RESUME DISCOURSE FRAGMENTS AND THE NOTION ‘TOPIC’

RESUME DISCOURSE FRAGMENTS AND THE NOTION ‘TOPIC’ 

  

A.  DISCOURSE FRAGMENTS AND THE NOTION ‘TOPIC’ 

This part try to explain about a fragment of a sentence and word chunk can lead people to know where the sentence goes or where the sentence begin and where its end.  From the chunk of a word also, we can mark the kind of the discourse. Is it the mark of joking, anecdote, sentence for clarifying, asking etc.

For example:

            The word “once upon a time” can be mark as the beginning of a narrative story of fairy, sometimes we can mark that this story will be end with the fragment “they lived happily ever after”

B.     Discourse Topic and Sentence Topic

What is Topic?

·         According to Nunan (1993: 125). Topic is “the subject matter of a text.”

·         The concept of topic is elusive; different scholars use it to refer to different phenomena, from a constituent of a clause to proposition of a text.

Based on those definitions above, generally we can conclude that topic is what is being talked about in discourse.

The notion of topic is used in different ways. One important distinction is the one between

Discourse topic (what a part of a discourse is about) and  sentence topic (what is predicated about an entity in a sentence). (cf. van Dijk 1977).

Example:

(1)   Mr. Morgan is a careful researcher and a knowledgeable Semitists, but his originality leaves something to be desired.

-          Sentence topic: Mr. Morgan.

- Discourse topic: Mr. Morgan’s scholarly abilities.         

C.    Approaches to Sentence Topics

            Classical definition in Hockett (1958):The most general characteristic of predicative constructions is suggested by theterms ‘topic’ and ‘comment’ for their ICs [immediate constituents]: thespeaker announces a topic and then says something about it.

D.    Topic Framework

Defining a topic of a discourse can be seen from two points of view. They are:

1.      Defining topic from the viewpoint of form, and structure

It is also can be said defining topic from grammar point of view. Based on this issue, the topic of a sentence is its subject.

For example:

Subject             Predicate

Mary                 saw John

In the sentence, we see that the subject is “Mary” and the predicate is “saw John”. Since the theory say that the subject is a topic of that sentence, it means that “Mary” is the topic and “saw John” is the comment.

Topic               Comment  

Mary                saw John

In addition to that, defining a topic of a discourse can be seen from the structural boundaries of discourse. The structural boundaries of a discourse can be seen in the written discourse. It means, all of points that are being talked in the paragraph are related to the topic, no matter it is on the beginning (deductive) or at the end (inductive) of a paragraph. Meanwhile, when a new paragraph starts to be written, it will talk a different new topic with the previous paragraph before and after it.

2.      Defining topic based on the content

Defining topic of discourse based on the content can be seen from the summative topic and the topic framework a discourse 

 

    Ø  Summative topic

Based on the summative viewpoint, the topic is the proposition which is expressed as a phrase or a sentence (similar to the title of discourse). It is the summary of a text.

Example:

     Ø  Topic framework

Meanwhile to defining topic, we need to know the topic frame work of the discourse.

A topic framework depends on which feature of context becomes activated in a particular piece of discourse.

Example:

(From the movie “Schinder’s List”)

What is the topic of the episode?

“Schindler needs some space?” or “Germans decline the offer?”

The condition on the episode:

“The speakers discuss several things: Schindler’s products, Schindler’s problem of space, Germans inability to help, Schindler offers to buy, Christmas presents.”

Topic framework for the episode:

Schindler’s factory, 4 participants: Schindler (has a factory, produces goods for the German Army), Kuhnpast and Hohne (army offices, have no space), Stern (secretary), lack of space, K. and H. can’t help, S. offers to buy, K and H decline, Christmas presents

Another example:

What is the topic of the followin g conversation in the kantine of NielsTreschowshus

E.     Presupposition Pools

Presupposition pool refers to the explicit area or situation where the speakers can connect each other when they have a conversation since the shared the same information or understanding towards the topic. When the speakers have good presupposition, it can make the speaker can connect as fast as he/she can to the topic of what being talked even it just a fragment of topic or sentence.

F.     Sentential Topic and the Presupposition pool

This part argues that sometimes, to identify the topic of a discourse just from a fragment of a sentence or discourse is difficult or it can lead to the misunderstanding. In the end of this part say  “the use of single constructed sentences as the basis for making claims about notions such as the topic of a discourse is extremely misleading..

Speaker Topics

               Speaker are very versatile .while they can discuss about their disability or physical conditions,they do talk about aspects of disability based on their personal experiences .their are speakers who specialize only on one or two topic areas.however there are others who are happy to talk about a range of issues and topics

G.    Topic Boundary Markers

            In the discourse sometimes we can identify the topic boundary markers. The topic boundary markers refer to the markers that mark when the topic is changed or shift from one topic to another topic. This term is known as topic shift. Topic shift is often employed as a device by speakers, to make a point or to introduce new information.

Example is can be really seen in a news anchor on TV. Topic shift in news can mark when the news anchor say, “beralihkeberita lain pemirsa,…” or in the presentation can be mark with the word  “moving to the next topicis about,…..”.

H.    Paragraph

Grimes (1975:109), who describes the marking of paragraph boundaries as one form of ‘partitioning’. The principles on which partitioning depends are related to change of setting (time or place) and theme (the person or thing talked about), .in narrative discourse. interesting though it may be to learn that there is a narrative  discourse paragraph introductory particle in Huichol or Shipibo, it becomes decidedly less interesting when one discovers that the identification of the significance of these particle depends on a prior identification of the paragraph as a unit in which the speaker continues talking about the same thing ( Galrimes, 1975:103).

I.       Paratone

Apart from a general cover term discourse Marker such as well, I mean, in English, paratone may be a highly phonological phenomenon which  would be familiar for those who specialize the meaning and function of  intonation. Paratone is an equivalent  of ‘paragraph’ in written language, and  carries implicit and/or unconscious meaning. From the functional viewpoint, paratone is similar to clause intonation as observed in Halliday (1967, 1970, 1994).

Discourse Topic and represntaion of discourse content

            In the course of this chapter, we shall examine some of the uses of the term topic in the study of discourse. In the process, we shall explore some recent attempts to construct a theoretical notion of ‘topic’, a notion which seems to be essential to concepts such as ‘relevance’ and ‘coherence’, but which itself is very difficult to pin down.

Problems with the Proposition-Based Representation of Discourse Content

Proposition-forming is a part of the process involved in producing sentence. It is the part of the meaning of the utterance of a declarative sentence which describes some state of affairs. The listener or the reader may have different interpretation on the sentence which appeals to the proposition.

e.g:

In Indonesian,we usually heard this sentence:

“Apisedangmenjalar”

The listener may interpret that there is a fire on a building or forest fire occurs.Others can interpret that someone is jealous looking his girlfriend with other guy.

            Any analysis of the sentences in a text which appeal to the propositions involved in the production of those sentences will necessarily have to appeal also to aspect of the context in which those sentences were produced. The problem of reconstructing the underlying propositions for a sentence should be quite apparent.

REFERENCES

Gillian brown ,george yule. Discourse analysis

Slembrouck,stef.2004.”what is meant by discourse analysis.http//bank.rug.ace.bee/da/da.htm

Nunan,David.1993.introduing Discourse Analysis London : Penguin Book