Discourse in English language education

Discourse in English Language Education introduces students to the major concepts and questions in Discourse Studies and their applications to language education. Each chapter draws on key research to examine critically a particular approach in the field, providing a review of important literature, examples to illustrate the principal issues concerned and an outline of the implications for their application to pedagogy.

Features include:

coverage of a broad range of approaches in the field, including Systemic Functional Linguistics and Register, Speech Acts, the Cooperative Principle and Politeness, Conversation Analysis, Genre Analysis, Critical Discourse Analysis and Corpus Linguistics analysis of a wide range of discourse examples that include casual conversation, newspapers, fiction, radio, classrooms, blogs and real-life learner texts a selection of illustrations and tables carefully chosen to enhance students' understanding of different concepts and approaches stimulating discussion questions at the end of each chapter, specially designed to foster critical thinking, reflection and engagement with the topics covered.

Engaging, accessible and comprehensive, Discourse in English Language Education richly demonstrates how Discourse Studies can inform the teaching of English and other languages, both as a foreign language and in the mother tongue.

It will be essential reading for upper undergraduates and postgraduates with interests in Applied Linguistics, TESOL and Language Education.

Author Notes

John Flowerdew is Professor in the English Department, City University of Hong Kong.

List of figures and tables	p. xi
Acknowledgements	p. xiii
Chapter 1 Introduction	p. 1
1.1 Defining discourse	p. 1
1.2 Defining Discourse Studies and Discourse Analysis	p. 1
1.3 Discourse Analysis may emphasise discourse structure or discourse function or both	p. 2
1.4 Discourse Analysis may focus on any sort of texts	p. 2
1.5 There are various approaches to Discourse Studies	p. 3
1.6 Discourse Analysis is conducted in many fields of activity	p. 3
1.7 Discourse Studies focuses on language in its contexts of use	p. 3
1.8 Discourse is intertextual	p. 4
1.9 Discourse and communication	p. 5
1.10 Discourse and communicative competence	p. 6
1.11 Organisation of the book	p. 8
1.12 Questions for discussion	p. 9
1.13 Further reading	p. 9
Chapter 2 Systemic Functional Linguistics and register	p. 10
2.1 Introduction	p. 10
2.2 A functional perspective on child language acquisition	p. 10
2.3 Systemic Functional Linguistics	p. 11
2.4 Register	p. 13
2.5 Lexicogrammar	p. 14
2.5.1 Features related to field and the ideational function	p. 15
2.5.1.1 Lexis	p. 15
2.5.1.2 Rank hierarchy	p. 15
2.5.1.3 Clauses	p. 16
2.5.1.4 Process types: transitivity	p. 17
2.5.1.5 Relational process clauses	p. 17
2.5.1.6 Material process clauses	p. 18
2.5.1.7 Verbal process clauses	p. 18
2.5.1.8 Mental process clauses	p. 18
2.5.1.9 Existential process clauses	p. 18
2.5.1.10 Behavioural process clauses	p. 19
2.5.2 Features related to tenor and the interpersonal function: person, modality and mood	p. 19
2.5.3 Features related to mode and the textual metafunction: cohesion, theme and thematic development	p. 19
2.6 Summary of analysis of the parrot text	p. 20
2.7 A text in a similar, yet different, register	p. 20
2.7.1 Field and the ideational function	p. 21
2.7.2 Tenor and the interpersonal function and mode and the textual function	p. 22
2.7.3 Summary of analysis of the iris text	p. 22
2.8 Conversation as register	p. 23
2.9 Sinclair and Coulthard's model of classroom interaction	p. 25
