The analysis of theme and rheme in little house on the prairie = sự phân tích về đề ngữ và thuyết ngữ, thông qua truyện ngôi nhà nhỏ trên thảo nguyên

Vinh university department of foreign languages trÇn thanh tó The analysis of Theme and Rheme in "Little house on the Prairie" (Sù ph©n tÝch vÒ §Ò ng÷ vµ ThuyÕt ng÷, th«ng qua truyÖn "Ng«i nhµ nhá trªn th¶o nguyªn") graduation thesis field: English Linguistics Vinh, May 2007 1 vinh university department of foreign languages The analysis of Theme and Rheme in "Little house on the Prairie" (Sù ph©n tÝch vÒ §Ò ng÷ vµ ThuyÕt ng÷, th«ng qua truyÖn "Ng«i nhµ nhá trªn th¶o nguyªn") graduation thesis field: English Linguistics Student: TrÇn Thanh Tó Supervisor: Dr. Ng« ®×nh Ph¬ng Vinh, May 2007 Part 1: Introduction 2 1. Rationale It is safe to say that there have been many researches on language so far, but their concern were only with the form of the language system which are studied and explained apart from their functions in relation to social situations. Besides, they have basically paid attention to structural theories on which the small units were arranged and combined into the large ones. In other words, linguists and researchers have been concerned with the phonological, lexical and syntactical features of language, and studied sentences which are preferably taken out of the context. Moreover, the common traditional practice of language teaching and learning has been on the analysis of single sentences, normally at the levels of phonology, vocabulary, and grammar. Nevertheless, the recent linguistic tendencies of research have been on discourse analysis which containing factors affecting the communication and also the functioning of syntactic, pragmatic, and social aspects. These works are concerned with the meaning of not only sentences but also utterances and discourses. The traditional view has been gradually replaced by the one that complete understanding of stretches of language can only be obtained if they are considered "in their full textual, social and psychological context" (see Cook 1990, cited in Hồ Ngọc Trung, M.A thesis,1991:1). Obviously, it has been observed that incomplete sentences can still make sense when occurring in some particular context. With this view, hence, linguists and researchers have shifted their attention from complete sentences to discourse. There are more than five thousand languages used in the world. That can be a "VSO" or an "SVO" language. Also, English is often called an "SVO" language, in that the declarative clause requires a verb at its centre, a subject before it and any object after it" (McCarthy, 1991:51). Besides, in English, there are various ways in which the basic clause element of subject, verb, complement/ object, adverbial can be rearranged by putting different elements at the beginning of the clause, known as fronting devices. It is in the English language that what we decide to bring to the front of the clause (by whatever means) is a signal of what is to be understood as the framework within which what we want to say is to be understood and we call the Themes (or Topics) of the clause. Alternatively, the Theme can be seen as the "point of departure" of the message (Halliday, 1994:38). However, concentrating on Themes of clauses does not tell us much about the rest of the clause, known as transmitting what we want to say within the given framework or "the part in which the Theme is developed" (Halliday, 1994:37), called the 3 Rheme (or Comment) or the Clause. When we consider them in relation to each other, we have Theme- Rheme structure. Undoubtedly, though realizations may vary from language to language, the first position in the clause is important in many of the world's languages. Thus, because of its importance in the way it is also the speaker's/ writer's choice where to start in presenting the message (also how to "stage" the information) that determines which part of the message is put first, studying Theme- Rheme is worth-doing work. As it has a rather great influence on the formation of the discourse in general and of the message in particular. The Theme- Rheme structure can be identified in both written discourses or spoken narratives and anecdotes, and a story book is the combination of both as it is a story written down and conversations are included. Hence, personally we think that studying Theme- Rheme, especially in a book published, can be useful to users of English. For those reasons, we have decided to choose "The Analysis of Theme- Rheme in "Little House on the Prairie" to be the theme of our study. It is hoped that, this study, to some extent, is interesting enough and helpful to learners and those who want to master more on English. 2. Aims of the Study The aims of the thesis are: - To identify how Theme- Rheme can be realized in English language. - Then, to give an overview understanding on the Theme-Rheme structure, especially the classification of Themes. From that, provide English users with an insight into Theme- Rheme for their studying and using. - To study the utilities of Theme- Rheme in the book "Little House on the Praire" with certain and notable types. 3. Scope of the Study Clearly, Theme and Rheme have been studied and stated by many linguists. Though points of view of many linguists and scholars of different schools can be included in this thesis, of which, Halliday (1994) should be considered the main source and the basic reference for the study to be proceeded. Strictly, we have tried to present an overview of Theme and Rheme with all fields related. However, due to the time constraints and within the framework of a graduation thesis, we would like to analyze how some certain types of Themes are used in the book 4 "Little House on the Prairie", not all about Theme and Rheme, although "The Analysis of Theme and Rheme in "Little House on the Prairie" is shown as the theme of the study. 