A Tentative Proposal For Applying Strategies Of Discourse Comprehension In Discourse Coherence Studies

Discourse coherence is one of the important properties of discourse. It has become one of the focal topics in discourse analysis in recent two decades. The author of this dissertation agrees with the view of van Dijk and Kintsch(1983). They believe that discourse coherence is established in the process of strategic comprehension of discourses, and, coherence is based on people's knowledge and experiences. Halliday and Hasan (1976) are among the representative figures who study discourse coherence from the point of view of structuralism. They claim that cohesion is necessary for coherence, and based on this, they made a detailed study of the five cohesion devices in English. However, they overstress the function of cohesion in producing coherence. van Dijk (1977, 1983, 1985) argues that cohesion in form doesn't necessarily mean coherence in meaning. Enkvist (qtd in Zhu Yongsheng, 1997) also presented an example to prove the limitation of Halliday and Hasan's (1976) Cohesion Theory. He claimed that some discourses are not coherent even though there are some cohesive devices according to Halliday and Hasan's (1976) criteria. Based on this, the author of this dissertation argues that the limitation of Halliday and Hasan's (1976) Cohesion Theory can be solved with van Dijk and Kintsch's(1983) Strategic Discourse Comprehension Theory. In this theory, macrostructure is raised. Macrostructure is related to global coherence. Global coherence theory can explain why the example presented by Enkvist(qtd in Zhu Yongsheng, 1997) is not coherent. Furthermore, the Strategies of Discourse Comprehension Theory can make an explanation for both local and global coherence, while Halliday and Hasan's (1976) Cohesion Theory can only explain local coherence. As for the research method, this dissertation first tries to analyze some examples both with Halliday and Hasan's (1976) Cohesion Theory and van Dijk and Kintsch's (1983) theory. The analysis of the examples shows that it is possible to apply van Dijk and Kintsch's (1983) theory to solve the problems that can be solved in Halliday and Hasan's (1976) framework; and then the dissertation also use van Dijk and Kintsch's (1983) theory to solve the problems that can not be solved with Halliday and Hasan's (1976) theory. At last, the author analyzes an excerpt of an article in "An English Course for Science and Technology" with van Dijk and Kintsch's theory. This dissertation consists of five chapters, and the main contents are as follows:Chapter one briefly introduces the main purpose and theoretical basis.Chapter two briefly analyzes Halliday and Hasan's (1976) Cohesion Theory and the defects of this theory. Chapter three presents the Strategic Discourse Comprehension Theory, and makes a detailed discussion of local and global coherence. Chapter four analyzes the same examples with the two theories, and analyzes the examples, which can not be explained with Halliday and Hasan's (1976) Cohesion Theory, with van Dijk and Kintsch's (1983) Strategic Discourse Comprehension Theory. In this chapter, the author points out that the Strategic Discourse Comprehension Theory can provide a powerful explanation for discourse coherence. At the same time, the author also points out the defects of the Strategic Discourse Comprehension Theory.Chapter five is the conclusion.