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Contextual Analysis

Contextual Analysis. Context governs our linguistics choice. Eg. I like to read vs I like reading. What is the context that leads us to select one form over the other?. Contextual analysis. The analysis often begin with an interesting qs. When do we use active vs passive form

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Contextual Analysis

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  1. Contextual Analysis • Context governs our linguistics choice. • Eg. I like to read vs I like reading. • What is the context that leads us to select one form over the other?

  2. Contextual analysis • The analysis often begin with an interesting qs. • When do we use active vs passive form • What is in the context that leads us to choose one over the other? • Eg. 1. Teachers are respected by their students. 2. Students respect their teachers.

  3. Eg. (H.266) High on the bluff stood Sergeant Begay. Old/ Theme/ Topic (Something unexpected had happened) • Sergeant Begay stood high on the bluff. (To describe the location) • Native speakers’ intuition is very much evidence of which linguistic form is appropriate in certain context.

  4. The advent of the computers and with it the availability of large text corpora allow us to check natural language texts. • Based on corpus, Ronkin suggested that if clause is used when sarcasm supercedes. • Eg. If he’s intelligent, than I’m Albert Einstein. • Eg. If she says she ‘s the leader, she’s the leader. • The if-clause is used first when certain deduction is made • Eg. If you’ve already learned to use the computer, this should be easy for you.

  5. The second method • Look for examples for particular structures within a discourse database • This is to validate findings • Celce-Murcia found that a shift in the formality of discourse register may cause a shift in choice between “if” and “whether” • Eg. I wonder if you have time to help out • I wonder whether you might be willing to assist me in this matter?

  6. According to Celce-Murcia, the modals will, should and must are more formal than going to, ought to and have to. • Contextual analysis also found that just is used in informal spoken data seven times more often than written data. • Just is also found to be used as evaluative device in spoken discourse. • Maybe has a high usage in spoken data. • These findings are relevant in designing teaching materials.

  7. Research Areas • How students fr. various background and proficiency use particular structure? • How different genres use different structures or lexical items eg. In narrative & descriptive • Compare bet. Science texts & novels / science texts & science fictions • Context therefore is a broad term that is in all areas of discourse • Scripts, speech events, rhetorical forms, cohesion, coherence- all are governed by contexts.

  8. In utterances • Context- assumptions or beliefs held by hearers. • According to Blakemore (1992), a hearer has enormous background info and thus can be used in the interpretation of utterances • Monologues & conversation might show different functions for specific form. • Ford (1988) suggests that Contextual Analysis be combined w/ conversational analysis to help understand why speakers select certain forms when all options are available.

  9. This includes, memories of occasions, individuals, cultural assumptions, religious beliefs, knowledge of specific fields, assumptions about interlocutors’ emotional state. • In short- mutual knowledge

  10. Exercise • Hatch page. 275 .

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