This study brings together two approaches to linguistic variation, Hallidayan systemic-functional grammar and Labovian variation theory, and in doing so brings together a functional interpretation of language and its empirical investigation in its social context. The study reports on an empirical investigation of the concept of text. The investigation proceeds on the basis of a corpus of texts gathered in sociolinguistic interviews with fifty adult speakers of Australian English in Sydney. The total corpus accounted for in terms of text type or genre numbers 420 texts of varying length, 125 of which, produced in response to four narrative questions, are investigated in greater detail in respect both of the types of text they constitute as well as of some of their linguistic realisations. These largely narrative-type texts, which represent between two and three hours of spoken English and total approximately 53000 words, are presented in a second volume analysed in terms of their textual or generic structure as well as their realisation at the level of the clause complex. The study explores in some detail models of register and genre developed within systemic-functional linguistics, adopting a genre model developed by J.R. Martin and others working within his model which foregrounds the notion that all aspects of the system(s) involved are related to one another probabilistically. In order to investigate the concept of text in actual discourse under conditions which permit us to become sufficiently confident of our understanding of it to proceed to generalisations about text and its contextual conditioning in spoken discourse, we turn to Labovian methods of sociolinguistic inquiry, i.e. to quantitative methods or methods of quantifying linguistic choice. The study takes the sociolinguistic interview as pioneered by Labov in his study of phonological variation in New York City and develops it for the purpose of investigating textual variation. The question of methodology constitutes a substantial part of the study, contributing in the process to a much greater understanding of the very phenomenon of text in discourse, for example by addressing itself to the question of the feasibility of operationalising a concept of text in the context of spoken discourse. The narrative-type texts investigated in further detail were found to range on a continuum from most experientially-oriented texts such as procedure and recount at one end to the classic narrative of personal experience and anecdote to the increasingly interpersonally-oriented exemplum and observation, both of which become interpretative of the real world in contrast to the straightforwardly representational slant taken on the same experience by the more experientially-oriented texts. The explanation for the generic variation along this continuum must be sought in a system of generic choice which is essentially cultural. A quantitative analysis of clausal theme and clause complex-type relations was carried out, the latter by means of log-linear analysis, in order to investigate their correlation with generic structure. While it was possible to relate the choice of theme to the particular stages of generic structures, clause complex-type relations are chosen too infrequently to be related to stages and were thus related to genres as a whole. We find that while by and large the choice of theme correlates well with different generic stages, it only discriminates between different genres, i.e. generic structures in toto, for those genres which are maximally different. Similarly, investigating the two choices in the principal systems involved in the organisation of the clause complex, i.e. the choice of taxis (parataxis vs. hypotaxis) and the (grammatically independent) choice of logico-semantic relations (expansion vs. projection), we find that both those choices discriminate better between types more distant on a narrative continuum. The log-linear analysis of clause complex-type relations also permitted the investigation of the social characteristics of speakers. We found that the choice of logico-semantic relations correlates with genre and question, while the choice of taxis correlates with a speaker's sex and his membership of some social group (in addition to genre). Parataxis is favoured by men and by members of the group lowest in the social hierarchy. Age on the other hand is not significant in the choice of taxis at all. In other words, since social factors are clearly shown to be significant in the making of abstract grammatical choices where they cannot be explained in terms of the functional organisation of text, we conclude that social factors must be made part of a model of text in order to fully account for its contextual conditioning. The study demonstrates that an understanding of the linguistic properties of discourse requires empirical study and, conversely, that it is possible to study discourse empirically without relaxing the standards of scientific inquiry.

