Text-organization: discourse-organising word

Register: pseudo-conversational elements

Patterns: problem-solution pattern, claim-counterclaim, question-answer, general-specific
Modality: interpersonal meaning

1. lexical and grammatical cohesion
Cohesion refers to relations of meaning that exist within the text and that define it as a text. Cohesion occurs when the interpretation of some
element in discourse is dependent on another. The one presupposes the other, which is presupposed. There are 2 types: lexical and
grammatical.
GRAMMATICAL COHESION involves:
REFERENCE:
Is a two-way relationship between contextual configuration/context (field, tenor, mode) and text structure. Every linguistic unit has two
environments: the extra-linguistic or the context exophoric reference (e.g.: (A dog barks) Jane: Stop barking!), which is relevant to the
whole text, and the linguistic or the co-text endophoric reference (e.g.: in a novel for example: A loud thump. The wind slammed the door
shut.), which is the language accompanying the linguistic unit under focus. Endophoric reference can be further: anaphoric (term follows
referent and refers to the preceding text; e.g.: Jane is a teacher. She works in a high school.) and cataphoric (term precedes referent and
refers to the following text; e.g.: He sat down and turned on the TV. Janes father liked watching TV in the afternoon when he was home
alone.).
There are 3 types of reference: personal, as the name itself suggests, personal reference usually refers to persons, however it can also refer to
non-human animates, inanimate objects and abstract ideas. It is realized by: personal pronouns (John likes apples. He likes oranges as well.),
possessive adjectives (Whose is this book? It is Janes.), possessive pronouns (I borrowed this book from Jane. It is hers.). Demonstrative
reference expresses different degrees of proximity in time and space and is realized by deictic expressions demonstrative adverbs (here, there,
now, then; I cant help you now.), nominal demonstratives (this, that, these, those; That lamp is beautiful.), definite article (the; Is this the
book Jane gave you?). Comparative reference expresses different degrees of similarity or difference, it is realized by: different adjectives (I am
taller than she is.), adverbs (I would have done this differently.).
ELLIPSIS:
Which involves the omission of elements normally required by grammar, but they are nevertheless obvious from the context. The structure
has some missing element, which can be retrieved from co-text or context.
There are 3 types of ellipsis: nominal (I dont like the green dress, I like the yellow.), verbal (Will you wait for me if Ill be late? I will, said
Jane.), clausal (I cant imagine how I could leave my job, house and family and move to the mountains and Jane cant either.)
SUBSTITUTION:
Involves replacing a certain element with another one. There are 3 types: nominal (I dont like the green dress, I like the yellow one.), verbal (I
cant solve this taks, and you cant do it either.), clausal (Is it going to rain tomorrow? The weather report says so.)
CONJUNCTION:
Presupposes textual sequence and signals a relationship between segments of the discourse.
Conjunctive role can be: single-word (John failed to meet an important deadline, consequently he was fired.), phrasal (John failed to meet an
important deadline, as a result he was fired.), clausal (The consequence of John failing a deadline was that he was fired.). Some conjunctions
more frequently used and sometimes the same conjunction but different meanings. I brushed my teeth and went to bed. (additive or
temporal) I brush my teeth twice a day and I still have caries. (adversative) I brushed my teeth too hard and damaged them. (causal)

LEXICAL COHESION involves:
REITERATION:
Which is restating an item by direct repetition or reasserting its meaning by different lexical relations: synonymy (using words that have nearly
the same meaning; Jane argued with John. She kept disagreeing the whole time.), hyponymy/superordination (using a superordinate term for
an element; Lemons, limes, oranges etc are healthy. Citruses are healthy.; general superordinates: humans = people, generic man, creature,
living being). Reiteration adds new dimensions and nuances to meaning and serves to build up an increasingly complex context. Other lexical
relations are polysemy (one word has several meanings) Look at that crane. (an animal or a machine); here unclear meaning leads to
ambiguity, however ambiguity may be created on purpose (advertisements), especially with metaphoric and idiomatic language or the use of
denotation and connotation.
COLLOCATION: elements/lexical items that typically co-occur. E.g. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, up and away.



