CHAPTER 2

THE ROLE OF CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS

IN DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

(2.5 hours / Theory: 2, practice: 0.5)

Lecturer: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ho Ngoc Trung

[email protected]
0913306484
 OBJECTIVES

In this chapter, we will learn:

 the concept of context

 the role of context in discourse analysis
 models of context
REQUIRED READINGS:
English
1. Brown G. & Yule G. (1983). Discourse Analysis.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,.
2. Nunan D. (1993). Introducing Discourse Analysis.
Penguin English.
3. Van H. V. (2006). Introducing Discourse Analysis.
Hanoi: Education Publisher.
Vietnamese
4. Hồ Ngọc Trung (2012). Phép thế trong tiếng Anh
(trong sự liên hệ với tiếng Việt). Hà Nội: NXB
Khoa học xã hội.
 CHAPTER OUTLINE

2.1 The Concept of Context

2.2 The Role of Context in Discourse
2.3 Models of Context
2.3.1 J. R. Firth’s Model of Context
2.3.2 Dell Hymes’ Model of Context
2.3.3 Halliday’s Model of Context
REFERENCE BOOKS (for Chapter
Two)

 Van H.V. (2006), Introducing Discourse

Analysis, Education Publisher, Hanoi.
 Nunan D. (1993), Introducing Discourse
Analysis, Penguin English.
 Brown G. & Yule G. (1983), Discourse Analysis,
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
 ACTIVITY

Translate the sentence below into

Vietnamese.
I love you
 2.1 The Concept of Context

Context refers to the situation giving rise to the

discourse, and within which the discourse is
embedded.
There is a dialectical relationship between
discourse and context. The context creates the
discourse as much as the discourse creates the
context.
According to Nunan (1993: 8) there are two types
of context:

CONTEXT

LINGUISTIC NON-LINGUISTIC
(CO-TEXT) (EXPERIENTIAL)
 Linguistic context (or co-text đồng văn bản) is the
language that surrounds or accompanies the piece of
discourse under analysis.
‘I feel chilly,’ he said. ‘I didn’t feel strong enough to walk
to the next bench. But this one’s not so comfortable.’

 Non-linguistic context / experiential context is the

context in which the discourse takes place.
Non-linguistic contexts include the type of communicative
event (e.g. joke, story, lecture, greeting, conversation):
the topic; the purpose of the event; the setting including
location, time of day, season of year, and physical
aspects of the situation (e.g. size of room, arrangement
of furniture), the participant and the relationships
between them; and the background knowledge and
assumptions underlying the communicative event.
 2.2 The Role of Context in Discourse
Utterances are not only dependent on the physical context for
their interpretations, they are also closely related to the language
surrounding them (co-text). Apart from a very small number of
discourse kinds which consist of only one word/phrase/sentence,
almost all sentences other than the first one are put in relation to
each other. Therefore, the interpretation of one sentence is hardly
achieved without looking back at the previous sentences or
referring to the coming ones.
Couldn’t you draw in the other room?
I’d like to be here by you. Besides I don’t want you to keep
looking at those silly ivy leaves.
Tell me as soon as you have finished because I want to see the
last one fall. I’m tired of waiting.
From the text, we know that here  in this room, and one  leaf.
Therefore, according to Brown & Yule, the more context there is,
in general, the more secure the interpretation is. (1983:50)
2.3 Models of Context
 2.3.1 J. R. Firth’s Model of Context
Firth saw linguistics as the study of meaning and to
him all meaning was function in context. The elements
in his model are as follows:

The relevant features of participants: persons,

personalities  The verbal action of the participants;
 The nonverbal action of the participants.

The relevant objects: the surrounding objects and

events.

