Tóm tắt luận văn thạc sĩ The English language: A discourse analysis of speeches made by Nobel prize winners in English literature

This study aims to analyze the discourse features of speeches made by Nobel Prize Winners in English Literature. It is carried out to raise awareness of the reader about linguistic features in speeches so that they can know how a effective speech is written in terms of discourse analysis.
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Tóm tắt luận văn thạc sĩ The English language: A discourse analysis of speeches made by Nobel prize winners in English literature12MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAININGUNIVERSITY OF DANANG***********The study has been completed atthe College of Foreign Languages, Danang UniversityBÙI TH H I VÂNSupervisor: Dr. Lê T n ThiExaminer 1: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tr n Văn Phư cA DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH SPEECHESMADE BY NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS IN ENGLISHExaminer 2: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phan Văn HòaLITERATUREThe thesis will be orally defended to the dissertation boardSubject Area: The English LanguageCode: 60.22.15Time : 28/10/2012Venue: Danang UniversityMASTER THESIS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE(A SUMMARY)The original of the thesis is accessible for purpose of referenceat:-The College of Foreign Language Library, DanangDanang- 2012University-Danang University Information Resources Centre3CHAPTER 1INTRODUCTION1.1. RATIONALEDiscourse analysis has many practical applications above andbeyond the knowledge about language for its own sake. It gives us aninsightful understanding of the nature of language in use in specificdomains such as business, tourism or advertising. It helps to explainwhy some texts have a greater effect on communicating informationand persuading people than the others.The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually toan author from any country that has the most outstanding work in thefield of literature. Each Nobel Prize is regarded as the mostprestigious award in its field. After the receiving the prize, thewinners had an informal speech to express their emotion.In this trend, “A Discourse Analysis of Speeches made byNobel Prize Winners in English Literature” is carried out with thehope that the research result will be useful for teachers and learnersof English, as well as those who are interested in speeches, especiallyspeeches made by Nobel Prize Winners in Literature.1.2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES1.2.1. AimsThis study aims to analyze the discourse features of speechesmade by Nobel Prize Winners in English Literature. It is carried outto raise awareness of the reader about linguistic features in speechesso that they can know how a effective speech is written in terms ofdiscourse analysis.1.2.2. Objectives•To identify and describe the layout features of speechesmade by Nobel Prize Winners in English Literature.•Find out the lexical and syntactic, cohesive devices ofspeeches made by Nobel Prize Winners in EnglishLiterature.•To suggest some applications for Vietnamese learnersof English, related to writing skill.1.3. SCOPE OF THE STUDY4Speeches made by Nobel Prize Winners in EnglishLiterature, in nature, are a complex discourse genre in terms offorms, contents, length and linguistic features; therefore, thisdiscourse analysis is “selective” rather than “exhaustive” [5, p.31].That is, we do not attempt to cover all discourse features of thesespeeches. Rather, the research is restricted to some discourse featuressuch as syntactic features, lexical features, and cohesive devices ofspeeches made by Nobel Prize Winners in English Literaturecollected from the internet from 1970s till now.1.4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS1. What is the layout of speeches made by Nobel Prize Winnersin English Literature?2. What are the syntactic features of speeches made by NobelPrize Winners in English Literature?3. What are the cohesive devices used in speeches made byNobel Prize Winners in English Literature?4. What are the implications of the research results in teachingand learning English?1.5. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDYThe study consists of five chapters as follows:Chapter 1, Introduction,Chapter2, Literature Review & Theoretical BackgroundChapter 3, Methods and ProceduresChapter 4, Findings and DiscussionChapter 5, Conclusions and Implications1.7. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDYThe thesis will make a small contribution to knowledge orunderstanding of discourse analysis and speeches in general as wellas the discourse features of speeches made by Nobel Prize Winner inEnglish Literature in particular. Also, the research result will helpVietnamese learners of English, recruiters, copywriters and thoseinterested in the area under investigation in the way that it providesthem with useful knowledge of job speeches enabling them to knowhow to write an effective and persuasive speech in order to be able toattract audiences.56CHAPTER 2LITERATURE REVIEWAND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND2.1. LITERATURE REVIEWDiscourse analysis is an important and broad disciplinewhich attracts the interest and concern of many linguists andresearchers. Many scholars including Brown and Yule [3], Cook [5],Halliday and Hasan [20], Hatch [22], Nunan [34], and so on havemade great contributions to the field.In Vietnam, discourse analysis has drawn much attention ofmany researchers. Tr n Ng c Thêm [52] discusses cohesive devicesin Vietnamese texts. Đ H u Châu [47], Nguy n Đ c Dân [49] andNguy n Thi n Giáp [50] study discourse analysis from a pragmaticview. Nguy n Hòa [51], examines different aspects of discourseanalysis such as cohesion, context, speech acts to discourse analysis.In addition, Di p Quang Ban [46] gives an insightful study ofdiscourse and text.Besides, a number of studies related to discourse analysis havebeen conducted such as Bui Thi Thu Ha (2007): An Investigation intoSome Discourse Features of Abstracts of English and VietnameseEconomic Papers, Tran Thi Ngan (2009): A Discourse Analysis ofOpening Speeches in English and Vietnamese.To the best of my knowledge, up to now there has been no studyfocusing on discourse analysis of speeches made by Nobel PrizeWinner in English Literature. Hence, these speeches are chosen asthe subject area of my master thesis.2.2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND2.2.1. Overview of speech made by Nobel Prize Winner2.2.1.1. Definition of speech2.2.1. ...