2. reference
Is a type of grammatical cohesion. It is a semantic relation used, when we refer to the same item twice. When it comes to reference, the
reference item doesnt need to be of the same grammatical class as the item it refers to. Reference is a two-way relationship between
contextual configuration/context (field, tenor, mode) and text structure. Every linguistic unit has two environments: the extra-linguistic or the
context, which is relevant to the whole text, and the linguistic or the co-text, which is the language accompanying the linguistic unit under
focus. The interpretation is exophoric when the source lies within the context (e.g.: (A dog barks) Jane: Stop barking!); it is endophoric when
the source lies within the co-text (e.g.: .: in a novel for example: A loud thump. The wind slammed the door shut.). Endophoric reference can
be further: anaphoric (term follows referent and refers to the preceding text; e.g.: Jane is a teacher. She works in a high school.) and
cataphoric (term precedes referent and refers to the following text; e.g.: He sat down and turned on the TV. Janes father liked watching TV in
the afternoon when he was home alone.). Reference helps create grammatical cohesion. There are 3 types of reference: personal, as the name
itself suggests, personal reference usually refers to persons, however it can also refer to non-human animates, inanimate objects and abstract
ideas. It is realized by: personal pronouns (John likes apples. He likes oranges as well.), possessive adjectives (Whose is this book? It is Janes.),
possessive pronouns (I borrowed this book from Jane. It is hers.). Demonstrative reference expresses different degrees of proximity in time
and space and is realized by deictic expressions demonstrative adverbs (here, there, now, then; I cant help you now.), nominal demonstratives
(this, that, these, those; That lamp is beautiful.), definite article (the; Is this the book Jane gave you?). Comparative reference expresses
different degrees of similarity or difference, it is realized by: different adjectives (I am taller than she is.), adverbs (I would have done this
differently.).

3. coherence
Coherence refers to the semantic structure of the text, it is the contextual meaning at the paragraph level (whether the text has an overall
theme, if the parts of the text all correspond to the same theme, if parts of the text correspond to each other, etc.). Coherence has both
situational coherence when field, tenor, and mode can be identified for a certain group of clauses and generic coherence when the text
can be recognized as belonging to a certain genre. Coherence is connected with cohesion (the internal properties of meaning) and with the
interpretation of cohesive links the reader can make sense of the text. It is actually created by the reader. His/Her interpretation consists of a
set of procedures and is based on his/her own experience of the world. The text constantly demands from the reader to make inferences from
the situation and assess interpretation in the light of the situation. The reader interprets textual patterns, which are functional relationships
between bits of the texts (words, phrases, clauses, sentences; also called textual segments). Interpreting a text is a cognitive act, based on
logical sequence relations. A certain clause triggers a relation (clause-relational approach), since clauses involve clues or signals, which act as
supporting evidence for deducing the relations of a text. (There are other signals as well: repetition, parallelism.) E.g.: Jane likes vegetables.
She does not eat meat. the interpretation here would be that Jane is a vegetarian. A further sentence: She eats eggs, milk etc. would give
the reader a further confirmation that she is definitely a vegetarian and not a vegan. If the reader would be faced with the following 2
incoherent sentences: Jane likes vegetables. John left yesterday. The reader in this case would not be able to deduce from the textual
segments a meaningful conclusion.


4. 7 criteria of textuality
7 CRITERIA OF TEXTUALITY: (De Beaugrande & Dressler): Text = a communicative occurrence if its fulfils 7 criteria of textuality
1. cohesion
2. coherence
3. intentionality
4. acceptability
5. informativity
6. situationality
7. intertextuality
INTENTIONALITY
Is speaker-oriented. A text-produccer has the intention to produce a cohesive and coherent text with which he can transfer ideas and achieve
different communicative goals (e.g. persuasion, request, instruction, informing sb about sth...). However, sometimes the intentionality can be
hindered in difficult circumstances (spontaneous speech, newspaper headlines, as well as the authors conscious intention to produce a text
lacking cohesion and coherence, coherence intended but not accepted...), which requires a certain amount of tolerance. E.g.: Was this your
first stay have you ever been to Slovenia?

