Tài liệu Luận văn ngôn ngữ anh an analysis of cohesive devices in reading texts in textbook “tiếng anh 10” at an upper secondary school in binh thuan province.

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Lê Đức Hòa AN ANALYSIS OF COHESIVE DEVICES IN READING TEXTS IN TEXTBOOK “TIẾNG ANH 10” AT AN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL IN BINH THUAN PROVINCE MA THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE HO CHI MINH CITY, 2020 VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Lê Đức Hòa AN ANALYSIS OF COHESIVE DEVICES IN READING TEXTS IN TEXTBOOK “TIẾNG ANH 10” AT AN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL IN BINH THUAN PROVINCE Field: English Language Code: 8220201 Supervisor: Lê Hương Hoa, Ph.D. HO CHI MINH CITY, 2020 DECLARATION BY AUTHOR I, the undersigned, hereby declare that the thesis entitled “an Analysis of cohesive Devices in Reading Texts in Textbook “Tiếng Anh 10” at An Upper Secondary School In Binh Thuan” is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts in English Language. The thesis has not be submitted for any other degree or professional qualification to any other universities or institutions. Except for reference made, this thesis contains no material previously written or published by another person. Author’s Signature Lê Đức Hòa Approved by SUPERVISOR Lê Hương Hoa, Ph.D. Date:…………………… i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis is accomplished with great effort and is contributed by a great deal of enthusiasm and assistance from many people. I would like to express my special thanks to the people who made it possible. First and the foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude and high appreciation to my supervisor, Dr. Lê Hương Hoa for her helpful support. If it had not been for her advice, and comments from her, I would have not completed this thesis. Second, I would like to send my special thanks to all of the teachers at Nguyen Van Troi upper secondary school for all their help and suggestions during the progress of completing this thesis. In addition, I am so grateful for all of the assistance from my colleagues and friends whose support and encouragement help me to get this thesis accomplished. The last sincere gratitude goes to my dear family. It is their endless love, support and enthusiasm that have motivated me to complete this thesis. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION BY AUTHOR.................................................................................. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .........................................................................................ii ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................vi LIST OF TABLES.......................................................................................................vii LIST OF CHARTS .................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................... x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 1 1.1. Rationale..................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Aim(s) and objectives of the Study ............................................................ 2 1.3. Research Questions .................................................................................... 3 1.4. Scope of the Study ..................................................................................... 3 1.5. Significance of the Study ........................................................................... 3 1.6. Research Methods ...................................................................................... 4 1.7. Structure of the Study................................................................................. 4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................... 6 2.1. Theoretical background .............................................................................. 6 2.1.1 Discourse................................................................................................................ 6 2.1.2 Discourse analysis ................................................................................................. 7 2.1.3. Cohesion ............................................................................................................... 7 2.1.3.1. Grammatical cohesion ...................................................................................... 8 2.1.3.2. Lexical cohesion ..............................................................................................14 2.2. Previous studies on cohesive devices....................................................... 17 2.3. An overview of the English Textbook “Tiếng Anh 10” .......................... 19 2.3.1. The concept of the textbook...............................................................................19 2.3.2. Description of the textbook “Tiếng Anh 10”....................................................19 iii 2.3.3. The role of the textbook “Tiếng Anh 10” in teaching and learning English ..20 2.4. Chapter Summary..................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER 3: GRAMMATICAL COHESIVE DEVICES IN READING TEXTS IN TEXTBOOK “TIẾNG ANH 10” ......................................................22 3.1. Reference .................................................................................................. 22 3.1.1. Anaphoric reference .............................................................................. 22 3.1.2. Cataphoric reference ............................................................................. 25 3.1.3. Exophoric reference .............................................................................. 27 3.2. Conjunctions............................................................................................. 30 3.2.1. Additive conjunction ..........................................................................................32 3.2.2. Temporal conjunction ........................................................................................33 3.2.3. Adversative conjunction ....................................................................................33 3.2.4. Causal conjunction .............................................................................................35 3.3. Substitution............................................................................................... 