The effect of the verbal action: what changes were

brought about by what the participants in the situation
had to say.
 2.3.2 Dell Hymes’ Model of Context

The model consists of the following

concepts:
 Addressor and Addressee: the
participants. Addressor refers to the
speaker or writer who produces the
utterance, and addressee refers to the
hearer / reader who receives or decodes
the utterance.
 Audience: the overhearers or unintended
addressees
 Topic: what is talked about or written
about.
 Setting: the time and place of a speech
event. For example, a conversation can
take place in a classroom, a garden, a
church, and it can take place at any hour
of the day. The setting of a speech event
may have an effect on what is being said
and how it is said (also including posture,
gesture, and facial expressions)
 Channel: the way in which a message is
conveyed from one person to another.
The two most common channels of
communication are speech and writing.
Other examples are the use of drum
beats, smoke signals, or flags.
 Code: A term which is used instead of
language, speech variety, or dialect.
 Message form: tells us about what
forms are intended; whether the
piece of language is a sermon, a
fairy tales, a love story, a lecture
etc.
 Event tells us about the nature of
the communicative events within
which a text may be embedded.
 Key: involves evaluation of the text (the
tone, manner, or spirit in which a speech
act is carried out, for example, whether
mockingly or seriously) – i.e whether the
text is a good lecture, or an interesting
seminar on language teaching.
 Purpose: refers to the outcome which
the participants wish to happen as a
result of the communicative event
 For example, a Discourse Analysis lecture on The Role of
Contextual Analysis in Discourse Analysis may have the
context as follows:

1. Addressor: The teacher

Addressee: The students
2. Audience: Unknown
3. Topic: The Role of Contextual Analysis in Discourse Analysis
4. Setting: Time: The date of the lecture, Place: The place
where the lecture takes place.
5. Channel: A combination of written and spoken language,
visual presentation
6. Code: Standard English
7. Message form: A lecture
8. Event: A lesson
9. Key: Informative, useful but difficult to understand.
10. Purpose: To highlight the important role of contextual
analysis in translation studies.
ACTIVITY
Translate the following texts into Vietnamese and make
comments on the role of the topic in translation

1.
A prisoner plans his escape
Rocky slowly got up from the mat, planning
his escape. He hesitated a moment and
thought. Things were not going well. What
bothered him most was being held,
especially since the charge against him had
been weak. He considered his present
situation. The lock that held him was
strong, but he thought he could break it.
2.
A wrestler in a tight corner
Rocky slowly got up from the mat, planning
his escape. He hesitated a moment and
thought. Things were not going well. What
bothered him most was being held,
especially since the charge against him had
been weak. He considered his present
situation. The lock that held him was
strong, but he thought he could break it.
2.3.3 Halliday’s Model of Context
Halliday’s model has the following factors:
 The field of discourse (trường văn bản) refers to
what is happening, including what is being talked
about.

 The tenor of discourse (môi trường văn bản / không

khí văn bản) refers to the participants who are taking
part in the exchange of meaning, who they are and
what kind of relationship then have to one another

 The mode of discourse (phương thức văn bản) refers

to what part the language is playing in this particular
situation, for example, in what way the language is
organized to convey the meaning, and what channel is
used – written or spoken or a combination of the two.
Situational Description 1
A foreign language lesson in a secondary school
 Field: language study, a defined area of
information about the foreign language, e.g. the
use of tenses. The teacher imparting, students
acquiring knowledge about tenses and their use.
 Tenor: participants: teacher – students. Fixed
role relationships defined by the educational
institution. Teacher in higher role. Temporary role
relationships between students, depending on
personality.
 Mode: language used for instruction and
discussion channels: spoken and written i.e.
visual presentation on blackboard etc.
Situational Description 2
(The following text is a little passage from a broadcast talk that
was given in England some years ago by a distinguished
churchman concerned with the status of Christianity in the
modern world)
The Christian should therefore take atheism seriously,
not only that he may be able to answer it, but so that
he himself may still be able to be a believer in the mid-
twentieth century. With this in mind, I would ask you
to expose yourself to the three thrusts of modern
atheism – each is present in varying degree in any
representative type – so much as three motives which
have impelled men, particularly over the past hundred
years, to question the God of their upbringing and
ours. They may be represented by three summary
statements:
God is intellectually superfluous;
God is emotionally dispensable;
God is morally intolerable
 Field: maintenance of institutionalised system of
beliefs; religion (Christianity), and the members’
attitudes towards it; semi-technical.