ACCEPTABILITY
Is receiver-oriented and it refers to the readiness to interpret a text as a cohesive and coherent unit and to the willingness of the receiver to
participate in a discourse and share a goal. The receivers ability to detect or infer other participants goals is based on what they say (
interaction), while the producers interacts with the receiver as well with anticipating the receivers responses as supportive of or contrary to a
plan. If the receiver decides to deny acceptance, he violates the principle of cooperation and textuality can be impaired. E.g.: A: I have so much
to do. I would really need some help. B: Bye then, and let me know how you managed.

INFORMATIVITY
Is the amount and relationship between what is informative and redundant. A text has to contain new information, and a text is informative if
it transfers new information. This information theory is based primarily on the notion of statistical probability: the greater the number of
possible alternatives, the higher will be the information value, however statistical probability is not applicable to natural language
communication, since statistical approach ignores the discourse. However, importantly, an ordinary text structure results in easier processing
of the text; conversely, non-ordinarines results in a more challenged processing.
Informatvity is a gradable phenomenon divided into 3 orders: First-order informativity includes most likely, trivial candidates, which occur in
texts and which receive very slight attention, for example function words in English language, which only express relations between other
words and have little to none lexical meaning; they are indistinctly pronounced and mostly skipped in text reception or in texts with high
economy (aphasia victims omit function words). E.g.: Gunman strikes again Monday (newspaper headline which omitted the definite article,
preposition on left out etc.). Content words also belong to first-order informativity. They are more informative and constitute a larger set to
choose from than function words. They activate cognitive materials with eliciting emotions and mental images. (A text producer may alter
normal roles of function and content words.) Second-order informativity is below the upper range (1
st
order) and it is the normal standard for
textual communication (e.g. The gunman killed 2 people on Monday). Third-order informativity resides outside the set of probable options
and involves infrequent occurrences which demand much attention and processing, which is more interesting for the reader, however more
difficult to process. (e.g. Gunman strike are gunmen on strike or what). Discontinuities (material missing from a configuration) and
discrepancies (text-presented patterns dont match patterns of stored knowledge) are common and the receiver must do a motivation search
or problem-solving. The successful search results in the downgrading into second-order occurrences and it can be forward or backward
downgrading. Downgrading may also extend beyond textual communication to the human reaction to the world at large, to the knowledge the
receiver has (determinate, typical, accidental), however the producer risks senselessness (lack of continuity between an occurrence and the
rest of our knowledge and experience).

SITUATIONALITY
Is the text that is relevant for the communicative situation and depends on communicative goals. There is no clear cut division between
situation monitoring, which is an account of the situation, and situation managing, which is guiding the situation in favour of the producers
goals; the 2 co-occur. Situation monitoring is simpler, it involves different techniques: describing, which is a normal ordering strategy, and if
the situation fails to match expectations problem-solving, negotiating, resolving discrepancies and discontinuities, reaffirming expectations is
applied. With situation managing the communicative goals are not so clear, though they provide heavy mediation. That is why planboxes or
plan theory is frequently used in goal negotiation. It consists of scripts developed only for routine situations, while for other situations
participants adapt to protect their goals; recognizing other goals or presuming the same goals the receiver has and ascribing them to the
producer can result in conflicts, which involve goal negotiation (asking, invoking, informing, bargaining, threatening, overpowering, stealing). 2
principles that are particularly important are efficiency of the producer to provide information (ease, minimum effort) and effectiveness of the
information reaching the receiver (maximum success chances), which are always balanced in a text appropriate to the sitation. Planbox
escalation is a normal response to continued failure, since the participants wish to resolve the conflict and complete the communicative goals.
E.g.: Jane needs help with her homework. She asks Kate to help her. Kate refuses. Jane bargains with her; she will pay for the cinema tickets for
both of them. Kate agrees.
INTERTEXTUALITY
Is the way in which different texts are linked to each other. It links a text to previous familiar texts, however the utilization of one text depends
upon the receivers knowledge of previously encountered texts. If the receiver is not familiar with a certain text, intertextuality is not realized
since the reference is not recognized and lost. E.g.: A text employs the biblical reference from Ecclesiastes There is a time for everything... a
time to love... etc., and if the receiver is not familiar with the bible, the link to it is lost. However, in the course of history different text types
evolved, which employed typical patterns of characteristics (parodies e.g. Don Quixote, a parody of medieval romances, romantic novels;
critical reviews, rebuttals, reports, which continuously refer to prior texts in their structure).

