discourse analysis in language - report.pdf

discourse analysis

1. Introduction to
Discourse Analysis
Maria CristhelA. Ledesma
PhD-ELS

2. TEXT vs. DISCOURSE
Similarity Between
Text and Discourse
Both text and discourse usually
consist of sentences which
communication information.

3. DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
•anapproachconcernedwithstudyingtheuseofhuman
language
•referstothestudyandinterpretationofbothspokenand
writtencommunicationofhumans
•analysisthattakesseriouslytheroleofthespeaker,the
textandthelistenerinthecommunicativeevent
•thinkingaboutcommunicationinlightofthesethree
elements(alsoreferredtohereas“sender,”“message,”
and“receiver,”)

4. DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
•illuminatestheonemajorcharacteristicofthediscipline,namelyconcern
fortherolesofsyntax,semantics,andpragmaticsinhumanlanguage
Example:Father:Isthatyourcoatontheflooragain?Son:yes
(HereintheaboveexampleDiscourseAnalysissaysthattheanswerof
thesonisnotclearone.Itshowstheexploitationofambiguityabout
father’scommandtopickuphiscoat.Ratherthesondealshisfather’s
commandasasimplecontentquestionwhichcanbeansweredinyes
/no.)
•focusesonthestructureofnaturallyspokenlanguageasfoundin
conversationinterviews,commentariesandspeeches.

5. TEXT ANALYSIS
•focusesonthestructureofwrittenlanguage,asfoundin
suchtextasessays,notices,roadsignsandchapters.
•fulfillsthefunctionofcommunicationofsomemeaningonly
•textualanalysisisthemethodcommunicationresearchers
usetodescribeandinterpretthecharacteristicsofa
recordedorvisualmessage.

6. TEXT ANALYSIS
•theimportantconsiderationsintextualanalysisinclude
selectingthetypesoftextstobestudied,acquiring
appropriatetexts,anddeterminingwhichparticularapproach
toemployinanalyzingthem.
•therearetwogeneralcategoriesoftexts:a.Transcriptsof
communication(verbatimrecordings)b.Outputsof
communication(messagesproducedbycommunicators)
•intermsofacquiringtexts,outputsofcommunicationare
morereadilyavailablethantranscripts.

7. TEXT ANALYSIS vs. DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
anefforttointerpretwhatthewriter
orspeakerintendedtoconveywith
inasensitivesocialcontext
amethodologythatinvolves
understanding language,
symbols,and/orpicturespresent
intextstogaininformation
regardinghowpeoplemake
senseofandcommunicatelife
andlifeexperiences.

8. GENRE
•Genreisadirectional,patterned,continuous,andpurpose-oriented
activity.
•Genreisadistinctivepartofculturethathaspurposeandsteps,aswell
aslanguagefeatureswhichhasrelationshiptothepurpose,steps,and
thedistinctiveculturethatthedefinitionsshouldbeinterpretedby
referringtothesocialandculturalcontextinwhichthecontextexists
•aprocess,emphasizingaseriesofphasesofmeaningmakingthatare
designedtoaccomplishsomethingthroughinteractionswithothers.

9. GENRE ANALYSIS
•Genreanalysisisanareaofdiscourseanalysisthatstudies
writtenandspokendiscourse,mainlyinnonliterary
communication and especiallyindomain‐specific
communication(academic,corporate,legal)
•Agenreanalysisisthestudyofhowlanguageisusedwithina
particularcontext.
•Genreanalysismakesanarrowerdiscussionofadiscourse
analysis.

10. DISCOURSE ANALYSIS and PRAGMATICS
•Pragmaticsisthestudyofmeaningoflanguageuseincontext.Itdoes
nottakeaccountofformalpropertiesoflanguageconstructionwhich
determineitsgrammaticality,butmeaningderivedfromhowutteranceis
usedanditsrelationtothesocialcontextinwhichitisused
•Pragmaticslooksattheaspectofmeaningandlanguageusethatis
dependentonthespeakerandthelistener.Anyoneusingpragmatic
approachtodiscourseintendstoinvestigatemeaningoflanguage
beyondtheliteralmeaning.

