New / Given Information
Is this information new or already in the conversation?
Signification
Whether a piece of information is being introduced, repeated, contrasted, assumed, resumed, or made prominent.
Comment le repérer
Ask whether the listener already has this information in the mental scene.
Exemples
new|known|already mentioned|same one
a man... the man|this idea|that problem
A woman entered the room. The woman smiled.
Visual guide
Conversation state: 1 NEW A woman entered. -> add woman #1 2 GIVEN The woman smiled. -> reuse woman #1 Listener already has it.
One referent, many statuses: NEW: a woman GIVEN: the woman RESUMED: she / Ø CONTRAST: that woman Languages mark this by: article, order, stress, particle, pronoun, omission
Vue par langue
Dans votre langue
New and given information are tracked by articles, pronouns, repetition, stress, and topic structures.
Une femme est entrée. La femme a souri.
A woman entered. The woman smiled.
Dans la langue d’apprentissage
Italian tracks new and given information through articles, pronouns, ellipsis, and order.
Una donna è entrata. La donna ha sorriso.
A woman entered. The woman smiled.
Learners may use the right words but the wrong article or topic flow.
Same block, different coding
Both languages use this block strongly, but they signal it differently. Focus on form changes, not only meaning.