Topical progression and referential strategies in posts on platform X

a functionalist analysis

Abstract

This article aims to analyze referential processes and their contribution to the progression of the discourse topic in posts on platform X, based on the assumptions of Functional Linguistics and Text Linguistics. It is assumed that discourse organization is motivated by cognitive and communicative functions, which guide speakers’ linguistic choices, in accordance with the functionalist principle that establishes a relationship between grammar and discourse (Givón, 1995). From the perspective of Text Linguistics, referents are dynamically constructed and reconstructed through referential processes, playing a central role in ensuring discourse continuity and global textual coherence (Koch, 2004). This is a qualitative, descriptive, and interpretative study, as it analyzes and interprets data in real contexts of language use. The corpus consists of 100 posts from platform X, selected to identify and examine referential strategies according to analytical categories such as type of reference, process, and topical progression. The results indicate that users employ complex referential strategies to ensure topical continuity and meaning construction, even in a communicative environment characterized by brevity and dynamism. These findings highlight the role of referential processes in discourse organization in digital contexts.