Abstract

This study uses a minimalist approach to explore the syntactic structures of teachers at the undergraduate level. It aims to find null subject(s) used in the sentence structure of lecturers who teach English in undergraduate classes. For the data collection, two universities of Federal territory in Islamabad were chosen by the researchers. The lectures [of English teachers] delivered in classes were recorded through an audiogenic device which was transcribed word by word manually. The data were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. In qualitative analysis, the transcribed material was analyzed with the help of parsing and a tree diagram. In quantitative studies, the occurrences of the syntactic parameters are shown with tabulations. The data analyzed reveals that the undergraduate teachers use language with three types of null subjects in their syntactic structures, i.e., Imperative Null Subject, Non-finite Null Subject, and Truncated Null Subject. The minimal sentence structure pairs impact a different level of language, changing its dimensions.

Key Words

Classroom, Minimalism, Null Subject, Syntactic Structure, Teachers

Introduction

The syntactic structure keeps slots in its own body, which makes the arrangements of the words in the particular system. The slots are filled with constituents; a constituent is a syntactic unit that is put in a categorized syntactic structure to form a structure (Radford, 2004). In generative grammar, Chomsky made inventions with the approach of minimalism, where he defined parameters of syntactic structure. He describes the immediate constituents, which can be null in a sentence or phrase. Null constituents, empty categories, are grammatically and semantically featured, but they have no phonetic features similar to inaudible (Radford, 2009). This study focuses on null subjects and their types of subjects [truncated null subject, imperative null subject, and non-finite null subject] in the academic discourse of the selected universities.

The null subject parameter was one of the first to be suggested within the principles and parameters framework (Rizzi, 1986) and was the first to be investigated in child language (Hyams, 1986). A sentence contains a subject; when the subject is not apparent, it is called a null subject. The subject is present semantically and functionally, but it is not present phonologically. The null subject is sometimes called a subject non-drop or subject drop. Languages are divided into two categories in the respective null subject either non-pro-drop languages or pro-drop languages. Those languages which permit sentences of that particular language to structure without the existence of a subject are pro-drop languages, like Chinese, Russian and Spanish. Those languages which do not permit sentences of that particular language to structure without the existence of a subject are non-pro-drop languages like German, French, and English (Saleem, 2018). The speakers of the English language make the production of a sentence with/without an explicit subject, like colloquial, baby talk, and imperative. 




Examples

a. Is Speaking

b. Bread, Mumma. bread more

c. Go.

In the English language, the null subjects are categorized into three types: imperative null subject, non-finite null subject, and truncated null subject. 




Imperative Null Subjects

The imperative sentence starts with the first form of the verb, where the subject is implicit in the imperative sentence. Thus the subject is the null subject called an imperative null subject (Saleem, 2018). It is shown in the example below.




Example

a. Close the door.  

b. [NP-N (Sub)- Ø VP-V-close DP-D- the NP-N-door]

In the example, the noun phrase has no phonological presentation, which is a null subject. The rest slots of the sentence are verb phrases (open) and determiner phrases (the window).




Non-Finite Null Subjects

In English, the finite category does not have a null subject while in non-finite clauses the null subject is null. It contains clauses like the main clause and complement clause (Saleem, 2018). However, in these clauses verb is not used for agreement or tense. It is further elaborated with the help of examples (a) & (b) below.




Example

a. Why come? (Main Clause) [CP-why-TP- Ø NP-N (Sub)-Ø VP-V-come]

b. She likes. [Complement Clause] [NP-N-she VP-V-likes CP-C- Ø] 




Truncated Null Subject

The English language allows truncation [Truncation means omitting] process of one or more words at the start of a sentence, if this happens, then it is called a truncated null subject. This truncation occurs in many styles, like writing a diary in English and informal spoken English (Saleem, 2018). The English are colloquial, where the pattern of questioning is changed. It is shown in the following examples (a) & (b). 

1. Are they going now?

2. Going now?     

3. [CP-C- Ø NP-N- Ø VP-V-going NP-N-now]           

A truncated null subject; is shown in the form of syntactic analysis with example (c) above. As in sentence (a), the subject and tense have a phonological presentation. While in sentence (b), the subject is truncated, which is not shown as a truncated null subject. Furthermore, the null subject parameter originates from the notion that every language clause has a subject. In contrast, a language with phonetically lacking subjects is a null subject, both from thematic and expletive. 




