LAHORE COLLEGE FOR WOMEN UNIVERSITY, LAHORE

ASSIGNMENT
ANALYSIS OF DISCOURSE MARKERS IN A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
LANGUAGE, DISCOURSE AND SOCIETY INSTRUCTOR: MS. AYESHA BUTT

SUBMITTED BY: SHAGUFTA MOGHAL ROLL NO: 16

ANALYSIS OF DISCOURSE MARKERS IN A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

What are Discourse Markers?

Discourse markers (words like 'however', 'although' and 'Nevertheless') are referred to more commonly as 'linking words' and 'linking phrases', or 'sentence connectors'. They may be described as the 'glue' that binds together a piece of writing, making the different parts of the text 'stick together'. They are used less frequently in speech, unless the speech is very formal. Without sufficient discourse markers in a piece of writing, a text would not seem logically constructed and the connections between the different sentences and paragraphs would not be obvious. Care must also be taken, however, to avoid over-use of discourse markers. Using too many of them, or using them unnecessarily, can make a piece of writing sound too heavy and 'artificial'. They are important, but must only be used when necessary.

Different types of Discourse Markers and their positioning:

There are many discourse markers that express different relationships between ideas. Sentence connectors do not always begin a completely new sentence; they may be separated from the previous idea with a semi-colon. Some sentence connectors can be placed in different positions within the sentence: initial position (e.g. Because he is ill, he needs to rest.) and 'mid-way position' at the start of another clause (e.g. He must rest, because he is ill). The most common types of relationship between ideas, and the sentence connectors that are most often used to express these relationships, are given in the table below. The discourse markers in the table are generally used at the start of a phrase or clause.

Linking the Paragraphs:

In much the same way that ideas within a paragraph are linked, a new paragraph must be linked in some way with the previous one. This, too, necessitates the use of discourse markers. Here are some different ways in which the opening of a paragraph can link back to what has happened before. The three basic types of paragraph-paragraph relationship are : reinforcement of idea; contrast of idea; and concession. Indicating these relationships builds a 'bridge' between paragraphs and makes reading the text easier.

Selected Newspaper Article:

The article chosen for analysis is a short sports bulletin that was published in The Dawn on March 10, 2014. A digital copy of the article is given below. [the article was accessed on the day of its publishing from the following link; http://epaper.dawn.com/DetailNews.php?StoryText=10_03_2014_008_003]

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SRI LANKAS VICTORY

The Topic of the Article: This newspaper article is about the recent cricket match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Sri Lanka has got victory against Pakistan and won Asia Cup. The writer in this article has given the background information about the two countries that how well they have played and what are the weaknesses of the loosing team.

Use of discourse markers in the Article:

Discourse markers have been used for many purposes in the above article. A list of the discourse markers is given below, in the order which they occur: Yet again, to give them credit, on the other hand, in the final analysis, with the exception of, indeed, as for the, too, however. These discourse markers can be sorted by their different purposes in to several categories, as shown in the following table: Purpose Making what you say stronger [Reinforcement of Ideas] Instances Yet again Explanation It refers to the earlier phrases won for the fifth time and remain unbeaten throughout; reinforces the idea of the strength of Sri Lankan team and their string of wins.

In the final analysis

This refers to the examination of the poor performance of the Pakistani team, including the individual evaluation of its players, reaching to a final conclusion which reinforces the analysis that the Pakistani team performed poorly. This reinforces the final analysis of the Pakistani teams performance further, by recounting the players by name and mention them as being thrashed.

Indeed

Too

Makes a cataphoric reference to the poor bowling and fielding of the Pakistani team.

Making an unexpected contrast [Concession]

To give them credit

This marks the concession given to the intelligence and great performance of the Sri Lankan captain and his team, which resulted in their win.

With the exception of

The article thrashes the bowling of the Pakistani cricket team, but this markers, makes a contrast to the performance of Saeed Ajmal and makes a concession for him.

Contrasting two separate things [Contrast of Idead]

On the other hand

This contrasts the performances of the Pakistani team with the Sri Lankans and shows how they are the complete opposite.

However

This targets the team management of Pakistan who are also responsible for their poor performance. The focus is shifted from the team

to the managers.

Saying why something is the case [Cause and effect]

As for the

This refers to one of the reasons for the poor performance of the Pakistanis, their fielding. It is named as the Achilles Heel of the National team.

Conclusion:
From the above tabulated analysis, it can easily be seen that the use of strategically placed discourse markers helps knit the entire text into one coherent whole. The discourse markers serve multiple purposes, which help define the point of view of the writer and tells the positive and negative attributes of the main subjects of the article; in this instance, the Pakistani and Sri Lankan teams and their performance in Asia Cup 2014.

Bibliography: The following sites were visited and availed to find out relevant materials for this paper: Dawn Newspaper, March 10 , 2014: http://epaper.dawn.com/DetailNews.php?StoryText=10_03_2014_008_003]

Learning English online homepage; University of Warwick; http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/al/learning_english/leap/grammar/discourse/

British council ; Teaching English: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/knowledge-database/discourse-markers

University of Coimbra: Learning English; http://www4.fe.uc.pt/english/dms.htm