DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Mr. Trương Văn Ánh

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Conjunction
Conjunction differs from reference,
substitution and ellipsis in that it is not a
device for reminding the reader of previously
mentioned entities, actions and states of
affairs. In other words, it is not what linguists
call an anaphoric relation. However, it is a
cohesive device because it signals
relationships that can only fully be
understood through reference to other parts
of the text.
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There are four different types of conjunction
– temporality, causality, addition and
adversity.
Adversative
Ex: She is often late. However, she gets
good marks.
I like music. On the other hand, I can’t listen
to it if I am busy.

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The relationships signalled by however and
on the other hand are adversative.
Additive
Ex: He likes music. And he often goes to the
concert.
And signals the presentation of additional
information.
Temporal
Ex: They sell cakes every day. First, they
buy material. Then they make cakes.
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Temporal relationships exist when the events
in a text are related in terms of the timing of
their occurrence.
Causal
Ex: He was punished because he was lazy.
In this type of conjunction, the relationship is
one of cause and consequence.
The cohesive devices make the relationship
explicit.
Ex: a. Mary went home. She cooked dinner.
b. Mary went home. Then she cooked dinner.
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There is a temporal relationship in both the
two texts, but this is only explicitly marked in
the second text.

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 There are more than forty conjunctive
items. However, a few are extremely
frequent: and, but, so and then. The
conjunction AND, for example, may have
additive, adversative, causal and temporal
meanings, depending on contextual
information:
Ex: She’s intelligent. And she’s very reliable.
(additive)
I’ve lived here for ten years and I’ve never
heard of that pub. (adversative: but could
substitute)
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• He fell in the river and caught a chill.
(causal)
• I got up and made my breakfast. (temporal
sequense)

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Lexical Cohesion
Lexical cohesion occurs when two words in
a text are semantically related in some way
– in other words, they are related in terms of
their meaning.
There are two major categories of lexical
cohesion: reiteration and collocation.

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Reiteration
Reiteration includes repetition, synonym or
near synonym, superordinate, and general
word. Reiteration thus fulfills a similar
semantic function to cohesive reference.
The second underlined word or phrase in
each of the texts refers back to the
previously mentioned entity.
Repetition
Ex: Universities are in need of students. The
most important factor is students.
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Synonym
Ex: He plays ping-pong. Table-tennis is his
hobby.
Superordinate
Ex: Cancer killed his father. The illness was
cruel to everybody.
General word
Ex: A: Did you try the steamed buns?
B: Yes, I didn’t like the things much.

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Collocation
Collocation can cause major problems for
discourse analysis because it includes all
those items in a text that are semantically
related.
In each context words or phrases may mean
differently. For example, “drive” in transport
means differently from one in IT.
On the other hand, different words or
phrases may mean the same in specific
context.
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Ex: He teaches a strange student. The guy
often comes at the end of the lesson.
Sometimes the background knowledge of
the reader or listener plays a more obvious
role in the perception of lexical relationships
than in the perception of other types of
cohesion.
Ex: She is a Thi No in our class.
While teaching children, we should use
explicit instruction so that they can benefit
the most.
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Information structure
There are many ways in which information is
organized within and beyond the sentence.
The ways are affected by the pattern of the
sentences within the text as a whole.
Students may easily understand simple
sentences. Complex sentences (with finite
clauses) with non-finite clauses may be too
difficult for them.

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In a sentence S, V, C and O are obligatory
elements while Adv. and Attr. are optional.
Ex: She had a fine dress yesterday.
Jack will buy a car tomorrow.
Mary can play the piano very well.
They are having a delicious meal tonight.

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THE END

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