The Possibilities for Critical Discourse Analysis in Music Education

Brent C. Talbot

Transcript

KEY: T=teacher, S=student, (.)=pause, (.02)=length of time between utterances, ­¯=rising and falling
vocal inflection, <comments>=interactional behavior, CAPS=emphasized syllables or words.

1. T: Xavier (.) Why did you stop playing ¯

(.02) <raises eyebrows, turns palms up>
2. S: Because this piece is GAY <rolls eyes, shifts position in seat, looks behind him>
(.01) <teacher’s eyes narrow, tilts head>
3. T: I will remind you, that IN this class (.)
4. your grade is dependent on participation.
5. AND (.) if you don’t par ­ ticiPATE ¯ (.)
6. you will earn a zero for the day.
7. IF this continues ­ (.)
8. I’ll be happy to have a conversation with you and your parents again/
9. about the expectations for participating in this group.
(.03) <some students look at Xavier, others look at the music stand and
floor, others appear to not be interested in the exchange. The
teacher and Xavier stare at one another>
10. T: measure 69! <students snicker, teacher raises hands to begin conducting>
(.21) <ensemble performs 4 phrases of music from m. 69. Xavier stops
performing, teacher stares at Xavier intensely, while continuing to
conduct. Teacher stops ensemble with a cutoff gesture.
11. T. why is it SO difficult for you to play with the rest of US!
12. S. because this song SUCKS/
13 Why can’t we play ­ GOOD music ¯ (.)

 References

Apple, M. (1982). Education and power. Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Austin, J. (1962). How to do things with words. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
Barrett, M. (1996). Children's aesthetic decision-making: An analysis of children's
musical discourse as composers. International Journal of Music Education,
26 (2): 37-62.
Blommaert, J. (2005). Discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bloome, D. & Clark, C. (2006). Discourse-in-use. In J. L. Green, G. Camilli, & P.
Elmore (Eds.), Handbook of complementary methods in education research
(pp. 227-242). Mahway, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum and Associates Inc.
Fairclough, N. (1989). Language and power. London: Longman.
Fairclough, N. (1992a). Discourse and social change. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Fairclough, N. (1995a). Media discourse. London: Arnold.
Fairclough, N. (1995b). Critical discourse analysis. London: Longman.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum Books.
Gee, J. (1996). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses. London:
Taylor and Francis.
Gee, J. (2005). An introduction to discourse analysis: Theory and method, 2nd
ed. London: Routledge.
McLaren, P. (1989). Life in schools: An introduction to critical pedagogy in the
foundations of education. New York: Longman.
Rogers, R., Malancharuvil-Berkes, E., Mosley, M., Hui, D., & Joseph, G. (2005).
Critical discourse analysis in education: A review of the literature.
Review of Educational Research. 75(3): 365-416.
Rogers, R. (ed). (2004a). An introduction to critical discourse analysis in education.
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Rogers, R. (2004b). A critical discourse analysis of literate identities across contexts:
Alignment and conflict. In. Rogers, R. (ed.). An introduction to critical
discourse analysis in education, (51-78). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Talbot, B. (2007). The discourses surrounding a student’s music learning in school
and out of school. Unpublished MA thesis, Eastman School of Music,
University of Rochester.
Thompson, K. (2002). A critical discourse analysis of world music as the “other”
in education. Research Studies in Music Education, 19 (June),14-21.
Wodak, R. (1995). Critical linguistics and critical discourse analysis. In
Verschueren, J. et al. (eds.), Handbook of Pragmatics: Manual: 204-210.
Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Woodside-Jiron, H. (2004). Language, power, and participation: Using critical
discourse analysis to make sense of public policy. In Rogers, R. (ed.) An
introduction to critical discourse analysis in education. Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pgs. 173-206.