Statement of the Problem

The teachers of English discipline teach the students in English classrooms the English language as the medium of instruction. The teacher's discourse in classroom lectures is a mixture of many elements of speech. In the spoken form of language, a sentence fulfils the need of students to understand the lecture, and if the sentence is not complete in its slots, comprehension is the problem. The incomplete sentences give space for less understanding and repetition of knowledge with different explanatory sentences. Similarly, teachers' language in English classroom lectures is analyzed from the perspective of minimalism. In written syntax, many researchers have worked from a minimalist perspective. In the written form of language, everyone follows the correct pattern of syntactic structures. But in spoken form, the formation of syntactic structure varies in some instances of language use. In spoken discourse, research was conducted on different prospects of syntactic patterns. The syntactic structure of spoken data in teachers' classroom lectures has not been researched with a minimalist perspective. However, this research is aimed to analyse classroom sessions [discourse of teachers] with minimalism.




Research Objective

To find null subjects in the sentence structure(s) of undergraduate English teachers. 




Research Question

Which null subjects do teachers use in speaking the English language in undergraduate classes?  







Significance of the Study

The study seeks to explore the sentence structures used in English classes [academic discourse]. The sentence level analysis helps to understand the syntactic slots of a sentence in a spoken context. This research has both theoretical and practical significance. Theoretically, it is significant for the courses offered in language institutes, colleges, universities, or other organizations which work on the English language to enhance their spoken course syllabi. It also enriches the syntactic level of the spoken form of speech. This research is helpful for practical significance to the speakers of the English language in general and teachers in particular benefit. It is significant to know the null subjects used in classroom sessions [spoken discourse of teachers]. The hidden null subjects are highlighted, which are helpful for teachers in the time of teaching lecture. Therefore, this research is aimed to explore the sentence structure in the spoken discourse of teachers who delivers in the classroom of undergraduate students.   




Delimitation of the Study

The present study is limited to syntactic structures of English syntax used by the teachers during classroom lectures at the undergraduate level (BS English). The study was delimited to two departments of two universities in Islamabad (Pakistan). The recordings of lectures were from the department of English.

Literature Review

Literature Review 

The current study was conducted in spoken discourse. The recorded lecture of teachers was analyzed with syntactic perspectives. The pragmatics of language might be different but spoken and written forms of a language share equal syntactic patterns (Saleem, Khan & Zaman, 2018). The spoken discourse has many constituents for proper comprehension and understanding. Null constituents [empty categories] are grammatically and semantically featured, but they have no phonetic features similar to inaudible (Radford, 2009). In the spare of null constituents, many researchers have worked and tried to fill the gap from different dimensions. Soriano (1989) researched strong pronouns in null-subject languages, and the avoid pronoun principle in the area of null constituents. This is a comparative study of English and Spanish in which the primary focus is on the null category in the syntactic study. 

Schwenter & Silva (2002) studied null constituents and wrote about the Overt vs. Null Direct Objects in Spoken Brazilian Portuguese. It investigated null objects in spoken language, which is helpful for the current study. This research shows that language has a null object as well. Macdonald (2016), studied the comparison of null-subject in ?z?n and English languages. This study showed the comparison of two languages and the position and occurrence of the null subject. The study exposes that the null-subject constituent is not a distinctive feature of English syntax but a feature of ?z?n syntax. It is important because it pays new linguistic data to the principles and parameter theory.

Demuth, Machobane, and Moloi (2009) explored how to license null Noun-Class prefixes in Sesotho; in this research, it was discussed that the raises of question of how and when the licensing of null prefixes are learned for this purpose, they had used longitudinal data from three Sesotho—speaking children. This article showed that the conditions required to license null prefixes had been learned before three. Likewise, Zanuttini (2008) argued on the English imperative subject stating that in American Standard English, subjects of imperatives are accepted by Americans and all speakers of Standard English. 

The research of Kim (2007) was an investigation of the search for a null subject in the Korean language, where null arguments in the discourse of the Korean language were highlighted. This research discusses that the Korean language has the same criteria of the null subject as minimalism defined. According to Kim (2007):

"Null arguments can alternate with resumptive pronouns. In addition, a resumptive pronoun makes a topic construction an extra prediction, by which a topic is more scoped out from the sentential predicate" (p.74).