2.10 Speech and writing	p. 27
2.11 Lexical density	p. 29
2.12 Appraisal	p. 29
2.12.1 Graduation	p. 30
2.12.2 Attitude	p. 30
2.12.3 Engagement	p. 30
2.13 Critique	p. 30
2.14 Application to pedagogy	p. 31
2.15 Questions for discussion	p. 32
2.16 Further reading	p. 32
Chapter 3 Cohesion	p. 33
3.1 Introduction	p. 33
3.2 Reference	p. 34
3.2.1 Definition, forms and functions	p. 34
3.2.2 Definite reference	p. 35
3.3 Substitution and ellipsis	p. 37
3.3.1 Substitution	p. 37
3.3.2 Ellipsis	p. 37
3.4 Conjunction	p. 38
3.5 Lexical cohesion	p. 39
3.6 General nouns and signalling nouns	p. 41
3.7 Cohesive chains	p. 43
3.8 Cohesive harmony	p. 44
3.9 Cohesion, coherence and texture	p. 45
3.10 Patterns of lexis in text: Hoey's model of (lexical) cohesion	p. 46
3.11 Tanskanen's approach to lexical cohesion	p. 47
3.12 Propositional relations	p. 49
3.13 Parallelism	p. 52
3.14 Critique	p. 53
3.15 Application to pedagogy	p. 53
3.15.1 The case for cohesion	p. 53
3.15.2 Ties, chains and bonds	p. 54
3.15.3 Lexis	p. 55
3.15.4 Propositional relations	p. 56
3.16 Conclusion	p. 56
3.17 Questions for discussion	p. 57
3.18 Further reading	p. 58
Chapter 4 Thematic development	p. 59
4.1 Definition of theme	p. 59
4.2 Theme in grammar and discourse	p. 59
4.3 Theme in declarative clauses	p. 60
4.4 Theme and rheme	p. 61
4.5 Theme and rheme, focus of information and given and new	p. 63
4.6 Theme in other declarative patterns	p. 63
4.7 Theme in passive clauses	p. 64
4.8 Interrogative themes	p. 64
4.9 Imperative themes	p. 65
4.10 Exclamatives	p. 66
4.11 Elliptical themes	p. 66
4.12 Existential there as theme	p. 67
4.13 Multiple themes	p. 67
4.14 Anticipatory it	p. 68
4.15 Theme in clause complexes	p. 69
4.16 Thematic development in texts	p. 70
4.17 Hypertheme and macrotheme	p. 74
4.18 Application to pedagogy	p. 75
4.19 Questions for discussion	p. 77
4.20 Further reading	p. 78
Chapter 5 Speech acts	p. 79
5.1 Speech acts and Pragmatics	p. 79
5.2 Definition of speech acts	p. 79
5.3 Form and function	p. 79
5.4 Why study speech acts?	p. 80
5.5 Performatives	p. 80
5.6 lllocutionary force	p. 81
5.7 Indirect speech acts	p. 81
5.8 Felicity conditions	p. 83
5.9 Speech act taxonomies	p. 83
5.10 Speech act taxonomies in language teaching	p. 84
5.11 Cross-cultural and Interlanguage Pragmatics	p. 86
5.12 Instructed Pragmatics	p. 87
5.13 Methods for researching speech acts	p. 88
5.14 Critique	p. 89
5.14.1 My earlier critique	p. 89
5.14.2 Grundy's critique	p. 91
5.15 Application to pedagogy	p. 92
5.16 Questions for discussion	p. 93
5.17 Further reading	p. 94
Chapter 6 The Cooperative Principle and Politeness	p. 95
6.1 Introduction	p. 95
6.2 The Cooperative Principle	p. 95
6.3 Implicature	p. 96
6.4 Flouting the maxims	p. 97
6.4.1 Flouting the quantity maxim	p. 97
6.4.2 Flouting the quality maxim	p. 98
6.4.3 Flouting the maxim of relation	p. 98
6.4.4 Flouting the maxim of manner	p. 99
6.5 Conflicting maxims	p. 99
6.6 Hedges	p. 99
6.7 Infringing the CP	p. 100
6.8 Violating the CP	p. 100
6.9 Limitations of Grice's theory	p. 101
6.10 An example of application of the CP to pedagogy	p. 104
6.10.1 Quantity	p. 104
6.10.2 Quality	p. 105
6.10.3 Relation	p. 105
6.10.4 Manner	p. 106
6.11 Politeness	p. 106
6.11.1 Lakoff's and Leech's models of politeness	p. 106
6.11.2 Brown and Levinson's model of politeness	p. 106
6.12 House and Kasper's model of FTA realisations	p. 109
6.13 'Post-modern' approaches to politeness	p. 110
6.14 Application to pedagogy	p. 113
6.15 Questions for discussion	p. 115
6.16 Further reading	p. 116
Chapter 7 Conversation Analysis	p. 117
7.1 Introduction	p. 117
