VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES POST-GRADUATE DEPARTMENT ………………………………… BUI THUY ANH A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF LEXICAL COHESIVE DEVICES THROUGH SOME ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE FABLES (NGHIÊN CỨU SO SÁNH CÁC PHƯƠNG TIỆN LIÊN KẾT TỪ VỰNG THÔNG QUA MỘT SỐ TRUYỆN NGỤ NGÔN ANH VÀ VIỆT) MINOR PROGRAM THESIS Field : English liguistics Code: 602215 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Hanoi, April, 2009 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES POST-GRADUATE DEPARTMENT ………………………………… BUI THUY ANH A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF LEXICAL COHESIVE DEVICES THROUGH SOME ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE FABLES (NGHIÊN CỨU SO SÁNH CÁC PHƯƠNG TIỆN LIÊN KẾT TỪ VỰNG THÔNG QUA MỘT SỐ TRUYỆN NGỤ NGÔN ANH VÀ VIỆT) MINOR PROGRAM THESIS Field : English liguistics Code: 602215 Supervisor : TRẦN XUÂN ĐIỆP (Ph.D) TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com II TABLE OF CONTENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT PART I : INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………. Aims of the study………………………………………………………………. Scope of the study………………………………………………………………. Methods of the study…………………………………………………………….
Design of the study…………………………………………………………….3 PART II: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1 : Literature Review and Theoreretical background 1. Discourse and discourse analysis………………………………………. The concept of discourse………………………. Discourse and text…………………………….
Theories of genres………………………………………………………………8 1. Definition of genre……………………………………………………………8 1. Genre versus register………………………………………………………. Common discourse genre……………………………………………………13 1.
Fables as a genre of discourse…………………………………………………15 1. Definitions of Fables………………………………………………………. General characteristics of fables……………………………………………. Cohesion and coherence………………………………………………………16 1.
Cohesion versus coherence…………………………………………………. Cohesion and discourse structure……………………………………………16 1. Types of cohesion………………………………………………………….19 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.fables III Chapter 2: A comparative study of Lexical cohesive devices through some English and Vietnamese fables 2. Superordinate and general word…………………………………….
Concluding remarks on lexical cohesion……………………………………….32 PART III: CONCLUSION 1. Recapitulation of major ideas……………………………………………. Suggestions for further studies……………………………………….………38 APPENDIX TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.fables 1 Part I: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale It is clear that acquiring a language is not only limited to knowing about its grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary.
Producing a grammatically correct sentence is not sufficient to use a language to communicate successfully with other people. It is very important for language learners to know how to use our linguistic competence in a larger unit of communication, i. language in use, or in other words, a discourse, in order to convey our ideas to learners as well as to obtain others. Several linguists such as Brown and Yule (1983), Halliday and Hasan (1976), Hatim and Mason (1990), Cook (1989), Swales (1990), etc… have been interested in the concepts of discourse and discourse analysis.
In their view of points, discourse can be shown through different genres, which are shown in terms of a set of features which we perceive as being appropriate to a given social occasion (Hatim and Mason, 1990). Each genre of discourse possesses its own discourse features. A fable is ― a traditional short story that teaches a moral lesson, especially one with animals as characters‖ ( Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary). Although fables are short and simple, they own their typical features distinguished from other genres of discourse such as an article or a speech.
But in fact, English fables are not still paid attention to despite the fact that they represent great potentials for teaching language to learners. With all the reasons above, the author would like to choose ― Analysis of lexical cohesive devices in English and Vietnamese Fables as the topic of this study. I do hope that the results of this study are of practical value. Aims of the study The main aims of the thesis are as follows: To identify lexical cohesive devices used in English and Vietnamese Fables.
TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.fables 2 To compare lexical cohesive devices through some English and Vietnamese Fables 3. Scope of the study: This study will firstly deal with theoretical background of discourse especially coherence, cohesion and cohesive devices. The attention of the study will be secondly paid to considering study of lexical cohesive devices through some English fables and their equivalents in Vietnamese Fables. Our efforts are to collect data in both English and Vietnamese to see the frequencies and differences and similarities of each device and sub-device of lexical cohesive devices in the discourse in both languages.
Methods of the study To attain the aims of the study, the research will conduct the following activities: Firstly, data including relevant theories and fables for analysis will be collected. Relevant theories will be extracted from various linguistic books written by several linguists, such as Cook (1989), Hatim and Mason (1990), Swales (1990), Simpson (1997), Toolan (1998), ect. English fables and Vietnamese fables which are unavailable in printed books in Viet Nam, will be collected from Internet Sources. Secondly, relevant theories will be presented on the ground of several linguists, viewpoints.
Then, 30 selected fables (15 English fables and 15 Vietnamese Fables) will be comprehensively investigated for lexical cohesive devices so as to find out the most typical cohesive devices used in English and Vietnamese Fables. After all, based on the results of the analysis, some concluding remarks can be generalized and some implications for teaching and learning English fables can be proposed. Three successive methods chosen for the best results are descriptive, analytical and comparative. TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.
