Tài liệu A discourse analysis on some of british queen's christmas messages 1952 2015

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY CODE: 16 FACULTY OF ENGLISH GRADUATION THESIS B.A DEGREE IN ENGLISH STUDIES A DISCOURSE ANALYSIS ON SOME OF BRITISH QUEEN’S CHRISTMAS MESSAGES 1952 – 2015 Ha Supervisor : Lưu Chí Hải, MA Student : Đỗ Minh Thu Date of birth : 01/10/1994 Class : 1271A04 (2012 – 2016) Noi – 2016 GRADUATION PAPER Declaration Title: A Discourse Analysis on Some of British Queen’s Christmas Messages 1952 – 2015 I certify that no part of the report has been copied or reproduced by me from any other’s work without acknowledgement and that the report is originally written by me under strict guidance of my supervisor. Hanoi Student Supervisor signature signature Full name Full name Do Minh Thu - 1271A04 (2012 - 2016) 3 GRADUATION PAPER Acknowledgement First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Mr. Luu Chi Hai, MA. for his time and effort guiding me and identifying the flaws in my draft. This paper was completed owing to his instruction and valuable advice. Secondly, I want to give credits to all my teachers who taught me countless lessons, enriching my knowledge in English throughout my four years in the university. I would also want to send my thanks to my family and friends who have continually shown support to keep me always inspired to work hard on the thesis. Do Minh Thu - 1271A04 (2012 - 2016) 4 GRADUATION PAPER TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration...................................................................2 Acknowledgement.......................................................3 I I ntr o ducti o n. .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. . .. .. .... ... .. .. .... . .. .. .... . .... .... . .. .8 II Theoretical Part..........................................................9 2.1 Discourse Analysis.............................................................9 2.1.1 Discourse...................................................................9 2.1.2 Discourse Analysis....................................................12 2.1.3 Methods of discourse analysis...................................13 2.1.4 Perspectives of discourse analysis...............................13 2.1.4.1 Written and Spoken language............................13 2.1.4.2 Grammatical cohesion......................................18 2.1.4.3 Lexical cohesive devices....................................22 2.1.4.4 Pragmatics.....................................................25 Do Minh Thu - 1271A04 (2012 - 2016) 5 GRADUATION PAPER 2.1.4.5 Style.............................................................26 2.2 The Christmas message.................................................26 III Practical Part...............................................................28 3.1 Language........................................................................28 3. 2 Grammatical cohesion.....................................................28 3.2.1 Length and structure of sentences..............................29 3.2.2 Reference................................................................31 3.2.3 Substitution................................................................33 3.2.4 Ellipsis...................................................................34 3.2.5 Conjunction...........................................................34 3.2.6 Summary...............................................................35 3.3 Lexical cohesive devices................................................35 3.4 Vocabulary.....................................................................36 3.4.1 Topics........................................................................36 3.4.2 Frequently used words....................................................38 3.4.3 Pronouns...................................................................39 3.4.4 Summary.................................................................40 Do Minh Thu - 1271A04 (2012 - 2016) 6 GRADUATION PAPER 3.5 Style..............................................................................40 3.5.1 M etap h o r.. .. ........ ....... .. .. .. .......... .. ..... .. .. .. ........ .. .40 3.5.2 S i mi l e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1 3.5.3 Parenthesis...........................................................41 3.5.4 C it ati on s .. .. . .