5. field, tenor, mode
Are 3 features which constitute the context of situation, which is encapsulated in the text through a systematic relationship between the social
event and the functional organization of language, it is the larger culture which surrounds the text, actually the text that is with the text and
goes beyond what is said or written. It includes the total environment in which a text unfolds and it precedes the text (since prior to the text
you have a goal etc). Context of situation was coined by Malinowski: total environment, including verbal and situational environment; and
before Malinowski it was the words and sentences before and after the particular sentence under investigation. Halliday then developed the 3
concepts which make up the context of situation: field, tenor, mode. They help interpret the social environment of a text, which is important
for decoding the meaning of the interaction (social-semiotic concept), since language is a social exchange of meaning. FIELD of discourse refers
to what is happening in the text, the nature of the social action, what is it that the participants are engaged in; basically answers the question
What is going on? The field reveals the domain of experience the text is about. (e.g.: a political speech is about politics and can involve a set of
beliefs the politician believes in, the programme he offers, the promises he makes he will fulfil if he is elected etc). The linguistic features of
field are seen in the metaphorical use of vocabulary; it carries experiential meaning (transitivity, naming, etc.). TENOR of discourse refers to
who is taking part, the nature of the participants, their statuses and roles (whether they are equal or not etc) and the types of speech role that
assume in the dialogue. (e.g.: The politician is a public figure, who wants to appeal to the audience at a rally for example and wishes to make
himself as equal he can to the people with his speech, however he is an official and somewhat superordinate to the common people,
especially if elected, the tenor is formal). Tenor is grammatically realized through person (I, you) and speech function (request/offer) and is
expressed through interpersonal meaning (mood, modality, person, etc.). MODE of discourse refers to the language used and what role it
performs (what the language does for the participants in that situation), the symbolic organization of the text, the status that it has, and its
function in its context, the channel (spoken, written or both), the rhetorical mode (persuasive, expository, didactic...). (e.g.: A political speech
in the time of elections is a public act, which involves persuasion of the politician so the voter would vote for him. It is spoken out loud
(probably written before and actually read out loud). Mode involves lexico-grammatical features and involves textual meaning (theme,
information, cohesive relations).

6. spoken vs. written
Interaction is the exchange of ideas and messages between participants in communication and it is divided into 2 modes: spoken and written.
The choice for one or the other is conditioned by the context of situation. The basic difference is in transmission of the message, speech is
transmitted by means of voice and sounds, while writing is transmitted by graphic means - letters (spelling and grammar, of course, play a big
role). A common misconception is that speech is not formless, which may seem so as a result of transcribing speech, however spoken language
is not meant to be written and conversely, written language may not always sound alright when spoken.
Spoken mode/discourse has its own properties of organisation; simpler, everyday words are used and lexical items are often repeated. In
written mode more complex lexicon is used and the use of lexical items (synonyms, antonyms) varies rather than staying the same. Spoken
mode consists of longer sentences, while in written mode sentences are shorter, since they are more packed with information and compressed
and lexical density (the number of lexical items per clause) is usually much higher (writing dense) in writing than in speech (speech sparce).
Spoken mode involves certain linguistic features that are more typically found in speech than in writing (verbal and non-verbal fillers used to
avoid silence so the receiver does not falsely think the speaker has finished speaking). In writing, punctuation is used to separate the message
into units, in speech pauses and prosody performs this function (this also varies from language to language Slovene punctuation is governed
by strict rules, English not so much).

7. exchange paterns (stating, questioning, requesting)
3 types of exchanges exist: stating, questioning, requesting; simple: 2 turns, each 1 move (stating); 3 turns, each 1 move (questioning); 2 or 3
turns, each 1 move (requesting).
LENGTH and COMPLEXITY OF EXCHANGES
Stating exchanges: longest turns
Questioning & requesting exchanges: complex turns and move combinations

