| Discourse analysis studies language in use, that is, the real language used by real people in real communication. Unlike the traditional sentence-as-object approach which is exclusively based on syntactic description, discourse analysis studies meaning at discourse level. It studies how an intended meaning is put across by addresser(s) through the use of language, and how that intended meaning is interpreted by addressee(s) through the application of prior knowledge to analysing the language. The purpose of discourse analysis is to reveal the basic laws that govern language use. Modern language testing, on the other hand, aims at measuring candidates ability to use language. That is, their ability to interpret and to produce coherent discourse, which necessarily involves understanding and applying the basic laws that govern language use. It is here that we can find the interface between discourse analysis and language testing. This dissertation discusses two essentials of discourse analysis theories -- cohesion and coherence through analysis of cohesive devices, context and schema theory; it also discusses the development of language testing. On the basis of these discussions, this dissertation aims at revealing the necessity and significance of applying discourse analysis theories to language testing. It illustrates through examples how discourse analysis theories can be applied to language testing. |
