WHAT IS A TEXT?

Write a brief definition of w

IS THIS A TEXT?

Qeworqoiutiqv oiqn
uiuw9v590q38c9r0eroinbtpu0
9c9we mf9en 8 b3bq4i 09

IS THIS A TEXT?

IS THIS A TEXT?
It was generally evident whenever they met,
that he did admire her; and to her it was
equally evident that was yielding to the
preference which she had begun to entertain
for him from the first, and was in a way to be
very much in love; but she considered with
pleasure that it was not likely to be
discovered by the world in general, since Jane
united with great strength of feeling a
composure of temper and a uniform
cheerfulness of manner, which would guard
her from the suspicions of the impertinent.

Text
Derives from the Latin texere to weave
Text can be used for both written and spoken
language. It usually refers to a stretch, an extract
or complete piece of writing or speech. Texts
generally adhere to broad conventions and rules
which determine the language and structure used
in particular text types. Cornbleet and Carter
The Language of Speech and Writing (2001, p 3)

Text Trask (1999:312)

A continuous piece
of spoken or written
language,
especially one with
a recognizable
beginning and
ending.

Text Crystal (1992:72)

a piece of naturally occurring spoken,
written, or signed discourse identified
for purposes of analysis. It is often a
language unit with a definable
communicative function, such as a
conversation or a poster.

Texts in general are:

Self-contained
Well-formed
Hang together (cohesive)
Make sense (coherent)
Have a clear communicative purpose
recognisable text types
appropriate to their contexts of use

Scott Thornbury, Beyond the Sentence, p 19,

Macmillan, 2005.

For example
No unauthorised
photocopying.
So easy to use, no
wonder were the
Worlds No1
KEEP AWAY FROM
CHILDREN

Energizer
RECHARGABLE
Advanced
Lasts up to 4X
Longer in Digital
Cameras

Text and sentences

Are all texts organised in
sentences?
Are sentences necessary for a
stretch of language to be
considered a text?
What kinds of text are organised in
sentences?

Text or discourse?
Are they the same?
If not what is the difference between text
analysis and discourse analysis?
Knowing what a sentence means is one
thing, but knowing what is meant by an
utterance is another
H.G. Widdowson Discourse Analysis, p. 13,
OUP, 2007

Text Discourse (1)

Text: written record of an interaction;
Discourse: language in action
1. Nunan (1993:6-7): text refers to any
written record of a communicative event
(which may involve oral language or
written language); discourse refers to
the interpretation of the communicative
event.

Text Discourse (2)

2. Text = written discourse
Discourse = spoken discourse
3. Text linguistics = analysis of written
discourse
Discourse analysis (conversational
analysis) = analysis of spoken
discourse

Discourse Analysis (1)

1. Wood & Kroger (2000:3): the study
of discourse as texts and talk in
social practices.
2. McCarthy (1991:5): the study of the
relationship between language and
the contexts in which it is used.

Discourse Analysis (2)

Renkema (2004:1): discourse studies is
the discipline devoted to the investigation of
the relationship between form and
function in verbal communication which
requires contributions from different
disciplines such as linguistics, literature,
rhetoric, stylistics, pragmatics,
communication science, psychology,
sociology, and philosophy.

Discourse Studies: Renkema (1)

There are separate discipline of
discourse studies because the
phenomena of verbal language use
cannot be analyzed adequately
from just one of the discipline
mentioned earlier.
The concepts within the analysis of
a language use phenomenon are
taken from many disciplines.

Discourse Studies: Renkema (2)

Therefore, discourse studies are the
common ground serving as an inter- or
multidiscipline that enable different
research schools to have the necessary
interaction so that specific contributions
can be made to research into the
relationship between form and function in
verbal communication.

Discourse Analysis: Revisited

It can be concluded that
discourse analysis or
discourse studies is not a
single field of study, but a
collection of methods,
perspectives, or
approaches in analyzing
form and function in
verbal communication.

Approaches in DA (1)
As a multidisciplinary field of study,
discourse analysis (DA) has many
approaches (Schiffrin 1994), among
others:
1. Pragmatics
2. Ethnography of communication
3. Conversation Analysis
4. Text Linguistics

Approaches in DA (2)
5. Interactional Sociolinguistics
6. Critical Discourse Analysis
7. Semiotics
8. Stylistics
9. TEFL
10. Cultural Studies

Definitions of Discourse (1)

A particular unit of language (above the sentence), or
discourse in structure.
A particular focus on language use, discourse as
function.

Discourse as structure ?
Problem:you can have a unit which looks like a sentence
but doesnt mean anything
e.g. Colourless green ideas sleep furiously
but on the other hand the units in which people speak
do not always look like sentences.
e.g. You can run a hou- whatcha- now whatcha you can
run a house-you can run a house a- and do the job,
which is important, y cant y- a man cant do it himself,
and a woman cant do it himself w- if y want it to be
successful. In most cases.
How do you analyse something which is not a
sentence?

Definition of Discourse (2)

Discourse written and spoken

Speaker/
writer

Hearer/ reader
Discourse
Context

Objects of discourse
Discourse refers to any utterance which is
meaningful. These texts can be:
- written texts
- oral texts (speech/talk)
- mixed written/oral texts (e.g. Internet chat)
Discourse does not depend on the size of a text

So, what is discourse?

