A presentation on the use of an SFL approach in discourse analysis. The presentation discusses Halliday's concept of cohesion and its importance in the analysis of texts.

1. Disourse Analysis: Using an SFL
Approach in Analysing Discourse
Prepared by:
▪ Mustapha Mourchid
▪ Yasyn Mouhir
▪ Supervised by Prof. Najib Slimani

2. Key Concepts
q Linguistic Competence vs. Linguistic Performance
q I-language Linguistics vs. E-language Linguistics
q Sentence Grammar vs. Text Grammar
q Micro-level (intrinsic level/ microstructure) vs. Macro-level
(extrinsic level/ macrostructure)
q Discourse Structures vs. Social Structures
q Text vs. Discourse
q Text Linguistics vs. Discourse Analysis
q Intertextuality
q Theme vs. Rheme (old information vs. new information
‘information structure’)
q Cohesion, Texture and Coherence

3. ‘A discourse analysis that is not based on grammar is not
an analysis at all, but simply a running commentary on a
text’ (Halliday 1994: F42, emphasis added).

4. • A sentence is a structure that can be analysed in
grammatical terms.
• A text is not a group of isolated sentences. It is not a
structural unit.
• We cannot analyse texts in grammatical terms.

5. q Old approaches were formal (i.e. concerned with the
analysis of the structural organisation of sentences/
texts)
q Functional Grammar is useful for any discourse anaylst
because its ‘aim has been to construct a grammar for
purposes of text analysis: spoken or written’ (ibid.,
emphasis added).

6. ‘A relatively neglected aspect of the linguistic system is
its resources for text construction, the range of
meanings that are specifically associated with what is
being said or written to its semantic environment’
(Halliday & Hasan 1976: vii, emphasis added).

7. Functional Grammar
‘A functional Grammar is one that construes all the units
of a language- its clauses, phrases and so on- as organic
configurations of functions. In other words, each part is
interpreted as functional with respect to the whole’
(Halliday 1994: F42, emphasis added).

8. ‘For Halliday and Hasan (1985: 52), a text is a functional
unit because it represents “language that is doing
something in some context, as opposed to isolated
words or sentences.” ’ (Meyer 2009: 80).

9. ‘’Cohesion in English’’ (1976) by M.
Halliday and Ruqaiya Hasan
❖ The Concept of Cohesion:
▪ ‘The word TEXT is used in linguistics to refer to any passage,
spoken or written, of whatever length, that does form a
unified whole’ (Halliday & Hasan 1976: 1, original emphasis).
▪ ‘A text is a unit of language in use. It is not a grammatical
unit, like a clause or a sentence; and is not defined by its size’
(ibid.: 1, emphasis added).

10. q A text, as was said earlier, is not a structural unit; it is
actually a semantic unit that cannot be analysed in
structural terms.
q ‘A text does not CONSIST OF sentences; it is REALIZED BY,
or encoded in, sentences’ (ibid.: 2, original emphasis).

11. What makes a text ‘a text’?
✔ A text is ‘a text’ because it has texture.
✔ ‘The concept of TEXTURE is enirely appropriate to
express the property of ‘being a text’. A text has texture,
and this is what distinguishes it from something that is
not a text. It derives this texture from the fact that it
functions as a unity with respect to its environment’ (ibid,
original emphasis).

12. ✔ ‘The concept of cohesion is a semantic one; it refers to
relations of meaning that exist within the text, and that
define it as a text’ (ibid.: 4).

13. q ‘Cohesion occurs where the INTERPRETATION of
some element in the discourse is dependent on that
of another. The one presupposes the other, in the
sense that it cannot be effectively decoded except by
recourse to it. When this happens, a relation of
cohesion is set up, and the two elements, the
presupposing and the presupposed, are therby at
least potentially integrated into a text’ (ibid.: 4,
original emphasis).

14. Types of Cohesion:
Grammatical Cohesion and Lexical
Cohesion

15. q Note:
‘It is important to stress, however, that when we talk of
cohesion as being ‘grammatical or lexical’, we do not
imply that it is a purely formal relation, in which meaning
is not involved. Cohesion is a semantic relation. But, like
all components of the semantic system, it is realized
through the lexicogrammatical system; and it is at this
point that the distinction can be drawn. Some forms of
cohesion are realized through grammar and others
through the vocabulary’ (ibid.: 6, emphasis added).

16. Reference
▪ Reference is about how some forms which ‘instead of being
interpreted semantically in their ow right, they make reference to
something else for their interpretation’ (ibid.: 31)
▪ Reference can be expressed in two ways: Endophoric Relations or
Exophoric Relations.
▪ Endophoric relations lie within a text; they do form cohesive ties
within a text.
▪ Exophoric relations play no part in textual cohesion; their
interpretation lies outside the text.
▪ Endophoric relations are of two kinds: Anaphoric Relations (those
which look back in the text for their interpretaion) and Cataphoric
Relations (those which look forward in the text for their
interpretation’

17. Types of reference

18. Examples

19. Substitution
q Halliday and Hasan (1976: 88) define substitution as ‘the
replacement of one item by another’.
q Substition is different from reference, in that
substitution is a ‘relation between linguistic items, such
as words or phrases’, while reference is ‘a relation
between meanings’.
q That is to say, substitution is a relation on the
lexicogrammatical level (the level of grammar and
vocabulary); reference is a relation of the semantic level.

