Grammatical cohesive devices in reading texts of a series of cambridge english prepare by cambridge university press

QUY NHON UNIVERSITY LÊ HẠNH DUYÊN GRAMMATICAL COHESION DEVICES IN READING TEXTS OF A SERIES OF “CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH PREPARE!” BY CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Field: English Linguistics C

QUY NHON UNIVERSITY

LÊ HẠNH DUYÊN

GRAMMATICAL COHESION DEVICES IN

READING TEXTS OF A SERIES OF

“CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH PREPARE!” BY CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

Field: English Linguistics Code: 8.22.02.01

Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Phan Văn Hòa

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN

I hereby ceritfy that this thesis entitled “Grammatical cohesive devices

in reading texts of series of “Cambridge English Prepare!” by Cambridge University Press is my own research The data and findings stated in the

thesis are true and have never been published by anyone in any other works, except where the reference is indicated in the study

Binh Dinh, 2020

Lê Hạnh Duyên

In order to complete this thesis, it is not only my efforts but also other assistance of individuals to whom I really want to offer my deepest gratitude First and foremost, I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude and sincere to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Phan Văn Hòa for his valuable comments on my thesis Thanks to his great experience and expertise in Discourse Analysis, he has supported me with his thoughtful guidance, comprehensive advices and patience throughout the whole period of the study Without his instructions, my thesis would have been impossible to be completed in the best way

Secondly, my gratitude is devoted to all the lecturers of the courses who have conveyed their valuable lectures and experiences That is the essential knowledge base for this thesis

Thirdly, I also want to thank my close friends and colleagues for their encouragement and support Without them, maybe I could not have overcome all the trouble during this journey

Last but not least, I am deeply thankful to my family Although they did not provide me knowledge, they are my greatest spiritual support throughout the course of Master degree in English Linguistics and especially during the fulfillment of this study

This study is an attempt to investigate grammatical cohesive devices

used in reading texts of a series of “Cambridge English Prepare!” by

Cambridge University Press and their distinctive features in terms of

meaning In the study, 159 reading texts in 7 levels of of a series of

“Cambridge English Prepare!” are selected and collected for investigation

Based on the theoretical background presented in Chapter 2, grammatical cohesive devices are explored and analyzed The theory of grammatical cohesion is mainly based on theory of Halliday and Hasan (1976) All types

of grammatical cohesive devices (reference, substitution, ellipsis and conjunction) are used in the reading texts in which reference is the most commonly used, making up 64.3% The second one is conjunction with 34.8% Ellipsis and substitution take up 0.5% and 0.3% respectively of the total percentage of devices A combination of methods like quantitative, qualitative and inductive method were used in order to carry out this study The findings of the study shows the frequency and the distinctive features of those grammatical cohesive devices in terms of meaning, which lay the foundations of implications for teaching and learning both reading and writing skills in English as a foreign language

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi

LIST OF TABLES vii

LIST OF FIGURES viii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 RATIONALE 1

1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 3

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 3

1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 4

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 4

1.6 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY 4

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 OVERVIEW 6

2.2 LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.3 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 9

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHOD 33

3.1 OVERVIEW 33

3.2 RESEARCH METHOD AND DESIGN 33

3.3 DESCRIPTION OF SAMPLES 33

3.5 RESEARCH PROCEDURES 34

3.6 RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY 35

CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 36

4.1 OVERVIEW 36

4.2 TYPES OF GRAMMATICAL COHESIVE DEVICES 36

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 68

5.1 OVERVIEW 68

5.2 CONCLUSION 68

5.3 IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY 70

5.4 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 71

5.5 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES 72

REFERENCES 73

APPENDIX 77

T: text L: level

Table

number

4.1 Distribution of reference devices in 7 levels 44 4.2 Distribution of substitution devices in 7 levels 50 4.3 Distribution of ellipsis devices in 7 levels 56 4.4 Distribution of conjunction devices in 7 levels 63 4.5 Distribution of grammatical cohesive devices in 7

levels

64

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

1.1 RATIONALE

Foreign languages in general and English in particular are essential tools to

help the country develop its economy and society The necessity of English has been more and more increasing when Vietnam has established diplomatic relations with nearly 170 countries and became the official member of WTO – the biggest international commercial organization in the world – in 2007 Being aware of this, English is considered as a compulsory subject at schools Besides, learners take the international English exams like Cambridge English exams, in order to evaluate their skills and get valid English certificates to serve their different purposes such as jobs, studying abroad as well as testing their English ability and so on

Cambridge reading texts consist of different topics about real life They do not only strengthen and provide knowledge at school but also help learners prepare for such advanced international English exams as IELTS, Cambridge Assessment, or Toefl…

Reading is considered to be very important among all communicative skills

It provides learners with information and vocabulary for other skills Grabe (2009, p.15) claims “Reading is the strategic process in that a number of the skills and processes used in reading call for effort on the part of the reader to anticipate text information, selecting key information, organize and mentally summarize information, monitor comprehension, repair comprehension breakdowns, and match comprehension output to the reader goals.”

