Relationship Between Topic-introduction And Discourse Anaphora

The present study intends to provide a relatively comprehensive account for the relationship between concrete entity topic-introduction and discourse anaphora resolution in English news reports. It aims to answer the following three questions:1) What kind of noun-phrase is typically employed in introducing concrete entity topics into English news reports and what is the average topic persistence of topics introduced by different noun-phrases? 2) What is the typical syntactic position that noun-phrase takes in introducing concrete entity topics into English news reports and what is the average topic persistence of topics introduced by different noun-phrases in different syntactic positions? 3) What is the relation between topic persistence and discourse anaphora resolution?Sixty English news reports on 2008 American presidential campaign are selected successively within 3 weeks from three American nationwide authoritative newspapers: The New York Times, Los Angels Times and Chicago Tribune. To analyze the relationship between concrete entity topic-introduction and discourse anaphora resolution, every newly introduced concrete entity topic is identified and coded. Meanwhile, means employed in concrete entity topic-introduction are identified and coded. Then the relationship between linguistic cues and discourse anaphora interpretation is examined by analyzing the overall frequency as well as the topic persistence of concrete entity topics of noun-phrases in different syntactic positions.Ariel's (1990) Accessibility Theory and Givón's (1990) Topicality Theory are adopted to explore the correlation between means employed in concrete entity topic-introduction and discourse anaphora interpretation. Within a cognitive and functional framework, the overall frequency and the topic persistence of different concrete entity topics introduced by different noun-phrases in different sentence positions are analyzed.The results of the present research suggest that the most typical noun-phrase used in concrete entity topic-introduction in English journalistic discourse is proper name and the typical syntactic position noun-phrase takes is subject position. Taking noun-phrases and syntactic positions together into consideration, the overall frequency and the topic persistence of concrete entity topic introduced by proper name in subject position rank first compared with other noun-phrases in other syntactic positions. The quantitative analysis indicates that in English news reports, the most important concrete entity topics are usually introduced by proper names in subject position and they are very likely to be maintained in the following discourse.The qualitative analysis of the relationship between means employed in concrete entity topic-introduction and discourse anaphora resolution shows that, with regard to the activation degree of the concrete entity topics, those topics introduced by proper names in subject position come first, those introduced by proper names in predicative position occupy the second place, while those introduced by definite noun-phrases in indirect object position rank the third place.Within the framework of Accessibility Theory and Topicality Theory, the higher the degree of the topic activation is, the easier it is to be retrieved, and the easier it is to be retrieved, the more accessible it is for the reader. The most striking feature of the relation between concrete entity topic-introduction and discourse anaphora resolution is that the most accessible concrete entity topics in English news reports are those introduced by proper names in subject position.This study provides supporting evidence for the previous studies on the effect of linguistic cues on discourse anaphora interpretation. It can help promote the understanding of the relation between linguistic cues (means employed in concrete entity topic-introduction) and discourse anaphora resolution in English news reports and give insights into the learning and teaching of English news reports.