36 3.4. Ellipsis ...................................................................................................... 37 3.5. Grammatical cohesive devices in textbook “Tiếng Anh 10” ................... 40 3.6. Chapter summary ..................................................................................... 42 CHAPTER 4: LEXICAL COHESIVE DEVICES IN READING TEXTS IN TEXTBOOK “TIẾNG ANH 10” ...........................................................................43 4.1. Reiteration ................................................................................................ 43 4.2. Collocation ............................................................................................... 46 4.2.1. Lexical collocation .............................................................................................47 4.2.2. Grammatical collocation ....................................................................... 49 4.3. Lexical cohesive devices in textbook “Tiếng Anh 10”............................ 51 4.4. A Comparison of grammatical and lexical cohesive devices in textbook “Tiếng Anh 10” ............................................................................................... 52 4.5. Chapter summary ..................................................................................... 52 iv CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ...............................................................................54 5.1. Recapitulation .......................................................................................... 54 5.2. Concluding remarks ................................................................................. 55 5.3. Implications .............................................................................................. 57 5.4. Limitations of the study ........................................................................... 60 5.5. Suggestions for further study ................................................................... 61 REFERENCES...........................................................................................................62 APPENDIX 1: List of References in reading texts in “Tiếng Anh 10”.....................I APPENDIX 2: List of Conjunction in reading texts in “Tiếng Anh 10”............... VI APPENDIX 3: List of substitution in reading texts in “Tiếng Anh 10” ................ IX APPENDIX 4: List of ellipsis in reading texts in “Tiếng Anh 10”.......................... X APPENDIX 5: List of reiteration in reading texts in “Tiếng Anh 10” .................. XI APPENDIX 6: List of collocation in the reading texts in “Tiếng Anh 10”........ XIX APPENDIX 7: Exercises for teaching cohesive devices ....................................XXX APPENDIX 8: Answer keys for suggested exercises ................................... XXXIX v ABSTRACT This research focuses on the types and the functions of cohesive devices which are used in the reading tests in the textbook “Tiếng Anh 10” written by Hoàng Văn Vân, et al. (2016). Cohesive devices are made up of reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction, reiteration and collocation. The reason for taking the textbook is because during the teaching process, the researcher comes to realize that Students have a tendency to misinterpret ideas conveyed in the texts due to lack of grammatical and lexical knowledge of English language. Furthermore, the textbook ‘Tiếng Anh 10’ is first used to teach at the researcher’s school this year. Therefore, the researcher wants to have an overall viewpoint on cohesive devices used in the book and then makes some suggestions for teaching and learning English with the book effectively. The data sources are taken from ten reading tests in the textbook “Tiếng Anh 10”. In the study, the descriptive, statistical and analytical methods are used to dealt with the data, based on Halliday & Hasan’s (1976) theory of cohesion. After analyzing the data, the author found out that the occurrence frequency of both lexical and grammatical cohesive devices almost have the equal percentage of 51.9% and 48.1% respectively. Moreover, among six types of cohesive devices, reference, conjunction, reiteration and collocation have a relatively high frequency of occurrence. On the other hand, substitution and ellipsis are found in a small number in these ten reading texts. Based on the findings, some suggestions are made for the teaching and learning of reading skill in the textbook for grade 10 students. vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1: The percentage of different types of anaphoric reference ................ 23 Table 2: The percentage of different types of cataphoric reference ............... 26 Table 3: The percentage of different types of exophoric reference ................ 28 Table 4: The percentage of different types of reference ................................. 29 Table 5: The percentage of different types of conjunction ............................ 31 Table 6: The percentage of different types of substitution ............................ 36 Table 7: The percentage of different types of Ellipsis .................................... 37 Table 8: The percentage of different types of Grammatical cohesive devices.......41 Table 9: The percentage of different types of reiteration ............................... 43 Table 10 The percentage of different types of collocation ............................. 47 Table 11: The percentage of different patterns of lexical collocation ............ 48 Table 12: The percentage of different patterns of grammatical collocation ... 49 Table 13: The percentage of different types of lexical cohesive devices ....... 51 vii LIST OF CHARTS Chart 1: The percentage of different types of reference ................................. 30 Chart 2: The percentage of different types of conjunction ............................. 31 Chart 3: The percentage of different types of substitution ............................. 36 Chart 4: The percentage of different types of ellipsis .................................... 38 Chart 5: The percentage of different types of Grammatical cohesive devices ... 41 Chart 6: The percentage of different types of reiteration ................................ 43 Chart 7: The percentage of different types of collocation .............................. 47 Chart 8: The percentage of different types of lexical cohesive devices ......... 