Khóa luận Determiners as discourse referents - Hoàng Thị Thu Hằng

Nội dung text: Khóa luận Determiners as discourse referents - Hoàng Thị Thu Hằng

1. BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC DÂN LẬP HẢI PHÒNG ISO 9001 : 2008 KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP NGÀNH: NGOẠI NGỮ 1
2. HẢI PHÒNG - 2009 2
3. HAIPHONG PRIVATE UNIVESITY FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT GRADUATION PAFER DETERMINERS AS DISCOURSE REFERENTS By: Hoàng Thị Thu Hằng Class: NA902 Supervisor: 3
4. Trần Thị Ngọc Liên HAI PHONG - 2009 4
5. BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC DÂN LẬP HẢI PHÒNG Nhiệm vụ đề tài tốt nghiệp Sinh viên: Mã số: Lớp: Ngành: 5
6. Tên đề tài: Nhiệm vụ đề tài 1. Nội dung và các yêu cầu cần giải quyết trong nhiệm vụ đề tài tốt nghiệp ( về lý luận, thực tiễn, các số liệu cần tính toán và các bản vẽ). 2. Các số liệu cần thiết để thiết kế, tính toán. 6
7. 3. Địa điểm thực tập tốt nghiệp. CÁN BỘ HƯỚNG DẪN ĐỀ TÀI Người hướng dẫn thứ nhất: Họ và tên: Học hàm, học vị: Cơ quan công tác: Nội dung hướng dẫn: Người hướng dẫn thứ hai: Họ và tên: Học hàm, học vị: 7
8. Cơ quan công tác: Nội dung hướng dẫn: Đề tài tốt nghiệp được giao ngày tháng năm 200 Yêu cầu phải hoàn thành xong trước ngày tháng năm 200 Đã nhận nhiệm vụ ĐTTN Đã giao nhiệm vụ ĐTTN Sinh viên Người hướng dẫn Hải Phòng, ngày tháng năm 200 HIỆU TRƯỞNG GS.TS.NGƯT Trần Hữu Nghị PHẦN NHẬN XÉT TÓM TẮT CỦA CÁN BỘ HƯỚNG DẪN 1. Tinh thần thái độ của sinh viên trong quá trình làm đề tài tốt nghiệp: 8
9. 2.Đánh giá chất lượng của khóa luận (so với nội dung yêu cầu đã đề ra trong nhiệm vụ Đ.T. T.N trên các mặt lý luận, thực tiễn, tính toán số liệu ): 3. Cho điểm của cán bộ hướng dẫn (ghi bằng cả số và chữ): Hải Phòng, ngày tháng năm 2009 Cán bộ hướng dẫn (họ tên và chữ ký) 9
10. NHẬN XÉT ĐÁNH GIÁ CỦA NGƯỜI CHẤM PHẢN BIỆN ĐỀ TÀI TỐT NGHIỆP 1. Đánh giá chất lượng đề tài tốt nghiệp về các mặt thu thập và phân tích tài liệu, số liệu ban đầu, giá trị lí luận và thực tiễn của đề tài. 2. Cho điểm của người chấm phản biện : (Điểm ghi bằng số và chữ) Ngày tháng năm 2009 Người chấm phản biện 10
11. TABLE CONTENT INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale of the study 2 2. Aims of the study 3 3. Scope of the study 4 4. Methods of the study 4 5. Design of the study 5 DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND I. Determiner 6 1. Definition of determiner 6 2. Classes of determiners 6 II. Discourse reference 12 1. Reference 13 2. Types of discourse reference 14 3. Reference word 18 4. Reference items in English 18 III. Cohesion 21 1. Cohesion and types of cohesion 21 2. Cohesive devices to create coherence in texts 22 CHAPTER 2: DETERMINERS AS DISCOURSE REFERENTS 1. Determiners as anaphoric reference 25 1.1. Definite articles as anaphoric reference 25 11
12. 1.2. Demonstratives as anaphoric reference 30 1.3. Possessive determiners as anaphoric reference 32 2. Determiners as cataphoric reference 33 2.1. The Definite article as cataphoric reference 33 2.2. The demonstrative determiners as cataphoric 35 2.3. Possessive as cataphoric reference 36 3. Determiners as exophoric reference 37 3.1. The definite article as exophoric reference 37 3.2. Demonstratives determiners as exophoric reference 39 CHAPTER 3: APPLICATION OF DETERMINERS AS DISCOURSE REFERENTS TO CREATE COHESION IN A TEXT 1. Cohesion 40 2. Application of determiners as discourse referents to create cohesion in a text 40 3. Some possible difficulties in interpreting the text and suggestions to overcome 46 3.1. Some possible difficulties in interpreting in the text 46 3.2. Suggestions to overcome the problems 49 PART 3: CONCLUSION 52 REFERENCES APPENDIX 12
13. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To complete this research paper, I have a great deal of help, guidance and encouragement from my lecturers and my friends. First of all , I would like to express my deepest thank to my supervisor, Mrs. Tran Thi Ngoc Lien (M.A) who has always been most willing and ready give me suggestions to complete this study . I also would like to express my sincere thanks to all lecturers in the department of foreign language for their precious lectures during 4 years and contribution which help me to have ideas and knowledge to found this study. This research paper has been completed my best knowledge. However, mistakes and shortcomings are unavoidable because of my limited knowledge. Therefore, I’m looking forward to receiving the reflection, sympathy and contribution from lecturers to make it more perfect. Hai Phong, June 2009 Hoang Thi Thu Hang 14
14. PART ONE: INTRODUCTION I. Rationale of the study Language is a typical and essential product of each nation because it is the individual features of each country. Also, language is a mean to communicate and exchange information, culture, technology, science among countries. Although English is not the most widely spoken language in the world in terms of the number of native speakers, it is considered as a global language. In the era of global integration, this language becomes increasingly important as it enables people to communicate on a global basis. Using English effective and making a good living have much in common .The study of English encompasses much more than the mechanics of grammar, punctuation and spelling. The ability to handle language effectively and clearly is valuable in any occupation which many people may pursue. Professional schools find that learners who have specialized narrowly in their undergraduate education often enter without broad general knowledge and without skill of communication necessary for success in their chosen professions. Thus, English is becoming compulsory subject at school. English curriculum develops learners’ ability to communicate and also fosters a strong liberal arts background, marketable communication skill . Discourse analysis can be applied to any text, that is, to any problem or situation. It has no definite guidelines to follow because it is basically an interpretative and deconstructing reading. Being aware of any text’s multiple meanings, discourse analysis does not provide definite answers, 15
15. but rather expands our personal horizons (Palmquist, 2004). Researchers, however, have recognized some subsections and research areas in analyzing the discourse which is described in the simplest terms as verbal expression in speech or writing. In the first place, drawing a distinction between analyses of spoken discourse, which is sometimes called “conversational analysis” and analysis of written discourse, which is sometimes called “text linguistics” Richards et al (1992:111) summarizes what discourse analysis deals with: A. how the choice of articles, pronouns, and tenses affects the structure of the discourse i.e. how cohesion is created B. the relationship between utterances in a discourse C. the moves made by the speakers to introduce a new topic, change the topic, or assert a higher role relationship to the participants. In this paper, I focus on the determiners as discourse reference with the aim of helping English learners to make a better choice of using determiners which may affect the structure of the discourse II .Aims of the study The study is aimed at: - providing an overall investigation into determiners as discourse referents - elaborating the types, function of determiners in discourse reference - showing the application of determiners as discourse referents in cohesion of a text 16
16. III. Scope of the study English has a number of signals to mark the identity between what is being said or talked about and what is said before, this relationship is often called in semantic reference. Realizing these signals is usually not a problem for the people who have grown up speaking English, for others though, this can be a considerable obstacle on the way to their mastery of English. In fact, it’s hard to cover all discourse reference. Therefore, in this paper I want to focus on determiners as discourse referents. Efforts were made to do this paper as I hope this study to some extent will help those who care about discourse reference, especially, determiners as discourse referents IV .Methods of the study To conduct the study, there should be different methods combined such as quantitative method with data analysis and interpretive method. First, data were collected from reliable sources such as academic books, websites. Then they are analyzed in order to help the researcher find out how frequently determiners occur in English sentence and how they can act as discourse referents. Secondly, from the data, the researcher hypothesizes the function and effects of determiners as discourse referents. And from comparative and contrastive analysis, the researchers can work out the role of determiners as discourse referents in English text. V. Design of the study This paper is divided into three parts. The first is Introduction providing rationale, aims of the study, scope of the study, methods of the 17
