Contextual Analysis

Contextual analysis is using contexts to understand how and when we select particular linguistic forms ( Celce- Murica ,1980)

The information needs to be checked against language use e.g. If/ whether ( teacher are often asked to explain…) I like to run/ I like running He stopped to talk/ he stopped talking

the first step in CA is to find an interesting question to research e.g 1,2 p.266

High on the bluff stood Sergeant Begay

Sergeant Begay stood high on the bluff

Set up a questionnaire and present native speakers of the language with a forced choice as to which of two forms is the best question in context.

E.g p 267 (adverbial) clauses

In all the examples , the initial clause builds a framework for what is to follow. We do not expect the information in this initial clause to be challenged . It is shared knowledge between the writer/ speaker and reader/ listener

Results of studies on If/ whether …

if is for sarcasm/ tautology If he is intelligent , then I’m Albert Einstein If she says she’s the leader , she’s the leader

if clause appears first . If clause guides the listener or reader to what follows in the discourse

If you went there last night, they saw what happened .If you have already learned to use the computer, this should be easy for you.

other claims and explanations Thus, contextual analysis can validate and elaborate on claims initially based on insights from examples and linguistic styles

look for examples of particular structures within a discourse database. It can validate findings of the first method of creating minisituations that ask native speakers to decide which of seemingly synonymous structures they would prefer.

e.g modality choice of the modals and formality frequencies and uses (p.269)CA shows that ‘will’, ‘should’, and ‘must” are more formal than their ‘periphrastic’ modal equivalents ( ‘going to’, ‘ought to,’ and ‘have to’)others

Thus, depending on interpretation, this search further validates the notion of formality as accounting for selection of modal forms.

A contextual analysis can also illuminate differences due to oral versus written mode.

e.g adverb ‘just’ is used in informal spoken data seven times more often than in formal written text. ( 10,000 oral words and 12,000 written words).

Language teachers and writers working in language teaching materials often need to know how native speakers use particular language structures. This is the central concern of ESP ( English for Specific Purposes) & EST ( English for Science and Technology) grammar and lexical usage “context” in CA is a very broad term. It could include all he areas of discourse .

CA might be linked to other analysese.g . CA could be linked to rhetorical analysis

What types of material are being used Narrative & descriptive Science texts with novels or science texts with science fiction

CA ha been linked to studies of mode ( oral versus written text).

CA can be combined with speech act and speech event analyses.

e.g. . should / ought to/ and suppose to e.g. ‘perhaps,’ maybe’, and sometimes”e.g. passive and active voice

CA methods can be layered with other types of discourse analysis to reveal the many ways that context influences our choice of syntactic forms

More examples p.273

Pls Go Week 7