Sino-US English Teaching, ISSN 1539-8072
June 2012, Vol. 9, No. 6, 1204-1207
Theory of Textual Patterns and Discour Coherence
in Students’ English Writing
QI Xiu-kun
Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China
ZHAO Yong Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
The prent study applies “Textual Patterns” like “general-specific” and “claim-counterclaim” to explore discour
coherence in Chine students’ English writing. The study confirms the function of the textual patterns as
macro-structures for discour interpretation and production, and proves textual patterns as effective tools in
identifying and solving problems with discour coherence in Chine EFL (English as a Foreign Language)
learners’ writing.
Keywords: discour coherence, textual patterns, macro-structures, word organizers
Introduction
Discour coherence has been an interesting topic rearched by many linguists all over the world. Hoey
and McCarthy explore discour coherence at the level of macro-structure and rai the Theory of Textual Patterns. McCarthy (2005) believed that “Textual patterns are manifested in regularly occurri
ng functional relationships between bits of the text”, which “may be a clau, sometimes a ntence, sometimes a whole paragraph” (p. 28). Hoey (2001) held that interconnections between packages of information “have to be interpreted as descriptions of culturally popular patterns of organization” (p. 193). They both maintained that there may exist many textual patterns between textual gments like “problem-solution”, “general-specific”, “claim-counterclaim”, and “question-answer”.
From an overview of the study on textual patterns for discour interpretaion, Hoey and McCarthy deal with them at the level of paragraph. However, the prent rearchers discuss textual patterns from discour production. The rearch is aimed to prove the function of textual patterns in organizing coherent essays by Chine EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners.
Illustration of Textual Patterns
For illustration, two textual patterns, general-specific and claim-counterclaim, are exemplified here. According to the two rearchers, each pattern is compod of veral structural elements and organizers. A structural element is compod of one ntence or more, which rves as a macro-structure for a discour. Organizers are a word system in between the clod and open systems; they can be any kind of parts of speech,
QI Xiu-kun, associate professor at Foreign Laguages School, Harbin Institute of Technology.
ZHAO Yong, lecturer at Foreign Languages School, Northeast Forestry University.
Rights Rerved.
THEORY OF TEXTUAL PATTERNS AND DISCOURSE COHERENCE 1205
which Winter (1978) called Vocabulary 3. The job of organizers is to “structure the argument, … to give the reader indications of the larger text patterns the author has chon, and to build up expectations concerning the shape of the whole discour” (McCarthy, 2005, p. 75).
Textual patterns differ from one another in the number of structural elements and organizers, but they may share some organizers. Moreover, in a larger discour, two or more textual patterns can be found either one following another or one embedded in another. The analysis of textual patterns and organizers are only confined to the length of a natural paragraph for convenience. The organizers are picked out on the basis of Vocabulary 3 (Winter, 1978). In the following examples, the bracked word denotes the structural element, and the underlined word the organizer.
General-Specific Pattern
General-specific pattern consists of: general statement → specific 1 → specific 2… → general (McCarthy, 2005, p. 158). For example:
Ever since the concept of autonomy has found a place in mainstream education over the last twenty years, it has greatly captured the interests of educationalists and rearchers (general). Some rearchers focus on the abstract concept花朵符号
of LA (Learner Autonomy) from different aspects (specific 1); In China, some Chine rearchers begin to show great
interest in LA, and have made tentative studies on it (specific 2). Nevertheless, the investigation of Chine students in
this field is still limited. Various aspects still need be studied further (general). (QI & LI, 2005, p. 68)
The rearch reveals that determiners and ordinal numbers are often applied to introduce specific statements. Rights Rerved.
Transitioners are ud to introduce the concluding general statement.
鸡腿怎么炸会外酥里嫩Claim-Counterclaim Pattern
牛角简笔画Claim-counterclaim pattern is constituted of: situation → claim → reason → affirm → evaluation (Hoey, 2001, p. 180). To respond to the claim, the writer can support or deny it with corresponding reasons or evidences.
水培大蒜
If the respon is not positive, correction usually follows accompanied by reasons. For example:
A Polish proverb claims that fish, to taste right, should swim three times—in water, in butter and in wine (claim).
The early efforts of the scientists in the food industry were directed at improving the preparation, prervation, and
distribution of safe and nutritious food (reason). Indeed, in 1959 the University of California considered the subject of
sufficient importance to warrant the tting-up of a cour in the analysis of foods by nsory methods (affirm). The book,
Principles of Sensory Evaluation of Food, grew out of this cour (evidence). Hopefully, it will be uful to food
technologists in industry and also to others engaged on rearch into the problem of nsory evaluation of foods
(evaluation). (PENG, 2001, p. 181)
According to McCarthy (2005, p. 80), organizers that cluster around the claim-counterclaim pattern can be words of affirmation or denial or agument.
年年有今日岁岁有今朝是什么意思
Methodology
The rearch conducts a comparative study in frequency of the textual patterns and organizers identified in the essays by the subjects. During the rearch, a training program is performed by teaching the two textual patterns to the same subjects.
