1. Defining Discourse

2. What is Discourse?
Consider the following definitions of discourse:
Discourse is language above the sentence or above the clause (Stubbs, 1983).
How we organize language into units that are larger than sentences’ (Scheffrin, 1994).

3. 3. a stretch of language perceived to be meaningful unified, and purposive; language in use
4. Discourse serves to indicate not only the immediate context of, e.g. a conversation, a job interview, etc., but also the hidden conditions that govern such situations of language use. That is, how people use their language in their social contexts.

4. 5. Discourse is ‘utterances’ (units of language production, whether spoken or written) that are inherently contextualized.
A: Have you got a light?
B: Yes.
B: No, sorry. I don’t smoke.
6. A discourse is behavioral unit. It is a set of utterances which constitute a recognizable speech event e.g. a conversation, a joke, a sermon, an interview.

5. Language above the level of a sentence
What is Discourse?
So discourse can be defined as:
Language above the level of a sentence
Language use linked to social practices and participants
The focus is on the language as a means to an end, an instrument at the service of communication.

6. Text Vs. Discourse
Text:
It refers to any passage (spoken or written) of whatever length that forms a whole unit (Essays, notices, road signs, a single proverb, a cry for help, etc.
It is a unit of language in use.
It is a physical product of a communicative acts, i.e. the record of some speaker’s or writer’s discourse, uttered or written in some context and for some purpose.

7. Discourse Analysis
The analysis of discourse is the analysis of language in use. As such, it cannot be restricted to the description of linguistic forms without looking at the purposes or functions which these forms are designed to serve in human affairs (Brown & Yule, 1993).
Father: Is that your coat on the floor again?
Son: yes (goes on reading)

8. Discourse analysis is an attempt to discover linguistic regularities in discourse using grammatical, phonological and semantic criteria e.g. cohesion, anaphora, coherence, etc. It is an effort to interpret what the writer or speaker intended to convey within a sensitive social context.
A: What does Ali do for a living?
B: Do you need to know?
A: Oh, this and that.
B: I’ve no idea.
A: What’s that got to do with it?
B: He doesn’t.

9. What do we do in Discourse Analysis?
Interested in the relationship between texts and the context.
Always look at real texts.
We analyze and investigate all those features that are part of the total communicative act: context of utterance, relationships, and so on.
Conversational behavior is observed (turn-taking, repair, how to begin and end a conversation, etc.)
How different speech acts (e.g. politeness) are performed.

10. Spoken vs. written Discourse
Evanescent (rapid fading)
Difference in tempo (faster)
Spontaneous
Rich in prosody
More ‘natural’
Situated (co-constructed, interaction)
Permanent & transportable
Difference in tempo (slower)
Worked over, planned
Poor in prosody
Less ‘natural’
De-situated

11. What do we do in Discourse Analysis?
Interested in the relationship between texts and the context.
Always look at real texts.
We analyze and investigate all those features that are part of the total communicative act: context of utterance, relationships, and so on.
Conversational behavior is observed (turn-taking, repair, how to begin and end a conversation, etc.)
How different speech acts (e.g. politeness) are performed.

12. Devices for Discourse Analysis
Cohesion
Coherence
Speech events
Background Knowledge
Conversational interaction
The cooperative Principle

13. Approaches to Discourse Analysis
Speech Acts Theory
The Ethnography of Communication
Conversation Analysis
Pragmatics
Critical Discourse Analysis

14. What’s Next?
Speech Acts Theory

15. Thank You