Cohesion and Coherence in Technical Translation: The Case of Demonstrative Reference

This paper examines cohesion and coherence within the larger framework of an equivalence-relevant investigation based on a theoretically well-founded translation comparison and a highly refined translation corpus. Cohesion is analysed at the textual, more specifically at the sentential/supra-sentential, level taking due account of the underlying coherence operating at the text¬in-context level. The research investigates and exemplifies the English demonstrative determiner/pronoun ‘this’ as a cohesive device of reference and its German potential equivalents, and indicates trends in translation solutions. The results of this analysis will show that coherence – established by the interaction of intended sense and informed inference – is upheld in the German TT by cohesive means which, though occasionally quite different from their ST counterparts, contribute toward achieving “equivalence in difference” (Jakobson [1959]1992) at the overall text-in-context level.

Against intentionalism: an experimental study on demonstrative reference

In this paper, we present two experimental studies on reference of complex demonstratives. The results of our experiments challenge the dominant view in philosophy of language, according to which demonstrative reference is determined by the speaker's intentions. The first experiment shows that in a context where there are two candidates for the referent—one determined by the speaker’s intention, the other by some “external” factors—people prefer to identify the referent of a demonstrative with the latter object. The external factors for which this prediction has been confirmed include the speaker’s demonstration and the descriptive content of a demonstrative. The second experiment shows that while this preference can be explained in terms of the speakers’ having different sorts of referential intentions, the relevant kind of intentions are fully opaque to the subjects. At the end of our paper, we point to some alternative accounts of demonstrative reference, including a pluralistic and hybrid approach, which can accommodate our experimental results.

Cohesion and Coherence of Students’ Recount Texts in Indonesia

This study aimed at analyzing the cohesion and coherence of recount texts and their implication to teaching writing. The data was fifteen recount texts which were non-randomly chosen from the first-grade students of high school in Central Java, Indonesia. This was qualitative research employing cohesion theory by Halliday and Hasan (1976) and thematic progression proposed by Butt et al. (1995). The result of this research showed that most of the cohesive devices employed by the students were personal reference with 58.11%; demonstrative reference and definite article with 7.18%; comparative reference with 0.93%), lexical (repetition 22.21%; synonym 0.66%; superordinate 0.13%), conjunction (temporal conjunction 7.45%; adversative conjunction: 1.33%; additive conjunction 1.06%; causal conjunction 0.66%), and ellipsis with 2%. The presuppositions of the presupposed items and presupposing items were achieved anaphorically and cataphorically; most of them were anaphoric. The distances of the presuppositions were in the forms of immediate ties, mediated ties, and non-mediated ties. Furthermore, immediate ties occurred extensively. Based on the analysis, most of the texts were cohesive due to the achievement of presupposing and presupposed items in every sentence of the texts. Then, coherence of the students’ recount texts was achieved by employing three kinds of patterns: reiteration/ constant, zig-zag, and multiple thematic progression patterns. Most of the texts were developed by using a reiteration/ constant pattern. Based on the analysis, most texts were not coherent because of the unrelated clauses. As the result, they broke the signposted progression of the texts. The finding was expected to possibly contribute to the process of teaching writing by encouraging the students to create a good text in a cohesive and coherent way.

Demonstrative References of This and That in English Speeches by Chinese College Students

Demonstrative reference is a common means of cohesion in discourse. Based on Cohesion Theory by Halliday and Hasan, the paper is aimed at exploring the use of this and that as a means of deixis and reference in college English speeches from the perspective of discourse cohesion to achieve more effective analysis and appreciation of English speeches.

Demonstrative Reference and Cognitive Space: A Memory Game on Mandarin-Speaking Children

The development of pragmatic ability is an essential topic in language acquisition, among which demonstratives are significant to reflect human’s cognition of the relation between language and the environment. The purpose of this research is to investigate the acquisition of spatial demonstratives “zhe” (this) and “na” (that) of Mandarin-speaking children through experimental design (different tool use, e.g. participants pointed at the objects with their finger or a laser pen), exploring the influence of perceptual distance on children’s choice of spatial demonstratives. Through comparison with adults’ data, results supported the view that 5- to 6-year-old children have already developed adult-like cognitive space when it comes to the use of spatial demonstratives, which produced an effect on the use of spatial demonstratives, proving speaker’s subjective involvement in choosing the proximal or distal demonstrative in the process of communication, and rendering more evidence on children’s early development of pragmatic ability.

What we do and presuppose when we demonstrate

In this paper, we defend that demonstratives are expressions of joint attention. Though this idea is not exactly new in the philosophical or linguistic literature, we argue here that their proponents have not yet shown how to incorporate these observations into more traditional theories of demonstratives. Our purpose is then to attempt to fill this gap. We argue that coordinated attentional activities are better integrated into a full account of demonstratives as meta-pragmatic information. Our claim is twofold. First, we claim that pragmatically presupposing salience is a fundamental aspect of using demonstratives (predicted by their semantics and meta-semantics). Secondly, we hold that the pragmatics of demonstrating can only be properly understood in relation to meta-pragmatic conditions that have to do with joint attention. We use tests of truth-value gap as evidence for our claim. Our proposal provides us with a complete view of what speakers do and presuppose when engaging in acts of demonstrative reference through language.

Common Ground in Demonstrative Reference: The Case of Mano (Mande)

That demonstratives often have endophoric functions marking referents outside the physical space of interaction but accessible through cognition, especially memory, is well-known. These functions are often classified as independent from exophoric ones and are typically seen as secondary with respect to spatial deixis. However, data from multiple languages show that cognitive access to referents functions alongside of perceptual access, including vision. Cognitive access is enabled by prior interactions and prior familiarity with the referents. As a result of such interactions, the interlocutors share a great deal of knowledge about the referents, which facilitates reference to objects in the interactive field. The centrality of common ground in reference to an object at the interactive scene challenges the often assumed classification of demonstrative reference into exophoric and endophoric. I illustrate this idea throughout the paper by using first-hand data from Mano, a Mande language of Guinea. Adding another argument in favor of viewing demonstrative reference as a social, interactive process, the Mano data push the idea of salience of non-spatial parameters further and emphasizes the importance of short and long-term interactional history and cultural knowledge both for the choice of demonstratives in exophoric reference and for the structuring of the demonstrative paradigm.