which liked very much itself , however
Sheila wanted. The electric appliances, including
the Kangaroo and the astronaut, notwithstanding,
snow-boarded up the slope sadly, swam in the road
glady, flew under the sea madly.
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Texts as language events

• Self-contained
• Well formed
• Hang together (cohesion)
• Make sense (coherent)
• Clear purpose
• Recognizable text types
• Appropriate context of use
• Follow expected pattern (schema)

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Cohesion and Coherence impeccably well formed
language is typical of casual spontaneous
speech (including children)Halliday 198535

• Cohesion hanging it all together
• Coherence getting the message across (including
  pragmatic function)

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Cohesion

• Grammatical cohesion
• Syntactic cohesion
• Lexical cohesion
• Semantic cohesion
• Cohesive links
• Cohesive devices

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Grammatical cohesion

• In the following texts identify the different
  kinds or errors
• Jane like make fun English upper classes
• No one make any reply. She then yawn again, throw
  aside her book, and cast her eyes round the room
  in quest of some amusement when hear her brother
  mention a ball to Miss Bennet, she turn suddenly
  towards him and say,
• The brother of Jane is the teacher of my
  daughter.
• To obtain informations on the musics used in the
  programme please write to our informations
  service. For advices on how to write musics for
  TV programmes please get in touch with our
  advices service.
• she made not the smallest objection to his
  joining in the society of the neighbourhood

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BUT texts still understandable even if not
grammatically cohesive. ( cfr Grices maxims
can be flouted, so can grammar rules. All
evidence that we strive to make sense of nay kind
of text (unless it is English people trying to
udnerstand foreign tourists!)

• Typical natural language presents a high rate of
  ungrammatical text, so the study of
  ungrammaticalities cannot be ignored.
• Parsing on Ungrammaticality
• K.K. Yong and C. Huyck (UK)
• Paper presented at AI and soft computing 2004

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Syntactic cohesion

• Has come yesterday John.
• The sister of the girlfriend of the teacher of my
  brother is the teacher of my sister.
• Not only he was rich, but handsome, too.

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Lexical cohesion - 2

• Synonymy (the plan, thr project, the proposal)
• Antonymy (good/bad, hot/cold, married/unmarried)
• Hyponomy (furniture(superordinate)- table, chair,
  bed (co-hyponyms))
• Paraphrasis ("Wilfing" - or surfing the web
  without any real purpose - )
• Semantic field (weather cold, sun, rain,
  temperature, windy, forecast )
• Collocations (patches of fog, join the army, have
  a party, sharp increase)
• Lexical chunks (If I were you, I dont know, Best
  wishes, )

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Semantic cohesion

• She came into the room. He braked suddenly and
  the car swerved violently and crashed into the
  bus shelter. They were happy to be there
  together, but sorry the children werent there to
  enjoy the scene. Even though it might have been
  better to buy the bigger size, in case the
  children had a growth spurt.

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Semantic cohesion - 2

• A series of sentences may be well-formed
  grammatically, but lack semantic cohesion, and
  therefore does not meet the basic criteria to be
  considered a text. Semantic links between
  successive sentences are fundamental to cohesion
  and coherence. There must be thematic progression
  (see Halliday below)

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Cohesive devices

• Verb tenses
• Referring expressions (anaphoric, cataphoric and
  exophoric reference)
• Rhetorical questions
• Repetition (words and structures)
• Parallelism ( the rule of three)
• Semantic fields (lexical cohesion)
• Substitution (Do you like pizza? Yes, I do. )
• Ellipsis (What are you doing? Playing chess )
• Conjunctions

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Parallelism
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• And so let freedom ring from the prodigious
  hilltops of New Hampshire.
• Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of
  New York.
• Let freedom ring from the heightening
  Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
•    Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies
  of Colorado.
•    Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of
  California.
•    But not only that
•    Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of
  Georgia.
•    Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of
  Tennessee.
•    Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill
  of Mississippi.
• From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

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Conjuncts

• Conjuncts have a fundamental role in the cohesion
  of a text and may have various functions
• Listing/Enumerative (indicating that what follows
  is a list of propositions) To start with, First,
  Second, Third
• Additive (giving extra information, exemplifying
  a point, emphasising a point ) Too, also, in
  addition, for example, moreover etc
• Summative (summing up, or concluding, on the
  preceding phrases/sentence(s)) To sum up, to
  conclude, in a word/ nutshell
• Appositive (rephrasing the preceding sentence) in
  other words, what I mean is,

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Conjuncts - 2

• Resultative/inferential/causal (indicating that
  the content of the sentence is a result of the
  events expressed in the preceding
  sentence/paragraph and relations of cause and
  effect/outcome) therefore, thus, as a consequence
  
• As a consequence of this approach, we have equal
  numbers of mean and women as head of unit.
• Antithetic/adversative (contrasting the
  previously mentioned idea) but, though,
  alternatively, on the other hand, however
• Concessive (indicating that the content of the
  sentence "exists" despite the content in the
  preceding sentence) however, while, despite, even
  though
• It is very cold. I went for my morning walk,
  however.
• Temporal (indicating temporal relation between
  the contend of the sentence and the preceding
  sentence) while, during, ever since, next, later,
  finally

