English in Use: Discourse, Variation and Application
English in Use examines the dynamic relationship between linguistic structure and communicative function across contexts. This interdisciplinary domain bridges theoretical linguistics with real-world language applications, encompassing:
- Micro-level textual patterns (discourse markers, cohesion devices)
- Macro-level sociolinguistic variation (World Englishes)
- Domain-specific language (ESP registers)
- Technologically-mediated communication (digital discourse)
1. Discourse Analysis: Beyond the Sentence
Halliday & Hasan's Cohesion Framework (1976)
Five Cohesion Types:
| Type | Function | Examples | Textual Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reference | Phoric relations (items referring to others) | Anaphora: "The doctor arrived. She examined..." Cataphora: "Here's the news: The PM has resigned." |
Creates textual continuity |
| Substitution | Grammatical replacement | "Which cake?" "The chocolate one." (one=substitute) | Avoids repetition |
| Ellipsis | Omission of recoverable items | "Where are you going?" "[I am going] To the market." | Creates dialogic economy |
| Conjunction | Logical connectors | "However," "therefore," "in contrast" | Signals rhetorical relations |
| Lexical | Semantic relationships | Repetition: "education...educational" Synonymy: "vehicle...car" Collocation: "salt...pepper" |
Builds semantic fields |
Conversation Analysis: Institutional Talk (Drew & Heritage, 1992)
Key Features of Institutional Discourse:
- Turn-taking systems: Restricted compared to casual conversation (e.g., courtroom examinations)
- Sequential organization: Conventionalized patterns (medical history-taking sequences)
- Epistemics: Asymmetric knowledge distribution (teacher-student interactions)
- Frame: Institutional identities foregrounded ("Doctor" vs. "Mr. Smith")
Indian Context Example: The "Yes, madam" response pattern in Indian classroom discourse reflects both educational hierarchy and local politeness norms.
2. Stylistics: The Linguistics of Literature
Foregrounding Theory (Mukařovský, 1964)
Systematic deviation from linguistic norms creates artistic effect through:
- Parallelism: Patterning for rhythmic effect
Example: "I came, I saw, I conquered" (Julius Caesar) - Deviation: Breaking grammatical/lexical conventions
Example: "a grief ago" (Dylan Thomas - temporal noun with emotion) - Collocational Clash: Unusual word combinations
Example: "silver snarling trumpets" (Yeats - synesthetic imagery)
Corpus Stylistics in Action
Analysis of Dickens' Bleak House reveals:
- High frequency of fog-related lexemes establishing motif
- Unusually long sentences in Chancery scenes mirroring bureaucratic complexity
- Key keywords like "law" and "mud" forming semantic prosody
Method: Comparison against 19th century reference corpus using log-likelihood statistics
3. World Englishes: Beyond the Native Speaker
The Dynamic Model of English Evolution (Schneider, 2007)
Five Stages of Variety Formation:
| Stage | Process | Indian English Features |
|---|---|---|
| Foundation | Initial contact | Early loanwords (ayah, jungle) |
| Exonormative | British standards imposed | Macaulay's Minute (1835) education policy |
| Nativization | Structural adaptation | Developmental "chutnification" of English |
| Endonormative | Local standards emerge | R.K. Narayan's literary style |
| Differentiation | Internal variation develops | Regional IE varieties (Bombay, Delhi English) |
Indian English Phonology (Trudgill & Hannah, 2008)
Key Features:
- Vowels:
- No distinction between /ɒ/ and /ɔː/ (cot-caught merger)
- Pure vowels where RP has diphthongs (/e/ for /eɪ/)
- Consonants:
- Retroflex /ʈ/ and /ɖ/ for alveolar stops
- No distinction between /v/ and /w/ in many varieties
- Prosody:
- Syllable-timed rhythm (vs. stress-timed in RP)
- Different nuclear stress placement ("He is COMing" vs. "He IS coming")
4. English for Specific Purposes: Theory and Practice
Genre Analysis Framework (Swales, 1990)
Move Structure in Research Article Introductions (CARS Model):
- Establishing Territory:
- Claiming centrality ("Recently, X has attracted much attention...")
- Making topic generalizations
- Reviewing previous research
- Establishing Niche:
- Counter-claiming ("However, these studies fail to consider...")