Halliday and Hasan (1976, p 4) write “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” Cohesion is expressed through vocabulary and grammar That means cohesion consists of grammatical cohesion and lexical cohesion They are called cohesive devices Cohesive devices link parts of units together

Grammatical cohesive devices include four types, reference, substitution,

ellipsis, and conjunction Lexical cohesion consists of repetition, synonymy, antonymy, collocation, meronymy, and general word

In the process of teaching, I have realized that although the learners have a quite rich vocabulary, they are not good at recognizing sentences and expressing their answers They do not pay attention to the linguistic structure of the text in general and grammatical cohesive devices in particular; this leads them to some weakpoints in reading and other skills

Recognising the importance of grammatical cohesion in interpreting the meaning of the texts, I decide to study grammatical cohesive devices Moreover, though a lot of researchers have studied cohesive devices in many fields such as stories, texts in textbooks, writings or speeches and so on, I find out that no researcher has studied grammatical cohesive devices in the reading texts of a

series of “Cambridge English Prepare!” The analysis of grammatical cohesive

devices used in this field is necessary These are the reasons why I choose

“Grammatical cohesive devices in reading texts of series of “Cambridge English Prepare!” by Cambridge University Press” as the subject of my thesis

to examine these cohesive devices used in the reading texts as well as find out their functions in each level

1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

1.2.1 Aims

The study is carried out with the aims to investigate types of grammatical cohesive devices (reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction) in reading texts

of a series of “Cambridge English Prepare!” and their functions used in

Cambridge reading texts The study is hoped to find out the better ways so as to help learners realize the role of grammatical cohesive devices in the reading texts and improve their both reading and writing skills

1.2.2 Objectives

To achieve the above aims, the study is intended to:

- Investigate grammatical cohesive devices (reference, substitution, ellipsis,

conjunction) used in reading texts of a series of “Cambridge English Prepare!”

in terms of linguistic features

- Find out the functions of grammatical cohesive devices (reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction) used in the reading texts

- Give some implications and suggestions for teaching the reading as well

as writing skills

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

To achieve the aims and objectives mentioned above, the thesis will answer the three following questions:

1 What are the linguistic features of grammatical cohesive devices used in

reading texts of a series of “Cambridge English Prepare!”?

2 How are they (reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction) used in

reading texts of a series of “Cambridge English Prepare!”?

3 What are the implications and suggestions for teaching the reading as well as writing skills?

1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study mainly uses the cohesion theory of Halliday and Hasan (1976) to examine types of grammatical cohesive devices, namely reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction in the reading texts It concentrates on their linguistic features and usages as grammatical cohesive devices in texts from Halliday’s functional grammar Especially, the research, on the data collected, considers the number and degrees of their functions used in each level in reading texts of a

series of “Cambridge English Prepare!” by Cambridge University Press

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study is expected to point out linguistics features of grammatical cohesive devices used in the reading texts at the levels involved; from that, the research can draw some conclusions that are of theoretical and practical significance For theoretical significance, it provides more information, such as the linguistic features of these types

Practically, the research supplies the source for the teachers in guiding and helping learners improve both reading and writing skills In addition, it also helps learners in communication

1.6 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

The study is organized into five main chapters as follows:

- Chapter 1: Introduction introduces the rationale, the aims, and objectives

of the study, the research questions, and the scope of the study, the significance, and the organization of the study

Chapter 2: Literature review and theoretical background presents the

overview of cohesive devices, namely grammatical cohesion, and presents the theoretical background on which the analysis will be done Besides, previous studies related to the research area are also mentioned

Chapter 3: Method focuses on the methodology and the procedure of the

research as well as data collection and data analysis

Chapter 4: Findings and discussion analyzes and discusses grammatical

cohesive devices used in reading texts of a series of “Cambridge English Prepare!” and their functions

Chapter 5: Conclusion and implications summarizes the major findings,

points out limitations as well as gives out implications for teaching and learning, and puts forward suggestions for further studies