This study brings together two approaches to linguistic variation, Hallidayan systemic-functional grammar and Labovian variation theory, and in doing so brings together a functional interpretation of language and its empirical investigation in its social context. The study reports on an empirical investigation of the concept of text. The investigation proceeds on the basis of a corpus of texts gathered in sociolinguistic interviews with fifty adult speakers of Australian English in Sydney. The total corpus accounted for in terms of text type or genre numbers 420 texts of varying length, 125 of which, produced in response to four narrative questions, are investigated in greater detail in respect both of the types of text they constitute as well as of some of their linguistic realisations. These largely narrative-type texts, which represent between two and three hours of spoken English and total approximately 53000 words, are presented in a second volume analysed in terms of their textual or generic structure as well as their realisation at the level of the clause complex. The study explores in some detail models of register and genre developed within systemic-functional linguistics, adopting a genre model developed by J.R. Martin and others working within his model which foregrounds the notion that all aspects of the system(s) involved are related to one another probabilistically. In order to investigate the concept of text in actual discourse under conditions which permit us to become sufficiently confident of our understanding of it to proceed to generalisations about text and its contextual conditioning in spoken discourse, we turn to Labovian methods of sociolinguistic inquiry, i.e. to quantitative methods or methods of quantifying linguistic choice. The study takes the sociolinguistic interview as pioneered by Labov in his study of phonological variation in New York City and develops it for the purpose of investigating textual variation. The question of methodology constitutes a substantial part of the study, contributing in the process to a much greater understanding of the very phenomenon of text in discourse, for example by addressing itself to the question of the feasibility of operationalising a concept of text in the context of spoken discourse. The narrative-type texts investigated in further detail were found to range on a continuum from most experientially-oriented texts such as procedure and recount at one end to the classic narrative of personal experience and anecdote to the increasingly interpersonally-oriented exemplum and observation, both of which become interpretative of the real world in contrast to the straightforwardly representational slant taken on the same experience by the more experientially-oriented texts. The explanation for the generic variation along this continuum must be sought in a system of generic choice which is essentially cultural. A quantitative analysis of clausal theme and clause complex-type relations was carried out, the latter by means of log-linear analysis, in order to investigate their correlation with generic structure. While it was possible to relate the choice of theme to the particular stages of generic structures, clause complex-type relations are chosen too infrequently to be related to stages and were thus related to genres as a whole. We find that while by and large the choice of theme correlates well with different generic stages, it only discriminates between different genres, i.e. generic structures in toto, for those genres which are maximally different. Similarly, investigating the two choices in the principal systems involved in the organisation of the clause complex, i.e. the choice of taxis (parataxis vs. hypotaxis) and the (grammatically independent) choice of logico-semantic relations (expansion vs. projection), we find that both those choices discriminate better between types more distant on a narrative continuum. The log-linear analysis of clause complex-type relations also permitted the investigation of the social characteristics of speakers. We found that the choice of logico-semantic relations correlates with genre and question, while the choice of taxis correlates with a speaker's sex and his membership of some social group (in addition to genre). Parataxis is favoured by men and by members of the group lowest in the social hierarchy. Age on the other hand is not significant in the choice of taxis at all. In other words, since social factors are clearly shown to be significant in the making of abstract grammatical choices where they cannot be explained in terms of the functional organisation of text, we conclude that social factors must be made part of a model of text in order to fully account for its contextual conditioning. The study demonstrates that an understanding of the linguistic properties of discourse requires empirical study and, conversely, that it is possible to study discourse empirically without relaxing the standards of scientific inquiry.

The primary focus of this research was to investigate the emotion language and emotion narratives of Turkish-English late bilinguals who have been living in the U.S. Previous research has shown that the emotion language and narratives of second language learners and native speakers of English are different. This study focused on late bilinguals who had learnt English in instructed settings in their home country, and came to the U.S. for M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. The study consisted of two parts. In the first part, the elicited personal narratives of Turkish-English late bilinguals in English were compared to those elicited from native speakers of English with regard to both emotion and emotion-laden word production and narrative structure. The results showed that there were differences between the emotion language and narratives of the bilinguals and native speakers in their English narratives. In the second part of the study, personal narratives were elicited from Turkish-English late bilinguals in their first language, Turkish and their emotion language and narrative structure from their English narratives were compared to their narratives produced in Turkish. Similarly, the results showed that the emotion language and emotion narratives of bilinguals in English and Turkish were different. In conclusion, late bilinguals' emotion language and narratives are different in their first and second languages. Furthermore, they are different from the emotion language and narratives of native speakers.