51 Chart 9: The percentage of different types of cohesive devices ..................... 52 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Functions of reference ..................................................................... 9 Figure 2: Types and examples of substitutions ............................................... 11 Figure 3: Types and examples of ellipsis ........................................................ 12 Figure 4: Types and examples of conjunction ................................................ 14 Figure 5: Types of cohesion ............................................................................ 16 ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS N : Noun V : Verb Adj : Adjective Adv : Adverb Prep : Preposition etc. : et cetera x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1. Rationale Undoubtedly, in the interconnected and globalized world nowadays, English plays an important role in our lives. It is considered as the language that is widely used in science, aviation, computers, diplomacy, tourism, international communication, the media and the internet. The fluent use of English helps learners increase the chances of getting a good job and also helps them go into the world with confidence. Being aware of the importance of English, the Vietnamese government has paid special attention to education, especially the teaching of English in the national education system in which the Ministry of Education has developed the ten-year English textbook series for Vietnamese Schools under the National Foreign Language 2020 Project. Obviously, the content of the textbooks focuses on developing learners’ listening, speaking, reading and writing skills equally. Among these skills, reading is considered a receptive skill that aids the learning of other skills. It is claimed (Tomlinson, 1990) that a good reading competence is essential for English language learners for professional and academic purposes, and many curricula spend a lot of time on reading lessons for learners so as to achieve such competence. However, during the teaching process, the researcher comes to realize that many students seem to have failed to grasp the content of reading texts comprehensively despite having studied English for many years. Students also have a tendency to misinterpret ideas conveyed in the texts. They try to translate reading texts into Vietnamese word by word. Students find it difficult to comprehend the text even when they know most of the words. One explanation for this is the inability to perceive the cohesive signals of the writer (Nutta,1982; Cook, 1989). 1 According to Connor (1984), “cohesive devices are indispensable elements in documents that aim to align sentences and parts of text in an appropriate manner” (p.79). These devices make a contribution to connecting ideas in the text closely and logically. The accurate use of cohesive devices helps readers and listeners to capture the relations between what comes first and what comes next in a text (Zuhair, 2013). Nguyễn Hòa (2000, p.11) states that basically, cohesion represented by the relationship of grammar, logic and lexicon refers to the formal relationship that causes texts to cohere or stick together. Obviously, content in texts can only be conveyed logically and coherently with the help of the means of linking sentences and paragraphs. It is, therefore, important to help students grasp and distinguish the types of cohesive devices viewed as the backbone of various types of text. Apart from a variety of mentioned things, it is a fact that the textbook “Tiếng Anh 10” (the ten-year English textbook for grade 10 students) is first used to teach at the researcher’s school this year. Therefore, the researcher wants to have an overall viewpoint on cohesive devices used in the book and then makes some suggestions for teaching and learning English with the course book effectively. Those reasons mentioned above are the most important ones that have stimulated the researcher to conduct “An analysis of cohesive devices in reading texts in the textbook “Tiếng Anh 10” and recommended implications for teaching and learning English at an upper secondary school in Binh Thuan” as the topic of this study. 1.2. Aim(s) and objectives of the Study The study attempts: - To give a description of how the cohesive devices employed in the 2 textbook “Tiếng Anh 10” - To make a detailed analysis of the cohesive devices in the textbook “Tiếng Anh 10” - To give some implications for teaching and learning cohesion in reading texts in the textbook “Tiếng Anh 10”. 1.3. Research Questions In order to achieve the objectives, the study aims at answering the following research questions: 1. What cohesive devices are used in the reading texts in the textbook “Tiếng Anh 10”? 2. How are the cohesive devices employed in the reading texts in the textbook “Tiếng Anh 10”? 3. What are the solutions to the teaching and learning of reading skill in the textbook for grade 10 students? 1.4. Scope of the Study This study will focus on the cohesive devices found in the textbook “Tiếng Anh 10” by Hoàng Văn Vân (2016). The theory of Halliday and Hasan (1976) is used to analyze the use of cohesive devices in ten reading tests in the textbook in terms of grammatical and lexical cohesive devices. 1.5. Significance of the Study Theoretically, the study helps verify the correctness and significance of linguistic theories of discourse analysis when they are used to analyze a specific textbook. Practically, this research gives grade 10 students and teachers a hand with teaching and learning cohesion in reading texts in the textbook “Tiếng Anh 10”. 3 1.6. Research Methods  Research Procedure The research procedure includes three major steps. Firstly, ten reading texts in “Tiếng Anh 10” are selected and scanned to find cohesive devices in terms of both grammatical and lexical ones. Secondly, the selected samples are described and categorized into tables. Lastly, the study analyzed and compared findings of both grammatical and lexical cohesive devices to draw conclusions.  Research methods To achieve the aims mentioned above, the descriptive, statistical and analytical methods are used in the study. Firstly, the descriptive method makes a contribution to build up the framework related to cohesion for the study. Secondly, the statistical method is used to identify the types of cohesive devices in the reading texts and calculate the frequency of occurrence of each type. Finally, analytical methods are applied to analyze the collected data in terms of grammatical and lexical cohesive devices. 