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL

BACKGROUND

2.1 OVERVIEW

This chapter is to provide the literature review and theoretical background

of the study Firstly, a brief review of related previous researches related to the investigated problem is mentioned Then it provides background knowledge of the terms concerned, including knowledge of cohesion as well as types of grammatical cohesion

2.2 LITERATURE REVIEW

Cohesive devices are used in all languages in the world as tools to link different parts of units together During several years, the analysis of cohesion is very well-known to researchers in the study of discourse

Due to the important roles of cohesive devices in English, many researchers have paid a lot of attention to this field

The popular book on this field in the English language is Cohesion in

English by Halliday and Hasan (1976) They introduce the concept of cohesion

as a semantic concept It deals with the relationships of meaning in the texts Cohesion presents how semantic relationships are set up by lexical and syntactic features According to Halliday and Hasan (1976), cohesion is divided into two

main types, namely grammatical cohesion and lexical cohesion Grammatical

cohesion is concerned with structural content and lexical cohesion is concerned with lexical content and background knowledge Grammatical cohesion is

classified into four sub-types, such as reference, substitution, ellipsis and

conjunction Lexical cohesion consists of two sub-types: reiteration and collocation

Brown and Yule (1983) add that cohesion may be originated from lexical

relationships, as hyponymy, part-whole, collocability, clausal substitution, comparison, syntactic repetition, consistency of tense, stylistic choice and so on

Zamel (1983) defines that cohesive devices have a fundamental role in the text They can turn separate expressions into a unified one through developing relationships between those separate expressions

Cook (1989) states that cohesive devices include verb form, parallelism, repetition, lexical chains, and formal links Cohesive devices as formal links between sentences and clauses in the text

Similarly, Baker (1992) has his view that cohesion is considered as the lexical and grammatical network as well as other relations that supply connections for parts of a text This helps the readers understand the speaker’s meaning, idea, or thought easily

Hoey (1991) subsumes Halliday and Hasan’s classes of cohesion, such as

reference, substitution, ellipsis, and the two subtypes of lexical cohesion with the

exception of conjunctions He also points up the importance of grammatical and

lexical features of the sentences that is to connect other sentences in the text

In Vietnam, Trần Ngọc Thêm (2006) further studies on cohesion He finds two other cohesion’s aspects like content cohesion and form cohesion In his own research, he also classifies types of cohesive devices in Vietnamese and shows the relationship between syntactic and semantic cohesion

Diệp Quang Ban (2009) presents the definition of cohesion and talks about the relationships among cohesion, communication, texts, coherence, and

passages He also divides conjunction into four sub-types based on their uses:

additive, adversative, causal and temporal

Phan Văn Hòa (2008), from functional grammar view, discusses definitions and linguistic features of conjunctions In this study, he identifies and analyzes

about additive, adversative, causal and temporal conjunctions Moreover, he

also compares and contrasts between conjunctions in English and in Vietnamese Nguyễn Thị Việt Thanh (1999) supplies materials about cohesion system which are accordant with speeches She shows the methods that how to use the linking words She also finds out the relationship between systems and structure

in cohesive devices between verbal and written language

Besides some master theses about cohesive devices relates to the discourse

analysis Phạm Thị Thanh Hường in “An investigation into Cohesive Devices

used in IELTS Writing Task 2 Band Scores 6.5 to 8” studies types of cohesive

devices used in IELTS writings with band scores from 6.5 to 8, and the way use

them appropriately Nguyễn Võ Ý Nhi in “An Investigation into the Use of

Cohesive Devices in Reading Texts in Textbook Tieng Anh 10” identifies types

of cohesive devices and points out the use of those used in reading texts in textbook Tieng Anh 10 This gives suggestions for both teachers and students in

teaching as well as learning English Nguyễn Thị Thúy Ngân studies in “An

Investigation into Cohesive Devices in IELTS Reading Texts” She investigates

how cohesive devices are used in IELTS Reading Texts 1 The result presents most of the common types of cohesive devices used, syntactic features as well as semantic features of the cohesive devices It helps learners know the way to deal with unknown words in IELTS Reading Texts 1

To sum up, there have been a number of studies on cohesion Those studies have analyzed cohesive devices such as reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction, etc However, there has not been a study on grammatical cohesive devices in reading texts of the series of “Cambridge English Prepare!” As a

result, I decide to choose the study with the title “Grammatical cohesive devices

in reading texts of series of “Cambridge English Prepare!” by Cambridge University Press” to contribute to this field

2.3 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.3.1 Text

According to Halliday and Hasan (1976, p 1), “The word TEXT is used in

linguistics to refer to any passage, spoken or written, of whatever length, that docs form a unified whole.”