STATING EXCHANGES: chaining & supporting
Chaining: A initiates the first exchange and goes on to initiate the next.
The contributions of the 2 speakers are relatively balanced and equal; none of the speakers is more dominant, however not necessarily so
(storytelling or a dominant speaker arising from a social function, status or sometimes he is decided beforehand, but mostly the role is passed
on).
A: initiate <statement> I like apples.
B: response <statement> Ex 1 I dont.
A: initiate <statement> I like pears as well.
B: response <statement> Ex 2 I like pears too.
Supporting: The dominant speaker is supported by backchannels.
1 dominant speaker, others provide backchannels supporting the exchange
A: initiate <statement> I dont know how to operate *this machine*
B: *mmm*
>A: initiate <statement> since it has so many *levers* and buttons
B: *mmm*
>A: initiate <statement> and theres no manual.
QUESTIONING EXCHANGES: chaining, embedding, coupling & elliptical coupling
Chaining: A initiates the first and the second exchange
A: initiate <question> Do you want sugar in your tea?
B: response <answer> Ex 1 No, I dont. Thank you.
A: initiate <question> What about honey?
B: response <answer> Ex 2 I would love some honey.
Embedding: As initiating move is followed by a querying subordinate exchange before B terminates the superordinate exchange
A + clarification initiated by B + A + B; B doesnt immediately answer but initiates another question in the subordinate exchange
A: initiate <question 1> superordinate ex. Can you remember the restaurant we went to last week?
B: initiate <question 2> subordinate ex. The Chinese restaurant?
A: response <answer 2> subordinate ex. Yes, thats the one.
B: response <answer 1> superordinate ex. Yes.
Coupling: B responds to A and initiates a new exchange within the same turn, the answer that should have followed is omitted, however
understood
A: initiate <question 1> Did you return the keys to the landlord?
B: response <answer 1> Ex 1 + initiate <question 2> No, I didnt have time. Can I give him the keys tomorrow?
A: response <answer 2> Ex 2 Yes, you can.
Elliptical coupling: Bs response is implicitly derived from the way B goes on to the new exchange
A: initiate <question 1> Did you speak to Jane yesterday?
B: (response <answer 1>) Ex 1 + initiate <question 2> Was I supposed to?
A: response <answer 2> Ex 2 Well, she was looking for you.
REQUESTING EXCHANGES: chaining & embedding
Chaining: introduced by a pre-sequence
A: initiate <question 1> Can you do me a favour?
B: response <answer 1> pre-sequence Yes, I can.
A: initiate <request> Could you mail this letter for me?
B: response <accept/reject> Of course.
Embedding:
A: initiate <request> Can I have some cookies, please?
B: initiate <question 1> Which ones do you want?
A: response <answer 1> embedded sequence Chocolate chip ones.
B: response <accept/reject> Ok, here you go.
Elliptical coupling:
A: initiate <request> Can I borrow your lamp?
B: initiate <reject> It doesnt work.
A: follow-up <acknowledge> Oh.

8. Discourse structure according to Stenstrm
Stenstrm added the turn to the interactional structure (inserted between exchange and move; transaction, exchange, turn, move, act), which
is very important. The discourse structure according to Stenstrm consists of 5 levels:
Transaction: one or more exchanges dealing with one single topic, theme
Exchange: the smallest interactive (2 people at least) unit; minimally 2 turns by 2 different people:
Stating (longest turns; usually 2 turns, each one move)
Questioning (complex turns and move combinations)
Requesting (complex turns and move combinations)
A simple turn is: 2 turns, each 1 move for stating,
3 turns, each 1 move (questioning)
2 or 3 turns, each 1 move (requesting)
Turn: everything the current speaker says before the next speaker takes over.
- A speaker makes at least 1 interactive move and performs at least 1 communicative act
- The size of the turn varies from one word upward
- The shorter the turn the less is done; the opposite is not necessarily true; the simple turn is not always less intricate than a complex
one (Simple turn: 1 move; complex turn: 2 or more moves)
- Turntaking presupposes a shift of speakers; an utterance pronounced while the other participant goes on speaking cannot be
regarded as a turn.
Move : a verbal action which carries the conversation forward
- (what the speaker does in a turn in order to start, carry on and finish an exchange)
- 8 move types:
o Summons: calls the listeners attention
o Focus: introduces the initiate
o Initiate: opens the exchange (1
st
obligatory move in an exchange)
o Repair: holds up the exchange (optional; usually used for clarification)
o Response: continues or terminates the exchange (obligatory)
o Re-open: delays the termination of the exchange
o Follow-up: terminates the exchange
o Backchannel: signals the listeners attention
- Simple move: 1 primary act (PA)
- Complex move: more than 1 act (PA + optional secondary and/or complementary act)
Act: signals what the speaker intends/wishes to communicate (the smallest communicative unit)
- 3 different catefories:
- Primary: can realize moves on their own
- Secondary: accompany and sometimes replace primary acts
- Complementary: accompany and sometimes replace primary acts; realized by a set of lexical items (you know, I mean, sort of, well, oh)
Example: 1 transaction: sugar in tea; 1 questioning exchanges (3 turns, each 1 move), 4 primary acts
A: <Do you want sugar in your tea?> initiate (1 act - offer)
B: <No, I dont.> <Thank you.> response (2 acts reject, thanks)
A: <OK.> follow-up (1 act acknowledge); Ex.1