Subjects and Materials Ud Before and After Training
Two group subjects of each 30 involved in the rearch before and after training are respectively randomly
1206
THEORY OF TEXTUAL PATTERNS AND DISCOURSE COHERENCE picked out of 74 first-year-doctoral candidates of non-English majors in a certain university. They are all the
Chine native speakers and have received nine years of formal English learning. The two group materials are
respectively from a test at the beginning of the new mester and from the final term exam. The type of writing is
exposition and the word limit is around 300.
Procedures of the Training Program
A training program on teaching the textual patterns to the same 74 students is t up in the middle of the
mester. The program lasts four weeks; for the first two weeks, two academic hours are taken from each week
for training one textual pattern. The first of the two academic hours is spent on the teacher’s illustration and the
students’ identification of the pattern in a provided material; and the cond hour is on the students’ application of
the pattern by writing an essay of about 200 words. The assignment is collected for correction. The rest two
weeks are spent on practicing the patterns by writing more essays with around 300 words.
Data Collected26用英语怎么说
The data collected in Table 1 are frequency of the two textual patterns and their corresponding organizers from the two group samples before and after training by identifying in each sample the structural elements of each
pattern and the organizers bad on Vocabulary 3.
Table 1
Pre- and Post-Training Frequency of Textual Patterns and Word Organizers
Rights Rerved.
Total patterns Total organizers Pattern
pre-30 post-30 pre-30 post-30
17 25 43 84
general-specific
1
2 claim-counterclaim 2
3 1
4 39
Table 2 prents forms of problems, its corresponding percentage, and the effect of the problems. The criteria for determining the problems are whether the structural elements and organizers are prent and ud correctly.
Table 2
Forms of Problems With Discour Coherence
Essays Percentage
Forms of problems
Effect of problems
pre post pre post
Unclear background information 6 2 0.2 0.067 Cutoff of discour coherence Structural
elements Abnce of the key structural element 4 0 0.133 0
Organizers Abnce of organizers 6 2 0.2 0.067
0 Tediousness
Unnecessary u of organizers 5 0 0.167
Improper u of organizers 14 4 0.467 0.133 Cutoff
Discussion
Identification of Textual Patterns in the Samples
Table 1 shows that general-specific increas from 50% of the total samples before training to 83% after training and claim-counterclaim also increas remarkably after training. The finding proves that the two patterns function as macro-structures in discour production and “Certain patterns in text reoccur time and time
THEORY OF TEXTUAL PATTERNS AND DISCOURSE COHERENCE 1207
again and become deeply ingrained as part of our cultural knowledge” (McCarthy, 2005, p. 28). The result also reveals the students’ incread awareness of their simple and valid application in essay writing. It further demonstrates that textual patterns can also occur in a patch larger than a paragraph, and “more than one patterns can occur in a text, either following one another or embedded within one another” (McCarthy, 2005, p. 159).
McCarthy (2005) held that “Patterns in text are generated by the vocabulary relations that are found over clau and ntence boundaries, and by the role of certain words in signaling their structure” (p.
马来貘
简报的格式及范文 86). Thereby, when an organizer occurs in a pattern, it is deemed to form a repetition link with every one of its previous and subquent occurrences in the text, creating coherence and making n of a discour.
Problems With Discour Coherence Revealed by Textual Patterns
Table 2 prents problems with discour coherence in structural elements and organizers. According to McCarthy (2005), some errors em most likely to be relatable to lack of competence at coping with global planning, taking for example the error of abnce of the key structural element. The error of unclear background information ems mostly likely to be affected by the conventional Chine way of writing.
The problems with organizers indicate that misusing signaling words can disorient the reader somewhat, although the overall patterning is prent. The error of abnce of organizers definitely creates such result. And the error of unnecessary u of organizers leads to “overproduction”, a property of negative language transfer.
Besides, Table 2 shows that the decreasing percentage of the problems after training should be attributed to the accomplishment of the training program since it has greatly contributed to the stude
nts’ awareness of
Rights Rerved.
applying the textual patterns and also enhanced their linguistic competence at the lexico-grammatical level.
Conclusions
The rearch confirms that textual patterns advocated by McCarthy and Hoey can also frequently occur in English essays written by Chine EFL learners. The patterns are proved to be an effective means for not only discour interpretation but also for disclosing problems with discour coherence. Furthermore, they are feasible strategies for constructing larger discours in a top-down way. The study also indicates that the potential existence of more other patterns in texts writtern both by English native speakers and Chine English learners in reality. Therefore, the further exploration of textual patterns will be definitely beneficial in guiding language learners to construct coherent discour in English.
References
Hoey, M. (2001). Textual interaction: An introduction to written discour analysis. London: Routledge.
McCarthy, M. (2005). Discour analysis for language teachers. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.
PENG, Q. (2001). Guide to the English entrance exam for doctoral candidates. Beijing: China People University Press.
QI, S. J., & LI, Q. (2005). A survey on English majors’ attitudes towards learner autonomy. Teaching English in China. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Rearch Press.
Winter, E. O. (1978). A look at the role of certain words in information structure. In K. P. Jones & V. Horsnell (Eds.), Informatics, 3(1), 85-97, London: ASLIB.
