Conducting Discussion
Task 2. [in groups of four]
C
ompare
the ways of becoming a psychologist in the USA and your country.
Assign roles to make your discussion more effective. Get ready to
present the result of your discussion to the other groups.
language functions |
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Qualification of comparison |
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(X is) |
considerably a great deal (very) much (quite) a lot rather somewhat a little slightly scarcely hardly only just |
smaller bigger cheaper
etc. |
than … |
X is |
exactly precisely just virtually practically more or less almost nearly approximately about |
the same as … |
Qualification of contrast |
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X is not |
exactly entirely quite |
the same as … |
X is |
totally completely entirely quite |
different from Y.
|
X is not quite as/so |
big expensive difficult etc. |
as … |
X and Y are |
different dissimilar |
in every |
way respect |
X and Y are |
totally completely entirely quite |
different |
Writing
paragraph writing
Coherence
One of the greatest difficulties for relatively inexperienced writers is to make the logic of their sentence order clear to the reader. We all take for granted from time to time that what is coherent to us as writers will also be coherent to our readers. But no two people have an identical understanding of a written passage. We all reason differently and words trigger different associations in our minds.
There are two important aspects of text building for you to keep in mind as you work towards making your writing as coherent as possible. The first aspect is information structure – the basic information structure of the individual sentence. The second is linking strategies between sentences. |
Coherence: Information structure
In analyzing the information structure of an English sentence, it is possible to distinguish between what is familiar or given information on the one hand, and unfamiliar or new information on the other. As the terms suggest, familiar or given information is information that the writer assumes that the reader already knows. New information, however, is assumed to be unknown. Since, logically speaking, new information is more important than given information, it deserves more emphasis, and the most common place for it is therefore at the end of the sentence, because that is the ‘natural’ place of emphasis – also called the focus – of an English sentence. The given information, on the other hand, is placed first in the sentence. This main principle of information structure has important consequences for the coherence of texts. |
Compare the information flow in the following two sets of sentences: given information new information 1. The winners of the English language contest were asked to leave their name and address. given inf. new inf. They would be sent invitations to visit London. given inf. new inf. 2. The winners of the English language contest were asked to leave their name and address. new inf. given inf. Invitations to visit London would be sent to them. |
It is the information structure of the second sentence in each case which is of interest here. In the first example ‘They’ is given information because the reader knows from the contents of the previous sentence who ‘they’ are. What is then said about them (that they will be sent invitations etc.) is new information. Sentence 2 in the second set of sentences starts with the new information instead. Despite the simple contents, it is nevertheless a little more difficult to follow the information flow here. It is easy to imagine how much more difficult it will be to follow the information flow in more complicated texts if the standard rule of information structure is violated. |
Task 1. [individually, then in pairs]
Read the passage below. Highlight given information and new information in each sentence.
G
5
|
A subfield of I/O psychology is personnel psychology. The issues of hiring, assigning, and promoting people are dealt with by personnel psychologists. If you have ever been given a test while applying for a job, it is likely that an I/O or personnel psychologist designed it. 40 percent of small companies give employment tests as part of the job selection process and that about 60 percent of large companies use some testing in selection as surveys have found. Most companies that use tests as part of the selection process do not disqualify people solely on the basis of their test performance, so if you are not a good test taker, do not despair. |
Rewrite the passage to make it more coherent by trying to apply the standard information structure rule to each sentence.
Coherence: Linking strategies
Since readers all read differently, it is important to make the logical links between your sentences explicit. The more clearly you indicate such links concretely in the text, the greater your chance of helping your reader follow and understand your line of thought is. Naturally, there is a limit: you are not writing academic papers for school children. However, the risk of being too clear in your linking efforts is a minor one. The vast majority of students fail to be explicit enough.
There are numerous ways in which you can guide your reader as you lead him or her from sentence to sentence – as you establish coherence. Here we remind you of a few common writing strategies for linking sentences together:
e.g. Two main arguments are presented in the first chapter. The first argument is that the language of texts cannot be adequately explored…
e.g. Allegory is narrative or description that has a second meaning beneath the surface one. Although the surface story…
e.g. Most inexperienced writers find it difficult to write coherently. This is not surprising in view of the complex processes involved. These processes deserve …
See sub-section Discourse study of this Unit. |
Task 2. [individually, then in pairs]
Read the text below. The text represents a mini-essay consisting of two paragraphs. Analyze the structure of this text.
H |
Social Psychology |
5
10
15
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Social psychology is the scientific study of how people think, feel, and behave in social situations. Researchers in this field ask questions such as, How do we form impressions of others? How are people persuaded to change their attitudes or beliefs? What causes people to conform in group situations? What leads someone to help or ignore a person in need? Under what circumstances do people obey or resist orders? By observing people in real-world social settings, and by carefully devising experiments to test people’s social behavior, social psychologists learn about the ways people influence, perceive, and interact with one another. The study of social influence includes topics such as conformity, obedience to authority, the formation of attitudes, and the principles of persuasion. Researchers interested in social perception study how people come to know and evaluate one another, how people form group stereotypes, and the origins of prejudice. Other topics of particular interest to social psychologists include physical attraction, love and intimacy, aggression, altruism, and group processes. Many social psychologists are also interested in cultural influences on interpersonal behavior. |
Identify and underline the various linguistic means (repetition, substitution, cases of reference, discourse markers) used to strengthen the coherence.