Discourse

Topic sentence

A sentence in a paragraph which shows what the paragraph is about and works as a summary of it. It is often the first sentence of the paragraph. Example In this paragraph the topic sentence is the first: Motivation is one of the key factors that determine the rate and success of L2 attainment. It provides the main incentive to initiate learning a foreign language and later the determination to persevere and sustain the long and often difficult learning process. Without sufficient motivation, even individuals with the best of abilities cannot accomplish long-term goals. Teachers working in state schools are first and foremost supposed to teach the curriculum, but we cannot ignore the fact that this cannot happen without motivating our learners. In addition, adolescent learners come with their own emotional and psychological baggage and interests making the task of motivating them one of the greatest challenges for teachers. In the classroom Teaching learners how to identify topic sentences is a good idea, especially for exams. Learners can be encouraged to highlight the topic sentence in each paragraph as they read. An effective extension activity is to then use these as the basis for summary writing.

Turn Taking

A turn is the time when a speaker is talking and turn-taking is the skill of knowing when to start and finish a turn in a conversation. It is an important organisational tool in spoken discourse. Example One way that speakers signal a finished turn is to drop the pitch or volume of their voice at the end of an utterance. In the classroom There are many ways that speakers manage turn-taking and they vary in different cultures. Areas that can be considered in language teaching include pronunciation, e.g. intonation, grammatical structures, utterances such as 'ah', 'mm' and 'you know', body language and gestures.

Conjunction

A word used to connect other words and phrases together. Example 'I wanted to go but she said no, and Tom just laughed. In the classroom Using conjunctions is problematic for learners because of how they connect with other words, for example 'in spite of...' , 'however..' and 'although' mean the same thing but are used differently. Learners can be helped to use a wider range of conjunctions accurately by identifying and analysing examples in texts.

Coherence

Coherence is one of the two qualities that give a written or spoken text unity and purpose. The other is cohesion. Coherence refers to the general sense that a text makes sense through the organisation of its content. In writing, it is provided by a clear and understood structuring of paragraphs and sentences in writing. Example A learner's argument essay is coherent because it has a structure that gives unity and follows an accepted form. It begins with a statement of belief, gives the opposing arguments, refutes these, and summarises in a final paragraph. In the classroom Coherence in written work and extended speaking, e.g. presentations, can be practised by looking at suitable organisation of content, and by planning exercises.

Adjacency pairs

In conversation analysis, a two-part exchange in which the second utterance is functionally dependent on the first, as exhibited in conventional greetings, invitations and requests. It is a type of turn-taking and is the smallest unit of conversational exchange.

Deixis

In conversation it refers to words and phrases, such as "me" or "here", that cannot be fully understood without additional contextual information -- in this case, the identity of the speaker ("me") and the speaker's location ("here").

Ellipsis

In spoken English is it mainly situational (affecting people and things in the immediate situation), and frequently involves the omission of personal subjects. It occurs across many speech genres and in almost all cases marks a degree of informality between speakers.

Genre

Is a term used to classify types of spoken or written discourse. These are normally classified by content, language, purpose and form. Example Learners analyse an example of a formal letter of complaint, looking at structure, set phrases, formality and purpose. They identify the key elements of this genre then produce their own examples based on this data. In the classroom Written genres that learners deal with in class include reports, news articles, letters of enquiry, stories, invitations, e-mails and poems. Spoken genres include presentations, speeches, interviews and informal conversation.

Ellipsis

Is the omission of one or more words from a sentence, where they are unnecessary because they have already been mentioned. Meaning can be understood without these words. Ellipsis is one of the aspects of language that gives text cohesion. Example An example of nominal ellipsis, where a noun phrase is omitted, is 'as it has the last three ( )' and of verbal ellipsis 'Yes, I have ( )'. In the classroom Analysis of tape scripts of native speakers is one way of raising learners' awareness of ellipsis. This can then be continued as a controlled practice exercise by asking learners to fill in the gaps by replacing the missing words.

