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Volume 4, Issue 2
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Abstract

Abstract

This paper uses a trinocular approach – i.e. from below, from above and from roundabout – to describe Theme as point of departure (POD) in English and Spanish casual conversation (thus avoiding the more controversial ‘what-the-clause-is-about’ aspect of Theme). This research is part of a long-term contrastive study which includes the description of POD in academic writing and a crosslinguistic comparison of POD in academic writing and casual conversation. Among the main findings in this paper, the following stand out: (a) the identification of a conversational texture characterised by the interplay of textual and interpersonal strands of meaning; and (b) different POD arrangements of English and Spanish clauses in casual conversation, motivated by different ways of enacting communicative exchange.

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2022-09-29
2023-03-23

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Theme as point of departure in English and Spanish casual conversation
Language, Context and Text 4, 197 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1075/langct.21009.aru
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): casual conversation; discourse markers; English/Spanish contrasts; gapped thematic progression; metafunctional interplay; point of departure; systemic functional linguistics; texture; Theme; trinocular approach

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