FACOLTÀDISTUDIUMANISTICILingue ecultureperlamediazione linguistica

LinguaInglese 2

Prof.ssaOlgaDentia.a.2019-2020

LESSON5

Whatisthedifferencebetweencoherence andcohesion?

Coherence&cohesion

• Coherence: Making sense, the feeling that a textmakes sense and that it is not a jumble ofsentences.

• Cohesion: Showing togetherness; Connections inthe text: Texture (Bateman 2008)

• Cohesion is only part of coherence in reading andwriting.

• Cohesion is a guide to coherence, which issomething created by readers in the act ofreading a text.

• People do not communicate in grammatical butin semantic units (Ulrich 207)

• Grammatical unit: formal level of lg (organization)• Semantic unit: functional level of lg (use)• Sentence: complete from the grammatical pointof view, incomplete on its own (context + co-text)

• Coherence & cohesion build textuality: the textdoes not contain random unconnected sentencesbut linked ones, connected discourse, anintegrated whole, organization & linking of ideas

DAandWritten Discourse

CohesionandCoherence

«Clarelovespotatoes.ShewasborninIreland».

• Thetwosentencesarecohesive(Clare/she)….• ThepronounprovidesalinkwiththepropernounClareinthe1st

sentence

DAandWritten Discourse

Processingatext…Thesurfaceofatextischaracterizedby‘markers’ofvariouskinds.Forexample–ed suffixisamarkerofpastness.Cohesivemarkers/devices(pronouns,determiners,demonstratives,otheritems….)createlinksacrosssentenceboundariesandchaintogetheritemsthatarerelated.

However,readingatextismorecomplexthanthat.Wehavetointerpretitandthisdependsasmuchonwhatbothauthorandreaderput/bringintoit.Thereadermakescognitivelinksinthetextandrecognizestextualpatterns

DAandWritten DiscourseThesepatternsaremanifestedinfunctionalrelationshipsbetweenpiecesoftext(textualsegments):phrases,clauses,sentencesorgroupsofsentences.

Suchrelationshipscanbeofvariouskinds:Phenomenon-reason;phenomenon-example;cause-consequence;Problem-solution;instrument-achievement.

Therearesignals/clues thattellushowweshouldinterpretthefunctionalrelationbetweensegments.Theyarethesupportingevidencetothecognitiveactivityofdeducingtherelation.

Coherence

• Organization of meanings in relation to oneanother

• The elements of the text correspond to thenatural, real-world order of events orsequences (Ulrich 209)

• Logical transition: time ordered sequences(narrative texts), order according to cause-effect sequence or argumentative discussion,phenomenon-reason, phenomenon-example;problem-solution; instrument-achievement.

1- Secondsentence is reason forthe1° (PHENOMENON-REASON)2- CAUSE–CONSEQUENCE(firsttwo segments,subordination as supporting evidence).First2segmentstaken together as one singlesegment areincontrast withtherest.Notethesignal provided bythesyntacticparallelism…

1- Secondsentenceisreasonforthe1°(PHENOMENON-REASON)2- CAUSE–CONSEQUENCE(firsttwosegments,subordinationassupportingevidence).First2segmentstakentogetherasonesinglesegmentareincontrastwiththerest.Notethesignalprovidedbythesyntacticparallelism…

Cohesion

• One element in the text is dependent onanother for its interpretation -> a cohesive linkis present between the presupposing & thepresupposed items

• 3 types of grammatical links or cohesivedevices: Reference, substitution, ellipsis &conjunction

Ex. “Please don’t do that while I’m trying towork”, she begged.

(True to his nature, James started whistling tohimself as soon as she settled down to herwork. “Please don’t do that while I’m trying towork”, she begged.)

• Exophoric reference (outside)• Endophoric reference (inside) – anaphoric(backward) v cataphoric (forward)

ØPragmatically coherent + cohesive(interrelated grammatically and lexically)

DA&GRAMMAR

1. REFERENCEPersonal pronouns (he, she, it, they, etc.), definite article(the), deictics (this/that, these/those, here/there, etc.),same, different, other, else, such, etc. -> endophoric(anaphoric, cataphoric), exophoric

Anaphoricreference:looksbackinthetextExophoric reference:referstotheworldoutsidethetext(nottrulycohesive,becauseitsisnottext-internal,butpartofthereader’sactiveroleincreatingcoherence)Cataphoric reference:wehavetoreadontounderstandtherelationbetweentheitemsandthereferents(engagingthereader’sattention)

DA&GRAMMAR

1.aANAPHORICREFERENCEProblemswith‘it’and‘this’‘that’Alsoinotherlanguageswemayhaveproblemswithsomecohesiveitems(‘sua’inItalian,her?Your?;‘lei’,you?,she?)