In another statement, Halliday and Hasan (1976, p 2) state “A text is best

regarded as a SEMANTIC unit: a unit not of form but of meaning Thus it is related to a clause or sentence not by size but by REALIZATION, the coding of one symbolic system in another A text does not CONSIST OF sentences; it is REALIZED BY, or encoded in, sentences.”

A text is not as a grammatical unit at all, but rather as a unit of a semantic unit This has a unity of meaning in context, a texture that expresses the fact that

it relates to the environment in which it is placed (Halliday and Hasan, 1976)

To talk about types of a text, they state that text is a unit of language in use

in which it may be spoken or written, prose or verse, dialogue or monologue It

is not a grammatical unit It does not depend on its size A text is a system of sentences and it is defined by meaning

2.3.2 Discourse and discourse analysis

2.3.1.1 The concept of discourse

There are different definitions of the term “discourse” in linguistics

Crystal (1992) claims that discourse is a continuous stretch of language that

is larger than a sentence and it is often spoken, such as a speech, argument, joke,

etc Nunan (1993, p 5) states “discourse as a stretch of language consisting of

several sentences which is perceived as being related in some ways.” Similarly,

Cook (1989) defines discourse is a stretch of language which is meaningful, unified, and purposive

Besides, Brown and Yule (1983) consider discourse is as a language material in both spoken and written which is used by speakers and writers At the most basic level, discourse is defined as the analysis of language in use Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (2001, p 388) presents the literal

definition of discourse as “a serious speech or piece of writing on a particular

subject.” Nunan (1993) confirms that discourse is as a complete meaningful unit

that conveys a message McCarthy (1991) supports that discourse refers not only

to spoken interactions, interviews but also to written and printed works such as newspapers, articles, letters, recipes, instructions, notices, comics, billboards, leaflets pushed through the door and so on According to Widdowson (1984) (as

cited in Nguyễn Hòa, 2000), “Discourse is a communicative process by means of

interaction Its situational outcome is a change in a state of affairs: information

is conveyed, intentions made clear, its linguistics product is Text” Halliday and

Hasan (1976) state that “we can define text (discourse) in the simplest way

perhaps by saying that it is language that is functional.”

In brief, discourse can be defined based on definitions as follows:

 Discourse is the stretch language that exists in a typical context and its purpose is for communication

 Discourse has to be meaningful, unified, and purposive

 Discourse is the language material in both spoken language and written language

2.3.1.2 Discourse analysis

Trask (1999) clarifies that discourse is not restricted to only one speaker or writer, it can conclude the oral or written between two or more people Based on this last sense of the term that establishes the basis of the approach known as

Discourse analysis

The term discourse analysis was first entered by Zellig Harris (1952) as a research method for analyzing spoken or written language Widdowson (1979, p

93) claims that “We may now use the label discourse analysis to refer to the

investigation into the way sentences are put to communicative use in the performing of social actions, discourse being roughly defined, therefore, as the use of sentences.” On the other hand, Stubbs (1983, p 1) states “The term discourse analysis is very ambiguous I will use it in this book to refer mainly to the linguistic analysis naturally occurring connected spoken or written discourse Roughly speaking, it refers to attempts to study the organization of language above the sentence or above the clause, and therefore to study larger linguistic units, such as conversational exchanges or written texts It follows that discourse analysis is also concerned with language in use in social contexts, and

in particular with interaction or dialogue between speakers.”

According to McCarthy (1991, p 5), “Discourse Analysis is concerned with

the study of the relationship between language and the contexts in which it is used.”

Brown and Yule (1983) discuss the range of discourse analysis that is used

in different fields, namely sociolinguistics, philosophic linguistics and computational linguistics

Discourse analysis is a branch of linguistics that studies and evaluates language in use in written texts, spoken, and all kinds It has been grown out in a variety of disciplines, including linguistics, semiotics, psychology, anthropology and sociology Discourse analysis is concerned with how the linguistic regularities are constrained not only by the structures and patterns inherent in the language

Discourse analysis is considered very important for the grasping or understanding of the text It describes and helps readers or audiences understand the context and content appropriately

2.3.3 Cohesion

2.3.3.1 Definition

Halliday and Hasan (1976, p 4) present “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.”

