Application Of Presupposition Theory In The Teaching Of English Listening-From The Perspective Of Information Structure

"Presupposition"is an important topic in linguistics. The concept"presupposition"originated from philosophy was first put forward by German philosopher Frege in 1892. In 1960s presupposition was introduced into linguistics, and immediately attracted much attention of many linguists and scholars. Researchers find out that there are two different types of presuppositions in natural language—semantic presupposition and pragmatic presupposition. After 1990s although the study climax had passed, since presupposition is an important aspect in studying the linguistic intuition, the interest in presupposition had never faded. Presupposition is an effective means to secure economy, validity, prominence and coherence of utterance. Due to the function of presupposition in communication, we try to combine the theory of presupposition and Information Structure, to analyze the relationship between presupposition and Given and New information, presupposition and information focus. And then tentatively discusses the application of presupposition from the perspective of information structure in listening comprehension and its implications for listening teaching.The thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter one includes the brief introduction of the study on presupposition, the purpose and significance of this paper and the theory and approach adopted in the research. Chapter two first gives an overview of the researches in presupposition, including those in philosophy and linguistics which focuses on the different explanations of semantic presupposition and pragmatic presupposition made by the linguists. Then the related terms in Information Structure theory are also introduced. Chapter three spares several pages for the construction of theoretical framework of this thesis, i.e. begins with the function of presupposition in information structure and its realization to discuss the relationship between presupposition and information structure. We get a conclusion that Given information exists in presupposition; presupposition determines the changes of New information and the placement of information focus. We also find that presupposition contributes to the coherence and cohesion of verbal communication. Chapter four is an empirical study. The hypothesis of the research is that the application of presupposition from the perspective of information structure can better English listening proficiency. This experiment involves a control group and an experimental group. The controlled group is taught in the ordinary way, while the experimental group is introduced the functions of presupposition in information structure. Then two tests of CET-4 are tried in two groups and the statistics of scores from two groups are processed in SPSS in order to give solid evidence by comparison to prove that presupposition theory is applicable in English listening teaching. Besides the two tests, two questionnaires are used for finding out the status quo of students'listening comprehension and for the feedback of students about backwash effect and evaluation of application of presupposition theory. After three months'experiment, the author gives some suggestions on how to apply the theory of presupposition in English listening teaching from the perspective of information structure. Chapter five is a conclusion part, summing up the content and significance of the research. The limitations are also suggested.