The Information Structure and Stance Marking Function of the English Introductory it Pattern: A Corpus-based Research

Abstract

Information structure (IS) is a component of sentence grammar concerning the process where speaker-writers pair propositions within their mental representations with the morpho-syntactic forms that match hearer-readers’ current mental states. Cross-linguistic evidence has shown that speaker-writers frequently employ various linguistic resources to mark different information components in the sentence, including given/new entities, Topic, and/or the Focus of the sentence. Among various syntactic markers of IS is the English introductory it pattern, such as it seems obvious that he was right.

Empirical research findings have revealed the distribution of given/new information within the introductory it pattern, which also demonstrates register-specific differences in spoken vs. written registers. However, this register-specific distribution is not explored adequately by previous research. Researchers have tentatively discussed the distribution of Focus (or the “focus structure”) within the introductory it pattern, which is, nonetheless, not supported by empirical investigations. Consequently, further studies are still needed to underpin the focus structure of the pattern and explore the register-specific distributional features of information within the pattern. These two aspects can be further analyzed for their correlations with discourse-pragmatic factors, corroborating the recent call for the discourse-pragmatic turn of IS.

In this regard, this thesis aims to fill this research gap by adopting Lambrecht’s integrated theory IS (1994) to finalize the IS of the introductory it pattern. Specifically, the IS of the pattern investigated in this thesis involves the given/new information distribution, the pattern’s focus structure, and how the two IS aspects are influenced by discourse-pragmatic factors. As to discourse-pragmatic functions, the acknowledged primary discourse-pragmatic function of the pattern is the stance marking function. Related research has also reported traces of the interrelations between stance expression and IS. Thus, stance qualifies as a discourse-pragmatic factor having a prospect of correlating with the IS of the introductory it pattern. The following three research questions guide this thesis: (1) What are the given/new information distributional features and the focus structure of the introductory it pattern? (2) What are the core stance meanings of the pattern? (3) Is the information structure of the pattern correlated to the expression of stance? To resolve the three questions, this thesis selected the British subcomponent of the International Corpus of English as the source of research materials. The corpus contained 1746 cases of the introductory it pattern, which were automatically extracted and then manually annotated for its IS marking function and stance expression. The resultant IS and stance delivery data were then statistically calculated for possible significant correlations using chi-square tests, Fisher’s exact tests, Cramer’s V, and collexeme analysis. The correlation statistics were then interpreted based on in-depth decoding of how the pattern is used in natural linguistic settings. The analyses yield three major findings.

First, this thesis found that the introductory it pattern displays clear information structural features, which are register-specific. The extraposed subject clause primarily conveys Pragmatic Assertions or new information, especially in written discourse. Thus, the high proportion of extraposed subject clauses conveying new information is in line with the informativeness of written discourse. The most frequent focus structure of the introductory it pattern is the sentence-focus (SF) structure, followed by the predicate-focus (PF) structure, and the argument-focus (AF) structure is only scarcely seen within the pattern. The three focus structures are associated with respective discourse functions and display register-specific distributional features: the SF structure introduces new topics into the discourse, features a move opening function, and significantly correlates with written discourse. The PF structure maintains the current topic, displays a move-sustaining function, and significantly correlates with spoken discourse. The AF structure poses a contrast between a piece of given information in the previous discourse and the current new information, thus highlighting the new information.

Second, the core stance marking functions of the introductory it pattern are identified. This thesis has revealed that the pattern demonstrates three stance-marking functions at the construction level: proactive stance marking, positive likelihood judgment, and scalarized stance expression. The proactive stance marking function is demonstrated via its inclination to express modalized indirect evidentiality (grouped into the Modalized Probability stance subtype) over non-modalized Direct and Reported evidentiality. Furthermore, this proactive stance marking function is also supported by its preference for explicit evaluative lexis. Therefore, the pattern construes a stance frame semantically coherent with lexis with built-in stance meanings. The pattern also overwhelmingly delivers positive likelihood judgment as opposed to negative or dubitative likelihood judgment. Finally, various stance types/subtypes expressed by the introductory it pattern share one common semantic feature: the scalarized stance expression or clear scalarized evaluative meanings. The three core stance meanings of the pattern are also register-general.

Third, this thesis has found that the focus structure of the introductory it pattern is significantly correlated to various stance types/subtypes. For example, the SF structure correlates to the Epistemic stance and the Volition subtype under the Deontic stance; the PF structure correlates to the Evaluation stance and the Circumstance subtype under the Dynamic stance. These correlations are register-general. Moreover, they are coherent with the meanings of the correlated stance types/subtypes and congruent with the interactive and stance-focused nature of spoken discourse and the information-focused nature of written discourse, respectively. This, in turn, reflects the interactive orientation of the Evaluation stance and the information-focused orientation of the Epistemic stance.

The research findings of this thesis are significant because they have testified to the existence of correlations between IS and stance expression, thus supporting the discourse-pragmatic turn of IS research. The findings also afford several theoretical and pedagogical implications to learners and teachers of English as a second language.

Date of Award	5 May 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	City University of Hong Kong
Supervisor	Weiwei Fan (External Supervisor) & Chengyu Alex FANG (Supervisor)