Discourse and Text Linguistics Commons^™

Timing In The Performance Of Jokes, Salvatore Attardo, Lucy Pickering

Faculty Publications

The notion of timing in humor is often mentioned as a very significant issue, and yet very little has been written about it. The paper reviews the scant literature on the subject and narrows down the definition of timing as comprising pauses and speech rate. The discussions of timing in the literature see it either as a speeding up or slowing down of speech rate. Using data collected from twenty joke performances, we show that speakers do not significantly raise or lower their speech rate at and around the punch line. The other common assumption is that punch lines are …

Revisión De Estudios Sobre Las Funciones De Las Citas En Textos Académicos Escritos Por Estudiantes De Posgrado Nativos Y No Nativos Que Aprenden Una Lengua Extranjera, David Sánchez-Jiménez

Publications and Research

El estudio de las citas, los motivos por lo que se cita un trabajo y las funciones retóricas que las citas cumplen en el discurso escrito, han sido materias abordadas desde distintas disciplinas, entre ellas la Lingüística Aplicada. En el presente trabajo se rastrean los orígenes de estos temas y se revisan más concretamente los estudios llevados a cabo en el contexto académico universitario sobre citación por aprendientes nativos y no nativos de una lengua extranjera.

Summary: The study of citations, the purposes for which a work is cited, and the rhetorical functions that the citations carry out in the …

A Systemic Functional Investigation Into Experiential Meanings In The Biographies Of Mozart, Beethoven And Schubert ., Christina John

Student Works (2010-2019)

The present study investigates Experiential meanings in the genre of biographies of famous music composers. Specifically, the study investigates the System of Transitivity and the Schematic structure of three music composers of the 18th century namely Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. The texts were coded, analysed and interpreted in terms of Transitivity (Process Types, Participants and Circumstantial elements), based on the model by Halliday and Matthiessen (2004), Eggins (2004), Bloor and Bloor (2004) and Thompson (2004), and Schematic structure by Eggins (2004). Data for the study comprised six texts; Two different accounts for each composer’s biographies. The findings show that the …

Wacana Tradisi Pela Dalam Masyarakat Ambon, Frans Thomas

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

The study is aimed to describe pela tradition discourse in Ambonese so-ciety. Qualitative Study with hermeneutical design is applied in this study. The data from oral discourse can be used as the primary data that focus on analysis, and other data in translating the meaning of oral discourse. Hermeneutical model is used in analyzing the data. The four aspects of the study were comprehended carefully through the semantic, reflective and existential levels. The findings of the study have both theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, it has implication on the culture study, discourse analysis, oral action and sociolinguistics. Practically, it is …

Proceedings Of The Sixth International Natural Language Generation Conference (Inlg 2010)., John D. Kelleher, Brian Mac Namee, Ielka Van Der Sluis

Conference papers

No abstract provided.

A Systemic Functional Multimodal Analysis Of Business Brochures., Fauziah Taib

Student Works (2010-2019)

The study is a multimodal analysis of Malaysian business-to-business brochures (b2b) that advertise training programmes for human resource development in local and multinational companies. The multimodal analysis is within the framework of systemic functional theory as the theory has resources to analyse verbal as well as visual elements in texts. The aims of the study are to identify the verbal and visual components that make up the genre, ascertain how the functions of the business brochures are realized in the components and establish how these various semiotic components cohere such that the brochures are seen as a unified whole.  The …

A Systemic Functional Analysis Of The Interpersonal Metaphor In Computer Science Texts., Tan Shih May

Student Works (2010-2019)

This study is grounded in the Systemic Functional Linguistic (SFL) school of thought. It explores the Interpersonal Metaphor in text by investigating how Interpersonal meaning is expressed by features of lexicogrammar. The study also focuses on how Interpersonal meaning affects the interactiveness of text. Since limited research has been carried out in the genre of Computer Science texts especially on Interpersonal Metaphors, the study attempts to address this research gap. The data examined consists of two chapters each from two different genres. The first is a chapter from a Computer Science textbook used in the University of Malaya and the …

Communication Strategies Of International Students : A Study Of Service Encounters., Suo Yan Ju

Student Works (2010-2019)

Communication strategies are important in helping L2 learners to communicate successfully when they are faced with a problem in speech production. This study looked at one of the components in Communication Competence, i.e strategy competence or the use of Communication Strategies (CS) in oral interactions among Middle Eastern students and counter staff in institute of postgraduate studies (IPS) at University of Malay.  Data collected from video-tape and interviews were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. It was found that the most frequently used communication strategy was the use of „modification devices‟. The other strategies used in order of frequency were „interaction strategies‟, …

Event Segmentation And Memory Retrieval In Reading Comprehension, Charles Baker Brenner

Linguistics Honors Projects

Comprehending text involves the convergence of top-down, expectation-driven processes and bottom-up, stimulus-driven processes. The precise nature of this convergence, however, is not well understood. The current study used narrative time shifts and shifts in protagonist goal, both hypothesized to encourage event-segmented memory representations, to investigate the interaction between automatic and constructive memory processes during reading. The addition of time and goal shifts was found to have no effect on the automatic retrieval of information from memory. The results are interpreted as support for the bottom-up account of retrieval of information during reading, and for the idea that the top-down account …

Wacana Cerita Dalam Al-Qur'an : Satu Kajian Dalam Surah Al-Kahf., Ahmad Fikri Haji Husin

Student Works (2010-2019)

Surah al-Kahf is a distinctive surah that looks into the narrative discourse through retrospections of some of the most amazing tales that had ever happened in the history of human civilisation and customs. It has 110 verses comprising four main stories: The Story of Asha:b al-Kahf (Cave Dwellers), The Story of Sa:hib al- Jannatayn (Owner of Two Orchards), The Story of the Meeting of Prophet Musa (Moses) and Khidr, and The Story of Dhul-Qarnain. This surah also tells a few anecdotes on the sideline that consist of idioms and comparisons through short tales of arrogance and devil’s deceptions, the consequences …

