VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES POST-GRADUATE STUDIES DEPARTMENT DOAN THI HONG THANH AN ANALYSIS OF LEXICAL COHESIVE DEVICES IN AESOP’S FABLES (PHAN TICH PHUONG TIEN LIEN KET TU VUNG TRONG TRUYEN NGU NGON CUA EZOP) M.A THESIS Field: English Linguistics Course: K17 (2008-2010) Code: 602215 Supervisor: NGLYEN THUY HUONG, M. Hanoi, Scptember 2010 TARLE OF CONTENTS PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale 2, Aims of the study 3 Scope of the stuty 4, Methods of the study 5 Organization of the study PART 2: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Theoretical background ee 11 ‘Theory of discourse 11. Definition of discourse 1. Discourse versus Text ok 11.1 The concept of cohesion 1.2 Cohesion versus Coherence 1.
Cohesion and discourse structure 12.4 ‘Types of cohesion 1.42 Lexical echesion ‘The narrative structure Fables and its properties 14.1 Definition of fables 1.2 General characteristics ofa fable 14.3 Gencrie structure ofa fable 1.5 Introduction about Aesop and Aesop’s fables Chapter 2: Previous studies on lexical cohesive devices Chapter 3: Lexical cohesive devices in the English version of Aesop's fables 3.2 Synonyis and near synanyrns 3. Some concluding remarks PART 3: CONCLUSION 1. Implications 37 4, Suggestions for further studies 38 REFERENCES a9 APPENDIXES Appendix 1: 25 chosen Aesop’s fables for analysis of lexical cohesive devices Appendix 2: Number of occurrence of lexical cohesive devices in 25 chosen Aesop's fables for analysis PART 2: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1; Theoretical background 1.1 Theory of discourse 1.1 Definition of discourse Since its introduction lo modern science the term ‘discourse! has taken various, sometimes very broad meanings. Originally the word ‘discourse’ comes from Latin ‘discurses' which denotes ‘conversation, speech’.
‘he concept of discourse has heen discussed for a long time and linguists have different ways of undorslanding and defining il. To bagin wilh, Widdowson (1979:98) defines “discowse is a use of sentences to perform acts of communication which cohere in large communicative unit, ultimately establishing a thetorical patterns which characterizes the picee of language as a whole as a kind of communication” Meanwhile, according to Cook (1989) “discourse is stretches of language perceived to be meaningfill, unified and purposefil”. His viewpoint was later shared with by Crystal (1992-25) who sialss thal “discon continuous strelch of (espovially spokan) language larger than a sentence, often constituting a cohesive unit such as a sermon, an argument, a joke or a narrative”. In Cook’s view, such stretches of language can only be obtained if they are considered “in thex full textual, social, psychological context”, In basic sense, il may be defined as “the language in use for communication” hence, discourse is supposed to be meaningful (Cook, 1989) There also exist a number of other linguists’ viewpoints on discowse.
In 1990, Hatim and Mason contributed another definition that implied discourse is “a matter of expression of attitude”; “a mode of speaking and writing which involves the participants in adopting a particular ơn certain arca of sovio-cultural activity: racial discourse, scientific discourse, domestic discourse. Then, seven years later, in 1997, in the book called “Language through lizerature”, Simpson claimed discourse is “the term reserved for the highest levst of linguistic organization in language study”. It is also stated to refer to the “structure and function of language beyond the level of sentence” by him To summarize, the concept of discourse is still under discussion, bul basically, the majority of Hinguists share a common view when defining it, Th can be noted thal their definitions are expressed in different ways but all emphasize the two most important aspects of Third, three previous studies on lexical cohesive devices used in other genres of discourse are reviewed for comparison with the use of lexical cohesive devices in fables. Then, 25 sclocted fablos arc analyzcđ in lorms of lexical cobwsive dev Tciloralion and collocations, All the 25 tables are comprehensively analyzed to identify the lexical cohesive devices used; their fiequencies of occurence are counted to make ont the significance level of each device lo fables Last, some conchusions are drawn based on the data analysis and some implications for English teaching at elementary level are also proposed.
The stutly is approached in hot inductive and deductive ways; the thr methods chosen for the study can be named as descriptive, analytical and comparative 5. Organization of the stady The studyis composed of three parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion ‘The Introduction part presents the rationale, the aims, the scope, methods and ongenization of the study. The Developments part consists of three chapters Chapter 1 discusses the theoretical background related to discourse analysis. ‘he concepts of discourse and discourse analysis, Ihe concept of genre and the distinction belwcen genre and register are made clear.
The theoretical knowledge of cohesion and fables are also mentioned in this chapter. Chapter 2 reviews some previous studies on similar issue. Chapter 3 focuses on the analysis of lexical cohesive devices employed in Aesop’s fables ‘The conclusion part reviews the study and ends it with some findings, implications for teaching and learning, and suggestions for further studies. circumstances in which they occur, which are not explainable at the grammatical level (Carter, 1993-23) TL was in 1973 thal Discourse analysis was dealt perfectly and correctly in MAK Halliday’s functional approach to language, His approach is completely influential in British discourse analysis with the emphasis on the social fiznction and the thematic and informational structure of speech and writing 1.1 Context In common sense, the Webster’s Dictionary defines a context as “the whole situation, the background or the environment releviml to a particular event, personality, creation, cle.” It is said to refer to the condition in which something exists or occurs.