They further assert about the definition of cohesion in their book “Cohesion

in English” (1994, p 8) that “Cohesion is a semantic relation between an element in the text and some other element that is crucial to the interpretation of it.”

Cohesion is part of the system of a language The concept of cohesion

cannot be separated from the concept of “text” A text can be spoken and

written, does form a unified whole The difference between text and non-text is

based on the “texture”, and the texture is created by cohesive relations between

its linguistic features As Thompson (1996) clarifies that the texture is the standard to recognize a text or that is only a collection of unconnected words or clauses These are unconstrained within the limits of the clause complex but contribute to the creation of texture across whole texts or stretches of texts They are generally grouped together and identified as cohesion

Referring to the occurrence of cohesion, Halliday and Hasan (1976, p 4)

explain “Cohesion occurs where the INTERPRETATION of some elements 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 thereby at least potentially integrated into a text.” This

theory is a framework that is used to analyze cohesive devices in language

There are two terms used to mention when talking about text, namely cohesion and coherence They may seem similar but there are differences between them According to Cook (1992), coherence is the overall quality and meaning recognized in discourse Although it is aided by cohesion, and almost always goes along with it, coherence is not constituted by it Coherence depends

on other pragmatic factors De Beaugrade and Dressles (1981) present cohesion and coherence as two entirely separated concepts They propose that cohesion is the structural relations on the text surface while coherence is the structural

relations which lie under the surface Furthermore, Thompson (1996, p 215)

describes “Cohesion refers to the linguistic devices by which the speaker can

signal the experiential and interpersonal coherence of the text, and it thus a textual phenomenon – we can point to features of the text that serve a cohesive function Coherence, on the other hand, is in the mind of the writer and reader:

it is a mental phenomenon and cannot be identified or quantified in the same way as cohesion The two are in most cases linked, in that a text that exploits the cohesive resources of the language effectively should normally be perceived as coherent.”

2.3.3.2 Types of cohesion

Cohesion is used to link the sentence which consists of grammatical and lexical cohesion Cohesion is the formal links that mark various types of inter-

clause and inter-sentence relationships within discourse Cohesion is not only

related to grammar, but also to vocabulary Thus, Halliday and Hasan classified

cohesion into two main types: grammatical cohesion and lexical cohesion

Cohesion is expressed through the grammar and partly through the vocabulary in which grammatical cohesion refers to the structural content

Grammatical cohesion has four sub-types, such as reference, substitution,

ellipsis, and conjunction Reference represents a kind of semantic relation that

exists between units in discourse, whereby information needed for the interpretation of one item is found elsewhere in a text Reference is classified

into personal reference, demonstrative reference and comparative reference

Substitution is the replacement of a word or phrase by another to avoid

repetition It consists of three sub-types as nominal substitution, verbal

substitution and clausal substitution Ellipsis is the omission of one or more

words in a sentence Instead of replacing to avoid repetition, “something left

unsaid” (Halliday & Hasan 1976, p 142) There are three sub-types of ellipsis: nominal ellipsis, verbal ellipsis and clausal ellipsis Conjunction is a word or a

group of words used to connect words, phrases or clauses Four subclassifies are

additive, adversative, causal and temporal

Lexical cohesion is the second main type of cohesion Halliday and Hasan

(1976) identify that “lexical cohesion is the cohesive effect achieved by selection

of vocabulary” It refers to language content The sub-types of lexical cohesion

are reiteration and collocation Reiteration is the repetition of a lexical item in

the context, in which that lexical item is repeated in the same discourse with the

same meaning Reiteration is manifested in three ways, such as repetition, super-

ordinate/ hyponym, synonym and near synonym Collocation refers to the

association of lexical items that regularly co-occur

2.3.3.3 Grammatical cohesion

According to Halliday and Hasan (1976), the sentence is considered as the highest structural unit in grammar Grammatical cohesion refers to the relationship between and within a text is marked by grammatical elements that can be used to make relations among sentences more explicit Grammatical cohesive devices are used to link pieces of sentences together in a specific way

so as to help the readers understand the items presented, the ones replaced or the items omitted in discourse There are four subtypes of grammatical cohesion,

includes reference, substitution and ellipsis, and conjunction Thus, each subtype

will be presented in detail as follows:

a Reference

Reference is one of the options that the speakers or writers choose to create surface links between sentences in discourse Reference is the set of grammatical

resources that allow the speaker to point out whether an item is being mentioned from preceding sentences in the text, or whether it has not yet appeared in the text (Thompson, 1996) Halliday and Hasan (1976) define reference is relied on the studying of the lexico-grammatical environment of a text to indicate the information that is found elsewhere to get a comprehensive insight of a word or structure They state that reference is a relation between an element of a text and something else which is referred For example:

(1) My sister’s got two pet fish, called Nemo and Dory They’ve got a little

house and lots of plants in their aquarium!

