영어 부가의문문의 기능적 속성에 관한 연구

Abstract

The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate the functional properties of English tag questions and to examine the type and frequency of tag questions in middle school textbooks. In order to achieve this goal, general features and functions of English tag questions were examined syntactically and semantically, and five different English textbooks were analyzed as well. There are two theories in the syntactic approach of underlying structure: One is the study of Klima(1964) and Arbini(1969), who proposed a single sentence theory. The other is that of Huddleston(1970) who proposed a double sentence theory for tag questions. However, these theories contained syntactic defects and did not explain the formation rules of tag questions, leading to the study of the semantic approach. According to Cattell(1973), the tag question is divided into three major types in case of a negative statement with an affirmative tag: First, if the host clause is the strong viewpoint of the speaker, it is uttered virtually like a statement usually with a falling intonation contour. The tag question, which will also have a falling contour is added merely to invite agreement. Second, if the speaker is advancing a viewpoint, but more tentatively, the tag question has a rising intonation contour. Third, if the host clause is not represented as the viewpoint of the speaker, the tag question has a rising intonation contour, but the total pattern of intonation and stress is different from the second with wider pitch range. Principal functions of the tag questions were examined. A tag question is composed of two major polarities: One is the matching polarity which is usually used for defiance, fury, humor, favor, astonishment, distrust, cynical remarks etc. The other is the contrasting polarity which is usually used for confirmation-seeking, agreement-seeking, suggestion, conversation continuance, conversation commencement, polite demand, doubt expression etc. The tone of the tag question is divided into rising and falling tones. A rising tone is common in a negative tag after the affirmative sentence, and requires the listener's response or their confirmation. A falling tone usually confirms the truth of the statement and accompanies some exclamatory feeling. According to the study which is about the function of intonation, the intonation form varies depending on the content of the statement. The textbooks were analyzed in five ways: the distribution of tag questions depending on the polarity, the statement type, the type of verb and tense, the grammatical person and figure of the subject, and the discourse functions distributed in those textbooks. It was found that there were not many sentences with tag questions in the textbooks and the meaning of tag questions in the textbooks are limited to information requests, confirmation requests and being politeness. Except the imperative sentences, the contrasting polarity commonly appeared in the textbooks. Currently, we can't over-emphasize the importance of tag questions in communication, helping the speakers convey their meanings effectively. So this study suggests further research on the various forms of tag questions is required and English textbooks should include the practical types of tag questions to help students learn to use them in real communication.