Linguistics

Linguistics is “the scientific study of human language".

It is concerned with how language is

formed - “from the sounds and gestures
of speech up to the organization of Linguistics is also concerned
words, sentences, and meaning"-and with “the relationship
how it works. between language and
cognition,society,and
history”.
Linguistics:Language Structure

Language is a complex structure built up of

smaller units connected to each other.
"Structure Above the Sentence"

These structures are discourse and text.

Discourse

1. Discourse is language “above the sentence”.

2. Discourse is language “in use”.
3. Discourse is a form of social practice in which language plays a
central role.

- Deborah Cameron and Ivan Panović, Working with Written Discourse

Discourse: Language “Above the Sentence”

Discourse is a unit that is larger than

sentences. It has a structural pattern that
holds more meaning than a sentence.

Words are larger than letters, sentences are larger than words, and
discourses are larger than sentences.
Discourse: Language "Above the Sentence”

Basically,anything that uses

language and is larger or
structurally “beyond” a sentence
is discourse. a sequence of sentences
a conversation between people

Discourse is focused on how we connect sentences together. A discourse is mainly

about how language is used to connect sentences together so that it carries more
meaning than a single sentence.
Discourse: Language "in Use"

Content

The process of presenting our social reality through language is discourse.

Discourse is a source of information about people's experiences, attitudes, feelings,
beliefs, and practices.
Discourse: Language “in Use”

When dealing with a discourse, content and form

should always be interpreted together. Content
What is it about?

“Language is not a transparent medium or a

window through which we see into the language-
Form
user's mind. [Language] is shaped by its context
and by the way verbal communication works.” How was it said?
Discourse: Language “in Use"
Using language in context in a
social interaction is discourse.

The most important aspect of Who is using language?

discourse is that it has a context What are the purposes
of situation. of language for its users
in a particular context?

Discourse is what we say and

how we use language to say it.
Discourse: Language “in Use”
Using language in context in a
social interaction is discourse.

The most important aspect of Who is using language?

discourse is that it has a context of What are the purposes
situation. of language for its users
in a particular context?

Discourse is what we say and how

we use language to say it.
Discourse: Language “in Use”

Question: Are you beautiful?

Person 1: I don't think so. No one ever

notices me.

Person 2:A lot of people call me pretty but I

really don't feel like l am.
Discourse: Language “in Use"

Based on these answers, who

Question: Are you beautiful?
do you think is less confident?
Person 1: I don't think so. No one ever
notices me.

Person 2:A lot of people call me pretty

but I really don't feel like l am.
Discourse: Language “in Use”
Discourse: Language "in Use”
Discourse: Language "in Use"

Jessica likes the way she looks. However, she is

afraid to say “I am beautiful."in front of other
people because she is afraid that people will think
that she is vain. So,whenever Jessica is told that
she looks beautiful, she always says “No, I'm
not." As time goes by, Jessica starts to dislike the
way she looks.
Discourse:Social Practice

Discourse is a form of
social practice in which
language plays a
central role.
Discourse is a “broader range of
social practices that includes
nonlinguistic and of language”.
nonspecific instances
Discourse:Social Practice
Discourse is a “broader range of social practices that includes
nonlinguistic and nonspecific instances of language".

Nonliguistic instances of gestures

language means it is not
consisted of language.

the clothes we wear

 what people do in conversation or in
writing that gives an understanding
Nonspecific instances of language is or meaning to a particular topic.
Discourse:Social Practice

“Discourse is not just the language of an

individual communication,...but the larger
systems of thought within a particular
historical location that makes certain things
“thinkable” and “sayable”, and regulating
who can say them.”
- Michel Foucault as cited by the Research, University of North Dakota
Educational Foundations and
Discourse:Social Practice

“Speakers and writers “appropriate the

words of others", using resources that
“Individuals' understandings
are already available.”
and accounts of the world are
constructed out of the
“discourse” in a circulation.”
Text
Texts are units primarily
concerned with structuring and
A text is made of signs and conveying complex information.
symbols systematized by
grammar and organized in logical
language to properly present the
intended message.
EXAMPLE How do we tell that a sequence of
sentences is a text?

(1) Discourse analysis is a rapidly growing and evolving field.

(2) Current research in this field now flows from numerous
academic disciplines that are very different from one another.
(1) Discourse analysis is a rapidly growing and evolving field.
(2) Many millennia ago, the earth was inhabited by dinosaurs.
EXAMPLE

(1) Discouurse analysis is a rapidly

growing and evolving field.
(2) Current research in this field now
flows from numerous academic
disciplines that are very different
from one another.
(1) Discourse analysis is a rapidly There is no obvious link
between the two sentences
growing and evolving field.
and do not form a coherent
(2) Many millennia ago, the earth
meaning together.
was inhabited by dinosaurs.
(1) Current research in this field
now flows from numerous
academic disciplines that are very
different from one another.
(2) Discourse analysis is a rapidly
growing and evolving field.
In a text, connections are made not
only by ordering sentences in a
certain way but also through a
structural cohesion that ties all the
sentences to each other.
As readers, we always see two adjacent
sentences together as if they are
connected. We always look for
connections to derive meaning.
Text:Structural Cohesion

Structural cohesion is
one of the formal clues “This structural cohesion is what
that tells us that a is lost or at least obscured when
sequence of sentences is the order of the sentences is
a text. reversed.”
A text must have a structured convey a specific meaning.
and intended connectedness to
Text as Connected Discourse

Outside linguistics, text is used to

refer to a written discourse.
Within linguistics, text is used to
refer to any specific piece of
discourse whether written,
spoken, or multimodal
(nonlinguistic and nonspecific).
Text as Connected Discourse

Text is a linguistic object that is only understandable when we

connect it to the discourses that made it.
SUMMARY
Discourse is the language part of a
social practice.
How language becomes a
bigger unit or structure in a
string of sentences when given
meaning
How language is in use
How social realities affect
language-use
Text is a linguistic object that is
made up of discourses.
It is structured to convey
complex information.
It is structurally cohesive.
It relies on context and
connection to be interpreted.
Suggested Reading

Read further about discourse through Deborah

Cameron and Ivan Panović's Working with Written
Discourse.

https://us.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/
60096_Cameron_Working_with_written_discourse.pdf