Moreover, the null constituent is the syntax element; several scholars present several research scholars. Rosselló (2000) analyzed the null subject in the article, Minimalist Approach to the null subject parameters. The researcher applied a Minimalist perspective to analyze the null subject position and locality in this article. It elaborated on the interpretable nature of the null constituents (Ø) verb features that derive this cluster of properties. Academic discourse is about the surroundings of academics, and lectures are central to the academic enterprise and are the very stuff of education and knowledge creation (Hyland, 2009).

In conclusion, the quoted and discussed research work in null constituents shows that researchers have researched their various types [null subjects]. However, in spoken data of classroom lectures, null subjects have not been researched in the sentence structures [classroom discourse] of lecturers of universities. This paper is aimed to highlight null subjects in various classroom lectures of university teachers.

Methodology

Data Collection 

The data is collected from classroom lectures of English from university classes. The data is recorded through an audio device. The recording covered the lectures of teachers in that assigned classroom. Ethical consideration and consent were sought from every teacher and head of the department.  The data was collected through convenience sampling. 




Research Design       

This research opted for qualitative and quantitative research designs. In qualitative analysis, the sentence structures are analysed through parsing and shown through figures. The sentences are analyzed concerning the minimalist perspective, where the figures show the categories with symbols. Every analyzed syntactic structure is discussed possibly. In quantitative analysis, tables are used to show the number of occurrences. 




Recording of Lectures

Seven female and seven male classroom lectures were recorded. All lectures are audio-recorded by the selected teachers. Almost 168 minutes and 3 seconds were recorded for female classrooms, and 13062 words were transcribed. Almost 180 minutes and 8 seconds were recorded for male classrooms, and 14132 words were transcribed. The variation in recorded time is due to the performance of activities in classrooms. Lectures on different topics were delivered in literature, Poetry, Drama, Prose, English Language Teaching, linguistics, and creative writing. 




Theoretical Framework 

Chomsky's minimalist program (1995) opted as a theoretical framework for the current study. The minimalist framework was used to analyze the syntactic structures with a focus on null subjects in the syntactic structures of the selected samples.

Null Constituents 

Null constituents have grammatical and semantic features but lack audible phonetic features-silent or inaudible (Radford, 2009). There could be; null auxiliaries, null T in bare infinitive clauses, null T in auxiliaries in finite clauses, null C in finite clauses, null subjects, null C in non-finite clauses, null quantifiers, and null determiners. This opts with delimitation as the study was conducted on null subjects and their types (Saleem, 2018).    

Data Analysis

The speakers of the English language sometimes make the production of a sentence with/without an explicit subject, like every day, baby talk, and imperative. In English syntax, the null subjects are categorized into three types; Imperative null subject, Non-finite null subject, and truncated null subject (Saleem, 2018). In the thematic analyses, null subject types are discussed below. 

 

Imperative Null Subjects

The imperative sentence starts with the first form of the verb, and it takes no subject in its structure patterns. In a sentence, if the subject is apparent at the start and the sentence starts with the first form of the verb, it is a null subject sentence and is known as an imperative null subject (Saleem, 2018). The transcribed material is studied thoroughly to analyze the syntactic structures. The transcribed material found that sentences and clauses have null subjects in their syntactic patterns, as shown in Table 1.




 

Table 1. Null Imperative Subject in Transcribed Data

S. No	Sentence	Lecture
1	Oh come on this is not Homeric	1
2	Ahh please do not write, first of all, try to understand	2
3	paraphrase it or write in your own words	4
4	Now come to participatory action	2
5	Okay Please write down these points	2
6	And to look new and see our true selves to find	14
7	Read these sentences please and compare them with topic	5
8	Now come to another topic	13
9	Come on to page 22	6
10	what is a register?  Write it down in written form okay	5

 




Table 1 shows the imperative null subjects in the syntactic structure of teachers in their classroom language. This table illustrates the sentence structure of usage in the academic discourse where the above ten sentences are presented as examples from different recorded lectures. Further, the transcribed materials have such sentences which have null subjects. However, the teachers of different lectures have a null imperative subject in their syntactic patterns, and the quantitative survey is shown in table 2. For the understanding purpose, the below examples (1) & (2) are analyzed through parsing as examples of null imperative subjects and discussed.