Theseitemscanbeusedwhenanentityhasalreadybeenmarkedasthefocusofattention,byusingadeicticword:a,the,my,this,that…

DA&GRAMMAR1. ANAPHORICREFERENCE«Analyzingwherea businessstandsinrelationtoits marketandcompetition,enablesit toidentifypotentialopportunitiesforgrowthandpotentialthreats.It isthenpossibletosetstrategicobjectivesandtopredictthehumanfinancialresourcesneededtoachievethem»(IntelligentBusiness,Intermediate,Longman:23)

«Globalisation isforcingbusinessestomakecostsavingsbyreducingoperatingcosts.Onewaytodothis isbyoutsorcing…»»(IntelligentBusiness,Intermediate,Longman:58)

“Germany'sAngelaMerkelhasrestatedhersupportforJean-ClaudeJuncker totakeoveraspresident oftheEuropeanCommission,atamini-summitinSweden.Thechancellorsaidthatwhileshewas"happy"tosayshewantedMr Juncker forthetopjob,it wasnot"themaintopic"ofthetwo-daytalks.”(BBCnews,10June2014)

DA&GRAMMAR1.bEXOPHORICREFERENCERelatedtotheimmediatecontext.Referencetoaworldsharedbybothsenderandreceiver.«Leaveitonthetable»ThePope,thePM,theQueen.

ProblemswithL2students:«Doyouliketheclassicalmusic?»(musicbeingheard)«Doyoulikeclassicalmusic?»(areyoufondofthattypeofmusic?)

“The securevideoconferenceroominthe basementoftheWestWingfellsilent.Nexttome,SecretaryBobGatessatinhis shirtsleeveswithhis armsfoldedandhis eyesfixedintentlyonthescreen.Theimagewasfuzzy,butunmistakable.OneofthetwoBlackHawkhelicoptershadclippedthetopofthestonewallsurroundingthecompoundandcrashedtotheground.Ourworstfearswerecomingtrue..”(TheTimes,10June2014)

DA&GRAMMAR1.cCATAPHORICREFERENCERelatedtoreferentstocome,tobementionedlater.Reader’sattentionhooked.Theuntoldmessageis:«Readonandfindoutmore».

«IthasoftenbeencomparedtoNewOrlean’s MardiGrasasanoutdoorcelebration.CertainlyNewYork’sMulberryStreetandsurroundingblockhavebeenascrowdedoverthelastfewdaysasRoyalandBourbonStreetsintheFrenchQuarterarefortheMardiGras.Morethanthreemillionpeopleareestimatedtohavecelebratedthe61° annualFeastoftheSanGennaro downinGreenwichVillagesinceitbeganonThursday».

(TheGuardian,15September1987,quotedbyMcCarthyM.1991:42)

• Deictic reference: this/these (here & now,cataphoric ref.) v that/those (there & then,anaphoric ref.) (≠ w Italian)

• Informal texts: this/these tend to beassociated w speaker’s approval & that/thosew disapproval

• This/these & that/those as determiners (≠ wItalian) – the for this & that

• The w anaphoric function v the w cataphoricfunction (news stories & novels – to catch thereader’s interest & attention)

DA&GRAMMAR– Cohesive devices (reference)

DA&GRAMMAR– Cohesive devices

2.ELLIPSIS/SUBSTITUTIONSubstitution&ellipsisarehighlydependentoncontext(Ulrich233)Ellipsis:Omissionofelements.Speaker/writerchoicemadeonapragmaticassessmentofthesituation.«Thechildrenwillcarrythesmallboxes,theadultthelargeones»(anaphoric);«Ifyoucould,I’dlikeyoutobebackhereat5.30»(cataphoric,butusuallyinfront-placedsubordinateclauses);Verbalellipsis,morecomplex:A:Willanyonebewaiting? B:Billwill,Ithink(auxiliaryechoingellipsis)A:Has sheremarried?B:No,butshewill oneday,I’msure(auxiliarycontrasting)

Substitution&Ellipsis

• “Co-reference is a semantic relation that setsup a bond of cross-reference between twoitems that refer to the same thing” (Ulrich235)

• Ellipsis can be nominal, verbal, clausal –nominal -> the headword is omitted; verbalell. -> repetition v elision of entire verbalgroup + contrastive function w change ofauxiliary

• Clausal substitution: so & not

DA&GRAMMAR– Cohesive devices

2.ELLIPSIS/SUBSTITUTIONSimilarly to ellipsis, Substitution is used at nominal, verbal & clausallevel: One refers to an indefinite antecedent, it to a definiteantecedentWholestretchesofclausesmaybeomitted:«MatteoRenzisaidhewouldadd80eurostosomesalariesassoonashecould,andhehas»- One(s).Iofferedhimanicecream.Hesaidhedidn’twantone.- Do:Whydon’tyoufindanotherboyfriend?Imightdo that.-So/not:Doyouneedalift?Ifso,waitforme,ifnot,I’llseeyouthere.- Same:Hechosethebeef,Ichosethesame (Idid thesame)

3.CONJUNCTIONAconjunctionpresupposesatextualsequence,andsignalsarelationshipbetweensegmentsofthediscourse.• Logical relationship between sentences + textualsequencing

• Explicit c.: consequently, rather, for instance, inshort, in fact, however, moreover, …)

• Implicit c.: to be inferred• Function: discourse easy to be followed• Signposts to drive the reader’s understanding

DA&GRAMMAR– Cohesive devices

Type Sub-types ExamplesElaboration apposition Inotherwords

clarification orratherExtension addition(adversative) and/but

variation alternativelyEnhancement spatio-temporal there/previously

causal-conditional consequently/inthatcase

(Halliday 1935:306)

• Overt linkage – constraints; implicit linkage –interpretation of vagueness

• that is or rather: an apposative or clarificativefunction

• Tenor of discourse: anyway, anyhow, what ismore, all the same (informal); therefore,furthermore, nevertheless, nonetheless(formal), besides & however (relativelyneutral)