Course: English StylisticsTime: Sep.6-30Course material: English Stylistics: A New Course Book新编英语文体学教程董启明编著 外语教学与研究出版社Teaching procedure: Part One Theoretical Preliminaries(理论预备) and Major Varieties（主要变体）of EnglishChapter 1 Style and Stylistics1.1 Introduction1. What is Language? And in which aspects of language does stylistics focus on?A. Language is the primary object of the study of linguistics, and linguists construct theories of language in general or of particular languages from differing points of view. The discussion of the concepts of style should focus on some essential aspects of language on which most linguists agree.B. Language is viewed as a system of different types of linguistic organization such as phonology, syntax and lexicon. The English language consists of its pattern of sounds, sets of grammatical rules and a large body of vocabulary.C. Language is also a social phenomenon, or institution, whereby people communicate and interact with each other. A language of a particular society is part of the societys culture. Language activities operate within social activities. The language of a participant in a social activity reflects his social characteristics (such as his status, ethnic group, age and sex). It also reflects his awareness of the various factors of a social situation in which he finds himself. He should adjust his language in accordance with the medium of communication (speech or writing), the setting (private or public), the relationship with the addressee (in terms of the degree of intimacy or social distance), and the purpose (to inform, to persuade, etc.).2. Varieties 变体 of Language(variety=style)A. Varieties in relation to regions- British/American EnglishB. Varieties in relation to media-Spoken English/Written EnglishC. Varieties in relation to attitude-degrees of formality/politeness/ impersonality/accessibilityD. Varieties in relation to social factors-Womens English/Black English/Taboo and EuphemismE. Varieties in relation to social Genre-The English of Conversation / Public speaking / News reporting/Advertising/Literary English (The Novel/Poetry)/ Science and Technology/Legal Documents3. Varieties analysis theory-Stylistics (文体学)Essence of stylistics : Appropriate use of language is considered the key to effective communication.e.g. How to suck an egg? (Example and Analysis: Page 3)Analysis : The difference lies in the fact that the young student used some big and formal words, such as perforation(齿孔,hole) ,apex (顶点，最高点 top), aperture(小孔，缝隙，opening), inhaling（吸气） discharged（流出）, which made her utterance difficult to understand, especially by an old woman without much education, while the old woman used informal words, such as gal, hole, end and suck. As a result, her utterance is easy to understand.Note: Different styles should be used on different occasions, and the key to the effective use of language is “appropriateness”, and the key to effective communication is the ability to use language appropriately, otherwise we cannot achieve our purpose of communication.1.2 Definitions of Style/Stylistics/Text1. TextDefinition: A TEXT is any passage, spoken or written, of whatever length, that forms a unified whole. It may be the product of a single speaker/writer (e.g. a sign, a letter, a news report, a statue, a novel), or that of several speakers (e.g. a piece of conversation, a debate).For example,Two boys stood near a jewellers shop. They saw a man break the shop window and steal all the watches. They ran after him, because they took him for a thief.Analysis:A text is realized by a sequence of language units, whether they are sentences or not. The connection among parts of a text is achieved by various cohesive devices, and by semantic and pragmatic implication. In the text you may notice the following modifications, which serve as 1) grammatical cohesive devices:(a) the use of the definite article on second mention, e.g.a shop- the shop a man- the man(b) the substitution of pronouns for nouns. e.g.two boys- they(c) the use of conjunction. e.g.They ran after him, because2) the lexical cohesion in the text is realized by the collocation of the words that are in some way or other typically associated with one another, e.g. steal all the watches; took him for a thief 2. StyleDefinition-Manners indicating prominent linguistic features, devices or patterns, most (at least) frequently occur in a particular text of a particular variety of language.Analysis:Manners (appropriateness) Study Aimsindicating prominent a) linguistic features (phonological /lexical /syntactic /grammatical/semantic features),b) devices (device markers) orc) Patterns(文体/语体常规“型式”) Study Scopemost (or least) frequently occur (words/sentences percentage) Study Approach in a particular text(语篇、篇章、文本) of a particular variety of language. Study Material2.