17. study, design of the study. The second is Development consisting of three chapters. Chapter 1 supplies the basic concepts, subclasses of Determiner, discourse reference, and items of discourse reference. Chapter 2 gives English Determiner as discourse reference and its subclasses. In chapter 3, that is about application of determiners as discourse referents in cohesion text and. The last part is Conclusion with some implication for studying English 18
18. PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND I. DETERMINERS 1. Definition of determiner A determiner is a noun modifier that expresses the reference of a noun or noun phrase. Determiners make it clear, for example, which particular thing(s) we are referring to or how much of a substance we are talking about. (L. G. Alexander, 1988: 55) 2. Classes of determiners 2.1. Definite and indefinite articles An article combines with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun, and may also specify the volume or numerical scope of that reference. The articles in the English language are “the” and “a” (the latter with variant form an). Articles are traditionally considered to form a separate part of speech. Linguists place them in the category of determiners. 2.1.1. Definite article (The) In English, a definite article is mostly used to refer to an object or person that has been previously introduced. 19
19. Example: An elephant and a mouse fell in love. The mouse loved the elephant's long trunk and the elephant loved the mouse's tiny nose. (L. G. Alexander, 1988: 67) “A mouse” in the first line became “the mouse” because “a mouse” had been previously introduced into the narrative. And no other mouse was involved in the paragraph. Only previously introduced subjects, and unique subjects, where the speaker can assume that the audience is aware of the identity of the reference typically take definite articles in English. The word “the” the only definite article in English. It is also the most frequently used word in English. The article “the” is used with singular and plural, countable and uncountable nouns when both the speaker and listener know the thing or idea already. The article “the” is often used as the very first part of a noun phrase in English. Example: The end of time is begins now Here, "the end of time" is a noun phrase. “The” signals that the reference is a specific and unique instance of the concept (such as person, object, or idea) expressed in the noun phrase. Here, the implication is that there is one end of time, and that it has arrived. Example: The time is 3 p.m. There are many times, but the meaning here is the time “now” of which (at the moment the sentence was produced) there is only 20
20. “The” is used in sentences or clauses where we define or identify a particular person or object: Examples: “Which car did you scratch?” “The red one” 'The' is used to refer to objects we regard as unique: Example: the sun, the moon, the world 'The' is used with adjectives, to refer to a whole group of people: Example: the Japanese, the old 2.1.2. Indefinite article (a, an) The indefinite article is just the opposite of the definite article. In English, the indefinite articles are “a, an” They are “indefinite” because they do not refer to a particular thing as “ the ” does, but simply refer to an object or person in a non-specific way, that is, we do not specify exactly to which person or object we are referring to. Example: There is a white house on a green hill. A cat ate the sardine We are not specifying which cat ate the sardine it could have been any cat. 2.2. Demonstratives (this, that, these, those) The demonstratives show where an object or person is in relation to the speaker. This (singular) and these (plural) refer to an object or person near the speaker. That (singular) and those (plural) refer to an object or person further away. . It can be a physical closeness or distance as in: 21
21. Who owns that house? (distant) Is this John's house? (near) Or it can be a psychological distance as in: That’s nothing to do with me. (distant) This is a nice surprise! (near) It is relatively common for a language to distinguish between demonstrative determiners (or demonstrative adjectives, determinative demonstratives) and demonstrative pronouns (or independent demonstratives). A demonstrative determiner modifies a noun: This apple is good. I like those houses. A demonstrative pronoun stands on its own, replacing rather than modifying a noun: This is good. I like those. There are five demonstrative pronouns in English; this, that, these, those and the less common yonder (the latter is usually employed as a demonstrative determiner; even so it is rarely used in common English). As is obvious from the examples, English employs the same words for both types of demonstratives. Sometimes a difference is made specific by using the pronoun one (this one, those ones). 22
22. 2.3. Possessive adjectives (My, our, his, her, its, your and their) Possessive adjectives show possession, i.e. that someone or something belong to somebody. They answer the question whose? The possessive adjectives “my, your, etc” they are determiners and must always be used in front of a noun. Their form is regulated by the possessor, not by the thing possessed. For example: “his” refers to possession by male: John’s daughter (= his daughter). “Her” refers to possession by female: Jane’s son (= her son) Example: Jane's brother is married to John's sister. Her brother is married to his sister. In English, possessive adjectives refer to the possessor, not the object or person that is possessed Possessive adjectives are only considered determiners when they precede a noun head (remember that it is exactly the fact that they occupy this position that identifies the class of ‘determiners’, so this is not surprising). ‘My’, ‘your’ and ‘our’ are deictic. Third person genitive determiners instead have anaphoric reference. 2.4. Quantifiers Quantifier are words or phrases like few , little , plenty (of ) , which often modify nouns and show how many thing or how much of something we are talking about . Some quantifiers combine with countable noun; some with uncountable noun and some with both kinds There are two small groups of closed - system quantifiers: 23
23. (1) Many, (a) few, and several co-occur only with plural count nouns: Example: The few words he spoke were well chosen (2) Much and (a) little co-occurs only with non-count nouns: Example: There hasn’t been much good weather recently In case of few and little there is a positive /negative contrast according as the indefinite article is or is not used Example: He took a few biscuits (= several) He took few biscuits (= not many) Exact indication of quantity can be conveyed by means of numbers. Cardinal numbers can be used as quantifiers (two apples). The number one can combine with any noun used as single countable noun Example: We’ve got one micro and two electric typewriters in our office All other numbers combine with plural countable nouns Example: I want to buy two cabbages and twelve oranges 2.5. Interrogative determiners (Which, what, whose) They stand for one of the other determiners in a question Example: A: Which book did you choose? B: I choose this book. 24
24. ‘Which’ and ‘what’ have slightly different uses: which is used when the options are clear, what when the options are not constrained. “Whose” is both interrogative and genitive. II. DISCOURSE REFERENCE Discourse analysis is a general term for a number of approaches to analyzing written, spoken or signed language use. Discourse analysis is concerned with the study of the relationship between language and the contexts in which it is used. It grew out of work in different disciplines in the 1960s and early 1970s, including linguistics, semiotics, psychology, anthropology and sociology. The linguistic philosophers such as Austin (1962) , Searle (1969) and Grice (1975) were influential in the study of language in social action, reflected in Speech Act Theory and the formulation of Conversational Maxims, alongside the emergence of pragmatics , which is the study of meaning in context (e.g. Levinson 1983 and Leech 1983 ). British discourse analysis was greatly influenced by M.A.K. Halliday's functional approach to language. Discourse is language in use for communication and it is generally pre-supposed to be coherent (understandable). Discourse analysis is the search to discover what makes language coherent. Language rules - morphological, syntactic and semantic plus "knowledge of the world" are required to understand discourse. Language as a formal system plus schemata-social, cultural, experiential and creative experiences are needed. I.e. social and psychological context is important for the understanding of language. 25
