Transcript Discourse Connectors

Chiao-Yu Lou
Gary McCloud
Kyoung A You
Shortening sentences that involve
coordination
► Sentences
that involve coordination tend to be
efficient, in that material that could be
repeated generally is not.
-For example:
A: Alice washed the silverware and Alice dried
the silverware.
B: Alice washed and dried the silverware.
Conjunction Reduction
► Shorten
sentences with clauses conjoined by
and, or, neither…nor, or but not, which are
identical except for one constituent.
- For example
John kissed Susan or John hugged Susan.
John kissed or hugged Susan.
Verb Phrase Ellipsis
One of the repeated verb phrases can be
omitted in a conjoined clause. The verb
phrase is deleted if it contains a modal or
auxiliary verb and is identical to the
previous one. Notice that in this type of
reduction when there is a modal or other
auxiliary, the auxiliary remains.
Verb Phrase Ellipsis
► For
example:
-Alice can come to the party, and John can
come to the party, too
Modal
Alice can come to the party, John can, too
Verb Phrase Ellipsis
-Alice is coming to the party, and John is
coming to the party, too.
auxiliary
Alice is coming to the party, and John is, too.
-Alice had left the party, but John hadn’t left
the party.
auxiliary
Alice had left the party, but John hadn’t.
Verb Phrase Ellipsis
But,
when a modal and more than one auxiliary
are present, they can be elided only up to a
point where the intended meaning of the
second clause can be recovered.
Verb Phrase Ellipsis
For example
a. John may have gone home for the summer,
and Valerie may have gone home for the
summer, too.
b. John may have gone home for the
summer, and Valerie may have, too.
c. * John may have gone home for the
summer, and Valerie may, too (it means Valerie
may go home for the summer, too)
Delayed Right Constituent
Coordination
► Sentences
with conjoined clauses that have
different verbs but identical elements
following-for example, object NPs that
complements- can be shortened by a
stylistic rule called delayed right constituent
coordination.
Delayed Right Constituent
Coordination
► For
example
Sandra denied that the faculty knew about
Bill’s research, but Fred affirmed that the
faculty knew about Bill’s research.
that complement
Sandra denied, but Fred affirmed, that the
faculty knew about Bill’s research.
Delayed Right Constituent
Coordination
owned a vintage 1970 BMW, and Sue
knew a guy who wanted to buy a vintage
► Alex
1970 BMW.
object NP
Alex owned, and Sue knew a guy who wanted
to buy, a vintage 1970 BMW.
Gapping
► If
conjoined clauses have identical verbs,
the verb and any other identical constituent
immediately preceding or following the verb
can be elided from the second clauses. This
leaves a gap in the middle of that clauses,
so this process is referred to as gapping.
Gapping
► For
example
a. John ordered carrots, and Fred ordered
peas.
b. John ordered carrots, and Fred ----- peas.
Often the elided element is just the verb.
a. Bill gave a ring to Alice, and Fred gave a
dime to Sue.
b. Bill gave a ring to Alice, and Fred a dime to
Sue.
Gapping
►A
gap comprises more than just a verb; it’s
a verb and prepositional phrase.
For example
a. She came to Canada in 1999, and her
parents came to Canada in 2001.
b. She came to Canada in 1999, and her
parents in 2001.
Gapping
► Gapping
cannot be applied to sentences
with infinitive or gerund complements.
a. John asked Bill to leave, and Sam asked Sue
to apologize.
b. * John asked Bill to leave, and Sam Sue to
apologize.
a. Ed kept on eating, and Gary kept on arguing.
b .* Ed kept on eating, and Gary arguing.
Discourse Connectors
Chiao-Yu Lou
Gary McCloud
KyoungA You
Discourse Connectors
Discourse connectors are connectives like subordinators
and coordinators. They differ from these other connectives
not only in their ability to link a sentence to a larger piece
of discourse, but also because they are less restricted in
terms of where they may occur in a sentence.