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Coherence

• Texts can be perfectly cohesive but incoherent
• Are these sentences coherent? If not, why not?
• Which of you people is the fish?
• Two seventy-nines, one medium sixty-three, three
  elevens, a mild forty-three, oh and whats the
  thirty three?
• Give bob ball. Give ball. Give Bobby ball. Give.
• They know what the house thinks.
• if the visible of sprite 5 then go to the frame

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Coherence - 2

• language in use, for communication is called
  discourse and the search for what gives
  discourse coherence is discourse analysis.
• Cook 1989 6
• Discourse can be anything from a grunt or single
  expletive, through short conversations and
  scribbled notes right up to Tolstoys novel, War
  and Peace, or a lengthy legal case.

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Schemata

• Write out different schemata for the following
  text types
• Legal document
• Business letter
• Novel
• Newspaper article
• Joke
• Job interview
• Buying a ticket at the train station

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Schemata - 2

• We rely on our knowledge of the world
  (presuppositions) when interpreting situations.
  This includes cultural knowledge, linguistic
  knowledge and social knowledge.
• Different views as to how these suppositions work
  (Lakoff vs Fullmore and Keenan vs Jackendoff)
• Cultural conditions

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Form to Function

• To connect their knowledge with the language
  system people se reasoning, and pragmatic
  theories go some way towards explaining how
  people reason their way from the form to the
  function and thus construct coherent discourse
  from the language they receive Cook, p42-43
• The interaction between knowledge, reasoning, and
  language is crucial to understanding discourse

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Language functions - Jakobson

• Emotive function (from Ugh! to Awesome)
• Directive function ( with the purpose of
  affecting the behaviour of the addressee)
• Phatic function (to open the discourse and
  monitor its reception)
• Poetic function (including advertising slogans)
• Referential function (conveying information)
• Metalinguistic function (to talk about language)
• Contextual function (to signpost the discourse)

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Micro-functions

• Each of the above macro-functions can be broken
  down into subcategories, e.g.
• orders requests for
  action
• requests requests for
  information
• Directive function pleas requests for help
• 
  questions requests for sympathy
• prayers requests
  for forgiveness
• Adapted from Cook, 1989, p 27
• This list is not meant to be exhaustive and
  categories can be broken down further.
• NB. Discourse can have more than one function
  

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Conversational Principles

• Grices Maxims cooperative principle
• Be true (maxim of quality)
• Be brief (maxim of quantity)
• Be relevant (maxim of relevance)
• Be clear (maxim of manner)
• Akmajian et al refer to these as Conversational
  presumptions and divide sincerity and
  truthfulness the former refering to the
  speakers belief in what he/she is saying.

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Politeness Principle

• As social beings our ultimate aim is to interact
  with other people, i.e. social cohesion. In order
  to achieve this we obey certain unwritten rules
  regarding politeness. In other words, whenever
  possible we avoid being rude (not always
  depending on context see below)

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Breaking rules

• Cooperative principles are often violeted or
  flouted in Grices terminology. For example
  with hyperbole, metaphor, irony, sarcasm, double
  entendre etc. Or in the case of politicians, most
  maxims are routinely flouted.
• However, the addressee must have sufficient
  knowledge of the language/context/culture to be
  able to know when the maxims are being purposely
  flouted.

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Appropriacy

• Discourse should be appropriate to the context
• Depends on power relations
• Social expectations
• Prior knowledge of social conventions required

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The Appropriate Way to Greet the PM???

• http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/518904
  8.stm
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v6Xq3DobSCKQ

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Inappropriate use of language can have
repercussions far wider than expected.
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Catch phrases live much longer than international
declarations in the publics mind

• Has 'Yo Blair' been replaced? Bumbling Berlusconi
  becomes Bush's new BFF
• BFF
• Best Friend Forever in chatroom speak
• Daily Mail14.10.08

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Analysing Texts and Contexts Top Down

• Someone (Who by) communicates to someone else
  (Who for), who may or may not respond, about
  something (What), somewhere (Where), at a certain
  moment in time (When), using a chosen means
  (How), for some reason/purpose (Why)

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Contexts and Register

• The register of language depends on the context
  of the text whatever the medium and the
  participants

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Register and language

• Register can affect all features of language
  vocabulary, syntax, phonology, morphology,
  pragmatics and/or different paralinguistic
  features such as pitch, volume and intonation in
  spoken English.

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Degrees of formality

• There are not merely two kinds of register
  (formal and informal), nor are there clear
  boundaries between x kinds of register, but
  rather a continuum from highly formal to highly
  informal (aka vulgar!).