9. Accompanying interactional strategies (according to Stenstrm): how they are realised in terms of moves
& acts? Socializing, Hedging, Organizing
SOCIALIZING: The main purpose of some conversational/interactional strategies is to be social
Backchanneling the current listener is not passive; it includes minimal oral responding in the form of backchannels, which reflect empathy,
enthusiasm, indignation, lack of interest, indifference, impatience etc. Laughter is perhaps the most frequent type of backchannel. Some
typical backchannels are: ah, oh, mhm, yes, ... (Facial expressions also contribute, influence the conversation.)
Empathizing: Intensifies the relationship with the listener
<empathizers> you know and you see prompt listeners feedback (backchannels) A: I dont like sb interfering in my business, you see? B: Yes.
The current speaker invites the current listener to take an active part in the conversation
Typical <empathizers>: as you know, if you see what I mean, you know, you see, tags ...
HEDGING: By hedging the speaker modifies what he says.
Hedging helps the speaker avoid:
- Going straight to the point, being blunt, appearing authoritative, committing himself to sth
Hedging is helpful when: The speaker does not know the adequate word or expression or it is convenient not to be straightforward (focus), or
the speaker thinks that the listener is not acquainted with a certain topic or terminology and therefore does not want to place him in a face-
threatening position. He was sort of a reserved fellow.
Hedges are especially frequent in <opines>, expressing opinion or attitude to something or somebody.
Hedging is achieved in a great number of ways:
- By interactional signals or discourse markers
- By a modal verb
- By a certain type of adverb
- By an indirectly put utterance
Typical hedges: actually, at least, can, generally, hardly, kind of, may, ought to, perhaps, probably, quite, rather, slightly, sort of, usually, tags...
The prototypical <hedge>, sort of, can be paraphrased in a number of ways. Sort of is equivalent to:
like: A: is sort of begging for the moon, you see.
in a way: and she was sort of pretty.
approximately: A: no, no, no its only about sort of three months I think.
it seems: A: she doesnt mind sort of fixing things with the car.
more or less: A: its just a subject which is sort of basically wellknown.

ORGANIZING: 2 strategies
Framing: the speaker marks a boundary in the discourse
Frames can:
- Initiate a turn
- Introduce a new topic
- Mark a change or a new stage within the speakers turn
I moved to the suburbs this year and I am enjoying the peace, anyway I was stupid not move sooner.
Monitoring: speakers can put things right
Monitors are used to:
- Make a new start
- Rephrase what one was going to say
Typical monitors: actually, I mean, well, well I mean, well you know/you see, well I mean you know/you see...
Its more costly than anything else... I mean I dont really see any benefits.

POVZETEK:
- by empathizing the speaker intensifies the relationship with the listener
- by hedging the speaker modifies what s/he says
- by framing the speaker marks a boundary in the discourse
- by monitoring the speaker steers what s/he says
All four strategies contribute to a smooth conversation.

