Discourse Analysis and Language Teaching (original) (raw)
Related papers
Exploring the nature of classroom discourse in grammar class
Using the Theme/rheme framework of systemic functional grammar, this study investigated the nature of classroom discourse in an EFL context. The settings were two grammar classes taught by an experienced teacher and an inexperienced one. The study aimed at comparing the discourse of these teachers in order to find differences in the way they use language to interact with their students and to make their meanings clear to them. For this purpose, the researcher adapted the Theme/rheme system of systemic functional grammar based on Eggins (2004) and explored the classroom discourse of these teachers teaching grammar. The adapted system consisted of four components: simple Theme, multiple Themes, Theme markedness and Theme patterning. Based on these components, four research questions were developed and analyzed by the help of statistical techniques. The first research question examined the concept of single Theme in the discourse of Experienced and Inexperienced teachers. The result of the chi-square test showed that there are significant differences between Experienced and Inexperienced teachers in the use of simple Theme (p<0.05). Concerning the second research question, the researcher used multiple Themes category to investigate the differences between Experienced and Inexperienced teachers' discourse. multiple Themes are made up of three components attitudinal Theme, conjunctive Theme and mixed Theme. The result of chi-square test for attitudinal and conjunctive subcategories proved to be significant while the result for mixed Themes proved to be insignificant (p<0.05). Speaking of the third research question, the researcher investigated Theme markedness in the discourse of Inexperienced and Experienced teachers. The result of chi-square test showed that there are significant differences between Experienced and Inexperienced teachers in the use of marked Themes (p<0.05). The last research question examined the difference in the use of Theme patterning between Experienced and Inexperienced teachers. Based on Eggins (2004) there are three patterns of Theme developments available to the teachers: Theme reiteration, Zig zag pattern and Multiple-rheme pattern. The results showed that the Inexperienced teacher used 41 reiteration and 30 zig-zag pattern while the Experienced teacher used 69 reiteration, 40 zig-zag and 19 multiple-rheme patterns. The findings of this study promise some pedagogical implications for Experienced and Inexperienced teachers, teacher educators, students, classroom discourse analysts and material developers. Also the results points to the importance of investigating classroom discourse of language teachers in EFL contexts in order to improve their work and make the process of learning easier for their students.
A SUMMARY OF A SECOND CHAPTER FROM THE BOOK “DISCOURSE ANALYSIS FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS” By McCarthy, M (1991) Analyzed and Summarized by AHMAD S. HALAHALA, 2024
This paper discusses on the familiar terms which are common in Language teaching such as clause, pronoun, adverbial, conjunction, and so on are used in the familiar way found in chapter two of the book Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers. An attempt was done to relate them to a probably less familiar set of terms such as theme, rheme, reference, anaphoric and so on, in order to make the link between grammar and discourse. The importance of grammar in language teaching shall not be undermined and thus on the contrary, this chapter takes as a basic premise that without a command of the rich and variable resources of the grammar offered by a language such as English, the construction of natural and sophisticated discourse is impossible.
Towards a Discourse Grammar in Language Teaching
2014
Language is often simply defined as a means of communication. However, communication is a highly complex and intricate process that involves an adequate mastery of a number of linguistic and non-linguistic components. Knowing a language that can effectively be used for successful communication includes, among other things, attaining a functional knowledge of the various language systems including the syntactic system, or the grammar of the language in the narrow sense of the term. The scope of traditional grammar has been confined to sentence structure. That is probably why this approach to grammar has been referred to as sentence-based grammar. However, teaching this form of grammar contributes to the development of learners’ grammatical competence rather than to their communicative ability. This paper argues for integrating discourse grammar in language teaching, and provides evidence to support the role that discourse grammar plays in developing foreign language learners’ communi...
Grammar and Grammar Teaching: Changing Perspectives Volume 2
Language in India
The communication between text and reality has been a predominant area of discussion from early 20th century onwards. The representation of day-to-day experiences in life and events in the world, either in written or spoken discourse, has been a dilemma for all the linguists. The initial steps by Harris and Mitchell, notion of schemata by Bartlett, technical approaches by Minsky and archeology of knowledge by Foucault have been exploring the broad field of life centered existential linguistics and structural dynamism. M. Foucault says that the same experience or event creates different versions of realities. Once reality is born experience may disappear. This argument amassed many criticisms from the part of historians and journalists to him. He was accused of neglecting past events and experiences.
TEACHING COMMUNICATIVE GRAMMAR AT THE DISCOURSE LEVEL
Communicative grammar is based on the communicative approach to the teaching of second/foreign languages. Language structures must not be taught in isolation but integrated to the four skills of language: listening, speaking, reading and writing. In this way a structure is practiced orally and In wrltten form. Grammatical pattems must not only be learned at the utterance level but at the dlscourse level; the main objective focuses on the development of communicative grammatical competence, which is understood as the ablllty to use and understand a structure in a variety of sltuatlons spontaneousiy. The approach calis for a certaln balance between pre-communicative and communicative actlvltles: the flrst prepare the learner to handle the language rules for actual communication and the latter enable him to use the structures in real communication. The students must not only do drills and precommunicative exercises in class, but they must interact and communicate with other speakers when they use the pattems they are studying. Classes are planned in a way that the students use the structures naturally and not artificially, and they require time and practico to internalize those pattems by using a process in which grammatical structures are recycled with more complex variations.
The Communicative Approaches Revisited and the Relevance of Teaching Grammar
English Language Teaching, 2011
The field of English as a second language has gone through a number of changes in the last decades and has seen extreme adjustments throughout the methods of teaching and curriculum planning. This article finds the relevance of the old methods to the new methods. After providing the background it becomes apparent that almost all the older methods have some relevance to the contemporary classroom and linguists are reaching out and calling on teachers to use the old techniques alongside the new techniques. Emphasis in this article, however, is put on the relevance of introducing grammar to the learner, what to introduce, how and when is discussed in light what we know of the communicative.
noted linguist, once urged all linguists' to study conversation for, '! ••• it is here that we shall find the key to a better understanding of what language is and how it works." . Many linguists and those concerned with language teaching have recently began to study conversation and oral discourse (Sinclair et el 1975; Hatch 1978; Lezberg and Hilferty 1978; Hinds 1975; Krivinos and Knapp 1975). They are concerned with the function of utterances and the structure of discourse. Questions like: who controls the discourse; how does he do it; how do other speakers take control of the conversation; how do successive utterances relate to each other; how are new topics introduced, are all concerns they have. The thing that perhaps keeps uS from studying discourse is the magnitude of the subject matter. There is so much to look at.