7.2 Methodology and transcription system	p. 117
7.3 Turn-taking	p. 119
7.4 Rules for turn-taking	p. 120
7.5 Adjacency pairs	p. 121
7.6 Conditional relevance	p. 121
7.7 Preference organisation	p. 122
7.8 Expansion sequences	p. 123
7.8.1 Pre-expansions	p. 123
7.8.2 Post-expansions	p. 125
7.8.3 Insert expansions	p. 126
7.9 Topic management	p. 126
7.9.1 Topic initiation	p. 127
7.9.2 Topic pursuit	p. 127
7.9.3 Topic shift	p. 127
7.9.4 Topic termination	p. 128
7.10 Stories	p. 129
7.11 Repair	p. 130
7.11.1 Self-initiated self-completed	p. 131
7.11.2 Self-initiated other-completed	p. 131
7.11.3 Other-initiated self-completed	p. 131
7.11.4 Other-initiated other-completed	p. 131
7.12 Institutional talk	p. 132
7.13 CA across cultures	p. 133
7.14 Critique	p. 134
7.15 Application to pedagogy	p. 135
7.15.1 CA and research in second-language acquisition	p. 135
7.15.2 CA and teaching and learning	p. 135
7.16 Questions for discussion	p. 137
7.17 Further reading	p. 137
Chapter 8 Genre Analysis	p. 138
8.1 Introduction	p. 138
8.2 Genre and register	p. 138
8.3 Other characteristic features of genre	p. 139
8.3.1 Staging	p. 139
8.3.2 Communities of practice	p. 139
8.3.3 Conventionalised lexicogrammatical features	p. 141
8.3.4 Recurrent nature of genres	p. 141
8.3.5 Genre as a flexible concept	p. 141
8.3.6 Genre relations	p. 142
8.3.7 Intertextuality	p. 144
8.3.8 Intercultural nature of genres	p. 145
8.4 Approaches to genre pedagogy	p. 146
8.4.1 The ESP school	p. 146
8.4.1.1 Key concepts	p. 146
8.4.1.2 Application to pedagogy	p. 148
8.4.2 The Sydney school	p. 150
8.4.2.1 Key concepts	p. 150
8.4.2.2 Application to pedagogy	p. 153
8.4.3 The Rhetorical Genre Studies school	p. 154
8.4.3.1 Key concepts	p. 154
8.4.3.2 Application to pedagogy	p. 156
8.5 Critique	p. 157
8.6 Application to pedagogy: general principles	p. 158
8.7 Questions for discussion	p. 159
8.8 Further reading	p. 159
Chapter 9 Corpus-based approaches	p. 160
9.1 What is a corpus?	p. 160
9.2 What is Corpus Linguistics?	p. 160
9.3 Some fundamental insights about discourse from the corpus perspective	p. 161
9.4 Features of analysis	p. 162
9.4.1 Word frequency	p. 162
9.4.2 Collocation	p. 163
9.4.3 Colligation	p. 163
9.4.4 Semantic prosody	p. 164
9.4.5 Semantic preference	p. 164
9.5 Multidimensional analysis	p. 165
9.6 Corpus-assisted Discourse Analysis	p. 167
9.7 Corpora and context	p. 168
9.8 Move analysis	p. 169
9.9 Small corpora	p. 170
9.10 Learner corpora	p. 171
9.11 Application to pedagogy	p. 1'2
9.11.1 Indirect applications	p. 172
9.11.1.1 Dictionaries	p. 172
9.11.1.2 Grammars and grammar resource books	p. 173
9.11.1.3 Course books	p. 173
9.11.1.4 Specialised indirect applications	p. 173
9.11.2 Direct applications	p. 174
9.11.3 Language education and lexical priming	p. 174
9.12 Critique	p. 175
9.12.1 Criticisms of Corpus Linguistics as an approach to language	p. 175
9.12.2 Criticisms of corpus applications to Language Education	p. 176
9.13 Questions for discussion	p. 177
9.14 Further reading	p. 177
Chapter 10 Critical Discourse Analysis	p. 178
10.1 Introduction	p. 178
10.2 Some major proponents	p. 181
10.2.1 Fairclough	p. 181
10.2.2 Wodak	p. 181
10.2.3 van Dijk	p. 181
10.2.4 Kress	p. 182
10.2.5 van Leeuwen	p. 182
10.3 Some key issues	p. 182
10.3.1 Language and power	p. 182
10.3.2 Hegemony	p. 183
10.3.3 Identity	p. 183
10.4 Methods and toolkits for CDA	p. 184
10.5 CDA and Systemic Functional Linguistics	p. 187
10.6 CDA and Corpus Linguistics	p. 188
10.7 Positive Discourse Analysis	p. 189
10.8 Critique	p. 189
10.9 Application to pedagogy	p. 190
10.9.1 Critical Language Awareness	p. 190

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