LAN1260 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Discourse Marker, Deixis
6 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
WEEK$5$
LAN1260$-$Spoken$Language$in$Primary$Schools$
!
Classroom$Speech$
We!are!learning!to!understand;!types!of!discourse!common!in!classrooms,!ways!to!analyse!
discourse!and!different!types!of!extended!talk!
We!are!learning!to;!analyse!and!critique!classroom!talk!so!we!can!apply!classroom!strategies!
which!will!encourage!purposeful!student!talk.!!
!
Discourse:$“a!term!used!in!linguistics!to!refer!to!a!continuous!stretch!of!language!(usually!
spoken)!larger!than!a!sentence”!Can!also!refer!to!a!set!of!utterances!which!constitute!a!
speech&event!(a!conversation,!a!joke,!an!interview)!
!
Grammatical$features$of$speech:$!
• discourse!markers;!signal!boundaries!between!one!topic!and!another,!they!signal!
how!a!speaker!is!going!to!organise!thee!dialogue,!have!pragmatic!meanings!that!are!
different!from!their!literal!or!dictionary!meanings,!include!words!such!as!anyway,&
right,&I&mean,&mind&you,&what’s&more,&so,&okay,&and&well.&Can!vary!in!meaning!
depending!on!the!context.!!
• heads!and!tails;!are!words!or!phrases!at!the!start!and!finish!of!utterances,!orient!the!
listener!to!the!topic!or!remind!the!about!what!has!been!said,!a!head!is!a!noun!or!a!
noun!phrase!at!the!beginning!of!a!clause!followed!by!a!pronoun,!a!tail&echoes!an!
antecedent!(one!that!comes!before)!pronoun!!
• deixis;!are!features!that!refer!to!the!situation!within!which!the!utterance!takes!place;!
and!so!take!their!meaning!from!the!context,!transactional!language!(eg:!try!this!one,$
no!it$doesn’t!go,!it$doesn’t!move,!try!that)!
• ellipsis;!allows!for!efficient,!clear!communication,!involves!the!omission!of!subjects!
and!verbs,!happens!when!the!speaker!judges!that!the!listener!knows!enough!to!
supply!the!missing!information!and!the!more!formal!the!speech,!the!less!ellipsis.!!
• spoken!clause!structure;!speech!is!unplanned!and!spontaneous!so!clauses!are!added!
to!one!another!in!a!linear!and!incremental!way,!clauses!are!chained!with!
coordinating!conjunctions!like!and$or!so$or!simple!subordinating!conjunctions!like$
‘cos!
• vague!language;!terms!such!as!thing,!stuff,!whatever,!like,!thereabouts.!verbs!such!
as!do,!get,!take.!adverbs!such!as!good,!terrible,!totally,!usually.!It!is!not!usually!
‘sloppy’!rather!it!is!used!to!soften!the!utterance!and!may!signal!friendliness!or!be!a!
deliberate!avoidance!of!assertion!and!elaboration.!!
• modal!expressions;!concern!the!mood&of!the!communication,!help!to!hedge!or!
soften!what!is!said!
• adverbs;!*verbs!are!action!words,!adverbs!give!you!information!about!the!verb,!used!
to!qualify,!hedge!or!modify!utterances,!!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