This paper investigates the usage of topic in spoken Brasilian Portuguese, considering it as the constituent on the left of the sentence. To carry out the analysis, we chose the proposal of Callou et alii (1993), which considers the topic lato sensu constructions. The aim of our project is to verify how this phenomenon is used, and to observe if the presence of topic either favors or not the occurrence of lexicalized subject in the sentence. In order to do so, an investigation of topic as well as subject structures was carried out, bearing in mind during the analysis, linguistic and extralinguistic factors such as social class and age group. The corpus used to develop the research consisted of 45 interviews carried out with adult speakers from the city of Uberlândia (MG), from both sexs. The analysis showed that in spite of the little presence in the language, all the informers, irrespective of the social class, age group, used the topic structure, confirming our main hypothesis. In regards to the constructions of the topic lato sensu it was noticed that the Dislocation for de left (DE) is more used than Topicalization (TOP). This fact doesn t confirm our hypothesis but confirms the tendency of Brasilian Portuguese to fill all the empty categories, as already mentioned by many researches. Furthermore, according to the theory of Labovian Sociolinguistics and Parametric Sociolinguistics, in which we based this paper, it was possible to conclude that presence x absence of topic lato sensu constructions, in the sentence, is a process of variation, not a process of linguistic change. / Este trabalho investiga o uso do tópico na língua oral do Português do Brasil, considerando como tal o constituinte à esquerda da sentença. Para realizar a análise, adotamos a proposta de Callou et alii (1993), na qual são consideradas construções de tópico lato sensu. O objetivo do nosso trabalho é verificar de que modo o fenômeno é usado e observar, principalmente, se a presença de tópico favorece ou não a ocorrência de sujeito lexicalizado na sentença. Para tanto, foi feita uma investigação de estruturas de tópico e estruturas de sujeito, levando em consideração, na análise, fatores lingüísticos e fatores extralingüísticos classe social e faixa etária. O corpus utilizado para o desenvolvimento da pesquisa constituiu-se de 45 entrevistas realizadas com falantes adultos da cidade de Uberlândia (MG), de ambos os sexos. A análise realizada evidenciou que, apesar da pouca incidência na língua, todos os informantes, independentemente da classe social e da faixa etária, que fizeram uso da estrutura de tópico, lexicalizaram o sujeito, corroborando, assim, nossa hipótese principal. Especificamente em relação às construções de tópico lato sensu, foi constatado que o Deslocamento à Esquerda (DE) é mais usado do que a Topicialização (TOP). Essa constatação refutou nossa hipótese, mas confirma a tendência do Português do Brasil de preencher categorias vazias, como já foi atestado por vários estudiosos. Além disso, seguindo os pressupostos teóricos da Sociolingüística Laboviana e da Sociolingüística Paramétrica, nos quais fundamentamos nosso trabalho, foi possível concluir que presença x ausência de construções de tópico lato sensu , na sentença, constitui um processo de variação e não de mudança lingüística. / Mestre em Lingüística

This dissertation deals with the variation between the conditional and the pastimperfect indicative in conditional sentences beginning with the conjunction "if". The usage of these verb tenses alternate with simple verb constructions and verbal locutions. The author aimed to detect whether the verb forms actually alternate and the factors that determine which verb forms should be used. For the purpose of this work,linguistic factors have been analysed: size of constructions, order of sentences and formal parallelism. Besides, extra-linguistic factors such as social class and age group have also been investigated. The researcher worked with a corpus that represented the language spoken in Uberlândia, Brazil. This corpus was composed by 45 interviews with adult speakers from the city mentioned previously. The perspective of Labovian Sociolinguistics (Theory of Variation) and Parametric Sociolinguistics conducted the methodology of the research. This study shows that the past imperfect indicative is mostly used among low class and the formal parallelism favours one of the verb forms analyseds. / Esta dissertação trata da variação entre o futuro do pretérito e o pretérito imperfeito do indicativo, em orações condicionais iniciadas por "se". Essas formas verbais se alternam tanto em construções com verbos simples como em locuções verbais. Buscou-se detectar se essas formas verbais se alternam e quais fatores condicionam o uso de uma em detrimento da outra. Para tanto, foram investigados fatores lingüísticos, tais como, tamanho das orações, ordem das sentenças e paralelismo formal. Além disso, foram analisados fatores extralingüísticos, como classe social e faixa etária. Para o desenvolvimento da pesquisa, trabalhou-se com um corpus representante da língua falada na cidade de Uberlândia, Brasil. Na composição desse corpus, foram utilizadas 45 entrevistas realizadas com falantes adultos desta cidade. Trabalhou-se na perspectiva da Sociolingüística Laboviana (Teoria da Variação) e da Sociolingüística Paramétrica. A análise realizada evidenciou que o pretérito imperfeito é o tempo verbal preferencial da classe baixa e que o paralelismo formal favorece um dos tempos verbais analisados. / Mestre em Lingüística