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. ... .. .... .. . .. .. .. .. ... .. .... .. ... .. .41 3.5.5 Rhetorical questions................................................42 3.5.6 Personification...........................................................42 3.5.7 Poetry......................................................................42 III Conclusion....................................................................44 IV Reference.....................................................................45 V A ppe ndi x .. .. .... . .. .. .. .. .. . .. .... .. ... .. .... .. . .. .. .. .. ... .. .... . .... .. .4 7 Do Minh Thu - 1271A04 (2012 - 2016) 7 GRADUATION PAPER LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Differences between written and spoken language..........14 Table 2. Frequently used conjunctions....................................35 Table 3. Speeches topics.......................................................35 Table 4. Frequentl y used nouns.............................................38 Table 5. Frequently used verbs..............................................38 Table 6. Frequently used adjectives...........................................39 Table 7. Frequency of the use of pronouns...............................39 Do Minh Thu - 1271A04 (2012 - 2016) 8 GRADUATION PAPER I. INTRODUCTION Christmas is considered the most important holiday in Britain – a country whose most of the citizens identify with Christianity. The Royalty has been presenting the traditions and religion in many aspects, one of which is their Christmas celebration. The Christmas message, started by King George V in 1932, has received a great concern from the public and been passed on through three reigns. The Queen Elizabeth II has been praising traditional values and maintaining the tradition set up by her grandfather to express solidarity with her people in good as well as bad times. The Christmas speeches are one of the outstanding examples of preserving this tradition. Therefore, it is fascinating for me to do a research about Christmas speeches’ origin and typical features in words and style. The speeches are typical formal texts produced by native English speakers. The discourse analysis of Queen’s speeches is indeed a challenging task; however it is truly helpful for English learners, especially those who are taking discourse analysis course. Every year, the Queen Elizabeth II delivers a Christmas speech from Buckingham Palace on December 25th. Through out 64 years of her reign, she has sent 63 Christmas messages. This study will deal with the Christmas messages in 1952, 1954, 1962, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2005 and 2015, consisting of 8 speeches of well over 5,300 words in total. In this study, the most used method is data gathering and analysing. The text will be analysed in several levels such as grammatical, lexical and stylistic; and we will also try to look into diachronic changes and describe them. Do Minh Thu - 1271A04 (2012 - 2016) 9 GRADUATION PAPER II. THEORITICAL PART 2.1 Discourse Analysis 2.1.1 Discourse Let us consider the following extracts: Extract 1: The tailor was quite willing, and he followed him. When they reached the den there sat some other giants by the fire, and each had a roasted sheep in his hand, and was eating it. The little tailor looked around and thought, ‘There is more elbow-room here than in my workshop.’ (J.L.C & W.C. Grimm, 1993) Extract 2: A: The hell with the boat, Balthazar ? B: What boat ? A: The Titanic. B: Oh! Yeah. The Titanic. Yes, well, it was meant to sink. And I saved it. (Supernatural series– season 6, episode 17, 2011) Extract 3: Do Minh Thu - 1271A04 (2012 - 2016) 10 GRADUATION PAPER In most western countries, child-rearing is now accepted as the responsibility of both parents. Undoubtedly , public interest in folk music has declined. Therefore, although students may gain knowledge from the internet, the skills and ideas ultimately emanate from the teachers. There is nothing better than keeping a cat or a dog if you want your kids to be more independent and responsible.
Conclusion: Extract 1 and 2 are discourses because the sentences in the first extract and the utterances in the second one are related in terms of the ideas or communicative functions that they share. On the contrary, extract 3 consists of unrelated sentences collected from different texts and they do not share a common idea, therefore it is not a discourse. Many linguistics experts have given discourse definitions according to their own understanding. The followings are possibly the most simple and understandable for learners: − Discourse is a connected series of utterances; a text or conversation. (Oxford dictionaries) − Discourse is language that is functional – language that is doing some job in some context as opposed to isolated words or sentences. Discourse can be spoken, written or in any other medium of expression. Do Minh Thu - 1271A04 (2012 - 2016) 11 GRADUATION PAPER Discourse is a unit of language in use. It is not a grammatical unit, like a clause or a sentence. Discourse is a semantic unit, a unit not of form but of meaning. A discourse does not consist of sentences; it is realized by, or encoded in sentences. (Halliday M.A.K & Hasan R., 1976) From Halliday & Hasan’s definition, it can be inferred that a discourse can be realized by a word (e.g. hey, great, wow); a phrase (e.g. no smoking, those withered daisies); a clause or sentence (e.g.: as time goes by; they left this morning); one or several paragraphs; one or several books. According to Bell R. T. (1991), there are seven criteria help to identify a discourse which are also a discourse’s inherent features: • cohesion • coherence • intentionality • acceptability • informativity • relevance • intertextuality Do Minh Thu - 1271A04 (2012 - 2016) 12 GRADUATION PAPER 2.1.2 