SYNOPSIS: Styles in Text

We already know that a text has texture, tie and cohesion. After knowing this, we should now discuss the nature of a text and its relation to a context of situation. Whenever we are analyzing a text, consciously or unconsciously, we don’t only give importance to linguistic clues but to situational clues as well.

Linguistic clues can be divided into two: (1) relations within the language (2) relations between the language and the relevant features of the participants. Under the linguistic system, there are three main components which show where cohesion comes in relation to the rest. The ideational component is concerned with the language’s content. The interpersonal component is about the language and speaker’s social, expressive and conative functions. The last is textual component which forms the text in the linguistic system.

Situational clues are the extra-linguistic factors which can affect the text. These external factors affect the speaker or writer’s choice of words. To further elaborate the relation of situational context in the nature of the text, there are eight components of speech situation categorized by Hymes. These are: form and content of text, setting, participants, ends, key, medium, genre and interactional norms. In contrast, Halliday et. al proposed three headings which is a basis for deriving the text’s features from the features of the situation. Firstly, field is the total event in which the text is functioning together with the speaker or writer’s purposive activity. Secondly, mode is the function of the text in the event including both the channel taken by the language and its genre or rhetorical mode. Lastly, tenor refers to the type of role interaction, the set of relevant social relations among the participants involved.

These linguistic and situational features constitute a register. Register is the set of meanings that is associated with situational context while cohesion is concern on how the text is constructed as a set of meaning, these two together effectively define a text. Thus, in analyzing a text it is important to give equal importance to its linguistic and situational context.

Reference: Halliday, MAK (1976). Cohesion in English. photocopied material.pp. 1-30

Synopsis: The Grammar of Language

         Some people learn best through personal experience or application while others stick to the book and standard rules. Learning English as a second language can be a tough job for anyone, there are people who have a natural aptitude for acquiring languages but there are also who find it really difficult.

            
           English grammar has three dimensions which are morphosyntactic, semantics and pragmatics. In simple terms they can be labelled as form, meaning, and use. Form is about accuracy and how a particular grammar structure is constructed. With semantics, we want to know what does a particular grammar structure means and what contribution it makes whenever it is used. On pragmatics, we are interested on when and why a particular grammar structure has been used instead of another structure with the same meaning. There are students who are good in identifying the form or structure of the language while others are better in meaning and there are also those who are best in usage. However, these three are of equal importance to achieve proficiency both in grammar and communication.

       
       Each student has a different learning process. For this reason, there are two approaches to teaching language. The first one focuses primarily on language use and the second focuses on language form or analysis. Under these approaches, grammar operates at three levels: the subsentential or morphological level, the sentential or syntactic level, and the suprasentential or discourse level. Subsentential level is the level below that of the sentence; it has three criteria which are semantic (standard definition), structural (position in a sentence) and functional (grammatical function in a sentence). Sentential level describe the word order of the English sentence, it has three terminologies which are simple, compound and complex sentences. Suprasentential level is where an analysis of how morphology and syntax are deployed to effect certain discourse purposes. Terminologies used under this level are cohesion (structure), register (level of formality of language), genre (linguistic variation due to the communicative purposes to which the language is put), given information (assumed by the writer to be known by the reader), and new information (newsworthy).

         After understanding these things, we should be able to use grammatical structures accurately, meaningfully and appropriately.

References: Celce- Murcia, M. & Larsen- Freeman, N. (2008). The grammar book. Singapore: Heinle- Thomson Learning Asia. pp. 2-5, 13-15, 161-175

SYNOPSIS: Discourse and Style Part A

            Text refer to any passage, spoken or written, of whatever length, that does form a unified whole. In order to say that a text has a unified whole, cohesion is necessary. Cohesion is defined as a semantic one, which means the interpretation of some elements in the text is dependent on that of another. To further understand the importance of cohesion in a text, let us have a simple example:

            [1.1]Wash and core six cooking apples. Put them into a fireproof dish.

            The word “them” in the second sentence refers to the six cooking apples in the first sentence. We were able to understand the second sentence because of the information provided earlier in the text. In simple terms, cohesion involves context clues or the relation of each word to one another. This is also the reason why the text above has a texture since it has a unity with respect to its environment. Another point in the example above is the relation between them and six cooking apples, which shows how the text constitutes a tie or the single instance of cohesion.

            There are two major categories in which we can achieve cohesion. The first one is lexical cohesion. Under this category, cohesion can be achieved in the following manners: repetition of words, use of synonym or similar words, hyponymy or the sense of inclusion between and among the terms used, opposites and collocation or words that are associated with each other in a particular context.

            The second major category is grammatical cohesion which involves grammatical structures and signals within the sentence. The first way to achieve grammatical cohesion is through reference, it is the use of substitute words which refer to something else in the text for their significance. These include personal pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, determiners, adjectives and adverbs of comparison. Reference can be anaphora or cataphora. It is anaphora if it points to the preceding text and cataphora if it refers to the text that follows. The word them in example 1.1 is anaphora. The second way is through substitution, it is the replacement of one grammatical item by another. Words like one, ones, same, do and all its forms, so and not are used to fill in for noun phrase, verbal clause and clauses that report, express condition, or express modality. The third way is through ellipses or when something is left unsaid but understood. The fourth way is through conjunction. It involves connecting sentences through a particular semantic relationship between them by means of connectives that signal that relationships. Conjunction can be enumerative, explicative, illustrative, additive, contrastive, in logical consequence, transitional and summative.

            Thus, it is important to remember that within a text, the meaning of each sentence depends on its environment, including its cohesive relations with other sentences.

References: Dadufalza, C.D. (1992). Reading into Writing 1. Makati: Bookmark Inc. pp-205-233

                    Halliday, MAK (1976). Cohesion in English. photocopied material.pp. 1-30