Discourse Connectors
Ordering
Summary
Additive
Exemplification
and Restatement
Result
Concession
Contrast
Cognitive
Stance
Abrupt topic shift
•e.g., first, firstly, second, secondly, third, thirdly, next, then, finally
•e.g., all in all, in conclusion, finally, overall, to conclude, in sum, to sum up
•e.g., also, in addition, further, furthermore, moreover
•e.g., for example, for instance, namely, that is
•e.g., accordingly, consequently, hence, therefore, thus, as a consequence, as a result
•e.g., nevertheless, nonetheless, in spite of that, despite that, still
•e.g., by way of contrast, in contrast, conversely, instead, however
•e.g., actually, certainly, indeed, in fact, in actual fact, as it happens
•e.g., incidentally, by the way, by the by, apropos of
Discourse Connectors
a. Form
Whereas coordinators occur between the clauses they
connect and subordinators occur at the beginning of the
clause they introduce, discourse connectors can occur at
the beginning of a sentence, within it, and at the end of
the sentence.
 Sonia was discouraged when the committee vetoed her plan.
*(a) However, this time she was not going to let herself be beaten.
*(b) This time, however, she was not going to let herself be beaten.
*(c) She was not going to let herself be beaten this time, however.
 Sonia was discouraged when the committee vetoed her plan; however, she was not
going to let herself be beaten.
Discourse Connectors
Meaning: Cohesive Relationships
Discourse connectors establish semantic relationships
between the sentence they appear in and preceding
sentences. By establishing these relationships, discourse
connectors contribute to cohesion--- they help the ideas in
the discourse hang together and clarify how they hang
together.
Discourse Connectors
b. Ordering
Ordering discourse connectors indicate and order the main
points that speakers or writers want to make.
• First, your article fails to fully describe the manner in which independent fund directors
are selected for fund boards.
• Second, the article pejoratively characterizes the fact that many directors sit on boards
that oversee multiple funds.
• Third, the article implies that fund management fees and expenses are increasing.
• Finally, you state that directors rarely spend more than 100 to 200 hours per year on
their fund duties.
Discourse Connectors
C. Summary
Summary discourse connectors establish content that follows as
summarizing or providing a conclusion to preceding information.
 I would like to take a moment to summarize the facts that I presented earlier.
 To summarize, we need a better school.
Discourse Connectors
d. Additive
Additive discourse connectors show information that is parallel to
and builds on preceding information. For example, in addition and
moreover.
 These new technologies show great promise for expanding our overall knowledge of
how L1 transfer develops. They will enable us to determine whether the predictions
made by current SLA theory are accurate. In addition, they can provide us with
authentic examples that may be incorporated in second language instruction.
 In addition is appropriate for the purpose of simply adding some parallel material.
Discourse Connectors
 Last week the Mountaineers Club tackled the ascent of Mount Hood. The climbers were
not happy with their leader, who displayed uncertainty at several points during the climb.
Moreover, the weather was bad, which meant that the beautiful view they had been
anticipating was obscured on the way up and during the descent.
Moreover is appropriate when the sentence is adding information that is
not merely parallel to what preceded, but is potentially contributing to
some conclusion that need not be explicitly expressed.
Discourse Connectors
e. Contrast
Contrast discourse links information viewed as contrastive, whether
the contrast is between different aspects of a subject or one or more
aspects of different subjects.
 In terms of annual mean temperature, Alaska is cold, ______, Rio is clearly hot.
a.However
b.Nevertheless
c.Despite that
d.still
Discourse Connectors
Instead : often introduces an action that contrasts with a previously
mentioned action.
On the contrary : can preface a remark that reflects the speaker’s
stance of contradiction to something that has been said.
In contrast : is often used when two subjects or aspects of a subject
differ in one or more respects.
Discourse Connectors
f. Cognitive Stance
Cognitive stance discourse connectors express the writer’s cognitive
stance regarding the truth of the preceding content and introduce
content in support of the stance.
 The dean did not object to the proposal. Indeed, what he said in
the ensuing discussion seemed to support it.
Discourse Connectors
g. Exemplification and Restatement
Exemplification and restatement signal that information
following in some way clarifies the information that
preceded. The clarification may take the form of examples
or of some expansion or other explanation of what
preceded. These discourse connectors are sometimes also
referred to as appositive connectors or adverbials of
apposition.
Discourse Connectors
 The most common connectors of exemplification are
for example and for instance.
 There are ways in which you might improve your chances of gaining
financing for your project. For example, you could try to bring the focus
of your research more in line with the goals of the request for proposals
that our agency announced on the Internet.
Discourse Connectors
 The connectors of restatement include that is,
In other words, more precisely, which is to say,
that is to say, and namely.

If you had accepted their offer, they would have
given you a $14,000 moving allowance. In other
words, the total amount of compensation that you
would have received would have been greater than
what you finally accepted.
Discourse Connectors
 That is (which is to say) often appears in sentences
internally.
