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Linguistics

Notes • Ellipsis: it is very similar to substitution, however, it replaces a phrase by a gap. In other
words, it is omission of noun, verb, or a clause on the assumption that it is understood from
the linguistic context.
• Reference: the use of words which do not have meanings of their own, such as pronouns and
articles. To infer their meaning the reader has to refer them to something else that appears in
the text (Tom: "How do you like my new Mercedes Vito?" - Marry: "It is a nice van, which I'm
also thinking of buying".).
• Conjunction: specifies the relationship between clauses, or sentences. Most frequent relations
of sentences are: addition ( and, moreover e.g. "Moreover, the chocolate fountains are not
just regular fountains, they more like rivers full of chocolate and sweets."), temporality (
afterwards, next e.g. "He bought her perfume at a local perfume shop and afterwards moved
toward a jewelry store.") and causality ( because, since).
• Lexical cohesion: denotes links between words which carry meaning: verbs, nouns, adjectives.
Two types of lexical cohesion are differentiated, namely: reiteration and collocation. Reiteration
adopts various forms, particularly synonymy, repetition, hyponymy or antonymy
(Collocation is the way in which certain words occur together, which is why it is easy to
make out what will follow the first item.
It is clear from the analysis of written language that when people produce discourse they focus not
only on the correctness of a single sentence, but also on the general outcome of their production.
That is why the approach to teaching a foreign language which concentrates on creating
grammatically correct sentences, yet does not pay sufficient attention to regularities on more
global level of discourse, might not be the best one.

19.7 The Significance of Discourse Analysis in Language Teaching and
Learning

To attain a good command of a foreign language learners should either be exposed to it in genuine
circumstances and with natural frequency, or painstakingly study lexis and syntax assuming that
students have some contact with natural input. Classroom discourse seems to be the best way of
systematizing the linguistic code that learners are to acquire. The greatest opportunity to store,
develop and use the knowledge about the target language is arisen by exposure to authentic
discourse in the target language provided by the teacher.
Language is not only the aim of education as it is in the case of teaching English to Polish students,
but also the means of schooling by the use of mother tongue. Having realized that discourse
analysts attempted to describe the role and importance of language in both contexts simultaneously
paying much attention to possible improvement to be made in these fields.
It has also been settled that what is essential to be successful in language learning is interaction, in
both written and spoken form. In addition, students' failures in communication which result in
negotiation of meaning, requests for explanation or reorganization of message contribute to
language acquisition. One of the major concerns of discourse analysts has been the manner in
which students ought to be involved in the learning process, how to control turn-taking, provide
feedback as well as how to teach different skills most effectively on the grounds of discourse
analysis' offerings.
Application of Discourse Analysis to Teaching Grammar
There are a number of questions posed by discourse analysts with reference to grammar and
grammar teaching. In particular, they are interested in its significance for producing comprehensible
communicative products, realization of grammar items in different languages, their frequency of
occurrence in speech and writing which is to enable teaching more natural usage of the target
language, as well as learners' native tongue.
While it is possible to use a foreign language being unaware or vaguely aware of its grammatical
system, educated speakers cannot allow themselves to make even honest mistakes, and the more

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