Discourse analysis Discourse analysis is a branch of linguistics dealing with the largest unit of language in communication – discourse, referring to a number of approaches to analyze written, vocal, or sign language use, or any significant semiotic event. The term first came into general use following the publication of a series of papers by Zellig Harris which began in 1952. In the late 1960s and 1970s, a variety of other approaches to a new cross-discipline of discourse analysis began to develop in most of the humanities and social sciences concurrently with and related to other disciplines such as semiotics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, and pragmatics. Many of these approaches, especially those influenced by the social sciences, favour a more dynamic study of oral talkin-interaction. While Cook claimed discourse analysis as the search for what gives the language in use coherence, Brown and Yule, however, focused primarily on the importance of pragmatics when analysing a discourse believing that discourse analysis must involves syntax and semantics but it primarily consists of pragmatics. Discourse analysis learners might know how to adjust their knowledge to a particular context in order to communicate their message clearly. The findings of discourse analysis help to uncover the natural patterns of communication and theirs application help the users to achieve successful communication. Do Minh Thu - 1271A04 (2012 - 2016) 13 GRADUATION PAPER 2.1.3 Methods of discourse analysis Discourse analysis has gained a significant place in the study of language and it is rapidly expanding. There are several ways to analyse a discourse. Brown and Yule focus on the discourse level and pragmatics of the text, they describe the role of context in interpretation, discourse topic, thematisation and staging, information structure, cohesion and coherence. Crystal and Davy divide discourse analysis into several levels consisting of phonetic, phonological, grammatical, lexical and. They further notice that more levels may be needed or a level within the mentioned levels may be established if the text requires doing so. They suggest to start with an independent analysis at each level using the techniques developed in linguistics for them (Crystal, 1989). This thesis, inspired by all four authors, will analyse discourse at the levels of grammatical, vocabulary, stylistic and pragmatics. 2.1.4 Perspectives of discourse analysis 2.1.4.1 Written and spoken language Spoken language is language produced by articulate sounds. Some most significant features of spoken language are paralinguistic, sound and emotions. Sounds and emotions are expressed through intensity of voice, intonation and pitch range. Spoken language also depends on non-verbal language such as body language, facial expression. Do Minh Thu - 1271A04 (2012 - 2016) 14 GRADUATION PAPER Written language is language presented through writing system. The writer usually express emotion and attitude through the choice of words and punctuations, therefore the reader is required to have a certain knowledge to fully understand a written text. Both two types of communication share same purposes: to deliver information, to complete tasks or to entertain. On the other hand, they differ in three aspects namely situation, grammar and lexical density (Van H. V., 2006). a) Situation Regarding situation aspect, the speaker and writer produce texts in divergent ways. The table below is the summary of some notable differences between these two language in terms of the situation they are produced: Written Language Spoken Language − situation inferred from the text − face-to-face interaction − writer has time to choose − speaker is under pressure to linguistic devices produce text immediately − words carry all shades of meaning − meaning expressed through text, intonation, pitch, body language and facial expression − reader making assumptions about the writer’s state of knowledge, − instant interaction between speaker and listener opinions and intentions Table 1. Differences between written and spoken language Do Minh Thu - 1271A04 (2012 - 2016) 15 GRADUATION PAPER b) Grammar i) The written text often have more information packed into smaller amount of words e.g. 1: Investment in a rail facility implies a long-term commitment. e.g. 2: If you invest in a rail facility, this implies that you are going to be committed for a long term. ii) Linguistically, written language tends to consist of internally complex clauses, whereas the complexity in spoken language exists in the way clauses are connected. e.g. 1: This morning at half past eleven, Associate Professor Dean Wolfe will present a programme entitled ‘The Science of Music’, in which the listener will experience a number of fascinating things, including music played backwards – although most will be played forwards. e.g. 2: This morning Associate Professor Dean Wolfe will talk about the science of music at half past eleven, and we’ll hear some fascinating thing such as music backwards – but most of it will be played forwards! (Van H. V., 2006) iii) Spoken language has much