25. The objects of discourse analysis—discourse, writing, talk, conversation, communicative event, etc.—are variously defined in terms of coherent sequences of sentences, propositions, speech acts or turns- at- talk. 1. Reference In presenting the traditional semantic view of reference Lyons (1986: 4040) says that “the relationship which holds between things is relationship of reference: words refer to things this traditional view continues to be expressed in those linguistic studies (e.g.: lexical semantic) which describe the relationship between a language and the words, in the absence of language users. Yet, Lyons, in a more recent statement on the nature of reference makes the following point “it is the speaker who refers (by using some appropriate expression) he invests the expression with reference by the act of referring” (1977: 177). It is exactly this latter view of the nature of reference which the discourse analyst has to appeal to. There is support for such a pragmatic concept of reference in Strawson’s (1950) claim that “referring” is not something an expression does; It is something that someone can use an expression to do”, and in Searl’s view that “in the sense in which speakers refer expression do not refer any more than they make promises or give orders (1979 : 155 ). Thus, in discourse analysis, reference is treated as an action on the part of the speaker (writer). In the following conversation fragment, we shall say, for example, that speaker uses the expression “my uncle” and “he” to refer to one individual and “my mother’s sister” and “she” to refer to another. 26
26. Example: A: My uncle is coming home from Canada on Sunday ++ He is due in ++ B: How long has he been away for or has he just been away A: No, They live in Canada eh He was married to my mother’s sister ++ well, she has been dead for a number of years now. (Gillian Brown& George Yule, 1983:28) 2. Types of discourse reference 2.1. Anaphoric reference The most common direction of reference is upwards to a previous portion of a text. This is called "anaphoric reference" because “ana” means "upwards" and “phor” means "to carry." And reference words that refer back upwards to a previous portion of a text are called "anaphoric words." Anaphoric words offer a writer streamlined ways of repeating, manipulating, and expanding previous information in a paragraph. Note that anaphoric words frequently have the definite article “the” attached to them because a primary function of the definite article is to inform the reader that an item has been mentioned previously in the text. An anaphoric word/phrase points backwards in the text, i.e. you find out what an anaphoric word/phrase refers to by looking at the preceding context. Words that are typically anaphoric are personal pronouns, possessive determiners, definite and demonstrative determiners, demonstrative pronouns. Example: 27
27. If the buyer wants to know what is covered by the guarantee, he has to read the fine print and consult a lawyer (Evelyn Marcussen Hatch, 1992:224) “He” in the second clause refers to “buyer” in the first clause, the writer ( speaker ) doesn’t want to repeat the word “buyer” , so “he” is used to replace “buyer”, “he” points back to “ buyer ” There are some makers which are anaphoric only, they include that, those, the foregoing, the former the later Example: Many people think that they can get by without working hard. That is a big mistake (Evelyn Marcussen Hatch, 1992:230) 2.2. Cataphoric reference The second most common direction for reference is downward to a subsequent portion of the text. This is called "cataphoric reference" because cata means "downward." Reference words that refer downward in a text are called "cataphoric words." Cataphoric words help a reader to predict what is going to happen in a text. They are a favorite stylistic device of novelists because their function is to arouse curiosity and suspense in a reader by giving only partial information about something that will be revealed later. In this way, the reader is enticed to keep reading. Example: John asked him to sing and so Bill sang (Gillian Brown& George Yule, 1983:32) 28
28. Reading the clause before conjunction “ and ” the reader can not understand who is “ him ”,after reading the clause “ so Bill sang ”,the reader knows that “ him ” refers to “ Bill ”. Cataphoric is a classic device for engaging the reader’s attention: reference can be withheld for long stretches of text. In new stories and literature, cataphoric reference is often found in the opening sentences of the text. Some markers are cataphoric only: as follow, the following, thus, below. 2.3. Exophoric reference The third direction of reference is outside the text, that is, to items that are not described explicitly in the text. This is called "exophoric reference" because exo means "outward." Reference words that refer outside a text are called "exophoric words." Exophoric words indicate assumed shared knowledge between the writer and the reader. Since the writer assumes that the reader knows what the exophoric words refer to, the writer does not bother to explain them in the text. Note that an exophoric reference word may also have the definite article the attached to it because a secondary function of the definite article the is to convey that (a) Only one example of this item exists in the time and place being focused on; (b) the reader most likely knows of its existence already. Exophoric reference often directs us to the immediate context. Sometimes the referent is not in the immediate context but is assumed by 29
29. the speaker (writer) to be the part of a shared world. Either in terms of knowledge or experience, exophoric reference will often be to a world shared by sender and receiver of the linguistic message Example: Germany Surrenders Finally on 7 May 1945, Germany surrendered to the Allied Forces and the war in Europe was over. By June of 1945, Great Britain, the United States, France, and the Soviet Union had occupied the whole country. Immediately, they devised a system for controlling Germany: They divided Germany into four sectors—three in the west and one in the east. They also divided the capital city into four sectors with Great Britain, The United States, France, and the Soviet Union each administering one sector of the city. All four countries agreed to help rebuild German cities, farms, industries, and transportation systems. They also promised to promote the establishment of a democratic form of government in Germany. (The Surrender of Germany, May 8, 1945) The noun phrase the Allied Forces is exophoric, referring loosely to certain members of the fifty nations that opposed the Axis countries during World War. The use of the definite article the, indicating that only one example of this item exists in the time and place being focused on and that the reader most likely knows about it. 30
30. 3. Reference word Reference words are a type of rhetorical device that allows a writer to create cohesion throughout a text by reintroducing, manipulating, or anticipating information continually and in interesting ways. Reference words can be almost any part of speech, but most of them are pronouns and noun phrases. Reference words can refer in three directions: upward to a previously mentioned portion of text, downward to a subsequent portion of text, or outward to an entity that is not mentioned in the text. Reference words that refer upward in a text are called "anaphoric" .Reference words that refer downward in a text are called "cataphoric". Reference words that refer outward from a text are called "exophoric." 4. Reference items in English 4.1. Pronouns Pronouns are small words that take the place of a noun. We can use a pronoun instead of a noun. Pronouns are words like: he, you, our If we didn't have pronouns, we would have to repeat a lot of nouns. We would have to say things like: Example: Do you like the president? I don't like the president. The president is too pompous. With pronouns, we can say: Do you like the president? I don't like him. He is too pompous. 31
31. Words or phrases like pronoun are anaphora when they point backwards to something earlier in the text Example: Helen needed the book and asked me to hurry up with it. Here, “it” is anaphoric because it refers back to the noun “book”. The term is also used for the repetition of words or phrases for rhetorical effect Example: We shall not give in; we shall not falter; we shall not surrender. Here, the repetition of “we shall not” is anaphoric. Words or phrases like pronouns are cataphora when they point forwards to something later on in the text Example: As he was unaccustomed to it, Jake found the pressure very hard to deal with. Here, it is cataphoric because it refers forwards to the noun pressure. 4. 2. The classes of determiners 4.2.1. Demonstratives (this, that, these, those) Demonstrative can be used anaphorically to refer back to an earlier NP or series of actions or events. Example: I read a book yesterday. That book was about America 32