11. PRAGMATICS islookingatthemeaninginthecontextofdiscoursebetweenthe
participants,thatis,communicativemeaning.Pragmaticshassomebasicprinciplesthatis
consideredinadiscourseanalysis.
Theseare…..
utteranceandcontext:Utteranceisaunitofdiscourseorspeech.Itismadeina
context.Contextisallphysical,socialandculturalsituationsthatsurrounddiscourse.
Utterancemustbeconsideredwithinitscontextbeforemeaningcanbederived.
Implicature:Thisismeaningorsomethingimpliedinconversationalcontextwhichis
distinctfromwhatissaid.
Entailment:Itislogicalimplication.Entailmentsaredeductionsorinferencesmadefrom
utterancestohelpusinterpretthemsuccessfully.
Presupposition:Itisthebackgroundknowledgeorbeliefsharedbytheparticipantsin
discoursewhichmakesthemtounderstandtheappropriatecontextofdiscourse.
Deixis:Itistheuseofreferenceitemsinutterances,andsuchitemsdependonthe
contextoftheutterance
Pragmaticscanbeconsideredasasub-systemofdiscourseanalysis
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS and PRAGMATICS

12. CDA
Critical Discourse Analysis
Fairclough(1993)saysthatCDAisakindofanalysisof
discoursewhichbringsforthoddrelationshipsamongdifferent
socialandethnicgroups.Hefocusestextandsequential
eventsandthenrelatesthemwithbroadersocio-cultural
perspectiveofthediscourseofpeoplewhichrevealsuneven
andideologyshapedpowerrelations.Heexploreshowpower
isexercisedinasocietythroughhegemonicattitudeand
ideologicaltextoftheelite.

14. Text could be written outputs, speech, images or combination of any of the three.
The focus is on how words are used, THE ANALYSIS IN WORD LEVEL .

15. Production of text, THE ANALYSIS IN TEXT LEVEL.

16. The standards of the society or organization.
The focus is on social relationship that language creates, THE ANALYSIS IN
NORM LEVEL.

17. InCDA,Faircloughbelievesthatlanguage
cancreatechange,changebehaviourand
canbeusedasapowerfultool.

18. CDA
Critical Discourse Analysis
Criticaldiscourseanalysis(CDA)isaqualitativeanalytical
approachforcriticallydescribing,interpreting,andexplaining
thewaysinwhichdiscoursesconstruct,maintain,and
legitimizesocialinequalities.CDArestsonthenotionthatthe
wayweuselanguageispurposeful,regardlessofwhether
discursivechoicesareconsciousorunconscious.CDAtakes
anumberofdifferentapproachesandincorporatesavariety
ofmethodsthatdependonresearchgoalsandtheoretical
perspectives.

19. Stylistic Syntax of the English Language
as Foundation for Discourse Analysis
DiscourseAnalysisattemptstoanalyzeactualhumanlanguageintermsof
wholediscourses.Itunderstandshumanlanguageintermsofsyntax,semantics,and
pragmatics.Inadditiontothefocusonsyntax,semantics,andpragmatics,theconcern
withhumancommunicationleadstoasecond,narrowercharacteristicofthediscipline,
namelythataboveall,theemphasisofdiscourseanalysisisuponlanguageasitis
used,incontrastwithtraditionalgrammarstudywhichislargelyprescriptiveand
concernedwith“correctusage”oflanguage,discourseanalysisisconcernedwiththe
descriptiveanalysisofactualhumancommunications.Furthermore,languageis
characterizedateverylevelbycohesion,coherence,andprominence.Suchan
understandingoflanguagehasthepotentialtohelpthosewhostudyscripturebetter
understandhowlanguageworks,andtherebymakethemmoresensitive,accurate
interpreters.

20. DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
•Twomaindefinitions:
-Associalactionandinteractionbetweenhumanagents
-Associalconstructionofrealitythatcreatesaknowledge
system;influencesoursocialpracticeandrelations
•DiscourseAnalysisisaprocessinwhichthereaderand
listener’smindisworkinguponthelinguisticfeaturesofthe
utterancetograsptheintendedmeaningofthewriteror
speaker.Eveniftheutterancesorsentencesare
ungrammaticaltheDiscourseAnalysismakesusgraspthe
intendedmeaning.