(L1T1, 7)

They in the second sentence refers to Nemo and Dory – two pet fish We may not know what They means if we don’t retrieve the meaning of it in the

preceding sentence

In Cohesion in English, Halliday and Hasan (1976) divide reference into

two types, such as exophoric (situational) and endophoric (textual) When we

study and refer to reference items in the texts, we need to understand and interpret whether they are pointing forward, backward or outward An exophoric

relationship plays no part in textual cohesion Exophoric reference refers to

reference items in which we have to look out of the text and rely on the context

in order to interpret it For example:

(2) That must have cost a lot of money

(Halliday and Hasan, 1976, p.31)

We have no means of knowing the word That because there is no reference for That in the text In this case, we have to look out of the situation to interpret

its meaning

If we retrieve a reference item that has relation or information from the

given context, this is an endophoric reference Endophoric reference is a

reference where its interpretation exists within the text Halliday and Matthiessen

(2014, p 625) present that “Endophoric reference means that the identity

presumed by the reference item is recoverable from within the text itself – or, to

be more precise, from the instantial system of meanings created as the text unfolds”

Halliday and Hasan (1976) classify endophoric reference into two kinds:

anaphoric and cataphoric

Anaphoric reference points listeners or readers backward to the history that

has been introduced in the text For example:

(3) Three blind mice Three blind mice

See how they run! See how they run!

(Halliday and Hasan 1976, p 31)

In this example, they refers to Three blind mice

On the other hand, cataphoric reference looks forwards to the future of the text in order to identify thing that is yet to be mentioned

For example:

(4) It’s going down quickly, the sun

(Brown and Yule, 1983, p.193)

In this sentence, it refers forwards to the sun

Reference can be expressed by the following diagram:

Reference

[textual] [situational] exophora endophora

[to preceding text] [to following text]

anaphora cataphora

Figure 2.1 Types of reference (Halliday and Hasan 1976, p 33)

Halliday and Hasan (1976) identify three sub-types of reference: personal,

demonstrative, and comparative

+ Personal pronouns: I, me, you, we, us, him, she, he, her, they, them, it + Possessive adjectives: my, you, your, his, her, her, their, their, its

+ Possessive pronouns: mine, his, hers, theirs

For example

(5) Frank’s got a microphone and headphones so he can hear and talk to

the teacher and to the other students in the class His teacher’s got a webcam

(L1T6, 49)

In this example, he refers to Frank, and his refers to a possessive adjective

of Frank, which means Frank’s teacher

 Demonstrative reference

“Demonstrative reference is essentially a form of verbal pointing”

(Halliday and Hasan 1976, p 57) This is a reference by means of location, on a scale of proximity In terms of proximity, it is the nearness in place, time,

occurrence or relation Demonstrative reference items are expressed through this,

that, these, those (nominative demonstrative); here, there, now, then

(circumstantial demonstrative) and the (definite article)

For example

(6) Thanksgiving – Fourth Thursday in November This day is to say

thank you for a good harvest

(L1T4, 17)

In this sentence, This is a demonstrative reference, refers anaphorically to

Thanksgiving

(7) Stonehenge is a very famous monument in the UK It is an ancient

stone circle People began building it about 5,000 years ago, but even

today, we are not sure how, or why it is there

(L1T7, 58)

There is a circumstantial demonstrative and it refers to the UK

In terms of definite article the, Halliday and Hasan (1976, p 71) define that

“It serves to identify a particular individual or subclass within the class designated by the noun; but it does this only through dependence on something else” The, thus, is considered as a cohesive link between the sentence in which

it appears and the referential information It does not contain that information on its own, as well as does not show the place of information; this definite article only has a function is to signal definiteness of information in the text (Halliday and Hasan 1976, p 74)

(8) Canada is in North America and is the world’s second-largest

country

(L1T9, 68)

In this example, the situation makes it clear what referent is intended

 Comparative reference

According to Nunan (1993), comparative reference is used to use in order

to make a comparison between items in the text in terms of identity or similarity

It is expressed through adjectives and adverbs “In comparative reference, the

reference item still signals ‘you know which’; not because the same entity is being referred to over again but rather because there is a frame of reference – something by reference to which what I am now talking about is the same or different, like or unlike, equal or unequal, more or less” (Halliday and