Investigating Gricean Maxims In Conversations Among Malaysian Women., Lee Pei Ling

Student Works (2010-2019)

In this investigation into the conversations of Malaysian women friends, H.P. Grice’s conversational maxims are analyzed in terms of fulfillment and non-fulfillment. Included are the theoretical aspects and findings of both foreign and local researchers who have done studies pertaining to all female conversations (Coates, 1996; Hafizah Ahamad, 2004) and Grice’s maxims (Rundquist, 1992; Kulasingam, 2004; Brumark, 2006). Data is drawn from audio-tape recordings of different groups of women friends, transcribed and instances of fulfillment and non-fulfillment were singled out in the analysis process. To strengthen the validity of the findings, the recordings were triangulated with onsite observations, field notes, …

Realkeepen: Anglicisms In The German Hip-Hop Community, Matt Garley

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

A Text In Speech's Clothing: Discovering Specific Functions Of Formulaic Expressions In Beowulf And Blogs, Matt Garley, Benjamin Slade, Marina Terkourafi

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Transivity Choices In The Malaysian Prime Minister's 2009 National Day Blog Posting., Daphne Rosaline Henry Thomas

Student Works (2010-2019)

This study unveils inherent experiential meaning by utilising the framework of the System of Transitivity, a component of Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics in weblog interaction. The interactive feature of weblogs helps uncover the experiential meaning as the writers are uninhibited in penning their thoughts. The data for the study is from the Malaysian Prime Minister’s National Day Address posted on 30 August 2009 and the Comments received in response to it. The aim of the study is to uncover the perceptions of the Prime Minister and the Comment Writers on national unity, identity and nation building. The aim of the …

Discursive Construction Of Identities Of Young Homosexual Males., Zainon Shamsudin

Student Works (2010-2019)

This dissertation reports a study addressing the issue of identity construction of four young Malay homosexual men in Malaysia.  Through their narrative discourse of their life experiences and aspirations, this study explores these participants‟ linguistic repertoire and discursive strategies in the formation, negotiation, and establishment of their identities. The narrative data were gathered through a semi-structured interview-cum-conversation which allowed the participants to express sentiments about their lives in a heterosexual dominated society.  Using an adapted framework of discourse-historical approach of Critical Discourse Analysis proposed by Reisigl and Wodak (2009), this study analyzed the participants‟ emergent language use and discursive strategies …

Ciri-Ciri Wacana Penjaga Di Rumah Warga Emas., Yaw Yee Peng

Student Works (2010-2019)

This study looks at the features of the discourse in a home for elderly residents. It also determines if the care-takers use elderspeak while communicating with the residents and determines the features of elderspeak in the discourse of the care-takers. The respondents consist of 12 care-takers and 23 elderly residents. Audio-recordings, observation and field notes were the instruments used for data collection and this was for a duration of 270 hours. The analysis shows that elderspeak exists in the discourse of the care-takers. The features of elderspeak included ‘questions structures’, ‘repetitions’, ‘limited vocabulary’, ‘simple syntax’ and ‘patronizing code’. It was …

Genre Analysis Of Introductions In Tort Textbooks., Tai Chooi Li

Student Works (2010-2019)

This study examines the introductions in Tort textbooks to determine the structure and patternings used by writers of this genre. A model for the introduction is then proposed. Five introductions are selected and analysed using Bhatia's(1993) framework to identify the moves in Introductions. Through the stratification process of MOVES and STEPS, findings reveal that similar moves are found across the introductions that were analysed due to the common communicative purposes of the writers. The seven areas of importance in Tort introductions found are the introduction and aim of Tort, distinguishing Tort with other areas of law, the role of policy …

Literary Devices And Vocabulary Frequency Use In Malaysian Radio Advertisements., Jeyanthi Evelyn J. L. Christy

Student Works (2010-2019)

Radio advertisements are very much part and parcel of our daily lives. Radio is ubiquitous and free. Technology has come a long way as radio is also available to its listeners via the Internet and even on television. Owing to the flexibility and availability of radio, radio advertisements increase the selling power of products, services and so on. Literary devices are not restricted to literary materials. They can be found in non literary materials such as advertisements. For the purpose of this research, two radio stations, hitz.fm and mix fm were identified as they share similar target audiences. Advertisements from …

Cohesion And Coherence Shifts In Chinese Argumentative Texts Translated From English., Soh Bee Kwee

Student Works (2010-2019)

this study focuses on the shifts of cohesion and coherence in argumentative texts translated from English into Chinese.  This  research aims to substantiate theoretical assumptions by testing them against authentic data. Firstly, the study discusses the shift of cohesion by comparing the use of third person pronoun and conjunction based on the bottom-up approach proposed by Baker (1992). Secondly, it shows how micro-level coherence affects macro-level coherence of argumentative texts in terms of text-type. Adopting Hatim and Mason’s text-type model (1990), this study highlights the ways in which overall discoursal relations evolve in the 29 unit ‘texts’ used as data. …

A Study Of Epistemic Modality In A Television Interview., Papiya Chakrabarty

Student Works (2010-2019)

This research explores the use of modals such as will, would and shall which are epistemic in nature in an interview from America’s MTP (Meet the Press) of the present millennium which involves five politicians as speakers. It applies a qualitative approach and is a corpus based lexico-grammatical research which plans to identify the modality and its frequency in only one type of discourse. The research tests aims to test why speakers use epistemic modality and how committed they are towards their views, opinions which become truth propositions when involved in a question and answer session with other participants of …