less complex structured syntax than that of written language iv) Spoken language contains many incomplete sentences v) Spoken language typically contains rather little subordination Do Minh Thu - 1271A04 (2012 - 2016) 16 GRADUATION PAPER vi) In spoken language, active declarative forms are normally found passives are less common vii) In spoken language, and, but, then, if are frequently used connectors. Common clauses markers in written language are that, while, furthermore, moreover, correspondingly, etc. viii) The speaker is typically less explicit than the writer. ix) In written language, heavily modified noun phrases are regularly used e.g. A man who turned into a human torch ten days ago after snoozing in his locked car while smoking his pipe has died in hospital. It is rare to find adjectives with more than two pre-determiners in spoken language e.g. It’s a big tabby cat + with torn ears. x) Whereas written language sentences are generally structured in subject-predicate form e.g. The cats were left outside. Spoken language sentences are usually in topic-comment structure e.g. The cats + they were left outside. xi) In written language, the occurrence of passive constructions is more frequent Do Minh Thu - 1271A04 (2012 - 2016) 17 GRADUATION PAPER xii) In spoken language, the speaker may rely on non-verbal language like gaze or pointing direction when chat about the immediate environment e.g. (looking at the rain) We might have to stay the night. xiii) The speaker may replace or refine expressions xiv) The speaker typically uses various generalised vocabulary: a lot of, got, do, thing, stuff, nice, things like that, etc. xv) The speaker frequently repeats the same syntactic form several times e.g. I look at fire extinguisher + I look at fire exits + I look at the available gangways + I look at electric cables + are they properly earthed + are they properly covered. xvi) The speaker may produce a large number of prefabricated filters: well, you know, erm, yeah, so on, you see, etc. (Brown & Yule, 1983) c) Lexical density Functionally, there are two kinds of words: lexical and function words. − A lexical word refers to a thing, quality, state, action or event. − A function word indicates only grammatical relationships. Lexical density refers to the number of lexical words in a clause. e.g. My father is very experienced in engineering. Do Minh Thu - 1271A04 (2012 - 2016) 18 GRADUATION PAPER In the sentence, the lexical words are father, experienced, engineering; the function words are my, is, very, in. 2.1.4.2 Grammatical cohesion Grammatical cohesion is the surface marking of semantic link between clauses and sentences in written discourse, and between utterances and turns in speech. (Trung H. N., 2014) Grammatical cohesive devices include reference, substitution, ellipsis and conjunction. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976) a) Reference Definition: Reference expresses the relationship of identity which exists between units in discourse, helps readers interpret the text. e.g. Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4th, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election. (Trung H.N., 2009) Do Minh Thu - 1271A04 (2012 - 2016) 19 GRADUATION PAPER Classification: Reference pointing direction exophoric reference realization endophoric personal i) demonstrative comparative Exophoric references refer to assumed, shared worlds outside the text ii) Endophoric references refer to entity within the text either backwards (anaphoric) or forwards (cataphoric) iii) Personal references are expressed through personal pronouns, possessive pronouns and determiners. iv) Demonstrative references help speaker to identify the location of the reference on a scale of proximity. v) Comparative references are expressed through adjectives and adverbs in comparison items within a text in terms of identify or similarity. Do Minh Thu - 1271A04 (2012 - 2016) 20 GRADUATION PAPER b) Substitution Definition: Substitution is a relation within the text on the lexico-grammatical level. A substitute is sort of counter used in place of the repetition of a particular item. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976) Classification: There are three types of substitution: nominal, verbal and clausal substitution. i) Nominal substitution is the use of a substitute item to replace the head noun of a corresponding noun phrase. Presupposed noun is always a count noun, mass noun does not have substitute form. ii) Verbal substitution is expressed through do, do so, do it and do that. e.g. 1: I tried to find out who set the house on fire that day. Until now, I still believe that it was Tom’s little sister who did it. e.g. 2: Mike’s been blaming himself that he did not comeback for Christmas last year. If he had done so, things would not have been that way. e.g. 3: When I told him I was going to book a flight ticket on the Sunday, he told me not to do that. iii) Clausal substitution is expressed through so and not. Used as a clausal substitute, so presupposes a whole clause, and not is taken as its negative equivalent. Do Minh Thu - 1271A04 (2012 - 2016) 21