Matthiessen 2014, p 632)

Halliday and Hasan (1976) divide comparative reference into two types, such as general comparison and particular comparison General comparison expresses likeness between things, in the form of identity, similarity, and non-likeness or difference General comparison is presented by a certain

sub-group of adjectives (same, equal, identical, similar, other, different, else) and

adverbs (similarity, so, similarly, likewise, differently, otherwise)

For example

(9) It’s the same cat as the one we saw yesterday

(10) It’s a similar cat to the one we saw yesterday

(11) It’s a different cat from the one we saw yesterday

(Halliday and Hasan 1976, p 78)

In the above sentences are general comparisons

The second sub-type of comparative reference is a particular comparison Particular comparison means comparison between things This is a comparison

in respect to quantity or quality

If the comparison is in terms of quantity, it is expressed by a comparative quantifier or an adverb of comparison submodifying a quantifier For example: (12) more in more mistakes

(13) as in as many mistakes

(Halliday and Hasan 1976, p 80)

In terms of quality, the comparison is expressed by comparative adjectives

or adverbs submodifying an adjective For example:

(14) more difficult tasks

and phrases; whereas reference is a relation between meanings In terms of the linguistic system, substitution is a relation on the lexico-grammatical level, the level of grammar and vocabulary, or linguistic form A substitute is a sort of counter which is used in place of the repetition of a particular item In the text, it may have function as a noun, a verb or a clause Substitution means that the writers or speakers have substituted one item for another in the text Substitution

is the replacement of a word or phrase by another to avoid repetition There are three sub-types of substitution: nominal substitution, verbal substitution and

clausal substitution There are three sub-types of substitution: nominal

substitution, verbal substitution and clausal substitution

 Nominal substitution

The nominal substitution is noticed by items, such as one, ones and the

same The substitute one and ones function as the head of a nominal group They

are used to replace only for an item that is itself head of a nominal group For example:

(16) When Daniel Seddiqui was 26, he traveled around America for a

year He visited all 50 states and worked for a week in each one

(L2T6, 116)

In item (16), the word one substitutes for the state

(17) We have no coal fires; only wood ones

(Halliday and Hasan 1976, p 93)

In this example, the word ones is plural and it substitutes for fires

The substitute the same is used to replace a nominal complement For

example:

(18) A: I’ll have two poached eggs on toast, please

B: I’ll have the same

(Halliday and Hasan 1976, p.105)

The same here replaces for two poached eggs on toast

 Verbal substitution

The verbal substitution in English is realized by the word do It is used as

the head of a verbal group, in the place that is presented by the lexical verb, and

it is always in the final position in the group In the verbal group, the substitution

maybe do, does, did, doing, done It depends on the subjects and tenses

For example:

(19) ‘Yes, I think you’d better leave off,’ said the Gryphon and Alice

was only too glad to do so

(20) Does Jean sing? – No, but Mary does

(21) Just finish off watering those plants And let me know when you’ve

(22) Is there going to be an earthquake? – It says so

(Halliday and Hasan, 1976, p.130)

The word so substitutes for the whole clause there is going to be an

earthquake

(23) Ought we to declare our winnings? – It says not

(Halliday and Hasan 1976, p 133)

The word not substitutes for the whole clause we ought to declare our

winnings

c Ellipsis

Both ellipsis and substitution are variants of the same type of cohesive relation The difference between substitution and ellipsis is that a substitution occurs if the presupposed item is replaced by another, whereas in the ellipsis the slot is empty – there is no substitution Ellipsis is the process of omitting elements altogether which has been introduced earlier in a text and replacing it with nothing Instead of replacing to avoid repetition, “something left unsaid” (Halliday & Hasan 1976, p 142) When an ellipsis occurs, the omitted item in the text can still be understood As substitution, there are three sub-types of ellipsis – nominal ellipsis, verbal ellipsis and clausal ellipsis

(24) Most children go to state schools, but Britain also has private schools Some of these (Ø) are hundreds of years old and have interesting traditions Eton, a school for boys, is an example The Queen’s grandsons, William and Harry, studied there

occurs within the verbal group “whose structure does not fully express its

systemic features” The principal systems of the verbal group are one lexical

element – the lexical verb, and other systemic features: finiteness, polarity, voice, and tense (Halliday and Hasan 1976, p 167) For example:

(25) Have you been swimming? – Yes, I have (Ø)

(Halliday and Hasan 1976, p 167)