1.7. Structure of the Study The thesis contains five chapters and is organized as follows: Chapter 1: Introduction consists of rational, aims and objectives, research questions, scope of the study, significance of the study, research methods, and structure of the study. Chapter 2: The literature review deals with the theories of discourse and discourse analysis, cohesion and the textbook. Chapter 3: Cohesive devices in the reading texts in the textbook “Tiếng Anh 10” is the chapter that focuses on analysis of cohesive devices in the reading texts in the textbook, based on the theory of Halliday and Hasan (1976) 4 Chapter 4: Implications for the teaching and learning cohesive devices in reading texts gives several suggestions for teaching and learning cohesion in the textbook “Tiếng Anh 10”. Chapter 5: Conclusion aims at summarizing the thesis by showing the study results, giving concluding remarks and making some suggestions for further studies. 5 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1. Theoretical background 2.1.1 Discourse There are different definitions of discourse among linguists. According to Crystal (1992, p.25) “Discourse is a continuous stretch of (especially spoken) language larger than a sentence”. Similarly, Nunan (1993, p.5) defines “discourse as a stretch of language consisting of several sentences which is perceived as being related in some ways”. A discourse is an instance of spoken or written language that has described internal relationship of form and meaning (e.g. word, structures, and cohesion) that relate coherently to an external communicative function or purpose and a given audience/ interlocutor. Furthermore, the external function or purpose can only be properly determined if one takes into account the context and participants in which the piece of discourse (Murcia, 2000, p.4). Similarly, Yule (2010) added that the word discourse means language beyond a sentence. Thus, there are some grammatical and lexical cohesive devices to hang a text together. Cook (1995) states discourse is a stretch of language in use, taking on meaning in context for its users, and perceived by them as purposeful, meaningful, and connected. Here the quality of perceived purpose, meaning, and connection is known as “coherence”. So, a discourse is a coherent stretch of language. Halliday and Hasan (1985, p.5) whose theory was used for the study states that discourse is a functional language that does some jobs in some context, rather than isolated words to sentences. Discourse is a language unit that is in use. It is not like a grammar device, like a clause or a sentence. Discourse is a unit of the semantic unit, not of form but of meaning. A discourse is not made up of sentences. In general, the discourse is interpreted as a language in use. 6 2.1.2 Discourse analysis Discourse analysts evaluate language in use, written texts, and all kinds of spoken data under the method that is distinct from that of grammarians. It is claimed (Brown & Yule, 1983, p.viii) that discourse analysis deals with a wide variety of meanings covering different activities at the intersection of many fields, from sociolinguistics, philosophic linguistics to computational linguistics. In 1993, Michael McCarthy states that the term “Discourse Analysis is concerned with the study of the relationship between language and the contexts in which it is used” (p.5) Schiffrin (1994) considered discourse analysis as a branch of linguistics which deals with linguistic units at levels above the sentence that is text and conversation. Discourse analysis is, therefore, very important for the comprehension or understanding of the text. It is only by learning the language in use that we can understand the meaning that the writers want to communicate. 2.1.3. Cohesion Cohesion is one of the most important technical concepts used in discourse analysis. There are various definitions of cohesion as follow. Cohesion may be defined as the formal linguistic realization of semantic and pragmatic relations between clauses and sentences in a text (Cook, 1995). Here a description of cohesion may contribute to the fundamental issue of discourse analysis. It is true that, in principle, cohesion is neither necessary nor sufficient to create coherence, yet in practice a discourse of any length will employ it. That most coherent texts are also cohesive, however, does not imply that coherence is created by cohesion and cohesion is a manifestation of certain aspects of coherence (Cook 1995, p.33). 7 Baker (1992, p.180) supports that cohesion is the network of lexical, grammatical, and other relation which provide links between various parts of a text. This relationship functions to convey meaning from the speakers’ mind, idea or thought, in order to make a sentence convey meaning and to get readers easier to understand the whole meaning. According to Halliday and Hasan (1976, pp. 4-5), cohesion is considered as a “part of the language system,” more precisely as a “semantic one” referring to “relations of meaning that exist with the text and that defined it as a text.” Cohesion is expressed in their view through the stratal organization of language, and expressed in part through grammar and in part through vocabulary. Cohesion is classified into two types, namely grammatical cohesion and lexical cohesion. The grammatical is related to grammar, and lexical is related to the vocabulary because “cohesion is expressed partly through the grammar and partly through vocabulary” Halliday and Hasan (1976, p.5). With the purpose of analysing cohesive devices in reading texts in Textbook “Tiếng Anh 10”, this framework is chosen to shed light on the study. 2.1.3.1. Grammatical cohesion Grammatical cohesion is classified into four subtypes, namely Reference, Substitution, Ellipsis and Conjunction. Below, the researcher attempts to go into details with each type by reviewing some common examples with a view to providing an overall background of grammatical cohesion.  Reference According to Halliday and Hasan (1976, p.31), “the meaning of a word is not necessarily based solely on its own right, but may make reference to something else, given that the reference is either to some other parts of the 8