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. (Guy Cook,
Discourse, p 7. OUP, 1989)
language in use, for communication
the search for what gives discourse coherence is
discourse analysis. [] What matters is not its
conformity to rules, but the fact that it
communicates and is recognized by its receivers
as coherentGuy Cook, Discourse, p 6 & 7, OUP,
1989

Discourse analysis is
concerned with (H.G. Widdowson
Discourse Analysis, p. XV, OUP, 2007)
how the encoded resources available in a language are
put to communicative use i.e. the focus is on the language
as a means to an end, an instrument at the service of
communication
meanings, which are- socio-cultural constructs of reality:
they represent particular beliefs and values that define
ways of thinking about the worldi.e. the focus is on how
texts are socially constructed and are to a certain extent a
from of social practice

 Spoken texts in particular are governed by

the social context which determines the
shape of the discourse and the language
used.
This is not only to a knowledge of language
but of knowledge of social conventions
and/or the ability to make assumptions
regarding the situational context (immediate
perceptual context and conceptual context as
well as social context) and draw inferences.

Context
What are the main kinds of contexts?
How do they differ from each other?
What implications does the context have on the
kind of language used?

How would the following

interlocuters express the fact
someone had died?

Mother to toddler
Student to teacher
Male teenager to male friend
Female teenager to female friend
Female teenager to male friend
Adult woman to male colleague
Lawyer to judge in murder case
Newspaper death column

How would the following

interlocuters express their need to
urinate?
Toddler to mother
Student to teacher
Male teenager to male friend
Female teenager to female friend
Female teenager to male friend
Adult woman to male colleague
Lawyer to judge regarding the defendant

Contex

Public vs private
Participants (degree of familiarity)
Medium
Expectations
Level of personal reference
Style (from euphemism to
dysphemism)
Repertoire of scripts
Ritualised language
Loaded language

Pu

e
s
o
p
r

Persuade
Instruct or advise
Entertain
Inform
Threaten
Request or invite
Social function
Promise
Mixed

Plann
in

Which kinds of text involve most

planning?
Are spoken texts ever planned?
What things are taken into account
when planning a text?

Features involved in planning

Target (also multiple)

Setting (incl. register)
Time spent
Medium used
Longevity
Conformity
Pre-existing scripts (conscious and
subconscious planning)
Use of lexical phrases/set phrases
Complexity of syntax
Style

Spoken text/discourse types

How many can you think of?

Greetings
Speeches
Lectures
Conversations
(many subtypes)
Radio & TV
Requests

Interviews
Orders/instructions
Sweet nothings
Warnings
Songs
Complaints

How many of these are scripted?

Analysing spoken texts

spoken discourse should not be judged using the
rules of written English: terms such as word,
sentence and paragraph come from the
study of writing. (Carter et al., Working with
Texts, 1997 p 243)
speech is characteristically used in pursuit of a
purpose The practice of inventing a sentence
is a practice of the sentence grammarian, not the
user Brazil, A Grammar of Speech,1995, pp 26-7

Spoken language
Context speakers, relationship, gender,
status, background, (familiarity of) situation,
prior knowledge, (conceptual context)
Setting where, when, visual contact, gesture
(paralanguage) (perceptual context)
Pragmatics shared knowledge, conventions,
turntaking, (purpose)
Prosodics intonation, stress, tone, emotion,
etc,. degree of formality (connected speech)
Incompleteness (not always depends on
text) overlapping, interruption, hesitation,
incoherence, incomplete utterance, false
starts, etc.
Ephemeral?

Spoken vs Written
Spoken texts often jointly constructed (only
happens in published letters between
correspondents)
Written texts more planned, structured,
grammatically correct, clear layout.
Two or more people can shape spoken
texts.
Written texts shaped only by author(s)
though editors can have a say. (cfr
newspaper)

Summing up 1
Spoken language
LANGUAGE
SYSTEM

SPEAKER

PRONUNCIATION
GRAMMAR
VOCAB

REASONING/
INTERPRETATION
/INTENT

PARALANGUAGE
VOICE
FACE
BODY

WORLD/CULTURAL
KNOWLEDGE
(INCULDING PRAGMATICS)

MESSAGE SUCCESSFULLY CONVEYED

Summing up 2
Written language
LANGUAGE
SYSTEM

WRITER

COHESIVE DEVICES
GRAMMAR
VOCAB

REASONING/
INTENT/PURPOSE/
FUNCTION

PLANNING
WORLD/CULTURAL
KNOWLEDGE
(INCULDING PRAGMATICS)

OF SENDER &
RECEIVER

MESSAGE SUCCESSFULLY CONVEYED

HOWEVER

How can we guarantee a text is

interpreted how it is intended?
i.e. does the discourse achieve
its purpose?

Purpose and Achievement

Which kinds of text,
spoken or written do you
think have more chance of
being interpreted as
intended, i.e. of achieving
their purpose?

What is discourse to
the discourse analyst?
So

the term discourse is taken here

to refer both to what a text producer
meant by a text and what a text
means to the receiver. H.G.
Widdowson, Discourse Analysis, p. 7,
OUP, 2007

Primary and secondary purposes:

written and spoken texts
Depends on context and setting
Target/audience/readership
Perceptions of interlocuter/reader
(nearly all texts have an
informative function)

Language and situation occur

together
situation often dictates the language
used, but the language used can shape the
situation leading to an

The

outcome/upshot.

outcome/upshot

In other words getting things done

Speech act theory
Locution
Illocution
Perlocution

Discourse and the foreign

language learner

Problems decoding and encoding

Linguistic competence
Encoding conventions
Shared knowledge
Sensitivity to social, not only linguistic,
conventions
Understanding ambiguity
Communicative strategies

Planning and Purpose

Context and Audience

Discourse

Conclusions?
Indeed texts have to take into account a
whole variety of things if they are to achieve
a purpose. If the text is to be at all beautiful
we need a degree of linguistic competence.
However, if the text is to be considered
successful it should not only be well
woven, but also serve its purpose.
This relationship between form and function,
text and context, is the main focus of
discourse analysis.