4. Method of the Study - A great number of documents and materials are searched and selected, especially works in English for theoretical background. - A description of Theme- Rheme structure is made basing on the ideas of linguists from different linguistic schools, particularly of Halliday. - Analytic and systematic method. - Quanlitative method is used most of the time for a sufficient theoretical background, in combination with quantitative method to analyze some types of Themes in "Little House on the Prairie". 5. Design of the Study The thesis comprises of three main parts: Part 1: Introduction This part refers to the rationale, aims, scope, methods and design of the study. Part 2: Development This part is subdivided into three chapters: Chapter 1: Theoretical background Chapter 2: Methodology Chapter 3: The Analysis of Theme and Rheme in "Little House on the Prairie" Part 3: Conclusion This part summarizes the main results of the study and offers some suggestions for further works. chapter 1: Theoretical background 1.1. Theory of Discourse 1.1.1. Concept of Discourse 5 Operating within the language theories of the Bloomfielddian and Chomskian schools, traditional linguists have concentrated on phonological, lexical, syntactical features which are considered the basis of foreign language knowledge. Today's view, however, is concerned with understanding of stretches of language which can only be obtained if they are considered "in their full textual, social and psychological context" (ibid.). Context-free sentences do not help to achieve successful communication since the language in use does not exist in isolation from its users and the context in which it is being used. Therefore, it is of necessity that when communicating, we must "go beyond the formal structure of language as a context-free system of usage and use the language which is context-sensitive" (Bell, 1991:161). This language, the knowledge of which, as Widdowson (1977) explains, can not be automatically followed from the knowledge of sentence, is known as discourse. (Cited in Hồ Ngọc Trung, M.A thesis, 1999:11) Though the concept of Discourse is still discussed, Discourse can be defined as a stretch of language consisting of several sentences which are perceived as being related in some way, in terms of the ideas they share and in terms of the jobs they perform within discourse - that is, their functions (Nunan 1993, cited in Discourse Analysis, Vinh University- FLD, 2006:3)). Basically, it may be defined as "the language in use for communication". The study of discourse is often referred to as Discourse Analysis. And as McCarthy (1993:10) states, Discourse analysis is fundamentally concerned with the relationship between language and the contexts in which it is used, that is, it involves the study of language in use. As far as the scope of discourse is concerned, Discourse refers not only to spoken interactions, interviews, but also to written and printed words such as newspapers, articles, letters, stories, recipes, instructions, notices, comics billboards, etc. (see McCarthy 1993) 1.1.2. Discourse and Text So far, the terms "Discourse" and "Text" have been used as though they are synonyms and there have been many ways of viewing the terms "discourse" and "text". Now, it is time to look at these terms a little more closely with the following statements are cited in Discourse Analysis (Vinh University- FLD, 2006:4). 6 Crystal (1992:72) distinguishes that "Text" should be reserved only for writing and "Discourse" for speech. Discourse is "a continuous stretch of (especially spoken) language larger than a sentence, often constituting a coherent unit, such as a sermon, argument, joke or narrative" (Crystal, 1992:72), while "Text" is "a piece natural occurring spoken, written, or signed discourse identified for purposes of analysis. It is often a language unit with a definable communicative function, such as a conversation, a poster" (Crystal 1992:72). Cook (1989:158) considers "Text" as "a stretch of language interpreted formally, without context", whereas "Discourse" is "stretches of language perceived to be meaningful, unified and purposive". Halliday and Hasan (1976:1), however, use these two notions interchangeably. They use "Text" to actually refer to "Discourse" for they say that "a text is unit of language in use" and "it may be spoken or written, prose or verse, dialogue or monologue". Brown & Yule (1983:6) point out that texts are the representation of discourse and the verbal record of a communicative act: "We shall use text as a technical term, to refer to the verbal record of a communicative act". In short, we can understand "Text" as the term used to refer to any written record of a communicative event, while the term "Discourse" refers to the interpretation of the communicative event in context. 1.1.3. Cohesion and Textuality English offers a limited set of opinions for creating links between the clauses and sentences of a text, otherwise known as Cohesion. The concept of cohesion is closely connected with discourse. In Richard et al's view, Cohesion is defined as the grammatical and lexical relationships between the different elements of a text. E.g: Between different sentences: "She claims Leo Tolstoy as a distant cousin. Her father was Alexei Tolstoy- the famous "Red Count" who sided with Lenin's revolutionaries. Now, Tatyana Tolstoy has put pen to paper, in her case to demonstrate that someone from the family can write compactly. In her case…" (Guido Telemans 1998-1999, quoted in Tô Việt Thu, M.A thesis, 2001:10) As seen in the example, the underlined items are all interpretable to the items in the previous sentences. 