Language Agenda: Cleft Sentence [Part Two]

Introduction
In a previous essay, we discussed Part One of CLEFT SENTENCE, and in this write-up we conclude the discussion from the IMPORTANCE OF CLEFT SENTENCE. Before we proceed, we recap the Learning Outcomes.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this discourse, fellow learners and readers should be able to gain an improved understanding of:

● Cleft Sentence and Usage
● Types of Cleft Sentence
● Importance of Cleft Sentence
Importance of Cleft Sentence
The importance of Cleft Sentences could be well understood in the context of the Information Structure of the Cleft Construction. The concept of Information Structure has been an interesting area of studies on the discourse function of Cleft Sentences by many Linguists. Halliday (1967), Chomsky (1972), and Lambrecht (2001). While Halliday sees Clefts as “equative”, Delin and Oberlander (1995) regard them as “stative.” And in the words of Herriman (2004), Declerk (1994), and Halliday (1994), Clefts are “variable-value pairs” implying that the Cleft Constituent gives a variable expressed by the Cleft Clause. In simple language, the Information Structure is about the type of information encoded in a particular assertion or utterance. This information could be any of the following:

● NEW Information: Information that the speaker/writer assumes that the hearer/reader does not know already.

● OLD Information: Information that the speaker/writer expects the hearer/reader to know or come across already.

● INFERRABLE Information: Information that the speaker/writer may expect the hearer/reader to infer from existing knowledge, or from a previous discourse.

From the above explanation, it might be understood that Clefts are important tools of focus to draw attention to salient points in speaking and writing.

Besides, Clefts could play important roles in the construction of academic paragraphs. For instance, a Cleft used as TOPIC SENTENCE could help a writer maintain unity and logic in a series of SUPPORTING SENTENCES easily. This could be due to the focusing ability of the Cleft Structure. And once the focus area of the Cleft as a TOPIC SENTENCE is identified, it may become easier to produce a series of relevant SUPPORTING SENTENCES and a reasonable CONCLUDING SENTENCE to achieve a coherently organized academic paragraph.

For illustration, let us consider as a TOPIC SENTENCE the following Cleft Sentence: “It is a College of Communication Studies Tungteeya plans to establish at Batangyili.” Clearly, College of Communication Studies is the center of focus in this sentence. So, it is easy to avoid transgression and concentrate on the establishment of the College of Communication Studies in the development of the TOPIC SENTENCE. Expectedly, the SUPPORTING SENTENCES could be couched in a wide range of related matters: from infrastructure to equipment, from staff to faculty, from parents to students, from teaching to learning. When the SUPPORTING SENTENCES are properly developed in the context of the relevant matters and in relation to the TOPIC SENTENCE, it will be simple to get a logical CONCLUDING SENTENCE.

Furthermore, Clefts could be very useful in debate and other forms of public speaking. As tools of emphasis and focus, Clefts could be employed strategically to advance arguments, stimulate audience interests, and draw audience attention to significant points. This technique could be much impactful when a series of Clefts is put in a Parallel Structure. For example:

● “What we need from the powers that be is justice. What we need from the powers that be is accountability. What we need from the powers that be is transparency. What we need from the powers that be is equality. Without these values, our destiny as a nation is nightmarish, and our future as individuals bleak.”

Moreover, good writing demands a variety of sentences. Clefts could play useful roles in sentence variation in writing. As an elaboration, let us consider the following paragraph on INTELLECTUAL SHARING in which a Cleft is applied as a sentence type:

● Nothing is more fulfilling than sharing, and nothing is more worthy of sharing than intellectualism. IT IS INTELLECTUAL SHARING THAT EXPANDS THE FRONTIERS OF KNOWLEDGE, MAXIMIZES THE OPPORTUNITIES OF SERVICE TO HUMANITY, AND IMPROVES THE COMFORT OF LIFE. As we celebrate the Damba Festival, let us not limit sharing to foods and drinks. Let us also share knowledge, ideas, skills, and wisdom to promote enlightment on African culture, advance the comfort of humanity, and increase service to God.

Note: the Cleft Sentence in the above paragraph is the one in uppercase.

Conclusion
Summing up, we humbly observe that Cleft Sentences are fascinating when they are well understood and appropriately applied. But they could be sources of miscommunication if they are misunderstood and misapplied. It is, therefore, important for colleague learners and readers to understand the Clefts very well. Also, it is always safer to consider the context, the audience, and the object of a statement before the decision to apply or avoid the Cleft Structure in speaking and writing.

Allah is the Best Linguist.
References
Calude, A. S. (2009). Cleft constructions in spoken English. Berlin: VDM Verlag.

Collins, P. (1991). Cleft and pseudo-cleft constructions in English. London: Routledge.

Chomsky, N. (1972). On wh-movement. In Culicover, P., Wasow, T., and Akmajian, A., (Eds). Formal Syntax, pages 71–132. New York: Academic Press.

Declerk, R. (1994). The taxonomy and interpretation of clefts and pseudoclefts. Lingua, 9(1):183–220.

Delin, J. & Oberlander, J. (1995). Syntactic Constraints and Discourse Structure: The case of It-clefts. CSRP 249, School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences, University of Sussex.

Halliday, M. A. K. (2004). An introduction to functional grammar. (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Herriman, J. (2004). Identifying relations: the semantic functions of wh-clefts in English. Text, 24(4):447–469.

Lambrecht, K. (2001). A framework for the analysis of cleft constructions. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

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