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Discourse-pragmatic functions of "like" in spoken discourse
Raušová, Veronika ; Brůhová, Gabriela (advisor) ; Dontcheva-Navrátilová, Olga (referee) ; Kozubíková Šandová, Jana (referee)
The discourse-pragmatic (D-P) uses of the word like represent a functionally versatile phenomenon typical of informal, spoken language. A marked increase in the use of this word and the resulting omnipresence in spoken discourse gave rise to many studies of various facets of its use in the past thirty years. Nevertheless, the research potential has not been exhausted, especially with the emergence of new, contemporary corpus data. Therefore, combining a quantitative approach typical of corpus linguistics with a qualitative approach inherent in pragmatics, the present "short-term diachronic comparable corpus linguistic [research]" (Leech et al., 2009: 28-29) aims to describe the changes that have occurred in the usage and of the D- P like between the early 1990s and the 2010s. The present study is based on a twofold analysis of 1000 random tokens of the D-P like; one half drawn out from the demographically sampled component of the original Spoken BNC1994, and the second half extracted from its successor, the Spoken BNC2014. Firstly, the quantitative analysis of the data was performed, revealing that the pronounced increase in the frequency of the word like in the BNC2014 is caused by the D-P uses, whose relative frequency per million words is estimated to have increased approximately nine times....
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Content-oriented Hedging in Academic English Generated by ChatGPT
Kobzová, Dorothea ; Raušová, Veronika (advisor) ; Vašků, Kateřina (referee)
The aim of this diploma thesis is to compare the use of content-oriented hedges in published articles from the Journal of Pragmatics with their equivalents generated by the artificial intelligence language model ChatGPT. Content-oriented hedges are devices of academic discourse that help authors communicate their results truthfully, only at the level for which they have evidence for. The means through which this type of hedging can be expressed include epistemic modal verbs and epistemic adverbs, which are used in this thesis to compare the frequency and diversity of content-oriented hedges in the discussions/conclusions of published articles with their respective equivalents generated by ChatGPT. The most important finding is that the content-oriented hedges used by ChatGPT do not appear as frequently and with such variety as in published articles. This result is supported mainly by significant differences found in the use of epistemic adverbs in the ChatGPT corpus. As a whole, the thesis attempts to contribute to the study of academic discourse produced by artificial intelligence, namely the language model ChatGPT.
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"Better In English": Exploring the Relationship Between Anglophone Media, the Internet and Language Preferences and Uses in Czech-English Speakers
Arellanesová, Josefina ; Luef, Eva Maria (advisor) ; Raušová, Veronika (referee)
and key words Language is a powerful tool that not only allows humans to communicate with one another, but it also enables the ability to express oneself and connect with other human beings on a deeper and more emotional level. In the case of the bilingual, the ability to communicate and express emotion is enhanced, due to the privilege of expressing oneself in two languages. Thus, having the option and space to think in two languages, the bilingual speaker is able to use words from both depending on the ability of the word to properly capture the emotion that they want to express. Owing to the significant global rise of the use of English (due to the Internet and the majority of mainstream media being in English), many, whose mother tongue is different, have become very adept and almost bilingual speakers of the language, causing them to often use English as their preferred means of communication, as it seems to express their feelings more appropriately. Through a survey made to examine this phenomenon, this thesis will focus on Czech native speakers with an above average English proficiency ranging in ages from 18 - 25 and their use of both their mother tongue and the English language. The survey features questions about which language the participants would use in certain contexts, for example...
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Non-standard functions of "like" in spoken discourse
Raušová, Veronika ; Brůhová, Gabriela (advisor) ; Malá, Markéta (referee)
This thesis is concerned with the non-standard functions of the word like in spoken discourse. The aim of this thesis is to categorize the non-standard functions that had been described in the past 30 years and create a comprehensive overview, which might serve as a guideline for further research. The theoretical part of the thesis offers a compilation of standard and non-standard functions that like may represent in spoken discourse. As a non- standard function is considered the use of like as a focus marker, hedge, quotative marker and a discourse marker. The second, methodological, part describes the method of extraction of the sample of 100 instances from the COCA. The following part then contains analysis of the extracted instances, which are categorized according to the theoretical frame created in the theoretical part of this thesis. The analysis also concerns the position of like in the utterance and frequent collocations. The result of this thesis is a confirmed theoretical frame containing the non-standard functions of like extended by an additional quotative construction, more detailed description of the hedge and the focus marker like and also a confirmation that non- standard like is certainly not only an empty intrusive word but a multifunctional, ever- developing, device with which...
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Hedging: L2 advanced students before and after a study stay in an English-speaking country
Běhounková, Gabriela ; Šaldová, Pavlína (advisor) ; Raušová, Veronika (referee)
The present thesis focuses on the use of hedging devices in advanced learners of English, and it aims to assess whether their study abroad results in either quantitative or qualitative changes in their use of hedging devices. The theoretical part presents the concept of pragmatic competence, the evolution of the concept of hedging, and the formal and functional frameworks that provide the basis for classification of hedging. Johansen's functional framework is subsequently examined in more detail as it is used as a foundation for the practical part. The practical part relies on the analysis of eight interviews with four advanced learners of English conducted before and after studying abroad in an English-speaking country. The results reveal a number of statistically significant quantitative differences, however, they are not consistent enough to prove study abroad has a considerable impact on one's pragmatic competence. The section focusing on qualitative differences may serve as a springboard for further study of hedging devices in learner English, and research on pragmatic gain within study abroad in general. Keywords: hedging, pragmatics, pragmatic competence, politeness, politeness theory, language acquisition, learner language, study abroad, English
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"Hedging" in academic discourse: linguistic research articles
Raušová, Veronika ; Brůhová, Gabriela (advisor) ; Šaldová, Pavlína (referee)
4 Abstract The present thesis focused on the differences in the usage of hedging in research articles of native speakers of Czech writing in English and native speakers of English. Hedging is considered to be a fundamental part of any academic text ensuring that the results and outcomes of one's research are successfully communicated to its intended audience. The main aim was to discover, by analysing the most heavily hedged, concluding sections of research articles, how the native Czech speakers employ hedging in comparison to native English speaking authors and if they project features typical for Czech academic discourse into their work written in English. The most important outcome of the results of this study is the observation that one of the most salient features of Czech academic discourse, which is the low degree of authorial presence and interactivity of the text, does significantly influence the way the Czech authors present the outcomes of their research in English. This is evidenced by the significant difference in the frequency of the reader-oriented hedging strategies in the NCS corpus.
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Non-standard functions of "like" in spoken discourse
Raušová, Veronika ; Brůhová, Gabriela (advisor) ; Malá, Markéta (referee)
This thesis is concerned with the non-standard functions of the word like in spoken discourse. The aim of this thesis is to categorize the non-standard functions that had been described in the past 30 years and create a comprehensive overview, which might serve as a guideline for further research. The theoretical part of the thesis offers a compilation of standard and non-standard functions that like may represent in spoken discourse. As a non- standard function is considered the use of like as a focus marker, hedge, quotative marker and a discourse marker. The second, methodological, part describes the method of extraction of the sample of 100 instances from the COCA. The following part then contains analysis of the extracted instances, which are categorized according to the theoretical frame created in the theoretical part of this thesis. The analysis also concerns the position of like in the utterance and frequent collocations. The result of this thesis is a confirmed theoretical frame containing the non-standard functions of like extended by an additional quotative construction, more detailed description of the hedge and the focus marker like and also a confirmation that non- standard like is certainly not only an empty intrusive word but a multifunctional, ever- developing, device with which...
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