DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

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DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
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1.A clause relation is the cognitive process
whereby we interpret the meaning of a sentence or
group of sentences in the light of its adjoining
sentence or group of sentences.(Winter)
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e.g.My experience with a foreign language began
in junior middle school, when I took my first
English class. I had a kind and patient teacher
who often praised all of the students. Because of
this positive method, I eagerly answered all the
questions I could, never worrying much about
making mistakes. I was at the top of my class for
two years.
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2.A clause relation is also the cognitive
process whereby the choices we make from grammar,
lexis and intonation in the creation of a
sentence or group of sentences are made in the
light of its adjoining sentence or group of
sentences.
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e.g.When I went to senior middle school, I was
eager to continue studying English however, my
experience in senior school was very different
from before. While my former teacher had been
patient with all students, my new teacher quickly
punished those who gave incorrect answers.
Whenever we answered incorrectly, she pointed a
long stick at us and, shaking it up and down,
shouted, "No! No! No!" It didn't take me long to
lose my eagerness to answer questions. Not only
did I lose my joy in answering questions, I
totally lost my desire to say anything at all in
English.
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3. A clause is a significant semantic unit. A
sentence may/can consist of one clause or more
than one clause.
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e.g.Learning a foreign language has been a most
trying experience for me, but one that I wouldn't
trade for anything. Not only did learning another
language teach me the value of hard work, but it
also gave me insights into another culture, and
my mind was opened to new ways of seeing things.
The most wonderful result of having learned a
foreign language was that I could communicate
with many more people than before. Talking with
people is one of my favorite activities, so being
able to speak a new language lets me meet new
people, participate in conversations, and form
new, unforgettable friendships. Now that I speak
a foreign language, instead of staring into space
when English is being spoken, I can participate
and make friends. I am able to reach out to
others and bridge the gap between my language and
culture and theirs.
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4.Relations between clausesThe relations
between clauses cannot be random or haphazard
the meaning of every clause is function of its
adjoining clauses in its sentence.
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e.g.Learning a foreign language has been a most
trying experience for me, but one that I wouldn't
trade for anything. Not only did learning another
language teach me the value of hard work, but it
also gave me insights into another culture, and
my mind was opened to new ways of seeing things.
The most wonderful result of having learned a
foreign language was that I could communicate
with many more people than before. Talking with
people is one of my favorite activities, so being
able to speak a new language lets me meet new
people, participate in conversations, and form
new, unforgettable friendships. Now that I speak
a foreign language, instead of staring into space
when English is being spoken, I can participate
and make friends. I am able to reach out to
others and bridge the gap between my language and
culture and theirs.
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5. Every clause in a discourse is in at least
one semantic relation with at least one other
clause or group of clauses in that discourse.
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6.Clause relations in a discourse may be between
clauses, groups of clauses, or part of clauses
in other words the relation is no respect of
syntactic boundaries, though its realization is
necessarily rooted in the grammar of the clause.
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There must be two kinds of completeness in our
definitionsgrammatical completeness and semantic
completeness. By semantic completeness we mean
that the clause may be grammatically complete but
not semantic complete and this requires an
adjoining clause or clauses to complete its
meaning as clause, for example, This is a
problem is grammatically complete but cannot be
understood without the next (independent) clause
it raises the obligatory question What is this
problem?

• 7. Semantic Completeness

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• e.g.

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Lexical anticipation refers to a clause/ a
lexical item that makes explicit in advance what
the next relation will be. This function is
carried out by certain lexical items.

• 8. Lexical Anticipation

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Lexical realization refers to a process of
particularization that will fulfill the
expectation of certain anticipation. This
function will be carried out by certain lexical
items, clauses or information blocks.

• 9. Lexical Realization

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e.g. May I correct your mistaken impression of
Mr Smiths activities? He forwarded a report
instead of attending the meeting. 
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Lexical replacement is carried out when a clause
is made up of a constant (the part unchanged in
clause pair) and a variable (the changed part in
the clause pair either by addition, deletion or
by other means).

• 10. Lexical Replacement

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• e.g.
• Your joy is your own your bitterness is your
  own.
• Bad people will get what they deserve. Good
  people will be rewarded for their deeds.
• A fool will believe anything sensitive people
  watch their step.
• Wise people are careful to stay out of trouble,
  but stupid people are careless and act too
  quickly.

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Basic Clause Relations

• 11. Matching Relationship
• Characteristics high degree of repetition
• between its clauses compatibility or
• incompatibility in semantic relations.

