Approaches to Discourse Analysis

What’s it all about? Leaning to use the analysis of language to solve real-life problems at work, at school and at home. Theory and Practical Application

The ‘D’ Word

Discourse Discourse is: ‘language above the sentence level or above the clause.’ Stubbs 1998 The study of discourse is the study of any aspect of language use. Fasold 1990 The analysis of discourse is the analysis of language in use…it cannot be restricted to the description of linguistic forms independent of the purposes or functions that they serve in human affairs. Brown and Yule 1983

Discourse ‘Discourse’ is for me more than just language in use: It is language use, whether speech or writing, seen as a type of social practice. Fairclough 1992 Discourse constitutes the social…Discourse is shaped by relations of power, and invested with ideologies.

Big D and Little d Discourse (non-count) vs. ‘Discourses’ Saying, Doing, Thinking, Behaving, Believing, Valuing, Interacting combinations that show who we are (Gee) The ‘Discourse of medicine’ The ‘Discourse of romance’

Discourse is… How language reflects reality How language creates reality How language shapes our identities and interactions How language is used as to tool to control people

What is the meaning of this sentence?

Meaning depends on… How Where When To whom Why

The ‘P’ Word

Pragmatics From the Greek pragma meaning ‘deed’ How we ‘do things with words’ The study of meaning in different contexts of use How language is used to do things in real world situations Speech act theory Conversational logic

Discourse Analysis Critical Discourse Analysis Conversation Pragmatics Genre Ethnography Of Speaking Multimodal Mediated Discourse Analysis

Discourse analysis

An Example

Questions Who are these people? What is going on here? What are these people doing? What kinds of tools/language are they using to do it? Are they being successful/doing it well? Who has more power in the conversation? How can you tell? What do the two people want? What strategies are they using to get what they want? Who wins?

Questions Who are these people? What is going on here? What are these people doing? What kinds of tools/language are they using to do it? Are they being successful/doing it well? Who has more power in the conversation? How can you tell? What do the two people want? What strategies are they using to get what they want? Who wins?

The Ethnography of Communication Communication as a matter of cultural competence Focus on things like setting, participants, mood, and other kinds of behavioral rules What are some of the rules for ‘complaining to your superior’?

Genre Analysis Communication as using the generic conventions of a discourse community Focus on the structure of the interaction Do ‘moves’ occur in a predictable way?

Pragmatics Communication as doing things with words Sentence meaning vs. speaker meaning

Politeness Theory Communication as a way of encoding social relationships Focus on ‘Face threatening acts’ and ‘Face saving strategies’

Conversation Analysis Communication as joint activity Attention to the sequential organization of talk, turn-taking and topic management

Interactional Sociolinguistics Communication as a way of signaling social activities and social identities Attention to strategies speakers use to signal activity and identity Competing ‘frames’

Critical Discourse Analysis Communication as a way of exercising and resisting power Focus on existing power relations and how they are reinforced Examines underlying assumptions Asks, ‘who really won?’

Multimodal Discourse Analysis Communication as a matter of combining multiple modes Focus not just on words but on gestures, facial expressions, posture, proxemics, gaze, object handling, spatial layout, time and timing

Mediated Discourse Analysis Communication as a tool for taking action Focus on actions and the cultural tools that make them possible

Conclusion Communication is not just a matter of words Communication is a matter of action Communication is a matter of relationships and power Communication creates and re-creates our social worlds