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Control from the background: a study of information structure in native and non‐native discourse
Author(s) -
BülowMøller Anne Marie
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
international journal of applied linguistics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.712
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1473-4192
pISSN - 0802-6106
DOI - 10.1111/j.1473-4192.1996.tb00087.x
Subject(s) - negotiation , argumentative , clarity , information structure , control (management) , linguistics , sociology , psychology , political science , computer science , artificial intelligence , social science , philosophy , biochemistry , chemistry
This study argues that information structure management is an important and problematic part of the competence sought by nonnative speakers, particularly for goal‐related discourse types where clarity and argumentative power play a role. As negotiation activity is an important case in point, simulated negotiation material is used to show how certain non‐native structures hamper the process. Non‐natives find difficulties in condensing given information and in grounding it with the building of anaphoric relations, the placing of focus and the establishing of more global links. Conversely, natives use these categories to achieve control over the emergent negotiation process.