Discourse analysis

Bill: Good one that.

2. 
   [Joan is teaching her daughter, Janice, how to make a cake.]
   

Joan: Okay, one more time, eggs, flour, water and sugar, break the eggs and
whip the mixture then ...
Janice: Put it in the pan and heat it up.
Joan: Gentle heat, don't forget.

3. 
   [Two brothers are talking in a pub with a group of friends.]
   

Mark: Well, the time I nearly crashed the car, I was driving late one night...
Tom: You'd forgotten to turn your lights on.
Mark: Yes, and I just didn't see the car in front.

4. 
   [Two students, Gary and Jeff, are in a college common room.]
   

Gary: Right, Englishman, Irishman and a Scotsman, the Englishman he says...
Jeff: I've heard this before.
Gary: Let me finish...

• 
  Heads are generally noun phrases, including complex constructions such as reduced relative clauses (the time I nearly crashed the car).
  
• 
  In each of these examples, the fronted item is repeated, or related directly in some way to the next part of the sentence:
  

• 
  Ancient Chinese proverb introduces the proverb.
  
• 
  eggs, flour, water and sugar introduces what happens to these ingredients.
  
• 
  the time I nearly crashed the car introduces the event to be described.
  
• 
  Englishman, Irishman, and a Scotsman introduce the three characters in the following story.
  

The effect of using fronted items is to help the listener and highlight the type of information which is coming next.
Activity 4. Work in pairs and discuss why do speakers use heads? Look at the following extracts from real conversations.

• 
  Underline the parts of the sentences which are fronted.
  
•