Discourse Theory

9/19/2013 LANGUAGE THEORIES: Discourse Theory 2

Definitions of Discourse
• a conversation or text
• collection of texts or conversations
• a shared way of talking or creating texts (code)
• codes, languages, ways of speaking of a topic
- Dictionary definitions
9/19/2013 3LANGUAGE THEORIES: Discourse Theory

Definitions of Discourse
 any connected piece of speaking or writing
- Cambridge Delta

What is Discourse?
• “While it used to be generally held that mere
exposure to language is sufficient to set the
child’s language generating machinery in
motion, it is now clear that , in order for
successful first language acquisition to take
place, interaction, rather than exposure is
required; children do not learn language from
overhearing the conversations of others or from
listening to the radio, and must, acquire it in the
context of being spoken to.”
- J. Berko-Gleason

Discourse Analysis
• Analysis of the function of language
• Language is more than just a sentence-level
phenomenon

Discourse Analysis
 the study of how the separate ‘bits’ of
language which make up the discourse are
connected in such a way that the discourse
makes sense. And if it doesn’t make sense,
discourse analysis enables us to find out why.
- Cambridge Delta

What is Discourse Analysis?
„I only said “if”!‟ poor Alice
pleaded in a piteous tone.
The two Queens looked at
each other, and the Red
Queen remarked, with a little
shudder, „She says she only
said “if” –‟
„But she said a great deal
more than that!‟ the White
Queen moaned, wringing her
hands. „Oh, ever so much more
than that!‟
- Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking Glass9/19/2013 LANGUAGE THEORIES: Discourse Theory 11

Discourse Theory
• proposes that in our daily activities, the way
we speak and write is shaped by the
structures of power in our society, and that
because our society is defined by struggle and
conflict our discourses reflect and create
conflicts. - Foucault, Althusser, PUcheux and Hindess and Hirst

Discourse Theory
• The idea that language learning evolves out of
learning how to carry on conversations

Discourse Theory
• It follows from a theory of language use, in
which communication is treated as the matrix
of linguistic knowledge: that language
development should be considered in terms of
how the learner discovers the potential
meaning of language as he participates in
communication

CLARE: It’s not dewberry.
SAM: Urgh, it’s horrible.
CLARE: It’s not dewberry. It’s white musk.
SAM: So it doesn’t mean to say it can’t be
horrible does it? Huh. Don’t spray it on my
face.
CLARE: I’m not. I’m spraying it on my hand so
you can smell it . . .
SAM: It smells of . . .
CLARE: It’s quite nice.
SAM: Hang on, let’s smell. Mm. I can smell
something funny now now.
CLARE: I think I’ve broken Mum’s hair–drier.
SAM: How?
CLARE: Don’t know. It doesn’t work any more.
SAM: What’s this? Is – is this the travel soc
thing?
CLARE: Ahh. It’s awful. Don’t have a look?
SAM: Is it the travel soc thing?
CLARE: No, it’s not the travel soc.9/19/2013 15LANGUAGE THEORIES: Discourse Theory

Discourse Theory
• FLA is related to this theory.
• Halliday (1975) studied his own child and
concluded that the development of formal
linguistic devices grows out of the
interpersonal uses to which language is put.

Discourse Theory
• As Cherry (1979) puts it:
Through communicating with other people,
children accomplish actions in the world
and develop the rules of language structure
and use.

Main Principles
I. SLA follows a natural route in syntactical development

Main Principles
I. SLA follows a natural route . . . (cont’n)
 SLA followed a universal route in syntactical
development largely uninfluenced by:
- learner’s age
- context of learning
- learner’s L1 background

Main Principles
 SLA controlling factor: faculty for language
that all human beings possess and which is
also responsible for L1 acquisition

Main Principles
 To establish the existence of the natural route in
SLA, the following research studies were made:
a) cross-sectional research
b) longitudinal studies

Main Principles
a) cross-sectional research
- morpheme studies were carried out to
investigate the order of a range of grammatical
functions in the speech of L2 learners
 Standard order reported was different from the order of
morpheme acquisition for L1 acquisition.

Main Principles
b) longitudinal studies
- tried to account for the gradual growth of
competence in terms of the strategies learned
by a L2L at different development points

Main Principles
b) longitudinal studies (cont’n)
- All L2 learners pass through:
1. basic syntax (arrangement of words)
2. variant word order (rearrange words)
3. morphological development (word formation)
4. complex sentence structure (complex sentences)

Main Principles
II. Native speakers adjust their speech in order to
negotiate meaning with non-native speakers

Main Principles
negotiate meaning . . . (cont’n)
 emphasizes interaction and discourse
Characterized by modifications in both:
a) Input
b) Discourse

Main Principles
a) Input - exaggerated enunciation, greater
overall loudness, the use of full forms
rather than contractions

Main Principles
b) Discourse – expansions, repetitions,
classifications, paraphrasing and
topic simplification
 NS role: to enable the NNS to communicate
 NNS role: to use various strategies in the
negotiation of meaning

Main Principles
Together, the NS and NNS strive to overcome the communicative
difficulties which are always likely to arise as a result of the learner’s
limited L2 resources.