The omission of the verbal group depends on what is mentioned before Ø

could be interpreted as Yes, I have been swimming

 Clausal ellipsis

The clausal ellipsis represents the omission of a part or a whole clause For example:

(26) I kept quiet because Mary gets very embarrassed if anyone

mentions Jonh’s name I don’t know why (Ø)

(Halliday and Hasan 1976, p 222)

Why Mary gets very embarrassed if anyone mentions Jonh’s name is

omitted in this example

d Conjunction

Conjunction is the fourth as well as the last type of grammatical cohesion

Halliday and Hasan (1976, p 226) state that “Conjunctive elements are cohesive

not in themselves but indirectly, by virtue of their specific meanings; they are not primarily devices for reaching out into the preceding (or following) text, but they express certain meanings which presuppose the presence of other components in the discourse” Conjunction is different from other types of grammatical

cohesion, as reference, substitution, and ellipsis because it is not an anaphoric

relation They classify conjunction into four sub-types: additive, adversative,

causal and temporal (Halliday and Hasan, 1976)

 Additive

Additive conjunction is embodied in the form of coordination and it is

expressed by and at the beginning of a new sentence Other additive conjunctions are additive that is used to add more information (and, or, also,

moreover, in addition, etc) and negative (nor, either, neither, etc) For example:

(27) Here in Brazil, I work in the evening and at night and I sleep in the

day!

(L1T5, 35)

 Adversative

Adversative conjunctions mean that is “contrary to expectation” which

may be derived from the content of what is being said, or from the communication process, the speaker-hearer situation (Halliday and Hasan, 1976)

Adversative conjunctions are but, yet, though, on the other hand, however, on

the contrary, etc

For example:

(28) Stonehenge is a very famous monument in the UK It is an ancient

stone circle People began building it about 5,000 years ago, but even

today, we are not sure how, or why it is there

(L1T7, 58)

 Causal

Causal conjunction expresses the relations of result (as a result), reason

(because of that, for this reason), and purpose (for this purpose) They are

presented by so, thus, therefore, because, as a result, etc

For example:

(29) The logo for Gap, the clothing company, is the name of the

company in white on a dark blue background In 2010, the company

decided it was time to change their logo But no one liked the new logo So,

after only a week, the company started to use the old logo again

(L2T5, 112)

 Temporal

Temporal conjunctions signal sequence or time between sentences According to Halliday and Hasan (1976), temporal conjunctions refer to the relation between two successive sentences – their relation in external terms, as content – may be simply one of sequence in time: the one is subsequent to the

other They are expressed by then, and then, after that, next, at this point, etc

For example:

(30) He can see his teacher on screen and his teacher uses an

interactive whiteboard This helps Frank to understand the lesson Then he

can save the documents from the interactive whiteboard to his computer

and read them again after the lesson

(L1T6, 48)

Four sub-types of conjunction are presented briefly as the table below:

Table 2.1 Types of conjunction (Halliday and Hasan, 1976, p 242-243)

Types of conjunction Additive Adversative Causal Temporal

Simple: and, nor,

or, else, also

Proper: yet, though, but, nevertheless

General: so,

then, hence, because of this, for this reason, thus

Simple: then, next,

after that, just, then, finally, at first

Complex: at once, thereupon, next time, meanwhile, at this moment

Conditional:

then, in that case,

instance, thus any rate respect,

otherwise

to now, at this point,

to sum up, briefly

2.3.4 Cambridge reading texts

Cambridge reading texts are texts with different levels for learners They

are taken from a series of “Cambridge English Prepare!” by Cambridge

University Press The series consists of seven levels from basic to advanced Cambridge reading texts include diverse topics about real life, such as family, school, food, health, etc They not only strengthen and provide knowledge at school but also help learners prepare for international English exams A Cambridge reading text is typically comprised of two to three tasks Each reading text usually contains from hundred words in length

Here are a sample Cambridge reading text and its tasks It is taken from

“Cambridge English Prepare! Level 2”, which was published by Cambridge

University Press

Snorgtees

Matt Walls started the online company Snorgtees with a friend This is how it began Matt and a friend had the idea to start a funny website They wanted people to add their own ideas and funny things After that, they hoped to put some of the funniest ideas on T-shirts and sell them The site didn’t grow as fast as they hoped because people didn’t add a lot of ideas But Matt and his friend really enjoyed thinking of ideas for funny T-shirts, so they decided to start another website just for selling the T-shirts … and Snorgtees was born! That was in 2004

People can send in their ideas for T-shirts to Matt and he and his team