Design of the study Within the scope mentioned above, the study consists of three main parts: introduction, development and conclusion. Part 2 is divided into three chapters. In the first chapter, Literature Review, theoretical knowledge of lexical cohesive devices and English Fables are presented. The second chapter , also the main one of the study, deals with the study of lexical cohesive devices through some English and Vietnamese fables in the last chapter, we attempt to present some findings and implications.
TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.fables 4 Part II: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND This chapter deals with literature review and theoretical topics such as concepts of discourse, cohesion & coherence, cohesive devices, register and genre, fables which are relevant to the purpose of the study. LITERATURE REVIEW As a genre of discourse in traditional literature, fables are brief stories which take abstract ideas of good and bad, wisdom and foolishness. Because of their relative simple structure and moralizing characters, fables have become popular not only adults but also children. They can be used as a means of education by entertainment and as a convenient disguise for manifestation of political and social convictions.
English fables, however, have not received attentions, despite the fact that they represent great potentials for teaching language to learners, especially learners at the elementary level. Actually, they have not been studied systematically. There have not been many considerable researchers carrying out the study of English Fables. The first research was an M.
thesis named ― Some Discourse Features Of English Fables‖ by Nguyen Thi Thao ( 2005). After examining 45 selected fables, Thao comes to the following conclusions: The structure of fables is relatively simple, consisting of normally three components: the Orientation, the Event Chain and the Coda. The development of the story is illustrated as one-way track as follows: Orientation Event Chain Coda If all the three components are available, they are likely to be arranged in supposed order, hardly ever can we see two of them exchange positions with each other. It means that the Event Chain never precedes the Orientation, or the Coda never appears before the Event Chain.
An ideal fable realizes all these components. However, it is proved from the analysis that the first and the final components are optional ones, which may or may not exist in English fables. Frequently, a fable lacks either or event both of the two components, so that the TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.fables 5 story commences from Initiating Events, the Sequent Event and destinates at the Final Event. In terms grammatical cohesion, Reference and especially Personal Reference, account for the highest frequencies of use.
This can be explained by the fact that fables, are, at least, stories in which characters interact with one another. This raises the need of the use of personal reference to refer to these animals Lexical cohesion such as repetition, collocation, synonyms,antonyms, general word and superordinate play an indispensable part in fables. Among these lexical cohesive devices, repetition contributes the biggest proportion in English Fables. With respect to conjunctions, addictive relation serves the most active role to describe sequence of the events.
In summary, it is noticeable that several studies on cohesive devices and particularly lexical cohesive devices have been carried out in many discourses and genres, while there is only one researcher showing her interest in English fables. She gave a detailed analysis to how some discourse features of English fables. A study of lexical cohesive devices through some English and Vietnamese fables has not been paid attention. For these reasons, this study is carried with the hope that the result of the study is helpful for the application of English fables to teach English to Vietnamese fables.
TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. Discourse and Discourse analysis 1. The concept of discourse The Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics (1998) defines discourse as follows: ―Discourse is a general term for example of language use, i. language has been produced as the result of an act of communication‖.
Sharing the same concern, many other linguists have so far given definitions of discouse. Crystal( 1992:25) claims that discourse is ― a continuous stretch of ( especially spoken) language than a sentence, often constituting a coherent unit, such as a sermon, an argument, a joke or a narrative.‖ Widdowson (1979) states: ―Discourse is a use of sentences to perform acts of communication. Cook (1989) says that discourse is ― stretches of language perceived to be meaningful, unified and purposeful‖. In his point of view, discourse may be composed of one or more well-formed grammatical sentences- and indeed it often is- but it does not have to be.
There can be some grammatical mistakes in a discourse, which do not affect the overall structure and meaning of the discourse. Discourse treats the rules of grammar as a resource, conforming to them when it needs to, but departing from them when it does not. Discourse can be anything from a conversation to a great novel or a legal case. Cook also argues that ― What matters is not its conformity to rules, but he facts that it communicates and is recognized by its receivers as coherent.‖ Discourse is supposed to be meaningful and thus to be used to communicate with one person in a way that another person does not have the necessary knowledge to make sense of.
According to Hatim and Mason (1990), discourse is ― a matter of expression of attitude‖ and is ― a mode of speaking and writing which involves the participant in adopting a particular on certain areas of socio-cultural activity: racial discourse, scientific discourse, domestic discourse‖ Discourse, therefore, are not independent of language, though they reflect non-linguistic phenomena. They also confirm that certain syntactic and (far more commonly) semantic features correlate with certain discourses. To sum up, the majority of linguists seem to have the same view when defining the concept of discourse. Their definitions, though expressed in different ways, all emphasize the two most important aspects of a discourse: TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.fables 7 - The structure of a discourse: a discourse is a well-formed organization above the level of a sentence; - The function of a discourse : a discourse serves as a means of communication.
Discourse and Text Linguists have paid much attention to the distinction between a discourse and a text since confusion of these two terms may result in the failures of discourse analysis. Even though that the distinction is not always clear and the two terms are used interchangeably by some linguists. As in the definition of discourse by Halliday and Hasan, ―text‖ is employed to refer to ―discourse‖; they see ―text‖ as a ―semantic unit‖ characterized by cohesion.