32. “A book” is introduced in the first sentence “I read a book yesterday”. The writer (speaker) can use “that book” later in the second one to refer the same book. 4.2.2 Definite article The English definite article is the (as in the car, the ideas, the new teacher). The definite article specifies that the referent of the noun phrase can be identified, either because it has been mentioned before (anaphoric reference), because it will be specified later in the text (cataphoric reference), or because it is obvious from the physical surroundings or general knowledge of the speaker and hearer (situational reference). The definite article (unless it has cataphoric reference) typically signals that something is given information. Anaphoric reference (back reference): the referent is known to the reader Example: Peter bought a house last year. The house is now being redecorated. (Keith Allan, 1986:39) Cataphoric reference (forward reference) Example: The city I work in is 900 yards 4.2.3. Possessive adjective Possessive determiners have anaphoric reference. 33
33. Example: Madge wants to go to Majorca for their holiday, but her husband won’t go there. (Keith Allan, 1986:50) The possessive “their” is anaphoric to and co-denote with “Madge”. “Her” is anaphoric to and co-denote with “Madge” Example: Teacher wanted to meet John’s father but his father was not at home (Keith Allan, 1986:46) The phrase “His father” has the anaphoric character of referring to “John’s father” given in the text III. COHESION 1. Cohesion and types of cohesion Cohesion is the grammatical and lexical relationship within a text or sentence. Cohesion can be defined as the links that hold a text together and give it meaning. There are two main types of cohesion: grammatical, referring to the structural content, and lexical, referring to the language content of the piece. A cohesive text is created in many different ways. In Cohesion in English, M.A.K. Halliday and Ruqaiya Hasan identify five general categories of cohesive devices that create coherence in texts: reference, ellipsis, substitution, lexical cohesion, and conjunction. 34
34. 2. Cohesive devices to create coherence in texts 2.1. Reference There are three referential devices that can create cohesion: Anaphoric reference occurs when the writer refers back to someone or something that has been previously identified, to avoid repetition. Some examples: replacing "the taxi driver" with the pronoun "he" or "two attractive girls" with "they". Another example can be found in formulas such as "as stated previously" or "the aforementioned". Cataphoric reference is the opposite of anaphora: a reference forward as opposed to backward in the discourse. Something is introduced in the abstract before it is identified. For example: "Here he comes, our award-winning host it's John Doe!" Cataphoric references can also be found in written text. Exophoric reference is used to describe generics or abstracts without ever identifying them (in contrast to anaphora and cataphora, which do identify the entity and thus are forms of endophora): e.g. rather than introduce a concept, the writer refers to it by a generic word such as "everything". The prefix "exo" means "outside", and the persons or events referred to in this manner will never be identified by the writer. 2.2. Ellipsis Ellipsis is another cohesive device. It happens when, after a more specific mention, words are omitted when the phrase needs to be repeated. 35
35. Example: A: Where are you going? B: To town. The full form of B's reply would be: "I am going to town". Example: The younger child was very outgoing, the older much more reserved. The omitted words from the second clause are "child" and "was". 2.3. Substitution A word is not omitted, as in ellipsis, but is substituted for another, more general word. Example: "Which ice-cream would you like?" – "I would like the pink one" "One" is used instead of repeating "ice-cream." This works in a similar way to pronouns, which replace the noun. Example: 'I dropped the ice-cream because it was dirty'. 'Ice-cream' is a noun, and its pronoun could be 'It'. Example: "I dropped the green ice-cream. It was the only one I had'. – The second sentence contains the pronoun (It), and the substitution (one). One should not mix up the two because they both serve different purposes: one to link back and one to replace. 36
36. 2.4. Lexical cohesion Lexical cohesion is basically created by repetition (reiteration) of the same lexeme, or general nouns (super-ordinates, for example - public transport), or other lexemes sharing the majority of semantic features (also called hyponyms): The bus - the subway - the tram Lexical cohesion can also form relational patterns in text in a way that links sentences to create an overall feature of coherence with the audience, sometimes overlapping with other cohesion features. The understanding of how the content of sentences is linked helps to identify the central information in texts by means of a possible summary. This allows judgements on what the text is about 2.5. Conjunction Conjunction creates cohesion using conjunctive words whether temporal (after, before; first, second, third), causal (because), coordinating (and), adversative (but, however), additive (further) or discourse markers (now, well, after all). 37
37. CHAPTER TWO DETERMINERS AS DISCOURSE REFERENTS 1. DETERMINERS AS ANAPHORIC REFERENCE 1.1. Definite articles as anaphoric reference There are, broadly speaking, two functions associated with definite article. One of these is an anaphoric function, to refer back to something mentioned in the preceding discourse. The other is a non-anaphoric function, to refer to something not mentioned in the preceding discourse but whose existence is something that the speaker assumes is known to the hearer. This assumed knowledge may be based on general knowledge (as in the sun) or it may be based on inferences that the hearer can make in context (for example, inferring from mention of a house that the house has a door, thus making it possible to use a definite article in referring to the door of the house). Example: Fred was discussing an interesting book in his class. I went to discuss the book with him afterwards. (John A. Hawkins, 1978:87) “The book” is understood as referring to the same object as the preceding indefinite description and that the number of these objects is on each occasion just one. The definite article can be used under rather different circumstances as illustrated in the following sequence 38
38. Example: Fred was discussing an interesting book in his class. He is friendly with the author (John A. Hawkins, 1978:87) On this occasion, there is no preceding indefinite reference to “an author”. Mention of “an interesting book” is sufficient to permit the immediately following first- mentioned definite description, “the author”. When the definite article is used in this way, the person referred to by the author” is understood as being the author of the previously mentioned book Example: Bill was working at a lathe the other day. All of a sudden the machine stopped turning. Fred was wearing trousers. The pants had a big patch on them Bill swore. The oath embarrassed his mother Marry traveled to Munich. The journey was long and tiring A ninety-year-old man and eighty- year-old woman were sitting on the park bench. The couples were talking loudly (John A. Hawkins, 1978:107) In the above examples, the referring predicate of the anaphoric definite noun-phrase is not identical to that of italicized previous mention, which in some case is not even a noun-phrase. However, the hearer/reader has no difficulty in understanding what the definite noun-phrase refers back to in these examples since his knowledge of the language tell him that there is, 39
39. for example, a class inclusion relationship between lathes and machines, which permit reference back to lathes using a more general description predicted, that “trousers” and “the pants” are synonymous and that “the pant” may therefore refer to the same object as “the trousers” The definite article the is generally used to indicate that the character referred to is already on stage, or at least known to the reader, in contrast with the indefinite articles a and some, which signal the introduction of a new character Example: Once upon a time there was an old woman who had a lazy daughter. The woman used to scold the daughter all day long. (John A. Hawkins, 1978:97) These articles allow a reference chain to be built, without confusion, out of full noun phrases: An old woman the woman A lazy daughter the daughter If the first link in a text contains a definite article, this is often because the reference chain in fact extends back to a previous text Example: Benjamin seemed frightened when he seen the plane (From On the black hill: 1982) This is the first sentence of the sample text, and “the” refers back to the passage on which the questions are based. Although the definite and indefinite articles are generally used effectively in conversation, the special demands of writing may produce problems 40