20. Examples
q ‘Self-confidence should not be a gender issue. Boys are not born more
confident than girls. Society makes them so because it traditionally values
their skills and apptitudes above those of women’.
(Winterson, the Guardian: 14 April 2001 as cited in Cutting 2002: 12)
‘Makes them so’ is understood to mean ‘makes
them more confident than girls’.

21. The Polar Bear is unaware
Of cold that cuts me through
For why? He has a coat of hair
I wish I had one too
(Belloc 1896 as cited in Cutting 2002: 11)
‘I wish I had one too’ replaces ‘a coat of hair’.

22. q Note:
❑ Substitution holds the text together and avoids
repetition.
❑ Substition tends to be endophoric: the noun phrase
being substituted for is usually in the text.

23. Ellipsis

24. q Ellipsis is a cohesive device which creates coherence in texts.
q It is the process of omitting linguistic elements when they
must be repeated.
q For example:
Q: What do you study?
A: Linguistics
A: I study Linguistics

25. Types of Ellipsis
q Nominal Ellipsis is the process of deleting nouns
(sometimes noun modifiers) from NPs.
q In English, only a limited set of determinatives gets
omitted, including numeratives (cardinal and ordinal
numbers) and possessive determiners.
q For instance:
-John sold three laptops, whereas Marry sold two(laptops).
-The first presentation was good, but the second(presentation) was
bad.
-When they do their duties, we will do ours(duty).

26. q Verbal Ellipsis is a frequent form of ellipsis in English. It is
introduced by a modal or by the particle ‘to’.
q Illustration:
-If everyone buys the book, you should (buy the book) too.
-Q: Do you want to succeed?
A: Yes, I want to(succeed).
q Clausal Ellipsis is the omission of a part of the clause or all of it. A
clause consists of two parts: modal and proposition.
q Illustration:
-Q: What are you doing?
-A: (We are){Delivering a presentation}.
-S: It has been raining for weeks.
-Q: {Has it}(been raining for weeks)?
Propositio
n
Modal Proposition
Moda
l

27. Conjunction

28. q A conjunction is a linguistic tool used to set up a
relationship between two clauses.
q Conjunctions that add cohesion to text are transitions,
including four types:
q Additive Conjunctions, such as: ‘and’, ‘moreover’,
‘additionally’, ‘furthermore’…
q Adversative Conjunctions, such as: ‘but’, ‘while’, ‘however’,
‘nevertheless’…
q Causal Conjunctions, such as: ‘because’, ‘so’, ‘therefore’,
‘hence’…
q Temporal Conjunctions, such as: ‘then’, ‘afterwards’,
‘previously’, ‘finally’…

29. q Conjunctions can also be implicit and inferred from
properly interpreting the text.
q Intonation has a cohesive function through which
conjunctions can be expressed.
q The cohesive relation of linguistic units in discourse can
be brought about by tonic prominence.
q For example:
- John: What did you bring for the camp?
- Marry: I brought a tent, some clothes, and food.
- John: The car is not working !!
- Marry: In THAT case, we should take a cab.
Fall
(Tone 1)
Fall-Rise
(Tone 4)

30. Lexical Cohesion

31. q Lexical Cohesion indicates how related words are chosen to link
linguistic elements in a text.
q There are two forms of lexical cohesion: repetition and collocation.
q Repetition (Reiteration) makes use of identical words, synonyms,
antonyms… to create lexical cohesion.
For instance:
Q: Which apartment have you rent ?
A: I’ve rent the green flat.
q Collocation refers to the association of lexical items, that regularly co-
occur, in order to achieve lexical cohesion.
For example:
Marry: What do you think of Jane?
John: She’s a beautiful girl !

32. The Meaning of Cohesion

33. The Texture of Discourse
q Discourse structure is a crucial component of texture
which means the larger structure inherent in such
concepts as: folk-ballad, formal correspondence,
sonnet, etc.
q Every genre has its own discourse structure,
including conversations which are highly structured.
q Cohesion contributes to the discourse structure of
conversations; cohesion explicitly brings together
parts of conversations and bonds them closely.

34. q Another form of discourse which is more structured than
conversations is narrative.
q As texts, narratives have typical organizations which
acquire texture by cohering or binding literary forms, such
as those of meter and rhyme scheme.
q All those forms can be considered part of the general
category of discourse structures; these are aspects of
texture which combine with intra-sentence structure and
inter-sentence cohesion.

35. The Analysis of Cohesion

36. q In analyzing a text, according to Halliday, it is necessary to recognize
the cohesive elements (ties) in that text.
q A tie can be either:
- Immediate: presupposing an item in a contiguous (connected)
sentence.
E.g.: Marry said that she would not attend the party.
- Mediated: having one or more intervening sentences involved in a
chain of presupposition.
E.g.: John was sick. The ill guy took medication. Now, he is fine.
- Remote (non-mediated): having one or more intervening sentences
not involved in presupposition.
E.g.: The dog were barking all night long. The neighbors could
not sleep. Its unbearable noise made them call the police.

37. Sample Text: Sonnet

38. Conclusion

39. q In this presentation, the focus has been on Halliday and Hasan’s book
“Cohesion in English”(1976). We have tried to show you how the SFL
approach may be used in the analysis of discourse.
q The book contains eight chapters (the concept of cohesion, reference,
substitution, ellipsis, conjunction, lexical cohesion, the meaning of
cohesion and the analysis of cohesion). All these chapters have been
summarized.
q First, we have introduced the concept of ‘cohesion’, then we have talked
about the main cohesive devices that can be utilized to analyse ‘ties’
within discourse.
q We hope that we have been successful in showing you, through examples,
the significance of using an SFL approach in discourse analysis.