A Computational Approach to Decode the Pragma-Stylistic Meanings in Narrative Discourse

This paper presents a computer-based frequency distribution analysis to decode the pragma-stylistic meanings in one of the narrative discourse represented by Orwell’s dystopian novel Animal Farm. The main objective of the paper is to explore the extent to which computer software contribute to the linguistic analysis of texts. The paper uses the variable of frequency distribution analysis (FDA) generated by concordance software to decode the pragmatic and stylistic significance beyond the mere linguistic expressions employed by the writer in the selected data. Some words were selected to undergo a frequency distribution analysis so as to highlight their pragmatic and linguistic weight which, in turn, helps arrive at a comprehensive understanding of the thematic message intended by the writer. The paper is grounded on one analytical strand: Frequency distribution analysis conducted by concordance. Results reveal that applying a frequency distribution analysis to the linguistic analysis of large data fictional texts serves to (i) identify the various types of discourse in these texts; (ii) create a thematic categorization that is based on the frequency distribution analysis of specific words in texts; and (iii) indicate that not only high frequency words are indicative in the production of particular pragmatic and stylistic meanings in discourse, but also low frequency words are highly indicative in this regard. These results accentuate a further general finding that computer software contribute significantly to the linguistic analysis of texts, particularly those pertaining to literature. The paper recommends further and intensive incorporation of computer and CALL (computer-assisted language learning) software in teaching and learning literary texts in EFL (English as a foreign language) settings.