 Tenor: Authority (in both senses, i.e. person

holding authority, and specialist) to the audience;
audience unseen and unknown (like readership),
but relationship institutionalised) (pastor to flock)

 Mode: Written to be read aloud; public act (mass

media: radio); monologue; Lecture; persuasive,
with rational argument
Situational Description 3
Transfer of Whole

Title number – SY 43271604

Property – 14 Twintree Avenue, Minford
In consideration of ten thousand five hundred pounds the
receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged
I, Herbert William Timms, of (address)
As beneficial owner hereby transfer to:
Mathew John Seaton, of (address)
The land comprised in the title above mentioned. It is hereby
certified that the transaction hereby effected does not form
part of a larger transaction or series of transactions in respect
of which the amount or value or aggregate amount or value
of the consideration exceeds twelve thousand pounds.
Signed, sealed and delivered by the said Herbert William s
Timms in the presence of (witness)
 Field: Verbal regulation of social transaction through
sanctions of the legal system: codification of exchange of
property (‘deed of transfer’), including certification that
transactions defined by value of commodity exchanged.

 Tenor: ‘Member’ (individual) addressing ‘collective’ (society)

using formula prescribed by collective for purpose in hand.

 Mode: Written to be filed (i.e. to form part of documentary

records); text gives status (as social act) to non-verbal
transaction; text is formulaic (i.e. general, with provision for
relating to specific instances)
Performative (i.e. text constitutes, or ‘realises’ act in
question)
PRACTICE: Read the following text, analyse the context using
Halliday’s model, and then translate the text into Vietnamese

As you will recall, Captain James Cook, at the age of forty, was
commissioned by England to explore the Pacific Ocean.
On his third exploratory voyage, as captain in charge of two ships, the
Revolution and the Discovery, he came upon a group of uncharted
islands which he named the Sandwich Island as a tribute to his good
friend, the earl of Sandwich. Today the islands are known as the
Hawaiian Islands.
When Cook sailed into a protected bay of one of the larger islands, the
natives greeted him with curiosity and respect. Some historians
contend that the islanders welcomed him, believing that he was the
god Launo, protector of peace and agriculture.
The islanders were short, strong people, with a very well-organised
social system. The men fished and raised crops including taro,
coconuts, sweet potatoes, and sugar cane. The women cared for the
children and make clothing that consisted of loin cloths for the men
and short skirts for the women.
Poi was the staple food, made from taro root. It has been suggested
that the seeds of taro and other crops had been brought from
Polynesia centuries before.
The natives are especially eager to exchange food and
supplies for iron nails and tools, and Captain Cook was easily
able to restock his ships before he sailed.
Because of the severe storm in which the Revolution was
damaged, it was necessary to return to Hawaii. Now sure that
Cook and his crew were men and not gods, the natives
welcomed them less hospitably. Besides, diseases brought by
the English had reached epidemic proportions. When a small
boat was stolen from the Discovery, Cook demanded that the
king be taken as a hostage until the boat was returned.
In the fighting that followed, Cook and four other crewmen
were killed. Within a week the ship had been repaired, and on
February 22, 1779, both ships departed again.
Today we will begin a discussion of the kingdom of Hawaii in
the nineteenth century and of its eventual annexation to the
United States.
Situational Description
 Field: Lecturing on the history of the
Hawaii Islands

 Tenor: Teacher and students. Fixed role

relationships defined by the educational
institution. Teacher in higher role.
Temporary role relationships between
students, depending on personality.

 Mode: Spoken and written language,

visual presentation; language used for
instruction and discussion.
In this chapter, we have learned:

 the concept of context

 the role of context in discourse
analysis
 models of context
THE END