Linguistically, this is a part of a discourse surrounding a word or passage that helps make its meaning clear The concept of context was first noticed in 1923 by Malinowski, an anthropologist when he introduced the two terms “Context of situation” and “Context of culture”, According to him, Context of situation refers to the environment of the context, including verbal cuvironment and [he situation in which the text occurred while Context of culture deals with the whole cultural background behind the participants in the interaction. His idea was later taken up by Firth (1957) who placed great emphasis on the “social context”, [le saw the context of situation as crucial determinants of utterance meaning, Likewise, whcn reporting the study of Malinowski (1923) Halliday and Hasan (1976) focused on context of situation and described how il determines the kinds of mncaning thal arc cxpresscd with the genctal concepts of field, mode and tenor, For some scholars, context sects just to be (he wininnal stretch of language that helps to understand what is written or spoken. Halliday (1994:5) concluded that context “refers to the events that are going on around when people speak and write”. Guy Cook (1994) obscrves that context can be uscd in both a broad and a narrow sense: in the narrow sense, it refers to knowledge of factors outside of the text under consideration; in the broad sense il refers to knowledge of these factors and lo knowledge af other parts under consideration, somtimes referred to as “co-context”, The role of context in discourse analysis was, as a result, then realized.
Accordingly, text is purely linguistic, formal object whik: discourse has both linguistic and non-linguistic property 1. Discourse analysis The first modem linguist who commenced the study of the relation of sentences and coined the name ‘discourse analysis’, which afterwards denoted a branch of applicd linguistics, was Zellig Harris , an American linguist (Cook 1989:13). he emergence of this study is a resull of not only Tinguistic research, bul also of resaarchers engaged in other fields of inquiry, particularly sociology, psychology, anthropology and psychotherapy, Hence, it is seen as “a new branch of linguistics which grew out of the work in different disciplines in the 1960s and early 1970s, including linguistics, philosophy, logic, semiotics, psychology, anthropology” (Van, 2000). A significant contribution to the evolution of discourse analysis has been made by British and American scholars.
Tn Tiritain the examin ion of discourse turned Lowards the stuly of the social fanctions of Janguape. A thorough account of communication in various situations such as debates, interviews, doctor-patient relations, paying close attention to the intonation of people participating in talks as well as manners particular 10 cirourstances was Uhe first concem of British scholars, Americans, on the other hand, focused on examining small communities of people and their discourse in genuine circumstances and on conversation analysis inspecting narratives in addition to talks and the behavior of speakers as welll as pattems repeating in. Being identified and studied property in a large scale and continuously, discourse nay is understood as a primarily linguistic study cemining the use of language by its native population whose major concern is investigating language functions along with its forms, produced both orally and in writing. Moreover, identification of linguistic qualities of various genres, vital for their recognition and interpretation, togcther with cultural and social aspects which support its comprehansion, is the domain of discourse analysis, To put it in another way, the branch of applied linguistics dealing with the examination of discourse attempls to find patterns in commmicative products as well as their correlation with the PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1.
Rationale The concept of discourse analysis was first studied in the late 1970s and 1980s fiom different aspects and views of linguists. It has been paid much attention to by linguists since ils appearance. Talliday and Tasan (1976) put the emphasis on the social fmetions of language. Schegloff, and Gail Jefferson (1974), whose exemplary study of twn-taking in ordinary conversation made a first seminal contribution to the understanding of the sequential organization af infcraction.
Then the concept continued to ailract the allondtion of the late twentieth century's linguists such as Cook (1989), Hatim and Mason (1990), Swalss (1990), Simpson (1997), eto. ‘Through linguistic history, discourse analysis is found important in providing insights into various aspects of language in use and therefore of great value to language teaching. in reality, traditional language teaching seems to deal merely with pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary of a language whereas the ability ta produce a grommmalieally correc sơnlcnoe is noi sufficient lo usc a language for powerfull communication, Discourse analysis came into being to put such knowledge of language into action for communicating more successfially Cohesion and eoherenes, as sub-concepls of discourse analysis arc greatly csscntial in discourse construction and comprehension for communication, It is believed that the linguistic fealiwes of great importance and interest are those of generic structure and cohesion. The belief comes fiom the fact that these two factors make iniluential contribution in defining a genre of discourse.
As a component of cohesion, lexieal cohesion is therefore worth being investigated. Fable which is defined as “a Wadiional short story that teaches moral lessons, especially one with animals as characters” ( Oxtord Advanced Leamer’s Dictionary, 2000: 470) is a genre of discourse .Of all the great authors af fables, Aesop is the earliest and best known, His short and simple fables own their typical features distinguished from other genres of discourse such as an article or a speech. Apart from its contribution to discourse as a genre, fables are considered the valuable authentic matarials thal play a vory important part in students’ cullural enrichment, language enrichment as well as personal involvement, In language teaching, they represent great potentials for Jearners, especially Jeamers at the discourse regarding its structure and function In terms of structure, a discouse is a well- formed organization above the level ofa sentence; in terms of function, a discourse serves as a Ticans of cormmunication, 1.2 Discourse versus Text The distinction betwesn the word “discourse” and “text” is still in controversy, As observed, three trends of reasonizing have emerged to clarify the controversial distinction: For some linguists, these two terms seem to be used almost interchangeably, Some see discourse as a proc s andi a producl: and in others’ view text is used for writing and discourse for speech.