Adaptation Theory On Incongruence In Text As Representation

As one of the pillars of Halliday's Grammatical Metaphor, incongruence is a frequently used linguistic device in written English, especially in text as representations. Different linguists try to account for this phenomenon from different approaches, arriving at different conclusions. However, the strategic use of incongruence in English is seldom touched upon. This thesis is a pragmatic analysis of incongruence in text as representation, which is understood as a realization of human beings'adaptation to the specific purposes of successful communication in written English. The aim of the thesis is to uncover the mechanism that underlies the choice of incongruence in text as representation in written English text, with the hope to dig out all the potential contextual factors that prompt the language user's preference for the linguistic device. The theoretical framework of the present study is based on Jef Verschueren's linguistic adaptation theory (1999). The author thinks that the use of incongruence is influenced by mental world as well as field, tenor and mode. In accordance with adaptation theory, incongruence in text as representation is regarded as a kind of linguistic choice and a linguistic strategy that can be exploited by the language users to achieve or get adapted to communicative goals.The present study can be a complement to the previous research. It can help us have a better understanding of incongruence in text as representation. The present study will shed light on other strategy-related linguistic devices and make contributions to the study of other linguistic fields.