Introduction to discourse

analysis
Defining discourse

• discourse-1 is the highest unit of linguistic description;

phonemes, morphemes, words, phrases, clauses,
sentences and texts are below;
• discourse-2 refers to the communication expected in one
situation context, alongside one field and register, such
as the discourse of law or medicine;
• - discourse-3 is human interaction through any means,
verbal and non-verbal;
• - discourse-4 stands for the whole communicative event.
• discourse -5 is a conversation or text
• discourse-6 is collection of texts or conversations
What is the difference between text
and discourse?
• Some linguists define discourse as “the study of texts in
contexts”.
In this view, discourse is language in action (or interaction) and
the text is the grammatical and meaningful record of that
interaction.
What is the context?
• The context of a text is the information needed to interpret the
text and make sense of it.
• This includes information about the interlocutors (speaker and
listener), the setting (time and place) of the speech event, and
the purpose of the interaction.
• Cultural Knowledge (e.g. time)
Example
Context and Cultural Knowledge
• A Yucatan Example
• See pg no. 06
• Book: How to do discourse analysis
 Sample questions
• What can we expect from ‘discourse analysis’?
• How is saying: “We have analysed this discourse and
come to the following conclusions” different from “I
read this text and this is what I think of it”?
• What if anything is hidden behind normal phrases
like “access to literacy”?
• If I declare a ‘war on poverty’, do I have to use guns
to give people food?
The Fill In Tool (listener’s task)
• For any communication, ask:
• Based on what was said and the context in which it
was said, what needs to be filled in here to achieve
clarity? What is not being said overtly, but is still
assumed to be known or inferable?
• What knowledge, assumptions, and inferences do
listeners have to bring to bear in order for this
communication to be clear and understandable and
received in the way the speaker intended it?
The Making Strange Tool
• For any communication, try to act as if you are an
‘‘outsider.’’
• Ask yourself: What would someone (perhaps even a
Martian) find strange here (unclear, confusing, worth
questioning) if that person did not share the
knowledge and assumptions and make the
inferences that render the communication so natural
and taken-for-granted by insiders?
The Intonation Tool
• For any communication, ask how a speaker’s intonation
contour contributes to the meaning of an utterance.
• What information did the speaker make salient, in terms
of where the intonational focus is placed?
• What information did the speaker background as given or
old by making it less salient?
• In dealing with written texts, always read them out loud
and ask what sort of intonation contour readers must add
to the sentences to make them make full sense.
• Speaker A: Have you read any good books lately?
• Speaker B: Well, I read a shocking book recently.
• [Goes on to describe the book.]
Discourse Modalities
• Spoken word
• Written word
• Paralinguistic features
– Intonation
–Gestures, facial expressions
• Images, signs, drawings
• Text organisation, layout, font type
Examples of Discourse
Spoken Discourse Written Discourse
 Conversations  Reports
 Lectures  Political texts
 Sermons  Legal texts
 Interviews  Literature
 Newspaper articles
 Jokes
 Newspaper headlines
 Speeches
Why Study Discourse Analysis?

As linguists, to find out how language works, to

improve our understanding of an important kind of
human activity
As educators, to find out how good texts work, so that
we can focus on teaching our students these
writing/speaking strategies.
As critical analists, to discover meanings in the text
which are not obvious on the surface (e.g., analysing a
politician’s speech to see their preconceptions).
Discourse Codes: What is
expressed through discourse

• Propositional meaning
• Figurative meaning
• Argumentative strategies
• Presuppositions and expectations
• Individual and group identity
• Social and political structures
• Power and prestige relations
Aims of Discourse Analysis

• “… analysing texts involves much more than

attending to whatever is 'in' those texts. …
The point … is not to get the text to lay bare
its meanings (or its prejudices), but to trace
some of the threads that connect that text to
others." (MacLure, 2003: 43)
Example
A: That’s the telephone.
B: I’m in the bath
A: O.K.
How do both the speakers manage to make sense of what the other
says?
The 1st speaker makes a request for the 2nd speaker to perform
action.
The 2nd speaker state reason why he cannot comply with the
request.
The 1st speaker undertakes to perform the action.

Thus language users must have a lot of knowledge (non-linguistic)

of how conversation works that is not simply ‘linguistic’
knowledge.
Here we go..
“Before you know it, these kids will be doctors, nurses and
medical technicians, possibly yours. They'll need an excellent
grasp of laser technology, advanced computing and
molecular genetics. Unfortunately, very few American
children are being prepared to master such sophisticated
subjects. If we want children who can handle tomorrow's
good jobs, more kids need to take more challenging
academic courses. To find out how you can help the effort to
raise standards in America's schools, please call 1-800-96
PROMISE. If we make changes now, we can prevent a lot of
pain later on.”
From Turner and Fauconnier, 2003, The Way We Think
Discourse analysis schools and
approaches

• Ethnography/Frame Analysis
(Turner, Goffman, Schon, Tannen, Lakoff)
strives for engaged objectivity
• Postmodernist/Critical Discourse Analysis
(Foucault, Fish, Fairclough, Wodak, van Dijk)
embraces involvement and bias
• Linguistic Analysis
(text linguistics, corpus linguistics, conversation
analysis, applied linguistics)
Discourse analysis
"Analysis of discourse is like riding a bicycle compared to
conducting experiments or analysing survey data which
resemble baking cakes from a recipe. There is no obvious
parallel to well-controlled experimental design and test
of statistical significance.“ …

"it is not a case of stating first you do this and then you
do that. The skills required are developed as one tries to
make sense of transcripts and identify the organizational
features of documents.“…(p. 169)

from Potter and Wetherell (1988) Discourse and Social Psychology

“The understanding and interpretation of texts is not
merely a concern of science, but is obviously part of
the total human experience of the world.” (p. xi)
H. G. (1975). Truth and method. London, Sheed and Ward.