Modality & Discourse Analysis And Phonology (pronunciation): Carmen Anahis Rdz. Cervantes Sarai Altamirano Altamirano

Modality & Discourse analysis and phonology (pronunciation)

Carmen Anahis Rdz. Cervantes

Modality Modality is often thought of as the

providence of the closed class of modal verbs (must, can, will, may, etc.) and treated as part of the grammar of English, but a large number of ‘ lexical’ words (nouns , adjectives, verbs and adverbs) carry the same or similar meanings to the modal verbs.

Two notable studies of modality in large

amounts if discourse, Holmes(1983) and Hemeren (1978), show a wide range of uses of the traditional class of modal verbs and of a vocabulary of lexical items carrying modal meanings, from the classic epistemic modality ( concerned with degrees of certainly and possibility) to the root modalities ( volition, permission, obligation).

The vocabulary of modality includes verbs

such as appear, assume, doubt, guess, look as if, suggest, think, adverbs such as actually, certainly, inevitably, obviously, possibly, and nouns and objectives related to them.

All words carry important information about

the stance and attitude of the sender to the message; they are concerned with assertion, tentativeness, commitment, detachment and other crucial aspects of interpersonal meaning.

Discourse analysts have demostrated that

modality is fundamental in the creation of discourse; all messages choose some degree of modality, even if it is only to make a neutral choice of bald assertion .

Example :

The cat sat on the mat. As compared with the heavily moralized. I suppose it’s possible the cat just may have sat on the mat.

Activity Please answer reader activity 7 in your book

on page 86.

3.9 Conclusion The study of vocabulary in discourse is

concerned with patterns in text generated by the vocabulary relations that are found over clause and sentence boundaries, the role of certain words in organizing discourses and signaling their structure, and the relationship between these features of textually and the register of the end product.

Students can be encouraged to collect items

along discourse- functional lines, something which becomes more and more important as they embark on composition writing and argumentation in general,and something which can offer an organised backdrop in learning areas normally left to organize themselves.

Discourse analysis and phonology The most exciting developments in the

analysis of discourse have been in intonation studies rather than at the segmental level (the study of phonemes and their articulation)

Pronunciation Traditional pronunciation teaching has found its strength in the ability of linguists to segment the sounds of language

Phonemes

When used in the construction of words.

Produce meaningful contrasts with other

words.

The position and manner of articulation of phonemes in a language like English are well described and can be presented in language classes either: Isolated sounds In words In contrasting pairs of words or in minimal

contexts

Assimilations Elisions

Assimilation Is a common phonological process by which

the phonetics of a speech segment becomes more like that of another segment in a word Ex: "don't be silly"

Elisions Elision is the omission of one or more sounds

(such as a vowel, a consonant, or a whole syllable) in a word or phrase, producing a result that is easier for the speaker to pronounce. Sometimes, sounds may be elided for euphonic effect. Ex. Most man

Read activity 1 pg.89

Assimilation and elision

Conclusion Some aspects of the teaching of

pronunciation has been the relationship between phoneme articulation and other, broader features of connected speech  Include voice-setting features which are

difficult to tackle, and are largely ignored in present day teaching materials, but advice to learners on typical setting of the speech organs that give each language.