40. Example: Benjamin seemed scared to sign when Alex said if we land in a farmer's felid and kill some old farmer's cow. (From On the black hill: 1982:56) Are the farmers intended to be the same or different? The use of the indefinite some suggests that the second farmer is a different person from the first, but the context suggests otherwise. Presumably the intended meaning calls for the following Example: Benjamin seemed scared to sign when Alex said if we land in some old farmer's felid and kill his cow. Indirect anaphora can be thought of as an anaphoric relation between a word and an element of a prototypic scenario implied by another word in the text. Note that such an element does not have any surface representation in the text. Similar ideas without further classification as concerned the indirect anaphora can be found in [Shank (1980); Gundel, Hedberg, and Zacharski (1988)]. Let us consider the following examples: John was eating. The table was dirty. John died. The widow was mad with grief. John was buried. The widow was mad with grief. (Shank ,1980:27) Here the definite articles are used with the words table and widow. However, these words (and the corresponding concepts) do not appear literally in the discourse before. What is the reason for their definiteness? It can be explained by the existence of the indirect anaphoric relation: eat  41
41. table, die  widow, bury  widow. In the first example the antecedent to eat contains in its prototypic scenario a slot for a place with a possible value table. In the second example the verb to die is included in the lexical meaning of the word widow. In the third examples, the concept to die is in common in the lexical meanings of widow and to bury. There are three possible types of the indirect anaphora depending on the relations between the antecedent and the anaphor: The anaphor is a word in the text while the antecedent is an element of a scenario implied by another word; this is the most common case: Vice versa, an implied concept makes reference to a word in the text, a rather rare case: The reference is made between the implied concepts, an even rarer case: 42
42. It is worth noting that the indirect anaphora is possible only at the uppermost semantic level of the situation. E.g., the following discourse is impossible or its meaning is different from the pure anaphora Example: “Peter disliked that John was eating here. The table was dirty.” (Gundel, Hedberg, and Zacharski,1988:68) Here, the topmost level situation is “Peter disliked,” and the indirect anaphora to the embedded situation is not possible. 1.2. Demonstratives as anaphoric reference Demonstratives are also often used anaphorically - i.e. to refer back to either an already introduced NP or, sometimes, a whole series of events Example: I’ve signed up for an advanced linguistics course next term. This class is going to keep me busy. While the primary function of demonstratives is to provide spatial references of concrete objects (that building, this table), there is a secondary function: referring to items of discourse. For example: In linguistics, a deictic expression is an expression that refers to the personal, 43
43. temporal, or spatial aspect of an utterance, and whose meaning therefore depends on the context in which it is used. This sentence is short. I said her dress looked hideous. She didn't like that . (Pieter A. M. Seuren, 1998:442) In the examples above, “this sentence” refers to the sentence being spoken, and that refers to the content of the previous statement. These are abstract entities of discourse, not concrete objects. Each language may have subtly different rules on how to use demonstratives to refer to things previously spoken, currently being spoken, or about to be spoken. Example: Germany after World War 2 In 1939, Germany started World War 2; she was confident that she could conquer and control all of Europe. She spread death and destruction over much of the continent. But after several years of war, Germany herself began to suffer severe losses: Allied bombing raids destroyed German cities, farms, industries, and transportation systems. Food, water, and fuel began to disappear. And without these essentials, people could not care for themselves and their families. (Germany after World War 2, May, 1945) It is clear in the preceding paragraph that “these essentials” can not stand alone, rather, “these essentials” needs to connect with “ food, water, and fuel ” to complete its meanings, and it is used when new information is added about the things that it refers to. 44
44. Demonstrative determiners can be used to signal that a noun phrase is referentially equivalent to a previous noun phrases. The noun phrases may have identical heads, but may be without heads beings identical Example: He bought a battered, old black van in 1970. What a lot of money he earned with that vehicle. (Quirk, 1973: 303) Students are free to select optional course from any field that touches on American studies .These options are very popular (Quirk, 1973: 303) 1.3. Possessive determiners as anaphoric reference The personal pronouns have two possessive forms. One form shows possession by preceding a noun. A personal pronoun in this form may be referred to as a possessive adjective, since, like an adjective, it describes the thing to which the noun refers In the following sentences, the possessive adjectives are underlined. Example: My bicycle is new. Does your uncle play hockey? His answer was correct. (George Yule, 1998:23) Anaphora, in the traditional and commonly accepted sense of the term, is a linguistic device that makes it possible not to repeat a full referential expression in order to re-establish a referential link that has been met just 45
45. before in discourse. The usual means for such an abbreviated pick up of a recently made reference is use of a personal or possessive Example: The woman in the red hat came in. The maid took her coat (Pieter A. M. Seuren, 1998:446) In this sentence “the woman in the red is the antecedent”, and “her” is anaphoric 2. DETERMINERS AS CATAPHORIC REFERENCE 2.1. The Definite article as cataphoric reference Forward –looking or cataphoric reference of this kind often involves pronouns but it can involve other reference items too, such as the definite article On some occasion, the definite article is used as a cataphoric device, that is, to point forward .Sometimes at the beginning of a story, a writer will introduce a character or characters with the definite article Example The door opened and the killer walked in The baby had been crying for 20 minutes before the girl got up and went into the kitchen (George Yule, 1998:40) In such usage, the definite article actually indicates that the status of “already identified” will become clearer as the story proceeds. It is an invitation to read on to discover what is being treated as already known. Related storytelling device is illustrated. 46
46. Example: The attach had gone across the field, been held up by machine-gun fire from the sunken road and from the group of farm house, and reach the bank of the river (George Yule, 1998:40) The use of definite article at the start makes it seem as if we have joined a story already in process Example: The trip would hardly have been noteworthy, except for the man who made it. In mid-July, a powerful American financier flew to Mexico City for a series of talk with high-level government officials, including President Miguel de la Madrid and his finance minister, Gustavo Petricioli. (Newsweek, 21 September. 1987: 44) Example of cataphoric reference were found in the same issue of Newsweek , which underlines the most characteristic function of cataphoric reference to engage and hold the reader’s attention with a “ read on and find out ” message . In news stories and in literature, examples of cataphoric reference are often found in the opening sentences of the text. The definite article is said to have cataphoric reference when the exact reference of the noun phrase is specified after the definite article (typically in noun phrase with post-modification) Example: The man who saw the play was John (John A. Hawkins, 1978:62) 47
