Understanding

Definition and
Scope of
Discourse
Analysis
Rosalina Damayanti / A93219117
 Table of Contents

01
The definition of
02
The relationship
03
The scope of
Discourse between Discourse Discourse Analysis
and Lingustic
 What is Discourse Analysis?
speaker text hearer
(How they do the communication)

spoken written
What is Discourse
Analysis?
 Discourse analysis focuses on knowledge about the language
between the word, clause, phrase, and sentence that is
necessary for successful communication.

 The relationship between language and the social and cultural

context in which it is used, also the ways that the use of
language presents different views and different
understandings.

 Discourse analysis examines both spoken and written text.

 Example

A: That’s the telephone

B: I’m in the bath
A: Ok

How do both of 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 a reason why he can’t comply with the request.
The 1st speaker undertakes to perform the actions.
The relationship between
Language and Context
o Discourse analysis considers the relationship between language and the
contexts in which it is used and is concerned with the description and
analysis of both spoken and written interactions.

o Language is used by people in certain context so, it makes us know how

to interpret what someone says.
 Exampl
e
• An air controller say “the runway is full at the moment” to a pilot.
• I say “the runway is full at the moment” to my friend who pick me up
in the airport

The first sentence means that it’s not possible to land the plane at the
moment, so the pilot not land the plane. While the second sentence is the
explanation of why the plane is late landing, not an instruction to not land
the plane.

Even though it has same sentence, doesn’t mean it has same meaning, that’s
depend on the context.
Discourse Analysis and Pragmatics

Pragmatic concerned with how to interpret the language. Pragmatic

interested in what people mean by what they say rather than what words in
their most literal sense might mean by themselves.

example:
“the runway is full at the moment” is understood as an instruction not to
land the plane rather than just a statement of fact.
 The Discourse
Structure of Texts
• How people organize what they want to say in a conversation or in a piece
of writing.
• How the meaning of language lies in the situational context in which it is
used and in the context of the text as a whole.

Example:
Buying and selling interaction in the street.

“Hello Mister, DVD”

the seller will telling the very high price to starting a point in the buying and
selling exchange, and that the buyer can quite easily end up buying the shirt
for at least half the original price.
Cultural Ways of
Speaking and Writing
Different cultures often have different ways of doing things through
language.

Example:
• Speaking
Buying and selling things.
people in English-speaking country use “please” and “thanks” while in
Japan, they say nothing.
• Writing
The alphabet in Korea (Hangeul) and in Japan (Kanji)

It means that there are culturally different ways of doing things with
language in different cultures.
Communicative Competence and Discourse

Communicative competence involves not only knowing language, but also

how to say it appropriately in a particular situation.

Example:
a competent communicator will engage in turn-taking when in
conversations instead of interrupting. He would know when it is appropriate
to ask questions to further the conversation or feedback from the receiver to
know when the conversation is over.
 Discursive Competence
There are three notions of discursive competence:

o Textual competence
Refers to produce and interpret contextually appropriate texts. For example,
during online class, the student and teacher have interaction in WhatsApp
group.

o Generic competence
Respond to new communicative situation. For example, we have different
ways to speak with friends and with senior in the college that we never
know before.

o Social competence
Use language to take part in social interaction. For example, giving an
opinion in meeting at work.
THANK YOU