10. topical strategies: changing, shifting, drifting, digressing, resuming, aside, speech-in-action
Changing, shifting, drifting
Changing (the topic): Involves abandoning the current topic in favour of a new, unrelated one.
A new topic can be introduced after the previous topic has been properly terminated by an explicit lexical marker.
Informal conversations: new topics are brought up at once.
A: I forgot to leave my phone number. Should I send it via mail?
B: I think you should do it ASAP.
A: Ill do it when I come home.
B: Well, just dont forget.
A: Have you ever met Judi Dench?
B: No.
A: I saw her last week.
Shifting (the topic): Involves moving from one topic to a related one or moving from one aspect of the current topic to another.
Topic shifts may be initiated by a transition marker.
Transitions marked by pauses and/or laughter.
Topic initiated by a <statement> or by a <question>.
Typical shift markers: actually, by the way, in fact, incidentally, now, talking about, that reminds me, well, what about...
A: I forgot to leave my phone number. Should I send it via mail?
B: I think you should do it ASAP.
A: Ill do it when I come home.
B: Well, just dont forget.
A: Talking about forgetting stuff, I totally forgot Janes birthday.

Drifting (from the topic): Involves moving almost imperceptibly from one topic to another.
Topic drifts are linguistically unmarked.
Particularly common when the main aim of the conversation is being social.
A: I didnt know Jane moved.
B: Yes, the bought a lovely house in Maribor.
A: Maribor really is beautiful, isnt it?
B: I know. Its just the right size and everything.

Digressing, resuming
Digressing: Involves moving away temporarily from the current topic.
Digression: spontaneous, deliberate, clearly related to the current topic, completely unrelated.
Digression markers: actually, as a matter of fact, by the way, I mean, incidentally...
Resuming (the topic): Involves ending the digression and going back to the old topic.
The speaker who broke out of the current topic usually takes the initiative to go back.
Returns are often linguistically marked: all right, right, OK, well now, now then, anyway, so...
A: Dont you just love Maribor?
B: As a matter of fact, Jane loves it so much she moved there.
A: Really? Good for her.
B: Anyway, I just love the festival with those lanterns...
Aside, speech-in-action:
Aside: an utterance that is not integrated in the conversation.
Speech-in-action: extra-topical talk which is embedded in the conversation.
Consists of inquiries about time and date, offers of food and drink, and accompanying talk.
A: I had my folks over yesterday.
B: What's the time?
A: It half past 5.
B: Good.
A: And they brought presents

11. discourse markers/interactional signal/pragmatic marker
Lexical items: well, oh, now, I mean, you know, as a matter of fact
Diversity of names as a result of the fact that these lexical items morphologically belong to different word classes (discourse
markers/particles/connectives, interactional signals, pragmatic markers, sentence connectives). They occur in both written and spoken
language, but are not obligatory. They perform an important role in establishing cohesion in speech: anaphoric or cataphoric. They organise
and monitor the topic development: open/close a topic, mark topic boundaries, (reformulate utterances, refer to shared knowledge), they
function as markers of the speakers view points (emotional reactions; used to tone down the utterance, expressing reservation).

DISCOURSE MARKERS
ORGANIZING
OPEN & CLOSE: so, right, now, good, well, OK So, I have some free time tomorrow if you want to get together.
SEQUENCE: finally, firstly, in the end, last of all, next, whats more, to sum up, in general Firstly, I need to mention your
perseveranceand last of all your friendly nature.
TOPIC BOUNDARY: OK, so, yeah, anyway, right A: I don't need new shoes. B: OK.
FOCUS: hey, listen, look, well, so, anyway Hey, look over there.
MONITORING
REFORMULATE: I mean, if you like, in other words, so to speak, strictly speaking, to put it mildly Isn't this great? I mean,
don't you just love summer.
SHARED KNOWLEDGE: you see, see, you know The more you practise, the better you are, you know.
RESPONDING: right, I see, good, great, fine, OK A: I never wanted your help. B: I see.
OTHER PRAGMATIC MARKERS
STANCE MARKERS: speakers attitude to the message: actually, basically, clearly, frankly, if you ask me, ideally, in fact, of course,
predictably, sadly Frankly, I don't like John.
HEDGES: tone down the utterance: apparently, by any chance, perhaps, presumably, sort of, roughly, surely Surely you didn't mean it
the way you said it.
INTERJECTIONS: express emotional reactions: goodness me, good heavens, oh no, jeez, wow, yippee, ouch, God, damn, bother God, is
this boring.