 All of the Hispanic students who took the foreign language section of the
ACT would receive an extra 15 points; that is, they would boost their
overall chances for admission by 30 percent and also meet the
undergraduate foreign language requirement if admitted.
(elaborating)
 All of the SUVs had a tendency to roll up on two wheels at lower
speeds. In other words, thy flunked the rollover test.
(rephrasing)
Discourse Connectors
h. Result
Result discourse connectors introduce information
that is a consequence of preceding information.
 The Chinese passive is semantically restricted to cases where
the subject is adversely affected by the action. Consequently,
some English passives are anomalous in Chinese.
Discourse Connectors
i. Concession
The concession discourse connectors introduce
information that is surprising or unexpected in light of
previous information.
 Laura had the third highest score on the ACT test in the country.
Nevertheless / In spite of that / Still, she did not get admitted
to Harvard.
Discourse Connectors
i. Concession
The concession discourse connectors introduce
information that is surprising or unexpected in light of
previous information.
 Laura had the third highest score on the ACT test in the country.
Nevertheless / In spite of that / Still, she did not get admitted
to Harvard.
Discourse markers
- Words that are additional parts of the
sentence used by English speakers for
several purposes.
- Discourse markers can be used in
different ways.
Discourse markers
I mean
Well
You know
Oh
Okay
Right
Like
I mean
►
Rephrase in order to repair and/or clarify or provide
additional explanation of a point.
For example:
It’s to my advantage, I mean, it’s to our mutual advantage, to
work together.
(rephrase)
Girl: Do you think I’m fat?
Boy: You should go to the gym.
Girl: !@#!@$@%
Boy: I mean if you are worried about your health, it’s better
to go to the gym.
(clarify )
Well
a. Signal the speaker’s deliberation about how to continue
b. Preface a response
c . Indicate a desire to end a topic
d . Preface a disagreement
For example:
A: Can you drop me at the airport on Friday?
B: Well, if you don’t mind riding a donkey. I ride a donkey now.
The gas is too expensive.
(Preface a disagreement)
A: I think the food at this market is delicious !
B: Well, I feel like throwing up when I eat it.
(preface a disagreement)
You know…
a. Preface possibly well-known information by emphasizing
b. A tag question
c. Signal Deliberation
Boy: Who made this food? It’s awful.
Girl: Actually, I spent 3 hours cooking…right?
Boy: -_- ! I mean, it’s awesome. You know, I always like your food.
(emphasizing)
Boy: That was a very good movie, you know?
Girl: Yah, you’re right.
(a tag question)
Oh
Is a mental state marker that indicates the speaker has
realized and understood something such as a realization
or as a repair or clarification marker.
For example:
I think the law was passed in 1998, Oh, maybe it was 1999. I
►
don’t remember for sure
(repair)
Girl: How do I learn more about the TESOL program here at
CSUSB?
Boy: You can call Professor Diaz-Rico.
Girl: Oh, I see.
(realization)
Okay
a. Wrap up a topic
b. Indicate the speaker’s understanding
For example:
Mom: You have to clean up your room, finish your homework, clean the
garage, take out the trash, and…….bla bla bla
Son: Okay, okay, I know, leave me alone.
(Indicates the speaker’s understanding; could also be interpreted as
wrapping up a topic)
Mom: And you have to finish it in 1 hour.
Son: Okay. I will.
(Wrap up a topic)
Right
a. Initiate a new phase in the conversation
b. Indicate comprehension and agreement
b. A tag
A: I registered for my final three TESOL classes for next quarter.
B: Right, now you can think about the comprehensive exam.
(Indicates comprehension and agreement)
Husband: I finished all the housework you asked me to do.
Wife: Right, now you can start cleaning the backyard.
(Indicates comprehension and agreement)
Husband: You know that I’m not a slave, right?
(A tag)
Like
a. Mark the salient word or phase
b. Soften requests
c. Mark an approximation
d. Introduce reported speech
A: You know, my boyfriend, he’s like so cool and stuff, he’s got this really
cool tattoo.
(Marks the salient word or phase).
B: Excuse me, Susie, like um, can I borrow some money?
(Softens request).
A: I couldn't believe it. She was like “ Um, my boyfriend is a slob, I think
I’ll break up with him”
(introduces reported speech).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYI5hN
XvaPA
Count how many discourse markers
you can hear.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Um
(6)
Oh
(1)
Like
(2)
Thank you