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Register, varieties and dialect

• Discourse highly complex context must also take
  into account such things as geographical
  varieties (including dialects), social class,
  age, and even time (e.g. the language used in an
  historical novel)
• Once again there are no clear boundaries
• When does a variety become a dialect?
• - At what age should one stop using the language
  of youth?
• - Are there more formal and less formal
  varieties of dialects?
• - idiolects idiosyncracies
• http//www.mediaplayer.telegraph.co.uk/?itemA5DD9
  6A9-6983-49E2-85A6-C693A20B4872

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Kinds of Meaning

• There are often two types of meaning
• Semantic meaning (literal meaning) depending on
  the words used
• Pragmatic meaning which depends on the context in
  which the words occur
• Sometimes the two may coincide often they do not

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Theres a dead bird on the steps.

• Literal/semantic meaning referential
  function
• Pragmatic function remove it

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Infering meaning - 3

• The meaning has to be the same for both speakers
  (Lakoff semantic presuppositions, assumptions
  about context Fillmore - set of conditions,
  presupposition that the context is appropriate
  Jackendoff shared presuppositions, presumption
  that the hearer has the same presuppositions
  see Akmajian et al p 346)
• The presupposition must match the context. In the
  case of the snack Calvin has not thought about
  the context perhaps soon before dinner and with
  a mother who cares about diet Calvins
  presuppositions and those of his mother are not
  the same.

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Infering meaning - 3
Dick Cheney walks into the Oval Office and sees
The President whooping and hollering. "What's
the matter, Mr. President?" The Vice President
inquired. "Nothing at all, boss. I just done
finished a jigsaw puzzle in record time!" The
President beamed. "How long did it take you?"
"Well, the box said '3 to 5 Years' but I did it
in a month!"
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A Question

• If the same words can mean completely different
  things in different contexts, how does the
  addressee know whether to interpret words
  literally or non-literally?

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Answer

• Linguistic knowledge alone is not enough to
  interpret discourse when Grices maxims are being
  flouted i.e. when an utterance has non-literal
  meaning.
• We choose the most likely meaning according to
  our expectations and world, cultural, and
  linguistic knowledge

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Ambiguity

• We choose the most likely meaning according to
  our expectations and world, cultural and
  linguistic knowledge

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Context and Register Halliday

• Halliday (1964) identifies three variables that
  determine context and as a result register field
  (the what of the discourse, i.e. the subject
  matter and the nature of the discourse), tenor
  (the who of the discourse, i.e. the
  participants and their relationships) and mode
  (the how i.e. the type of communication, e.g.
  spoken or written).
• This is but one linguists terminology other
  linguists use other terms.

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Context and Register Hymes (1)

• Hymes (1972) identified other components of a
  context
• - participants (speaker audience)
• - message form
• - message content
• - setting (where/when)
• - medium of communication (spoken, written etc)
• - intent of communication (purpose)
• - effect of communication (outcome)
• - the key (tone/register)
• - the genre (text type)
• - the norms of interaction (expectations)

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Context and Register Hymes (2)To help you
remember

• S Setting and Scene
• P Participants
• E Ends
• A Act Sequence
• K Key
• I Instrumentalities
• N Norms
• G Genre

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Context and Register House (based on Crystal
and Davey)

• House (1981 1997) talked about different
  dimensions 3 dimensions for the language
  user and 5 dimensions for language use
• User Use
• - geographic origin - medium
• - social class - participation
• - time - social role relationship
• - social attitude
• - province
• - member of sub-group??
• - cultural and social relationships

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Power relations

• Much of the register of an interaction is
  dictated by the power relations between the
  interlocutors. Both participants must, however,
  have the same understanding of this power
  relationship if the rights and obligations of the
  participants are to be respected. If not this can
  result in either offence or embrassment. This
  knowledge is often culture-bound. Compare power
  relationships in Eastern cultures with those in
  the Western world.

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Underlying forces

• The force of what is said can vary depending on
  how the language is used.
• Austin and Searles Speech act theory
• Locution the information conveyed
• Illocution the act performed
• Perlocution the main aim of the discourse (the
  upshot)

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Discourse

• Top down
• social relationships
• shared knowledge
• discourse type
• discourse structure
• discourse function
• schemata (ritual and repertoire)
• cohesion
• grammar and lexis
• sounds and letters
• bottom up
• (Adapted from Cook, 1989, p80)

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Bibliography

• Cook, G (1989) Discourse Oxford Oxford
  University Press.
• Cutting, J. (2002) Pragmatics and Discourse A
  resource book for students
• Halliday, M.A.K. (1964) Comparison and
  translation. In M.A.K. Halliday, M.McIntosh and
  P. Strevens, The linguistic sciences and language
  teaching. London Longman.
• Halliday, M.A.K. (1985) Dimensions of discourse
  analysis grammar in T. A. van Dijk (1985)
  Handbook of Discourse Analysis vol 2 London
  academic Press
• House, J. (1981) 1997) A Model for Translation
  Quality Assessment. Tuebigen Gunter Narr Verlag
• Hymes, D. (1972) Models of the Interaction and
  Social Life in Gumperz, J. J. and Hymes, D.
  (1972) Directions in Sociolinguistics The
  Ethnography of Communication New York Holt,
  Rhinehart Winston.
• McCarthy, M. (1991) Discourse analysis for
  Language Teachers Cambridge CUP
• Thornbury, S. (2005) Beyond the Sentence
  introducing discourse analysis London Macmillan