47. “Who saw the play” must be interpreted as defining attribute. Thus the identification of “John”, with an entity defined solely by participation in the process in question (the noun Head, being generic, acting merely as carrier for the defining modifier) is equivalent to its noun – identifying correspondent / John saw the play / in respect of all features except the selection of this option; Whereas the latter is already marked by information that this status is shared by no one else under consideration, and this is achieved by the cataphoric “the”. Example: The girls sitting over there are my cousins. (John A. Hawkins, 1978:65) Concerns the reference of a definite phrase based on what follows the head noun. Although cataphoric use is generally related to post modification 2.2. The demonstrative determiners as cataphoric The words this, that, these and those are called demonstratives, this, these normally point to something nearby, while that, those pick out something further away, in their cohesive ( text reference ) function they can be used with nouns Like demonstrative pronouns, demonstrative determiners are used with cataphoric. Demonstrative determiners are also used to introduce a new topic entity into the discourse; this usage is particularly common in anecdote, stories and jokes. 48
48. Example: I am walking along the street when this man comes up to me and says (Angela Dowing, Philip Locke, 2006: 424) A demonstrative determiner with cataphoric reference, which goes with a restrictive relative clause, is used. 2.3. Possessive as cataphoric reference The most common reference words are the personal pronouns (he, she, it, we, they), along with their possessive forms (his, her, its, our, their). In speech, these normally involve situation reference, while text reference is more common in writing. Example: Students (not unlike yourselves) compelled to buy paperback copies of his novels – notably the first, Travel Light, though there has lately been some academic interest in his more surreal and ‘existential’ and perhaps even ‘anarchistic’ second novel, Brother Pig – or encountering some essay from When the Saints in a shiny heavy anthology of mid-century literature costing $12.50, imagine that Henry Bech, like thousands less famous than he, is rich. He is not. (Updike 1970: 11) Here, we meet ‘copies of his novels’ before we know who ‘he’ is. It is only several lines later that we learn that the possessive adjective ‘his’ links forward to the proper nouns ‘Henry Bech’ in the text that comes after. As you can see, whereas anaphora refers back, cataphora refers forward. Here, 49
49. it is a stylistic choice, to keep the reader in suspense as to who is being talked about. 3. DETERMINERS AS EXOPHORIC REFERENCE 3.1. The definite article as exophoric reference One of the phenomena which occur in authentic spoken texts, i.e. conversation between friends, acquaintances and even strangers, are exophoric reference, a type of reference which relies solely on the context of situation for meaning without the visual depiction of a situation, or without a running commentary accompanying the text, Exophoric language can not be fully understood. Because the phenomenon occur regularly in spoken text, but rarely in written one. The definite article which function as anaphoric and cataphoric, also marks exophoric or associative, reference. In this role, the article is not explicitly related to any previous discourse, and assessment of the relevance of the noun phrase it introduces is largely responsibility of the decoder. This makes the article a highly hearer – sensitive feature. Example: Immediate situation use: Have you fed the cat? [Said in a domestic context] Larger situation use The Prime Minister; the airlines Logical use: This is the only remaining copy. Sporadic use: My sister goes to the theatre every month. 50
50. Body part reference use: Mary banged herself on the forehead. Generic reference use: The bull terrier makes an excellent watchdog Exophoric use lies much in pragmatic knowledge. It is not limited to the information provided by a text or discourse. These are cases in which “the” is used without second mention. First, the basis for the use of “the” may lie in the immediate situation “Have you fed the cat? [Said in a domestic context]”, or the larger situation “The Prime Minister; the airlines”. When we are in a garden, we can mention the roses; or (if we are citizens of a certain country) we can talk about the Prime Minister on the basis of the knowledge that each country has one Prime Minister. Similarly, knowledge based on anatomy “Mary banged herself on the forehead”. And the logical interpretation of certain words “This is the only remaining copy” also give grounds for the use of the. Besides, the use of the can be extended to what Quirk et al. (1985) call “sporadic use”, which has to do with an institution of human society. Consequently, in “My sister goes to the theatre every month”, it is not possible to ask “which theater?” because the reference is made to an institution which may be observed recurrently at various places and times. In the same line if reference is made to the whole species as one class, “the” is used as in “The bull terrier makes an excellent watchdog”. Because sporadic use and generic use of “the" seem to share some similarities, Langacker (1991) treats them as types. We are going to return to this issue in Langacker’s classification. 51
51. 3.2. Demonstratives determiners as exophoric reference Exophoric reference is not simply a synonym for referential meaning. The item referred is not in the text or referred to another item in the text but it is referred to other item outside the text. Since each cohesive link has cohesive device and presupposed item but in this case, the reader cannot see the presupposed item in the text because the link in exophora seems not complete. The exophoric type of reference makes no contribution to the cohesion of a text, since it is not relation between 2 items both of which occur within the text. In demonstrative reference, the speaker identifies the referent by locating it on a scale of proximity. This type of reference is realized by the demonstrative pronoun and demonstrative determiner. Example: A: Do you like this scarf? It matches my coat. B: It’s nice, but I prefer those ones over there (Angela Dowing, Philip Locke, 2006: 421) 52
52. CHAPTER THREE APPLICATION OF DETERMINERS AS DISCOURSE REFERENTS TO CREATE COHESION IN A TEXT 1. COHESION Cohesion is due to overtly signaled connections between different parts of a text, marked by various formal devices. Coherence, on the other hand, is the term for semantic links between parts of a text as interpreted by a reader; these links may be due to the presence of cohesive items in the text, but may alternatively be the reader's inferences based on the overall information presented in the text. Much of meaning can only be understood by looking at linguistic markers that have a “pointing” function in a given discourse context Here, in this paper, we just take a look at the role of determiners as discourse referents in text cohesion. 2. APPLICATION OF DETERMINERS AS DISCOURSE REFERENTS TO CREATE COHESION IN A TEXT A noun phrase with a definite article as determiner is typically used to convey given information. If the information is textually given, an anaphoric cohesive tie is thus created between this definite noun phrase and the previous occurrence of the same information in the text: 53
53. Example: John met a werewolf and a unicorn in the garden. The werewolf was truly hideous, but the unicorn was a joy to behold. (Johannesson, 1993: 23) Used in this way, the definite article has a cohesive function. We should keep in mind, however, that the information may be situational given because of the presence of the referent in the speech situation though it has not been mentioned before. In that case no cohesive tie is created. Similarly, it is possible for a speaker/writer to present information as if it is given by using definite noun phrases (for example, in the opening passages of a novel); again, no cohesive tie is created. Demonstrative determiners combine the anaphoric or cataphoric linking of demonstrative pronouns with the explicitness of a noun phrase with a noun as Head. Example: Germany after World War 2: In 1939, Germany started World War 2; she was confident that she could conquer and control all of Europe. She spread death and destruction over much of the continent. But after several years of war, Germany herself began to suffer severe losses: Allied bombing raids destroyed German cities, farms, industries, and transportation systems. Food, water, and fuel began to disappear. And without these essential, people could not care for themselves and their families. Berlin, the capital city, incurred even worse damage: Bombing raids destroyed 54