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12. Logical Sequence RelationshipCharacteristics
changes in time, space, continuum deductive
reasoning.Types cause/effect
condition/achievement denial/reason
affirmation/reason
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13. Multiple Clause RelationCharacteristics
both matching and logical sequence relations are
present in the same clause pair.e.g. If the
Russian were not to blame, then the Americans
must be.
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14. Out of a finite number of clause relations
an infinite number of patterns of organization
may be built. Every discourse has therefore a
potentially unique organization.
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15. Signaling Devices1)     Three
vocabularies2)     Repetitions3)     By
projecting the discourse into question-and-answer
dialogue
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The 3 vocabulary items, lexical repetitions help
signal the relations that hold the sentences of a
paragraph and they also signal the organization
of larger passages and whole discourse. Winter
draws attention to what he terms items of
metastructure, these are lexical signals which
serve a larger function.
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New Century College EnglishUnit 1passage
ALearning a Foreign Language
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Learning a foreign language was one
of the most difficult yet most rewarding
experiences in my life. Although at times,
learning a language was frustrating, it was well
worth the effort. My experience with a
foreign language began in junior middle school,
when I took my first English class. I had a kind
and patient teacher who often praised all of the
students. Because of this positive method, I
eagerly answered all the questions I could, never
worrying much about making mistakes. I was at the
top of my class for two years. When I went to
senior middle school, I was eager to continue
studying English however, my experience in
senior school was very different from before.
While my former teacher had been patient with all
students, my new teacher quickly punished those
who gave incorrect answers. Whenever we answered
incorrectly, she pointed a long stick at us and,
shaking it up and down, shouted, "No! No! No!" It
didn't take me long to lose my eagerness to
answer questions. Not only did I lose my joy in
answering questions, I totally lost my desire to
say anything at all in English.
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However, that state didn't last
long. When I went to college, I learned that all
students were required to take an English course.
Unlike my senior middle school teacher, my
college English teachers were patient and kind,
and none of them carried long, pointed sticks!
However, the situation was far from perfect. As
our classes were very large, I was only able to
answer a couple of questions in each class
period. Also, after a few weeks of classes, I
noticed there were many students who spoke much
better than I did. I began to feel intimidated.
So, once again, although for different reasons, I
was afraid to speak, it seemed my English was
going to stay at the same level forever. That
was the situation until a couple of years later,
when I was offered an opportunity to study
English through an online course. The
communication medium was a computer, phone line,
and modem. I soon got access to the necessary
equipment, learned the technology from a friend
of mine and soon participated in the virtual
classroom 5-7 days a week. Online learning is not
easier than regular classroom study and it
requires much time, commitment and discipline to
keep up with the flow of the course. I worked
hard to meet the minimum standards set by the
course and to complete assignments on time.
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I practiced all the time. I carried
a little dictionary with me everywhere I went, as
well as a notebook in which I listed any new
words I heard. I made many, sometimes
embarrassing, mistakes. Once in a while I cried
with frustration, and sometimes I felt like
giving up. But I don't feel intimidated by
students who can speak faster than I can because
I can take all the time I need to think out my
ideas and create a reply before posting it on the
screen. Then, one day I realized I could
understand just about everything I came across,
and most importantly, I could "say" anything I
wanted to in English. Although I still made many
mistakes and was continually learning, I had
finally reaped the benefits of all that hard
work.
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Learning a foreign language has been
a most trying experience for me, but one that I
wouldn't trade for anything. Not only did
learning another language teach me the value of
hard work, but it also gave me insights into
another culture, and my mind was opened to new
ways of seeing things. The most wonderful result
of having learned a foreign language was that I
could communicate with many more people than
before. Talking with people is one of my favorite
activities, so being able to speak a new language
lets me meet new people, participate in
conversations, and form new, unforgettable
friendships. Now that I speak a foreign language,
instead of staring into space when English is
being spoken, I can participate and make friends.
I am able to reach out to others and bridge the
gap between my language and culture and theirs.
 Words700
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The Custom-House, Introduction to the Scarlet
Letter1. The Prison door2.The Market Place3.
The Recognition4.The Interview5. Hester at Her
Needle6. Pearl7. The Governors Hall8. The
Elf-Child and the Minister9. The Leech10. The
Leech and His Patient11. The Interior of a
Heart12. The Ministers Vigil

• The Scarlet Letter

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13. Another View of Hester14. Hester and the
Physician15. Hester and Pearl16. Forest
Walk17. The Pastor and His Parishioner18. A
flood of sunshine19. The Child at the
Brook-Side20. The Minister in a Maze21. The New
England Holiday22.The Procession23. The
Revelation of the Scarlet Letter24. Conclusion
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Thanks a lot!?