Moreover, the teacher explains the text, where the discussion of Coleridge started. Meanwhile, the teacher used a sentence where the null constituent was found. The sentence is presented as an example (1) of the null imperative subject where the subject is an empty category because the sentence is imperative. The teacher wants to explain the text; therefore, he says the mentioned sentence, but the sentence's syntactic structure contains null constituents [null subject and null tense], which are shown through parsing in figure 1.

 

Example 1

See what Coleridge says.

Figure 1

Imperative Null Subjects [Example 1]



Example 2

What is a Register? Write it down in writing.




 

    Write down in Written

Figure 2: Imperative Null Subjects [Example 2



In examples (1) & (2), the speaker used an imperative sentence after an interrogative sentence; the subjects, tense and auxiliary are null. The null noun phrase is an imperative null subject, and the auxiliary is the model auxiliary. In figure 2, the maximal projection of a sentence is TP (tense projection). TP has a T bar, an adverbial phrase (AdvP), and a prepositional phrase (PP). With the binarity of TP, a specifier subject and auxiliary are null. Tense, subject, and auxiliary are the requirements of a sentence structure; according to minimalism, the slots are empty in this structure. Moreover, the statistical representation of the imperative null subject is presented in table 2.




 

Table 2. Detail of occurrences of Null Imperative Subject

Lectures	Male	Female	Frequency	Total
Lecture-1	?		10	10
Lecture-2	?		6	16
Lecture-3	?		2	18
Lecture-4	?		4	22
Lecture-5	?		9	31
Lecture-6	?		5	36
Lecture-7	?		7	43
Lecture-8	?		3	46
Lecture-9		?	5	51
Lecture-10		?	11	62
Lecture-11		?	6	68
Lecture-12		?	7	75
Lecture-13		?	4	79
Lecture-14		?	7	86

 




Table 2 presents the occurrences of the null imperative subject where both male and female teachers' transcribed data are analyzed. The recorded lectures are fourteen, and the occurrences are listed in one column, while the total number of occurrences is listed in another. In the last column, the total number of occurrences of the imperative null subject is counted manually, which explains that in the data total number of null imperative subjects is 86 times. Thus, the lecturers have used sentence structures which comprise imperative null subjects. Moreover, the quantitative elaborates on the spoken language syntactic structure of the teachers in the classroom discourse, which specifies the parametric variation of the sentence structure of the teachers during their classroom lectures. However, the qualitative examples in Figures 1 & 2 presented the syntactic structure of teachers using a such structure which contains null categories. And table 2, for quantitative, has presented the occurrences in statistical value.

 

Non-Finite Null Subject

The second type of null subject expresses a null category of subject slot in syntactic structure as the English language has finite and non-finite sets of words and sentences. In contrast, a finite category does not have a null subject. In contrast, non-finite clauses have a null subject in their structures. It contains clauses like the main clause and complement clause where the verb is not used for agreement or tense. The transcribed material of this research data is analyzed for extracting non-finite null subjects as shown in table 3.




Table 3. Non-finite Null Subject in Transcribed Data

S. No	Sentence	Lecture
1	Read these sentences please and compare them with topic	5
2	Again look at the main points alright.	12
3	Kindly open the book and look at someone the important points regarding  Ben Johnson	8
4	Please read that portion and tell me the important points	8
5	And look new and see our true selves to find	14
6	Think about your own ideas	2

 




Table 3 draws attention to the imperative null constituent of subjects in sentences uttered by teachers in their academic discourse community. Similarly, the table presents the sentences with null categories in their syntactic structure. However, the transcribed materials have null subjects, shown quantitatively in table 4. For the understanding purpose, the below sentences (1) & (2) are analysed through parsing as examples of null imperative subjects and discussed. The following sentence (1) is analyzed through tree figure 2.

Figure 3

Non-finite null subject [Example 1]



The sentence (1) is further divided into two portion i.e. (a) & (b). The analysis is made for each portion separately, i.e., figure 3 for (a) and figure 4 for (b).