54. seventy percent of its buildings. The city was left in ruins. People there lived in squalor: Vermin spread disease, with rats infesting peoples’ homes and fleas and cockroaches contaminating their food. Conditions worsened daily. (Germany after World War 2, May, 1945) A noun phrase is simply a noun with modifier as an article, an adjective, or a relative clause. Noun phrase reference words can carry precise information, making it easier for readers to follow them. As such, they may jump one or two paragraph boundaries to find their antecedents. The most frequent kinds of noun-phrase reference words are general words and super ordinates. Their job is to point to more specific words in the text. In the example, readers can easily understand what “these essential” refers to, “these essential” points back to “food, water and fuel”. Also, “their families” can be understood as families of the people who live in German cities. Example: He spoke to a meeting of striking workers that evening. Those workers had previously refused to listen to his speech. (Quirk, 1973:304) In this example , “those same workers” play an anaphoric role in sentences, “Those same workers” refers back to “striking workers”, The writer needn’t repeat the noun phrase “striking workers”, the readers still understand what “those workers” refers to because of determiner with the role of anaphoric which refers to the given information in the text. 55
55. Example: Fred was discussing an interesting book in his class. He is friendly with the author (John A. Hawkins, 1978:87) On this occasion, there is no preceding indefinite reference to “an author”. Mention of “an interesting book” is sufficient to permit the immediately following first- mentioned definite description, “the author”. When the definite article is used in this way, the person referred to by “the author” is understood as being the author of the previously mentioned book. Many of the examples of cohesion given in the explanation of cohesion were anaphoric references, as backward references are far more common than forward ones. This is usually because the reader/listener has to be introduced to something before a reference can be made to it. Example: The schoolmaster was leaving the village, and everybody seemed sorry. The miller at Cresscombe lent him the small white tilted cart and horse to carry his goods to the city of his destination , about twenty miles off , such a vehicle proving of quite sufficient size for the departing teacher’s effect. (Michael Mc Cathy, 1991:35) The italicized items refer. For the text to be coherent, we assume that “him” in “lent him the small white tilted cart” is the schoolmaster introduced earlier. Likewise, his destination is the schoolmaster’s. Referent for “him” and “his” can be confirmed by looking back in the text; such a, also link back to the cart in the previous sentence. 56
56. The novel opens with “the schoolmaster leaving the village”. Which schoolmaster? Which village? On the previous page of the novel, the 2 words “At Mary Green” stand alone, so we reasonably assume that “Mary green” is the name of the village, and that the character is schoolmaster of that village. We are using more than just the text here to establish referents; the author expects us to share a world with him independent of the text, with typical village and their populations (everybody), their schoolmaster and millers. Reference which assumed, to share world outside the text are called exophoric reference. Because they are not text internal, they are not truly cohesive but because they are an equally important part of the reader / listener’s active role in creating coherence. They will be include in our general discussion of factors which contribute to textual, that is , the feeling that something is a text and not just a random collection of sentences . Cohesion refers to the way links of meaning are embodied in word-links in a passage, knitting it all together. The verbal rivets operate by internal reference backward (anaphorically) or forward (cataphorically) within the passage. Example: Mammals evolved from reptiles into very different creatures. They are generally covered with fur or hair, and the mothers produce milk in their bodies to feed their young and they are warm-blooded. Humans, elephants, whales are all mammals, although the first mammals were very small. (From The age of the dinosaurs, Collins Pathways) 57
57. Definite article “the” in the phrase “the mothers” is marker of cohesion in this text. Why does the sentence need the definite article “the”? The word “the” indicate that the readers already know what is being referred to, it is “given”. Example: A dog ran out into the road. The dog got run over (Nicolas Bielby, 1999: 57) Thus “a dog” is any dog but “the dog” is a specific dog about which we already know something Also, in the passage of “the age of the dinosaurs”, “The mammals” are specifically the mothers that belong to the category “mammals” Definite article “the” has a role in cohesion. In that work, they discuss the way that the can be used to tie sentences into a larger unit. They use three terms that you will find repeatedly in discussions of cohesion: anaphoric cohesion, cataphoric cohesion, and exophoric cohesion. Anaphoric: The computer links backwards to a computer Example: I bought a computer and a printer. The computer is now sitting on my desk. The printer is still in its box. (Nicolas Bielby, 1999: 69) Cataphoric: Here is the first line of a story: the door and the woman link forward we know that a specific person is meant but we don't know who yet. This is a trick used by writers to make us feel that the story started before we started reading it. 58
58. Example: The door opened slowly and the woman strolled into the room. (Nicolas Bielby, 1999: 78) Exophoric: This type of cohesion involves links outside the communication to situational features. A story in the local newspaper about bad weather in Atlanta in February 2000 started with the ice storm everyone living here knew which one was meant. Example: The ice storm destroyed 1000s of old trees that can not be replaced. (Nicolas Bielby, 1999: 82) 3. SOME POSSIBLE DIFFICULTIES IN INTERPRETING THE TEXT AND SUGGESTIONS TO OVERCOME 3.1. Some possible difficulties in interpreting in the text 3.1.1. Anaphoric reference Usually items such as pronouns can be decoded without major difficulty; other items such as demonstratives, definite article, possessive determiners may be more troublesome because of their ability to refer to longer stretches of text and diffuse proposition not necessarily paraphrasable by any direct quotation from the text. Problems can also arise where learners are so engaged in decoding the individual utterance, clause or sentence that they lose right link back to earlier ones. 59
59. Example: A: Have ten printers arrived from the supplier? B: They all did, except one of them A: Will the printer arrive tomorrow? (John A. Hawkins, 1978:66) In this example, what does “the printer” refer to? Of course it is not “ten printers”, it refers to, in the B’s response, “one of them” (one of the ten printers) On some cases, the reader has difficulties in interpreting the text because he can not catch the possessive determiners as anaphoric. Example: John gave his brother his book (John A. Hawkins, 1978:68) The reader of course can understand “his brother” refers to “John’s brother”, yet it is difficult for the reader to realize whether “his book” is John’s book or his brother’s book. Supposed that this sentence can be written: John gave his book to his brother “His book” now can be understood as John’s book Anaphoric possessives can make the reader confuse if they are vaguely expressed. Problems can also arise where learners are so engaged in decoding the individual utterance Example: Fred was discussing an interesting book in his class. He is friendly with the author 60
60. (John A. Hawkins, 1978:87) “The author” is not before mentioned, it can make difficulty for the lower- level reader who try to find the antecedent of “the author”. On this case, “the author” is indirect anaphoric, it has correlation between “an interesting book” and “the author”. Here, “the author” is mentioned as the author of “an interesting book”, not the other book. Another example: I have just bought a new house, the kitchen is very large. (John A. Hawkins, 1978:91) “The kitchen” here can be understood as the kitchen of “a new house” like the occasion of the example before. But if the definite article is replaced by the demonstrative determiner “this” I have just bought a new house, this kitchen is very large The meaning of the sentence has changed. On this case, the reader can understand that “a new house” has many kitchens, and “this kitchen” is larger than the other. Problem can arise if the reader has difficulty in analyzing the indirect anaphoric In order for an anaphor to be interpreted, it has to be matched up with the appropriate pre-existing discourse referent. This is called resolving the anaphoric reference, and is achieved by identifying the antecedent of the anaphor i.e. the previously mentioned item to which the anaphor refers. 3.1.2. Cataphoric reference Writers make us feel that the story started before we started reading it by using cataphoric reference. 61
