Language is and has always been the most important means of communication. We exchange information by talking or writing to each other; we read books, magazines, newspapers or any kind of written text either for personal entertainment or reading for intensive studies to find out what is going on. For my responsible future work as a teacher in primary schools it is very important and interesting for me to analyse and understand the structure of language. Therefore, I need as well a background knowledge about Information Structure in order to be able to give for example adequate answers to the pupils’ questions concerning sentence structures. The course”Information Structure: The Interface of Syntax, Pragmatics, and Phonology” helped me to appreciate this topic better. “Information Structure means the division or organisation of the sentence/utterance and its elements according to the discourse situation.” (Dr. Nicole Dehé 2003) A typical situation is for example an interview or a conversation. There must be more than one speaker because “Information Structure reflects the relationship between the speaker’s assumption about the hearer’s state of knowledge and consciousness at the time of an utterance and the formal structure of the sentence.” (Dr. Nicole Dehé 2003) According to this defintion there must be at least one hearer and one speaker. Information Structure sentences can be analysed in terms of “information packaging”1 such as theme, rheme, topic, comment, focus, background, dominance, ground (link, tail), given and new. This term paper highlights the catagory focus – background. In the first part I will give a short overview of the catagories and explain them in the following way: Firstly I will give a short definition of the category, then I will give one or two examples and at the end I will discuss possible problems. Then I will have a closer look at the focus – background topic. After that I will analyse the interview with Bryan Adams basing on the catagory focus – background. Finally a brief summary about this term paper will be given. 1 „I have been using the term packaging to refer to the kind of phenomena at issue here, with the idea that they have to do primarily with how the message is sent and only secondarily with the message itself, just as the packaging of toothpaste can affect sales in partial independence of the quality of the toothpaste inside.” (Wallace Chafe:28)
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. An overview of the dichotomies and categories of Information Structure
2.1 Theme–Rheme
2.2 Topic–Comment
2.3 Focus–Background
2.4 Given–New
2.5 Dominance
2.6 Ground(Link-Tail)–Focus
3. Focus–Background
3.1 Definition of Focus-Background
3.2 Definition of Broad-Focus and Narrow-Focus
3.3 Examples for the different types of Focus
4. Applying the Focus-Background: An interview with Bryan Adams
5. Summary
Objectives and Topics
This paper examines the principles of Information Structure, specifically focusing on the dichotomy of focus and background. The objective is to understand how sentences are organized according to discourse situations and how these structures can be applied to real-world language samples to analyze speaker intentions.
- Theoretical overview of Information Structure categories (Theme-Rheme, Topic-Comment, Given-New).
- Deep analysis of the Focus-Background dichotomy and its subcategories.
- Differentiation between Broad-Focus and Narrow-Focus in linguistics.
- Practical application of focus analysis through an interview with Bryan Adams.
Excerpt from the Book
3.1 Definition of focus-background
After an overview of the different dichotomies has been given in the previous point the dichotomy focus-background will be analysed in more detail. Firstly this category will be defined with the help of examples. After that I will apply this category to an interview with Bryan Adams.
The dichotomy focus-background or focus/open proposition, as it is also called, has always been an important field of research in modern linguistics.
The term focus originates at least from Halliday (1967 from Vallduvi Eric 1992:36). In his theme-rheme articulation he calls the focus the “informative part” (according to Eric Vallduvi 1992:36) of the sentence i.e. the new information. This new information is only supposed by the speaker and the hearer does not share the same knowledge. This new information cannot be foreseen by the hearer at the time of speaking. Furthermore it cannot be deduced from a former given context. An important charcteristic feature of the focus is that it is the stressed part of the sentence. Besides the focus complements the background of the sentence.
In contrast the background or presupposition is the information in the sentence which both speaker and hearer already know – both share the same knowledge. Here the speaker supposes that the hearer already knows this information either from a preceding context or from experience.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Outlines the importance of language as a communication tool and the relevance of Information Structure for educational purposes.
2. An overview of the dichotomies and categories of Information Structure: Provides a theoretical breakdown of various linguistic frameworks including Theme-Rheme, Topic-Comment, and Given-New.
3. Focus–Background: Defines the core dichotomy of the paper, detailing the distinction between background (presupposition) and new, informative focus.
4. Applying the Focus-Background: An interview with Bryan Adams: Demonstrates the practical application of the theoretical concepts by analyzing a transcript of an interview.
5. Summary: Reflects on the challenges of applying linguistic dichotomies to natural language and summarizes the findings of the paper.
Keywords
Information Structure, Focus, Background, Syntax, Pragmatics, Phonology, Theme, Rheme, Topic, Comment, Given information, New information, Linguistics, Discourse Analysis, Broad focus
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary scope of this paper?
The paper explores Information Structure (IS) as a linguistic framework, specifically examining how utterances are organized relative to the speaker's and hearer's knowledge.
Which central themes are discussed?
Key themes include the distinction between theme and rheme, topic and comment, the nature of given versus new information, and the specific mechanics of the focus-background dichotomy.
What is the main objective of the research?
The primary goal is to provide a clear understanding of the focus-background dichotomy and to demonstrate its utility through a practical linguistic analysis of an interview.
Which scientific methods are employed?
The author uses a literature-based theoretical review followed by a qualitative discourse analysis of an interview, identifying focus and background elements within the speech acts.
What is covered in the main body?
The main body defines the various categories of Information Structure, provides examples for different focus types (maximal, intermediate, minimal), and applies these to a concrete case study.
How can this paper be summarized by its keywords?
The paper is centered on Information Structure, focusing on "information packaging" techniques such as focus, background, and thematic organization to explain sentence structure.
Why did the author choose to analyze an interview with Bryan Adams?
The author chose this interview to demonstrate that theoretical linguistic concepts are often difficult to map onto "real" language, which is longer and more complex than simple example sentences.
What is the significance of the "Focus" in the author's analysis?
The focus is defined not just as new information, but also as the part of the sentence that is informative, stressed, or otherwise particularly important to the speaker's message.
- Quote paper
- Maren Göpffarth (Author), 2003, Focus - Background, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/31325