In the tree figure 3, the sentence (1a) has a noun, determiner, and verb, which leads to the maximal projection as VP (verb phrase). Then the tense of the sentence is null here as shown (ØT) and as X' theory is used here, which is elaborates like T' (T bar), the specifier (ØAUX & ØS-null non-finite subject) with the binarity relation and headed the maximal projection as TP (tense projection).

Figure 4

Non-finite null subject [Example 2]



In addition, figure 4 analyses sentence (1b), which is presented through the parsing process. The analysis shows that sentence (1b) has a subject, auxiliary and tense which are null constituents. Likewise, the null subject is non-finite in the above sentence. The quantitative analysis of the non-finite subject is presented with the help of table 4.




 

Table 4. Detail of Occurrences of Non-Finite Null Subjects

Lectures	Male	Female	Frequency	Total
Lecture-1	?		11	11
Lecture-2	?		5	16
Lecture-3	?		9	25
Lecture-4	?		10	35
Lecture-5	?		4	39
Lecture-6	?		6	45
Lecture-7	?		8	53
Lecture-8	?		6	59
Lecture-9		?	12	71
Lecture-10		?	7	78
Lecture-11		?	10	87
Lecture-12		?	5	92
Lecture-13		?	3	95
Lecture-14		?	1	96

 




Table (4) highlights the quantitative analyses of female and male teachers of the transcribed data. In the table4, it is shown that the total number of lectures is fourteen. The occurrences are listed in figures; the last column reveals the total number of occurrences in the spoken language of the teachers in their classrooms. Further, it is found that the number of utterances of non-finite null subjects is 96 times. It shows that non-finite null subjects were found in the spoken discourse of the teachers. However, the founded data shows that Pakistani teachers use syntactic patterns with null constituents in their spoken discourse.

 

Truncated Null Subject

This is the third kind of null subject, and the word truncation means omitting. The English language allows the truncation process of one or more words at the start of the sentence; this happing is known as truncation of the null subject (Saleem, 2018). This truncation occurs in many styles, like writing a diary in English and informal spoken English. The English are colloquial, where the pattern of questioning is changed. Moreover, the qualitative investigation of the data is shown in table 5, which contains a sentence of the truncated null subject. 




Table 5. Truncated Null Subject in Transcribed Data

S. No	Sentence	Lecture
1	What is the next point? Orientalism	1
2	What is the denotative meaning? Dictionary meaning	2
3	Again relying on Latin	3
4	How many points did we discuss last time? Only the first one.	1
5	What it can be? Centration? Focusing on?	13
6	Our roads are put under severe, means what? Intensive Severe	8
7	What is alternation? Frequent change	5

 




Sentence (1) is taken from the transcribed lectures of the teachers. It is analyzed through parsing where the truncated null subjects are founded.

Figure 5

Truncated Null Subject



Figure 5 is the tree figure of sentence (1), a question asked by the teacher to the students in the classroom lecture. After responses from the students' sides, the teacher answers with one word, i.e., intensive. The question is about the meaning of a word, and the answer is within the sentence said. And after the sentence answer is presented in figure 5 as the truncated null subject along with null tense represented as ØS and ØT, respectively. However, this is not wrong, but the syntactic slots are left empty. The student's mental level is different from the other, so this is problematic for his/her to understand a notion with empty slots of syntactic structures. On the other side, the ill practices of syntactical structure and loose structure of a sentence may also affect the acquiring knowledge of the student(s).

In the teacher's language, “Right” and “Ok” are frequent. These promote the two different structures of the teachers’ sentence structure, shown in figure 4.6. 

Figure 6

Connotations of ‘ok’ and ‘right’



In figure 6 the second form of (a) & (b) i.e. it is ok & it is right, are counted in the category of null truncated subject.               