61. Example: The door opened slowly and the woman strolled into the room. (Nicolas Bielby, 1999: 78) The reader knows a specific person is meant but he doesn't know who yet. Example: In 1969 work began on construction of a vast dam across the Zambia. When complete, the Caborra Bass a dam (named after the rapids at which it is sited) will irrigate 1.6 million ha of land and produce 2200 mw of electric power. But since its independence, Mozambique has become increasingly worried about the cost of completing and operating the project (Ray William, 1983:42) With regard to cataphoric reference is less that of divorcement or ambiguity (since the two end of tie are frequently close). Rather, it is a question of rarity, i.e. the reader is not accustomed to searching forward for the end of the tie and so may take more common step of searching backward- and mistakenly tie it with Mozambique 3.2. Suggestions to overcome the problems 3.2.1. Anaphoric reference In order for an anaphor to be interpreted, it has to be matched up with the appropriate pre-existing discourse referent. This is called resolving the anaphoric reference, and is achieved by identifying the antecedent of the anaphor i.e. the previously mentioned item to which the anaphor refers. 62
62. This means finding what the anaphor is referring to. Statistical methods based on tokens’ frequency are commonly used, though with compromises. It is often difficult when sentences are taken out of context. The Prime Minister of New Zealand visited us yesterday. The visit was the first time she had come to New York since 1998. If the second sentence is quoted by itself, it is necessary to resolve the anaphor Example: The visit was the first time the Prime Minister of New Zealand had come to New York since 1998. (Ray William, 1983:142) Although of course, as The Prime Minister of New Zealand is an office of state and she would seem to refer to the person currently occupying that office, it could quite easily be that the Prime Minister of New Zealand had visited New York since 1998 and before the present day, whilst the present incumbent she had not. However, even when taken in context, anaphor resolution can become increasingly complex. Example: We gave the bananas to the monkeys because they were hungry. We gave the bananas to the monkeys because they were ripe. (Ray William, 1983:145) In the first sentence, "they" refers to "monkeys", whereas in the second sentence, "they" refers to "bananas". A semantic understanding that monkeys get hungry, while bananas become ripe is necessary when 63
63. resolving this ambiguity. Since this type of understanding is still poorly implemented in software, automated anaphora resolution is currently an area of active research within the realm of natural language processing. 3.2.2 Cataphoric reference Cataphoric relationships- those in which a resolvable coreferring mention follows the mention otherwise considered as “anaphoric”- are largely ignored in correference resolution systems. Such systems simply force a strict ordering of the resolved elements, ignoring a property of the data being used. 64
64. PART THREE: CONCLUSION General speaking, everybody wants to reach an effective way to learn any foreign language. And, language learning styles and strategies appear to be among the most important variables influencing performance in a second language. Much more investigation is necessary to determine the precise role of styles and strategies. It is important to take discourse analysis in consideration in learning foreign language because discourse analysis can be applied to any text, that is, to any problem or situation. It has no definite guidelines to follow because it is basically an interpretative and deconstructing reading. Being aware of any text’s multiple meanings, discourse analysis does not provide definite answers, but rather expands our personal horizons. In discourse analysis, determiners as discourse referents play an important part. I hope that I will provide learners a comprehensive understanding of discourse reference and determiners. The topic as “Determiners as discourse referents” is chosen In the study, the theoretical background supplies the definitions, classification of the determiners, types of discourse reference in order to remind readers the fundamental theory. Chapter two is the part of Determiners as discourse reference. In this chapter the researcher focuses on determiners as anaphoric reference, determiners as cataphoric reference and determiners as exophoric. Then, the application of determiners as discourse reference in cohesion of text is chapter 3. This paper has been carried out carefully; however, a lot of work is left for the further study, because of my limited knowledge and time allowance. 65
65. It is impossible for me to avoid some shortcomings both in content and the way of presentation, because they are inevitable 66
66. REFERENCES 1. Quirk, R. et.al (1973) A university grammar of English. A Longman group 2. Gillian Brown and George Yule. Discourse analysis 3. Aarne Rant. Type_ theoretical grammar 4. Karin Aijimer, Anna_ Britastenstrom. Discourse pattern in spoken and written corpora 5. M.A.K Halliday edited by Jonathan J. Webster. Studies in English language 6. Joan Cutting. Pragmatics and discourse 7. An introduction to Discourse Analysis. Prepared by Ha Thi Van Tien 8. L.G.Alexander. Longman English grammar 9. 10.http : // www.grammar.about.com 67
67. APPENDIX I. Identify the different types of referencing being used in the following short texts. 1. It rained day and night for two weeks. The basement flooded and everything was under water. It spoilt all our calculations. 2. The trip would hardly have been noteworthy, except for the man who made it. In mid-July a powerful American financier flew to Mexico City for a series of talks with high ranking government officials. 3. The government is to blame for unemployment. The voters are no longer prepared to listen to platitudes and want action. 4. She claims Leo Tolstoy as a distant cousin. Her grandfather was Alexei Tolstoy - the famous 'Red Count' who sided with Lenin's revolutionaries. Now, Tatyana Tolstaya has put pen to paper, in her case to demonstrate that someone from her family can write. II. The following paragraph is a continuation of the paragraph about Germany. Read through it and examine the reference words. Determine whether they are anaphoric, cataphoric, or exophoric. (1) Finally on 7 May 1945, Germany surrendered to 1the Allied Forces and 2the war in Europe was over. By June of 1945, Great Britain, the United States, France, and the Soviet Union had occupied 3the whole country. Immediately, 4they devised 5a system for controlling Germany: They divided Germany into four sectors -6three in the west and 6 one in the east. They also divided 7the capital city into four sectors with Great Britain, the United States, France, and the Soviet Union each administering one 68
68. sector of 8the city. 9All four countries agreed to help rebuild German cities, farms, industries, and transportation systems. 10They also promised to promote the establishment of a democratic form of government in Germany. Relationships Improve between East and West Germany: On 21 December 1972, the Basic Treaty1 was signed by East and West Germany, and relations between the two countries2 started to improve. During the next two decades, they began to cooperate with each other3 by sharing cultural and commercial activities4 such as arts exchange programs and joint business ventures. However, East Germans were still dissatisfied, for their5 living standard was lower than that6 of West Germany. Their7 industries produced inferior goods, and their country8 was polluted from inferior mining methods and careless industrial waste. III. Identify the different types of referencing being used in the following texts 1. The Partition of Germany: Before long, the four countries1 began to disagree on how to govern Germany. Great Britain, the United States, and France wanted to establish a democratic government. The Soviet Union did not2; rather, they wanted to establish a communist government. In order to solve this disagreement3, they partitioned Germany into two separate countries. And on 23 May 1949, the three western sectors4 became the Federal Republic of Germany, or simply West Germany. It was to have a democratic government. And on 7 October 1949, the eastern sector5 69
69. became the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany. It6 would have a communist government. 2. The Second Exodus: For many years, East German people devised creative ways1 to sneak out of East Germany. Some people dug tunnels; others2 tried crashing through checkpoints with cars, trucks, or busses; still others3 flew out in small airplanes or balloons. One woman tied herself to the bottom of a car and passed through a checkpoint unnoticed. And one family made fake Russian uniforms for themselves4; then, they pretended to be Russian soldiers and simply drove through a checkpoint. Some desperate people tried scrambling over a barbed-wire fence or a wall. These people5 were often shot. 70