Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers MICHAEL McCAR THY a Cam bridge Language Teaching Library Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers CAMBRIDGE LANGUAGE TEACHING LIBRARY A series covering central issues in language teaching and learning, by authors who have expert knowledge in their field. In this series: Meet ia Language Lcatning edited by Jane Arnold Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching by Jack C. Richards a d Theodore S. Rodgen Appropriate Methodology and Social Context b.y Ad* Holliday Beyond Training by Jack C. Richards C d a h a i v eA ction Research For English Language Teachers by Anne Bum Collaborative Language Learning and Teaching edited by D a d Nunan Communicative Language Teaching by William Liftlewood Designing Tasks for the Communiative Classroom by David Nunan Developing Reading Skills by Franpise Grellet Developments in English for Specific Purposes by Tony Dudley-Evans and Maggie loS t John Discourse Analysis for Lauguage Teachers by Michael McCarthy Discourse and Language Education by Evelyn Hatch English for Academic Purposes by R. R. Jordan Englrsh for Specific Purposes by Tom Hutchinson and Alan Waters Establishing Self-Access: From Theory to Ptactice by David Gardner and Lindsay Miller Foreign and Second Language Learning by William Litthood Language Learning in Intercultural Perspective edited by Michael Byram and Michael Fhing The Language Teaching Matrix by Jack C. Richards Liwigulge Test Construction and Evaluation by J. Charles Alderson, Caroline Clapham a d D ianne Wall Learnerantredness as Language Education by Ian Tudor Managing Curricular Innovation by Numa Markee Materials Development in Language Teaching edited by Brian Tomlinson Psychology for Langauage Teachers by Marion Williams and Robert L. Burden Research Methdds in Language Learning by David Nunan Second Language Teacher Education edited by Jack C. Richards and David Nunan Society and the Language Classroom edited by Hywel Coleman Teacher Learning in Language Teaching edited by Donald Freeman and Jack C. Richards Teaching the Spoken Language by Gillirrn Brown and George Ylsle Understanding Research in Second Language Learning by James Dean Brown Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition and Pedagogy edited by Norbert Schmitt and Michael McCartby Vocabulary, Semantics, and Language Education by Evelyn Hatch and Cheryl Broum Voices from the Language Classroom edited by Kathleen M. Bailey a d David Nunun Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers Michael McCarthy CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pia Building, Tmpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS The Edinburgh Buildmg, Cambridge C82 2RU, UK 40 West 20th Straet, New Yorlq NY 10011-4211, USA 10 Seatfwd Road, Oakteigh, VIC 3166, Australia Ruiz de Alardn 13,28014 W d , S pain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa 43 Cambridge University Press 1991 This book is in copyright. Subjezt to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant colleaivc licensing agrccmenta, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 1991 Tenth printing 2000 A wialogue record for this book is avaikrble fim the British Li'my Library of Congress caialogrcc curd w b + w9 0-20850 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University h,Ca mbridge ISBN 0 521 36541 4 hard covers ISBN 0 521 36746 8 paperback Dedication To John Harrington Acknowledgements Preface Chapter 1 What is discourse analysis? 