HOW TO DISTINGUISH DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS OF THE SAME LEXICAL ITEM?
Position of the marker in the utterance
Prosodic treatment of the marker
Tonality
Tone
DISCOURSE MARKERS AND INTONATION
Functions of intonation:
Grammatical:
Division into IPs
Location of the N
Discourse:
Cohesion & coherence expressed by different pitch movements and pitch heights
Pragmatic:
Speakers attitudes to the message
Speakers emotional reactions to the situation
DM AND TONALITY
DMs often occupy their own IP
DMs are accompanied by a brief pause
Unreliable features to distinguish between a DM and a non discourse lexical item

SUMMARY
Prosodic analysis of pragmatic markers: discourse markers, hedges, stance markers (the terms suggested by Carter and McCarthy,
2006)
Intonation of PM is not straightforward but often speaker-dependent
Typical prosodic patterns of DMs:
Topic/conversation opener/closer: separate IP
Fall: opener/closer or focusing device
Fall: shared knowledge, no response expected
Fall-rise/rise: shared knowledge, checking
Typical prosodic patterns of PMs:
Incorporated in the same IP
Separate IP: hesitation or emphasis
Fall: introduces a new point of view
Fall-rise: introduces a contrasting stance
Some correlation between the intonation of PMs and their position and function in discourse
Although the interface is arbitrary, there are some general guidelines which speakers are likely to follow

ORGANISING DISCOURSE
Open, re-open & close a topic or a conversation
Mark topic and subtopic boundaries
Attention seeking devices
Separate IPs
Nuclear tones
MONITORING DISCOURSE:REFORMULATIONS AND MONITORING SHARED KNOWLEDGE
Reformulations: change the wording to fit the context or speakers intentions
Separate IP and type of tone less predictable
Well and I mean most common
Separate IP
Falling or level tones
Monitoring shared knowledge: speakers check the state of common knowledge
DMs placed in the middle or at the end of a turn
Separate IPs
Rising or falling tones
OTHER PRAGMATIC MARKERS
Hedges: tone down the wording to make it more appealing to the listener
Not treated as separate IPs unless expressing hesitation

Stance markers: express speakers attitude/stance towards the message
Prosody depends on:
The position in discourse
Context of interaction
Speakers perception of the markers importance for the ongoing discourse
Its morphological structure (a clause is often an IP of its own)
Emphasis: separate IP; fall-rise to express implicature or contrast
Clause as a stance marker: separate IP; fall-rise to express a contrast

TEACHER PUPIL TALK
Sinclair & Coulthards model
THE BIRMINGHAM MODEL
Part of the major British linguistic framework
Derived its theoretical basis from Hallidays classic article Categories of the theory of grammar
Linguistic description and theory of interaction developed on the analogy with the existing grammatical theory
Grammatical theory
Units can be arranged on a rank scale
Units are related in a consistsof relationship
Smaller units combine with other units of the same size to form larger ones:
Sentence

Clause

Phrase

Word

Morpheme
Sinclair & Coulthards model
Discourse: a new level with its own rank scale
Analysis of classroom interaction
A rigid pattern: teachers and pupils speak according to fixed perceptions of their roles
Talk conforms to highly structured sequences
5 Ranks
Structure of classroom interaction
Lesson Transaction Exchange Move Act
Transaction & exchange
Transactions have a structure expressed in terms of exchanges
Exchanges which begin and end a transaction: boundary exchanges
Exchanges which are used in teaching: teaching exchanges:
Informing: stating exchanges
Directing: commanding exchanges
Eliciting: questioning exchanges
Moves
The structure of exchanges is expressed in terms of moves
Boundary exchanges:
Frame: well, OK, right, now, good
Focus: a metastatement about the transaction
Teaching exchanges
Initiation: T: What does the food give you?
Response: P: Energy.
Followup: T: Energy, yes.
Acts
Moves consist of one or more acts
They have interactive function
Elicitation: requests a linguistic response
Informative: provides information
3 groups:
Metainteractive: marker (frame), metastatement (focus), loop (pardon; again; what did you say)
Interactive: informative acknowledge, elicitation reply, directive react , starter comment , accept evaluate
Turntaking: cue (hands up), bid (raised hands), nomination (naming a pupil)










Courtesy of Estera Deelak; e me sreate, mi lahko date za kavo