7 Between different part of a sentence: "Because my introduction was too short, I had to rewrite it" (ibid.) It is obvious that there is a link between "my introduction" and "it" in that sentence: "It" is used to refer to "my introduction". Coherence, as Nunan (1993), is "the feeling that sequences of sentences or utterances seem to hang together". For example: A: Clare loves potatoes B: She was born in Ireland (ibid.) The respond in B seems unrelated to the former sentence, but it becomes coherent if A already knows the stereotype ethnic association between being Irish and loving potatoes. Thus, cohesion is only a guide to coherence and coherence is something created by the reader in the act of reading the text. The two categories here represent the essential elements that make the text or discourse coherent and different from random ones. To sum up, cohesion refers to the grammatical and lexical relationships between the different elements of a text whereas coherence refers to the relationships linking the meanings of utterances in a disc. or of the sentences in a text. Coherence is embodied by a system of cohesive devices and cohesion is mainly used to embody coherence. Halliday and Hasan (1976) identified five different types of cohesion. They are reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction and lexical cohesion. In Halliday (1985a), however, these have been further refined and the five categories have been reduced to four, with substitution being seen as a sub- category of ellipsis (cited in Discourse Analysis, Vinh University- FLD, 2006:14). Examples for types of Cohesion: - Reference (Anaphoric, Cataphoric reference): This is the most famous singer, Elvis Presley. (Cataphoric reference) - Ellipsis (Nominal, Verbal, Clausal): How did he come? By bus (He came by bus) (Clausal ellipsis) - Substitution (Nominal, Verbal, Clausal): Minh has a black bag. I have the same. (Nominal substitution) - Conjunction: People drive carelessly. As a consequence, there are more and more accidents. - Lexical ties: Repetition, synonyms, antonyms, super ordinate, hyponym, co-ordinate. 8 1.2. Information Structure viewed by Linguists: Information structure within discourse was first seriously studied by scholars of the Prague School before the Second World War, within the framework of "Functional Sentence Perspective" developed by a group of Czech linguists, notably Mathesius and Firbas. According to the linguists of Functional Sentence Perspective, there are two things that successive sentences in a text have to do. Firstly, they must be informative. Secondly, they must be relevant. So what do "informative" and "relevant" mean? The answer is that "being informative involves presenting "new" information to the reader, while being "relevant" involves associating that "new" information with information which is already known to the reader, "given" either by preceding co-text or by the situational context" (Carl James, 1980:109). Halliday is the person who elaborated and developed those aspects of Prague work. According to Halliday (1994), information consists of two categories: given information or just the given and new information or just the new. Halliday suggests that New information is that which the addressor assumes is not known to the addressee and Given information is that which the addressee is assumed to have known because of either the physical presentation in the context or the previous presentation in the discourse. E.g: Lan is a student. "Lan" is the Given and "is a student" is the New. However, let us take an example from Cao Xuân Hạo (1991:37): Bố tôi chưa gặp bố anh (My father has not met your father) In the above example, the addressee might not know the addressor's father but must know his father, so "My father" should be treated as New information and "Your father" as Given information (to the addressee). Besides, it is obvious that "Your father" has been neither physically presented in the context nor mentioned before in the previous discourse, but it is still viewed as given to the addressee. Hence, best of all is to take Chafe's general view of given information as "the knowledge which the speaker assumes to be in the consciousness of the addressee at the time of the discourse" (cited in Brown & Yule, 1983:180) Given information is often carried by some syntactic forms. According to Brown & Yule (1983), the syntactic forms which are regularly discussed in association with "given" information include lexical units which are mentioned for the second time, particularly those in definite expressions. E.g.: a, 1. Yesterday I saw a little girl get bitten by a dog. 9 2. I tried to catch the dog, but it ran away. (Chafe, 1972:52, cited in Brown & Yule, 1983:182) b, 1. Mary got some beer out of the car. 2. The beer was warm. (ibid.) Lexical units which are presented as being within the semantic field of a previously mentioned unit, again particularly those in definite expressions. E.g.: a, 1. Mary got some picnic supplies out of the car. 2. The beer was warm. b, 1. Yesterday, Beth sold her Chevy. 2. Today, Glen bought the car. c, 1. I bought a painting last week. 2. I really like paintings. d, 1. Robert found an old car. 2. The steeling wheel had broken off. (ibid.) The syntactic forms are also prominals used both anaphorically following a full lexical form in the preceding sentence as in: a, 1. What happened to the jewels? 2. They were stolen by a customer. b, 1. I saw two young people there. 2. He kissed her. c, 1. Yesterday, I saw a little girl get bitten by the dog. 2. I tried to catch the dog, but it ran away. (ibid.) and exophorically (to refer to the physical context of situation) where the referent is present, as in: a, 1. (Sag produces a cleaver and prepares to hack off his left hand) 2. He never actually does it. b, 1. Look out. 2. It's falling. (ibid.) They can be pro-verbals, though less commonly discussed, as in: 1. William works in Manchester. 10 . 3: The Analysis of Theme and Rheme in " ;Little House on the Prairie& quot; Part 3: Conclusion This part summarizes the main results of the study and offers. users with an insight into Theme- Rheme for their studying and using. - To study the utilities of Theme- Rheme in the book " ;Little House on the Praire"