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System Networks as a Tool for the Pragmatic Analysis of an EFL Spoken Corpus

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Yearbook of Corpus Linguistics and Pragmatics 2013

Part of the book series: Yearbook of Corpus Linguistics and Pragmatics ((YCLP,volume 1))

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Abstract

This chapter presents the dynamic creation of a tool to operationalize the study of regulatory functions in EFL pre-school teacher talk: the Regulatory Functions System Network (RFSN). First, it reviews the criteria borrowed from Systemic Functional Linguistics and Classroom Discourse Analysis in the preliminary construction of a system to approach speech functions. Then, based on a corpus-driven analysis of EFL data, this study models and further expands that instrument: it defines the variables and features that portray the distinct teacher’s discourse-semantic options in the instantiation of each regulatory function. Finally, this study assesses the reliability and validity of the RFSN, achieving an intercoder analysis of the data. The elaboration of the RFSN, supported by statistical tests, both provides a taxonomy of regulatory functions in the EFL classroom and constitutes a valid instrument which will hopefully help to systematize the study of pragmatic content and hence enable the comparison and generalization of results across studies.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Note that Martin’s option “tracking: explore” is disregarded in the present study as that exclusively applies to the “information” commodity and this investigation focuses on the “goods and services” commodity instead.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Escuela Oficial de Idiomas de Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    Silvia Riesco-Bernier

  2. English Department, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Silvia Riesco-Bernier

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  1. Silvia Riesco-Bernier
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Correspondence to Silvia Riesco-Bernier .

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  1. , Departamento de Filología Inglesa, Autonomous University of Madrid, C/Francisco Tomás y Valiente 1, Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    Jesús Romero-Trillo

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Riesco-Bernier, S. (2013). System Networks as a Tool for the Pragmatic Analysis of an EFL Spoken Corpus. In: Romero-Trillo, J. (eds) Yearbook of Corpus Linguistics and Pragmatics 2013. Yearbook of Corpus Linguistics and Pragmatics, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6250-3_11

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