Main Principles
The negotiation of meaning between the NS and NNS makes
the INPUT more comprehensible.

Main Principles

Main Principles
III. Conversational strategies used to negotiate meaning,
and the resulting adjusted input influence SLA in a
number of ways

Main Principles
III. Conversational strategies used to negotiate
meaning, and the resulting adjusted input influence SLA
in a number of ways: (cont’n)

Main Principles
meaning, and the resulting adjusted input . . . (cont’n)
1) The learner learns the grammar of the L2 in the
same order as the frequency order of the various
features in the input
Simply put, the first structures that the L2 learner acquires
are those that s/he is exposed to most frequently.

Main Principles
III. Conversational strategies used to negotiate meaning,
and the resulting adjusted input . . . (cont’n)
2) The learner acquires commonly occurring
formulas and then later analyzes these into their
component parts.

Main Principles
meaning, and the resulting adjusted input . . . (cont’n)
3) The learner is helped to construct sentences
vertically. Learner utterances are constructed by
borrowing chunks of speech from the preceding
discourse.

Main Principles
IV. The natural route is the result of learning
how to hold conversations
 This is the strongest claim for the role of interaction in SLA.

Main Principles
how to hold conversations (cont’n)
 It emphasizes the role of the linguistic environment, which
is shaped jointly by the L2 learner and the native speaker in
discourse, and plays down the role of internal processing
factors.

Main Principles
 Hatch (1978)suggest that interaction determines the route
of SLA.
 He adds:
“One learns how to do conversations,
one learns how to interact verbally,
and out of this interaction, syntactic structures are
developed.”

Main Principles

Main Principles
 The learner is convinced to communicate and it is by
learning to do this that s/he systematically acquires L2
grammar.

Main Principles

CONVERSATION: A Mode of Discourse
Conversations are cooperative ventures.
- Hatch and Long

Rules of Conversation

1) Attention getting
2) Topic nomination
3) Topic development
4) Topic shifting and avoidance
5) Topic termination

Have the attention of the hearer or the audience

1) Attention getting (cont’n)
Attention-getting conventions within each language (verbal and
nonverbal) , need to be carefully assimilated by learners.

2) Topic nomination
H.P. Grice noted that certain conversational maxims enable the
speaker to nominate and maintain a topic of conversation .

2) Topic nomination (cont’n)

Say only what
is TRUE

Say only what
is TRUE
Say only what
is RELEVANT

Say only what
is TRUE
Say only what
is RELEVANT
Say only as MUCH
as necessary

Say only what
is TRUE
Say only what
is RELEVANT
Say only as MUCH
as necessary
Be CLEAR

Use conventions of turn-taking to accomplish
various functions of language.

3) Topic development (cont’n)
It involves clarification, shifting, avoidance, and interruption.

4) Topic termination
An art that even native speakers of a language
have difficulty in mastering at times

4) Topic termination (cont’n)

Each language has verbal and non-verbal signals for termination

Implications to
Language Learning and Teaching
Encourage interaction among learners.

Implications to
“As one learns how to do conversation, one learns how to interact verbally, and
out of this interaction, syntactic structures are developed.”

Implications to
Be aware of the Rules of Conversation.

Implications to
Create situations that will allow interaction and communication.

Implications to

Bottomline
• For a child to learn a second language, allow
her/him to engage or participate in
meaningful communication.

Conclusion
• Schumann and Giles are interested in
explaining the rate of SLA and the level of
proficiency achieved, Hatch is interested in
explaining how SLA takes place.

Conclusion
• The Discourse Theory does not address the
nature of the learner strategies responsible for
SLA.

Conclusion
• When Hatch talks of processes, she means
external processes – those which can be
observed in face-to-face interaction – not
internal processes, those that can only be
inferred by observing how learners perform

References
• Ellis, Rod. Understanding Second Language Acquisition
• Macdonnell, Diane. Theories of Discourse: An Introduction
• Pohlman, Craig. Revealing Minds
• Hatch, Evelyn. Second Language Acquisition
• Brown, Douglas. Principles of Language Learning and
Teaching
• www.camebridgedelta.org
• www.slideshare.net
• Images from:
– www.flickr.com, www.google.com, www.dogpile.com,
www.istockphoto.com, personal file

Discourse Theory

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Discourse Theory