- Indicating gaps ("While X is known, Y remains unclear")
- Occupying Niche:
- Outlining purposes ("This paper reports on...")
- Announcing present research
- Indicating RA structure
ESP in Indian Context
Medical English Training at AIIMS:
- Needs Analysis: Identified case presentation structure as critical skill
- Materials: Based on corpus of doctor-patient interactions
- Lexical Focus: High-frequency collocations ("administer medication", "monitor vitals")
- Assessment: Simulated patient consultations with discourse checklist
5. Corpus Linguistics: Methods and Applications
Corpus Types and Applications
| Corpus Type | Description | Indian Examples | Research Applications |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reference | General language representation | Kolhapur Corpus of Indian English | Dictionary making, grammar studies |
| Specialized | Domain-specific texts | Indian Legal Corpus | ESP syllabus design |
| Parallel | Texts with translations | Indian Languages Parallel Corpus | Translation studies |
| Learner | L2 production data | ICLE-India (International Corpus of Learner English) | Error analysis, SLA research |
| Historical | Diachronic data | Early English Newspapers India | Language change studies |
Findings from the International Corpus of English (ICE)
Indian English vs. British English Contrasts:
- Article Use: 30% higher omission rate in Indian English ("He went to __ school")
- Progressive: 2.5x more frequent with stative verbs ("I am having two cars")
- Modals: "Shall" 4x more common in Indian legal/bureaucratic registers
- Prepositions: Innovative collocations ("discuss about", "return back")
6. New Media English: Digital Discourse
Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) Features:
- Graphological Innovation:
- Rebus writing ("CU" for "see you")
- Emoticons/emoji as paralanguage
- Grammatical Adaptation:
- Verbless sentences ("Good point!")
- Non-standard capitalization ("i think so")
- Discourse Strategies:
- Hashtagging as metadata (#ThrowbackThursday)
- @mentions for addressivity
Indian Digital English Innovations
- Hinglish Code-Mixing: "What's your good name only?"
- Acronyms: "FOMO" (Fear of Missing Out) → "FOGO" (Fear of Going Out - pandemic coinage)
- Platform-Specific Norms:
- WhatsApp: Forwarded messages with "Good morning" images
- Twitter: Political hashtag campaigns (#FarmersProtest)
UGC NET Preparation Matrix
| Topic | Key Theorists | Indian Applications | Potential Questions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discourse Analysis | Halliday, Sinclair | Bollywood script dialogues, political speeches | Identify cohesion devices in given text |
| World Englishes | Kachru, Schneider | Indian English phonology, lexical borrowing | Classify English variety features |
| Corpus Linguistics | Biber, McEnery | ICE-India findings | Corpus methodology applications |
| Digital English | Crystal, Herring | Hinglish in social media | Analyze text message features |
Answering Techniques for Discourse Analysis Questions
- Text Annotation: Underline and label features (circling cohesive devices, arrows for reference chains)
- Framework Application: Explicitly name models ("Using Halliday's taxonomy, this exemplifies lexical cohesion through...")
- Contextualization: Relate features to communicative purpose ("The high frequency of imperatives reflects the instructional genre")
- Comparative Analysis: Contrast with other text types when possible ("Unlike academic prose, this chat uses...")
Practice Questions
Sample Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which cohesion type is demonstrated in: "She opened the door. It was stuck."?
A) Substitution
B) Reference
C) Conjunction
D) Lexical cohesion
2. The "endonormative stabilization" phase in Schneider's model refers to:
A) Imposition of external standards
B) Development of local norms
C) Initial language contact
D) Internal dialect variation
3. Which is NOT a characteristic of Indian English phonology?
A) Retroflex consonants
B) Syllable-timed rhythm
C) Th-fronting
D) Vowel length neutralization
Conclusion
The study of English in Use provides crucial insights into how language functions in real-world contexts, from literary texts to digital communication. For UGC NET aspirants, mastering discourse analysis frameworks, World Englishes models, and corpus methodologies is essential for both theoretical understanding and practical text analysis.
Key Takeaways
- Cohesion analysis reveals how texts achieve coherence through linguistic devices
- World Englishes models explain the evolution of post-colonial varieties like Indian English
- Corpus methods provide empirical evidence for linguistic patterns
- Digital discourse shows language innovation in new media environments
- Indian context offers unique examples of language adaptation and change