1.1 A brief historical overview 1.2 Form and function 1.3 Speech acts and discourse structures 1.4 The scope of discourse analysis 1.5 Spoken discourse: models of analysis 1.6 Conversations outside the classroom 1.7 Talk as a social activity 1.8 Written discourse 1.9 Text and interpretation 1.10 Larger patterns in text 1.11 Conclusion Chapter 2 Dlscwrse analyslr and grammar 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Grammatical cohesion and textuality 2.2.1 Reference 2.2.2 Ellipsis and substitution 2.2.3 Conjunction 2.3 Theme and rheme 2.4 Tense and aspect 2.5 Conclusion Chapter 3 Discounce analysis and vocabulary 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Lexical cohesion 3.3 Lexis in talk Contents 3.4 Textual aspeas of lexical competence 3.5 Vocabulary and the organising of text 3.6 Signalling l a m t extual patterns 3.7 Register and signalling vocabulary 3.8 Modality 3.9 Conclusion Chapfer 4 Dlircoum analyrir, and phonology 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Pronunciation 4.3 Rhythm 4.4 Word stress and prominence 4.5 The placing of prominence 4.6 Intonational units 4.7 Tones and their meanings 4.7.1 Types of tones 4.7.2 Grammatical approaches 4.7.3 Attitudinal approaches 4.7.4 Interactive approaches 4.8 Key 4.9 Pitch across speakers 4.10 Summary 4.11 Conclusion Chapter 5 Spoken lanwaw 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Adjacency pairs 5.3 Exchanges 5.4 Turnding 5.5 Transactions and topics 5.5.1 Transactions 5.5.2 Topics 5.6 Interactional and transactional talk 5.7 Stories, anecdotes, jokes 5.8 Other spoken discourse types 5.9 Speech and grammar 5.10 Conclusion Chapter 6 Wtmn Ianguage 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Text types 6.3 Spetch and writing 6.4 Units in written discourse 6.5 Clause relations 6.6 Getting to grips with laqger w s 6.7 Patterns and the learner 6.8 Culture and rhetoric 6.9 Discourse and the reader 6.10 Conclusion Guldance for Reader activities References Index Acknowledgements Thanks are due to Jim Lawley, of Avila, Spain, for permission to use conversational data reproduced in Chapter 5, to Roger Smith, Gill Meldrum and Hilary Boo1 of CELE, University of Nottingham, for assist- ance with the gathering of written data, and to the late Michael Griffiths, Senior Prison Officer at HM Prison, Cardiff, for permission to use an interview with him, part of which is transcribed in Chapter 4. The author and publishers are grateful to the authors, publishers and others who have given permission for the use of copyright material. It has not been possible to trace the sources of all the material used and in such cases the publishers would welcome information from copyright owners. Edward Arnold for the extract from M. A. K. Halliday (1985) An Intro- duction to Functional Grammar on pp. 47, 58; The Birmingham Post for the article on p. 27; British Nuclear Forum for the advertisement on p. 49; CambridgelNewmarket Town Crier for the article on p. 170; Cambridge University Press for the extract from Brown and Yule (1983) Discourse Analysis on pp. 1024, Cambridge Weekly News for the article on pp. 75, 85, 159; Collins ELT for the extracts from the Collins COBUlLD English Language Dictionary on p. 84; the Consumers' Association for the extracts from Which? on pp. 25,26,37, 86, 160; Elida Gibbs for the advertisement on p. 56; A. Firth for the extract on p. 50; Ford Motor Company for the advertisement on p. 32; Headway Publications for the article from Money- care on p. 158; Hunting Specialised Products (UK) Ltd for the adver- tisement on p. 72; Imperial Chemical Industries plc and Cogents for the advertisement for Lawnsman Mosskiller on p. 83; International Certificate Conference and Padagogische Arbeitsstelle des DVV for the extracts on pp. 124, 125, 126, 140-1, 150-1; D. Johnson for the article from The Guardian on p. 41; Longman Group UK Ltd for the extract from D. Crystal and D. Davy (1975) Advanced Conversational English on p. 69; New Statesman & Society for the extracts from New Society on pp. 77, 80, 81 and 82; Newsweek International for the extracts from Newsweek on pp. 37, 41-2; The Observer for the extracts on pp. 28, 30,40,57, 77,79; Oxford University Press for the extract from J. McH. Sinclair and R. M. Coulthard (1975) Towards an Analysis of Discourse on p. 13; J. Svartvik for the extract from Svartvik and Quirk (1980) A Corpus of English Conversation on pp. 70-1; the University of Birmingham on behalf of thecopyright holders for the extracts from the Birmingham Collection of English Text on pp. 10, 17; World Press Network for the extracts from New Scientist on pp. 37,57.