 

Table 6. Detailed table of Frequently Used Word



In table 6, cases (a) and (b) of 'ok' and 'right' are uttered frequently by the selected teachers, who showed that both cases have null categories of subject and tense. The word 'right' is spoken 138 times in the entire lecture, and the word 'ok' is spoken 106 times in the transcribed lectures. It shows the teachers' level of teaching that they use the words to check the student's level of understanding through null categories application of the syntactic units. This depends upon whether the speaker meant "is it ok?" or "it is ok." Therefore, the syntactic structure may become ambiguous.   Contrary, the missing word or misplaced word in a sentence describes the weak syntactic parametric of the sentence structures. The students get confused to grasp the structure of the teachers' syntax. In spoken, if the pragmatics of the sentence is clear, then the meaning abstraction is easy for the students, even in null slots. Similarly, the teacher's conversation or lecture creates a gap in the understanding capacities of students, and the reason is the admissibility of null constituents in the syntactic patterns. In the recorded lectures, the teachers used different minimalist syntactic elements, which are worth mentioning. I took one example from the introduction portion of the lecture, which is analyzed in figure 7. In the transcribed material of the recorded data, it is found that truncated null subjects in sentences do exist.1. What is the denotative meaning? Dictionary meaning ok.Similarly, the teacher teaches, and meanwhile, he posts a question to check the students' comprehended knowledge. As in sentence (1), the teacher asked the question about the denotative meaning, and after a few seconds, he answered himself with a sentence that contained null constituents. In figure 7, the null constituent of sentence structure is highlighted that subject is null in the sentence. The teacher has uttered this sentence with a null slot of the truncated subject where I have also found null tense. According to the qualitative analysis of the sentences spoken, the teacher wants to convey meaning within words rather than sentences. In sentence (1), there is no subject and tense, so it conveys meaning but in the case of concordance. The incomplete slots filling of minimal units of syntactic structures are subordinate to semantics and pragmatics in this case.Further, the sentence is meaningful only from a pragmatic point of view. In isolation, sentence (1) does not make any sense in terms of the appropriate filling of syntactical slots for a better understanding of the language structures. Moreover, the syntactic pattern of a sentence (1) is merely incomplete, which causes ambiguities from a syntactic point of view. The slots of every word are not filled, and every slot carries meaning for the completion of the sentence. It is elaborately presented with the help of tree figure 7.

S. No	Word	Frequency
1.	Right	138 times
2.	Ok	106 times

Figure 7

Example 1 of Connotations of ‘ok’ and ‘right’



Figure 7 explains sentence (1) through parsing, which elaborates on the null categories in the structure. The posted syntactical elements are nouns, adjective-making adjective phrases (AdjP), and led by T bar (T'), which shows the tense of the sentence (1) that is null. This T' makes minimal projection to adjust the specifier, i.e., S (subject), which is also a null truncated subject. As the maximal projection is TP (tense projection), I used the X-Bar theory to adjust the subject's specifier. The sentence (1) uttered by the teacher is making maximal projection as AdjP instead of TP (tense projection). However, the syntactic structure from a minimalist perspective does not remain accurate in filling the sentence slots.




 

Table 7. Detail of Occurrences of Truncated Null Subjects

Lectures	Male	Female	Frequency	Total
Lecture-1	?		19	19
Lecture-2	?		12	31
Lecture-3	?		3	34
Lecture-4	?		9	43
Lecture-5	?		7	50
Lecture-6	?		9	59
Lecture-7	?		3	62
Lecture-8	?		8	68
Lecture-9		?	6	74
Lecture-10		?	15	79
Lecture-11		?	7	86
Lecture-12		?	4	90
Lecture-13		?	7	97
Lecture-14		?	1	98

 




Table (7) highlights the quantitative analyses of female and male teachers of the transcribed data. In table 7, it is shown that the total number of lectures is fourteen. The occurrences are listed in figures; the last column reveals the total number of occurrences in the spoken language of the teachers in their classrooms. Moreover, the transcribed material of males and females was analyzed quantitatively and counted manually. It is found that the numbers of utterances of truncated null subjects are 98 times in the written material of the recorded data. It presents that the teachers have used sentences that contain truncated null subjects. However, the founded data shows that in Pakistani universities, the teachers use the English language in a way that has null truncated subjects in their spoken discourse for classroom purposes. 

Findings

The research findings suggest that minimalism is an approach that works in the classroom to help the teachers know the minimal pair of the structure used in their lectures. It helps them to know about the comprehension level and the production of the language with its syntactic structures. The analyzed data show that the undergraduate teachers use language with three types of null subjects in the syntactic patterns, i.e., Imperative Null Subject, Non-finite Null Subject, and Truncated Null. The study is significant due to the results of the analyzed syntactic structures of the sentences of the recorded lectures.  

References

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