TEXT AND

CONTEXT
Discourse analysis and other
factors
 Contents
• Introduction
• Definition of Context
• Linguistic Context
• Situational Context
• Cultural Context
 Introduction
An understanding of how language functions in context is central to an
understanding of the relationship between what is said
and what is understood in spoken and written discourse. The context of situation
of what someone says is, therefore, crucial to
understanding and interpreting the meaning of what is being said. This includes
the physical context, the social context and the
mental worlds and roles of the people involved in the interaction. Each of these
impacts on what we say and how other people
interpret what we say in spoken and written discourse
 Defenition of context

● « A context is the physical environment in which a

word is used  » George Yule.

● «  Those aspects of the circumstance of actual

language use which are taken as relevant to
meaning ».widdowson.
 Linguistic context

Refer to the context within the discourse that is the

relationship between words, phrases, sentences and
even paragraphs .
Linguistic context can be explored from 3 aspects :

01 deictic 02 co_text

03 collection
 01 Deictic
expressions help to establish deictic roles which
derive from the fact that in normal language behavior
the speaker addresses his utterance to another person
and may refer to himself to a certain place or a time.
02 Co_text
Linguistics pay attention to the previous co_orinate ,Levis
introduces this co _ordinate to take account of the
aforementioned sentences . It is the case that any
sentence other than the first in a fragment of discourse
will have the whole of its interpretation forcibly
constrained by the preceding text.
03 Collection
In 1934, Porzing argued for the recognition of
the importance of syntagmatic relation ,
which called collocation . cllocation is not
simply a matter of association of ideas.
 Situational Context
• The Context of Situation is the "environment in which
meanings are being exchanged".

• The situational context describes the rationale why

something is happening and the appropriate behaviours and
actions related to the situation. It's one of the kinds of
contexts that influence communication.
According to Halliday et al, the context of situation consists of
three components:

Field of Discourse Tenor of Discourse Mode of Discourse

 01 Field of Discourse
The total event, what's happening, the nature of the
social interaction taking place. What is it that the
participants are engaged in, in which the language
features as some essential component.
 02 Tenor of Discourse
refers to who is taking part, to the nature of the
participants, their statuses and roles: what kind of
role relationships of one kind or another, both the
types of speech role that they are taking on in the
dialogue and the whole cluster of socially significant
relationships in which they are involved.
 03 Mode of Discourse
refers to what part the language is playing, what it is that the
participants are expecting the language to do for them in that
situation: the symbolic organisation of the text, the status that
it has, and its function in the context, including the channel
(is it written or spoken or some combination of the two)
 03The situation in which discourse is produced and processed can
be analysed and defined using a large number of factors that can have
an influence on possible objectives and effects of discourse. Such a
description is available for the speaking situation. It was developed by
Dell Hymes (1972) and summed up the components of the “speech
event”, using the word SPEAKING as an acronym.
 Hymes's SPEAKING model

Setting Time, place, and other Participants The speaker or Sender,

S physical conditions surrounding the
speech act. P the Addresser, the Hearer, Receiver
or Audience, and the Addressee.

Ends The Purpose -outcomes and Act sequencing The formand of

E purposes- goals. A the content of message.
 Hymes's SPEAKING model

Keys The tone of the conversation, Instrumentalities The Channels;

K for example, serious or mocking.
I written, telegraph, etc. And the Forms
of speech; dialect, standard language,
etc.

Norms The Norms of Interaction,

Genres Fairytale,advertisement, etc.
N for example, how a listener’s
suddenly looking must be G
interpreted.
 Cultural Context
• Cultural context refers to the culture, customs and
background of epoch in language communities in which the
speakers participate.
• Language is a social phenomenon, and it is closely tied up
with the social structure and value system of society.
Therefore, language cannot avoid being influenced by all
these factors like social role, social status, sex and age, etc.
Thank you for your attention