Transactional language

Language which is used to make a transaction and which has a result. It can be compared with interactional language, which is used to maintain relationships. Example Learners in exams are often required to write a transactional letter, which has a clear objective, e.g. asking for a refund or for information, or making a complaint. In the classroom Transactional language is often taught more than interactional language, as it involves shorter turns, simpler and more predictable language, and can have a measurable result.

Anaphoric reference

Means that a word in a text refers back to other ideas in the text for its meaning. It can be compared with cataphoric reference, which means a word refers to ideas later in the text. Example 'I went out with Jo on Sunday. She looked awful.' ´She` clearly refers to Jo, there is no need to repeat her name. In the classroom Asking learners to identify what or who the pronouns in a text refer to is one way to raise awareness. They can then practise this by using pronouns to replace words themselves. Comparing texts with well managed referencing to ones with poorly managed referencing can help students develop an idea of effective referencing even at low levels.

Cataphoric reference

Means that a word in a text refers to another later in the text and you need to look forward to understand. It can be compared with anaphoric reference, which means a word refers back to another word for its meaning. Example 'When he arrived, John noticed that the door was open'. In the classroom Matching parts of sentences can help learners understand how cataphoric reference works, for example: a) As she entered the building 1) Jim fell over b) When he was running upstairs 2) the woman saw a huge crowd

Global comprension

Means understanding the general meaning of what you are listening to or reading. It can be compared to selective comprehension, which means understanding specific information in the text, and detailed comprehension, which means understanding everything. Global, selective and detailed comprehensions have parallels with the three reading skills of skimming, scanning and intensive reading. Example The learners have listened to a story and now try to recreate it by putting jumbled sentences into the correct order. In the classroom Various activity types can test global comprehension. Learners can be asked to sort out jumbled versions of a text, as in the example, produce or complete summaries, answer comprehension questions that test general understanding, such as 'true or false statements, and suggest titles.

Discourse

One of the four systems of language, the others being vocabulary, grammar and phonology. Discourse has various definitions but one way of thinking about it is as any piece of extended language, written or spoken, that has unity and meaning and purpose. One possible way of understanding 'extended' is as language that is more than one sentence. Example Something as short as two phrases in a conversation or as long as an entire extended essay are both examples of discourse and both show various features of discourse. In the classroom Areas of written and spoken discourse looked at in language classrooms include various features of cohesion and coherence, discourse markers, paralinguistic features (body language), conventions and ways of taking turns.

Cohesion

One of the two qualities that give a written or spoken text unity and purpose, the other being coherence. It refers to the use of linguistic devices to join sentences together, including conjunctions, reference words, substitution and lexical devices such as repetition of words, collocations and lexical groups. Example The second sentence above has cohesive devices such as conjunctions (and, such as, including), articles (the), references (it), and collocations (join _____ together, lexical groups). In the classroom Cohesion is an extensive area and can be approached at a discrete item level, e.g. practising article use or differing synonyms. Teachers can also make learners aware of the cohesive features of a text, asking them to identify examples of reference, substitution, lexical cohesion, and conjunction.

Theme and Rheme

The topic, or theme, of a sentence is what is being talked about, and the comment (rheme or focus) is what is being said about the topic.

Backchanneling

This refers to noises (which are not full words) and short verbal responses made by listeners which acknowledge the incoming talk and react to it, without wishing to take over the speaking turn.

Conversational repair

To deal with a misunderstanding in discourse generally through clarification or checking e.g let me rephrase that, so you meant that...?

False start

When a speaker stops mid structure to make a restart

Discourse markers

Words and phrases used in speaking and writing to 'signpost' discourse. Discourse markers do this by showing turns, joining ideas together, showing attitude, and generally controlling communication. Some people regard discourse markers as a feature of spoken language only. Example Words like 'actually', 'so', 'OK', 'right?' and 'anyway' all function as discourse markers as they help the speaker to manage the conversation and mark when it changes. In the classroom Discourse markers are an important feature of both formal and informal native speaker language. The skilful use of discourse markers often indicates a higher level of fluency and an ability to produce and understand authentic language.