INTRODUCTION TO DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

1. What concepts previously discussed do the quotes on page 2 relate to?

2. What main purposes does human communication serve?

3. What does teaching language for or as communication imply?

4. What is the relevance of Discourse Analysis for language teaching then?

5. Why are the formal and functional definitions of discourse said to be deficient? What
is the alternative to those?

6. What can Discourse Analysis be used for?

7. How can discourse be classified? Why is the term ‘continuum’ used to refer to different
types of discourse?

8. What do the classifications of discouse depend on? Is it the purpose the text is put to?
Why (not)?

9. How do ‘register’ and ‘genre’ manifest in a piece of discourse?

10. Account for the importance of two of the different fields of study within Discourse
Analysis in relation to your experiences as a language learner.

11. What does the distinction between context-reduced and context-embedded relate to?

12. Look at the following sentences and account for their potential use for learning a
second language (English, in this case)

‘The philosopher pulled the lower jaw of the hen.’

‘The merchant is swimming with the gardener’s son, but the Dutchman has

the fine gun.’

(Sweet 1899 [1966:73])

13. Why is the concept of Discourse Competence favoured over other types?

14. From a discourse analysis approach, what are the new challenges for teachers,
learners and material writers?