Syntax (2): Discourse and grammar

Mon. 2:00-5:00



Course objective:
This course is an introduction to the discourse basis of grammar and to functional/ interactional linguistics, and cognitive linguistics in general. An important assumption guiding research in functional linguistics is that grammar emerges out of response to interactional pressures. Particular attention will be paid to a close examination of a range of natural conversational data and the grammatical structure they illuminate.


topic Tentative schedule
1 Overview: The study of discourse
◎Tomassello, M. 1998. Introduction: A cognitive-functional perspective on language structure. In Tomasello (ed.), pp.vii-xxiii.
◎Givón, T. 2002. The visual information-processing system as an evolutionary precursor of human language, in Givón and Malle (eds.), pp. 3-50.
D. Schiffrin, D. Tannen and H. Hamilton.2001. The Handbook of discourse analysis. Blackwell.
J. Nichols. 1984. Functional theories of grammar. In Annual Review of Anthropology 13:97-117.
Fasold, R. 1990. The Sociolinguistics of Language, chapter 3
Van Dijk, Teun A. 2001. Critical discourse analysis. In Schiffrin et at. (eds.), pp. 352-371.
Job: personal data
What do you know about discourse and grammar?

2 Intonation units
◎Du Bois et al. 1993. Outline of discourse transcription. In J. A. Edwards and M. S. Lampert (eds) Talking Data: Transcription And Coding for Language Research.
Chafe, W. l994. Discourse, consciousness and time, chapter 5.
◎Tao, H. 1996. Units in Mandarin conversation. Chapters 1-2.
Job: begin work on transcription of your taped conversation

3 Prosody and discourse
◎Tao, H. 1996. Units in Mandarin conversation. Chapters 3-4.
◎Couper-Kuhlen, E. 2001. ‘Intonation and discourse: current views from within’. In Schiffrin et al. (eds.), pp.13-35.

4 Visual transcription
Goodwin, C. 1981. Conversational organization: interaction between speakers and hearers. Academic Press. Chapters 2-3.
◎Heath C. 1984. Talk and recipiency: sequential organization in speech and body movement. In Atkinson & Heritage (eds.), Structures of social action. Cambridge University Press.
Heath,C.1992. Gesture’s discreet tasks: multiple relevancies in visual conduct and in the contexulaization of language. In P. Auer et al. (eds.) The contexualization of language. JB.

5 Conversation
H. Clark (1996) Conversation. Chapter 11 of Clark: Using language. Cambridge U. P., 318-352.
F. Ferreira and K. Bailey. 2004 Disfluencies and human language comprehension. TICS 8:231-237

6 Information flow/ One new idea constraints
◎Chafe, W. L. (1979). The flow of thought and the flow of language. Syntax and Semantics: Discourse and syntax. T. Givón (ed.), Acdemic Press. 12: 159-181.
Chafe, W. 1994. Discourse, Consciousness and Time, chapters 1-4.
Prince. 1981. Toward a taxonomy of given-new information. In P. Cole, (ed.), Radical Pragmatics.
Job: code ideas as given, accessible, new
◎Pawley, Andrew. 1985. Lexicalization. In GURTOLL, pp. 98-120
Erman, B and B. Warren. 2000. The idiom principle and the open choice principle. Text 20,l.29-62.
Job: Do word count

7 4/5 清明節放假

8 Referring and Referent introduction
◎Clark, H. 1992. Referring as a Collaborative Process. In his Arenas of language use, 107-143. University of Chicago Press & CSLI.
Geluykens. 1992. From Discourse Process to Grammatical Construction. JB
Job: Find out ways and types of referent introduction in your data

9 Framing in discourse
D. Tannen. 1995? What is in a frame? In Tannen (ed.) Framing in discourse. 14-56. Oxford.
Croft, W. 1998. The structure of events and the structure of language. In Tomasello (ed.), pp.67-92.

10 Discourse markers
Schiffrin, D. 2001. Discourse markers: language, meaning and context. In Schiffrin et al (eds.), pp.54-75.

11 Discourse and Interaction
Schegloff, E.A. 2001. Discourse as an ineractional achievement III: the omnirelevance of action. In Schiffrin et al (eds.), pp. 229-249.
◎Heller, monica. 2001. Discourse and interaction. In Schiffrin et al. (eds.), pp.250-264.

12 Argument structure and Preferred argument structure ◎Du Bois, John. 2003 Argument structure: grammar in use. In Du Bois et al. (eds.) Preferred argument structure, JB. Pp. 11-60.
◎Croft, W. (1995). "Intonation units and grammatical structure." Linguistics 33(5): 839-882.
Simon Corston-Oliver. 2003. Core arguments and the inversion of the nominal hierarchy in Roviana. In Du Bois et al. (eds.) Preferred argument structure, pp. 273-300.

13 Word order and discourse
◎Akhtar, N. (2001). Acquiring Basic Order, in Bates, E. and M. Tomasello (ed.), Language development : the essential readings. Malden, Mass., Blackwell Publishers.
Birner, B. and G. Ward. l998. Information status and non-canonical word order in English. JB, chapters 2 &5.
Huang, S. and K. Chui.1997. Is Chinese a pragmatic order language?
Job: Find all of the possible word order patterns in your data and take note of non- word orders

14 Construction and conversation
◎Goldberg, A. (1998). Patterns of experience in patterns of language, in Tomasello (ed.).
◎Tomasello, M. (2001). The item-based nature of children’s early syntactic development, in Tomasello (ed.)
Goldberg, A. 1995. Constructions: a construction grammar approach to argument structure, chapters 1-3 ( pp. 1-100)

15 Discourse and grammar
Du Bois, John. 1987. The discourse basis of ergativity. Language 63:805-855.
Fox and Thompson. 1992. A discourse explanation of relative clauses in English conversation. Language 66(2) 297-316.
◎Hopper, Paul. 1988. Emergent grammar and a priori postulates. In D. Tannen ed. Linguistics in context.
◎Hopper, Paul. 1998. Emergent grammar, in Tomasello (ed.)
◎Huang, S. 1998. The emergence of a grammatical category definite article in spoken Chinese. Journal of Pragmatics 29(1998).

16 Grammar and its role in interaction
◎Ono and Thomspon 1995. What can conversation tell us about syntax. In P. Davis (ed.) Alterantive linguistics: descriptive and theoretical modes. JB.
Huang, S. 2001, The story of heads and tails – on a sequentially sensitive lexicon. Language and Linguistics 1:2
Schegloff, E. 1996. Turn organization: one intersection of grammar and interaction. In Schegloff et al. (eds.), Interaction and grammar. CUP.
Thompson, S. 2004. The clause as a locus of grammar and interaction. Paper presented at ISCLL-9.

17 Interaction and linguistic practices ◎Tomasello, M. (2001). Perceiving intentions and learning words in the second years of life, in Bates, E. and M. Tomasello (eds.), Language development : the essential readings. Malden, Mass., Blackwell Publishers.
M. Selting.2001. Fragments of units as deviant cases of unit production in conversation. In Selting et al. (eds.) 2001. pp.229-258
M-L. Sorjonen. 2002. Simple answers to polar questions: the case of Finnish. In Selting et al (eds.). pp. 405-431.

18 6/21 13:00-17:00 期末發表