Communication theories

• The document is a summary of all chapters of a communication booklet.
• The document is divided into six main sections:
  • Discourse and Society
  • What is a Text?
  • What is Paratext?
  • What is Context?
  • Discursive Genres and Textual Sequences
  • Ideology
• There is a sub-chapter under each chapter, summarizing its contents
• Understanding these concepts is vital for constructing a good macrostructure and answering multiple-choice questions
• Each multiple-choice question answered correctly is worth one point
• The macrostructure is worth 4 points

Discourse and Society

• Includes the use of verbs "of saying" useful in making a macrostructure
  • Examples: Ascribe, affirm, analyze, argue, cite, confront, corroborate, criticize, defend, develop, deny, explain, express, inform, interpret, justify, limit, manifest, negate, opine, ponder, probe, rationalize, relate, sustain, theorize

What is a Text?

• A text exhibits coherence if its context allows production, reception, and interpretation within a communicative situation, possessing a specific meaning
• Local coherence in text sentences relies on global coherence, distinguishing between topic and sentence relative to information distribution
• Global discourse coherence pertains to the discourse's theme, synthesizing sentence contents from paragraph sequences and larger units
• Extensive texts may feature several meaning sequences or sub-themes, each integrating local coherence
• A text demonstrates global coherence when generating its superstructure, enabling topic or subject assignment

Cohesion

• Cohesion refers to the connection between sentences using cohesive devices, categorized into reference, ellipsis, connectors, and lexical or semantic reiteration

Reference

• Achieved using personal, possessive, demonstrative, and relative pronouns to link ideas

Ellipsis

• Achieved by omitting words for sentence dynamism and avoiding repetition

Connectors

• Serve to link ideas and can be
  • Copulative (addition: and, nor; amplification: also, besides)
  • Disjunctive (option: or)
  • Adversative/Oppositional (restriction: but, however; concession: although, even so; exclusion: on the contrary)
  • Distributive (information division)
  • Causative (cause)
  • Consecutive (consequence/effect)
  • Temporal (anteriority, simultaneity, posteriority)
  • Final (purpose)
  • Comparative (comparison)
  • Reformulative (restatement)
  • Ordering (information sequence)
  • Conditional (condition)
  • Exemplifying (example)
  • Summary (conclusion)

Lexical or Semantic Reiteration

• Includes synonyms, quasi-synonyms, antonyms, hypernyms, hyponyms, collocation, and paraphrase

Adequacy

• Refers to the personal form or register chosen, influenced by communication situations
• Registers can be elaborate, careful, technical, specialized, familiar, general, formal, informal, personal, or impersonal
• Registers can be recognized by traits close to speech or writing, formal or informal relationships, and personal or impersonal context

Correction

• Uses correct rules of orthography and lexis to write well
• Includes punctuation, redundancy etc.

What is a Paratext?

• Paratexts frame the text and aid in constructing a hypothesis
• Paratexts exist in journals, magazines, academic articles, and general texts

Paratexts in journals, magazines, academic articles

• Verbal elements: title page, author names, editorial information, content lists, prefaces, notes
• Iconographic elements: photos, illustrations
• Indexes: material aspects, factual aspects

Paratexts in All Texts

• Graphic paratexts: titles, subtitles
  • Author mention
  • Author biography
  • Data source
  • Footnotes
  • Glossary
  • References
  • Hyperlinks to files/documents

Print publications

• Include books, book chapters, and journal articles with specific formatting requirements

Digital Versions

• Contain audios, videos, and links

Iconic Paratexts include

• Visual images and related news

What is Context?

• Context is the topic in a macrostructure
• The context makes up the topic within the historical and social context
• To identify the topic in a context, look at the paratext
• A quaestio, hypotheses, argumentations, and resolutions can be written well by understanding the context
• Historic context can be explicit or implicit and be global or small scale.

Discursive Genres and Textual Sequences

• Aspects are shown of the four conversation types along with their characteristics, features and internal features.
• There are four types of speeches including: journalism, literary, scientific and academic.
• Academic discourse can be divided by who speaks.

Discursive types include

• Journalistic: internal and external features, genre
• Literary: internal and external features, genre
• Scientific: internal and external features, genre
• Academic 1: internal and external features, genre
• Academic 2: internal and external features, genre

Sequence Theory

• An explanatory sequence includes a presentation of the topic, clarifying questions, an explication, and a conclusion
• Explanatory strategies for text include definition, example, quotation, classification, formulation, casual explication, and illustration

Argumentation

• Used to develop topics that lend themselves to controversy
• Providing the reason to defend a hypothesis
• Predominant logical connectors, present tense verbs and is influenced highly by subjectivity

Structure of Argumentation

• Introduction to capture attention
• Thesis explains the subtle basis for arguments
• Argumentation to expand on thesis
• Conclusion to remind readers

Logical Strategies

• Are techniques used to strengthen and convince audiences
• Include use of authoritative quotes, casual relationships, definitions, and making concessions

Additional techniques

• Include irony, quotations, logical relationships, analogies, metaphors, and rhetorical questions

Syllogism

• Use deductive reasoning using premises to come to conclusions

Logical Structure

• Begins with an initial fact and is supported by a law of passage in shared experiences

Ideology and Enunciation

• Enunciation refers to the analysis of linguistic instances, with the act of enunciation and the receiver as the poles of constitutive elements
• Enunciation recognizes two levels that include factual information and the linguistic instance.
• Spatial and temporal associations are organized and classified as deitics

Traces include

• Diectics, subjectivisms and enuciative polyphony

Diectics elements

• Have elements that make sense and include demonstrative pronouns, location, verbal dissidence, titles, and relation

Subjectivisms

• Are classified as subjective and either axiological, pejorative, or evaluating

Rhetoric includes

• Interrogation, intimidation and assertation

Message Modalities

• Include tematization, passivization, and reformulation

Enunciative polyphony

• Adds intonation featuring a change in style and is found through irnoy or intertextuality

6.2 Ideology

• You can observe ideology when the author writes from a positive or negative perspective
• Aspects include positive, negative, standards, differences and themes.
• It can also be shown through negations and lexicalization.