Discourse analysis

Discourse Analysis

Discourse Analysis Approaches to Discourse Analysis Spoken and Written DiscourseBy: Sonia Caldern Cruz

What is discourse?Discourse can be defined in three ways:Language beyond the level of a sentenceLanguage behaviors linked to social practicesLanguage as a system of thought. Discourse analysis is usually defined as the analysis of language 'beyond the sentence'.And the analysis of discourse is typically concerned with the study of language in text and conversationWritten by MaCarthy et al. in An Introduction to Applied Linguistics. Schmitt, N. 2012

Questions Investigated by Discourse AnalystsWho are the Participants?What is the Relationship between them?What are the Difference s in Power & Knowledge between them?What are their Goals?Discourse AnalysisWhat Does it mean?How do we interpret the meaning of text?What Knowledge of Context is needed?What are the Clues Surrounding Text?

ParticipantsTextDiscourse has occupied many aspects of everyday life. Learning how to engage in discourse is one of the most important goals in language learning and teaching. Language students or teachers need to pay attention to different patterns in discourse and to focus on context and linguistic strategies that are most relevant . Discourse Analysis involves Real Text not invented, constructed and artificial text.Discourse Analysis works with Utterances not independent sentences.

Introduction

Approaches to Discourse AnalysisSociology Conversational Analysis Ethnography Interactional Sociolinguistics Variation TheorySociolinguisticsPhilosophy Speech Act Theory PragmaticsLinguistics Structural- FunctionalArtificial Intelligence

Social Semiotic Birmingham School SFL

SFL CDA

Discourse Analysis

(Adapted from Eggins and slade, 1997)



SFL CDA

Discourse Analysis



SFL CDA

Discourse AnalysisOne of the concerns in sociology is to understand how social members make sense of everyday life. To address this problem it pays attention to the most commonplace activities such as conversation. sociology considers conversation as a particularly appropriate and accessible resource for its enquiry.



SFL CDA

Discourse AnalysisKey questions, conversational analyst attempts to address: How to take turns in conversation. How to open and close conversation. How to launch new topics, close old ones, shift topic, etc.. How conversation generally progresses satisfactorily from one utterance to the next.



SFL CDA

Discourse AnalysisAddress some of the above questions:Turn is defined as a basic unit of social interaction in conversation that starts with occasion when speaker speaks and ends when another speaker takes a turn. To get the turn two ways are possible: be chosen or nominated by current speaker or self-selection.



SFL CDA

Discourse AnalysisAddress some of the above question: To show that listener is still following the speaker and wishes him to continue, a mechanism called Back-channel response is used ( Mmm, yeah, sure, right ). To predict one anothers turn a mechanism such as completing or overlapping the speakers utterance often occurs. (A: I had much trouble when answering the questions. B: The exam was really hard.)



SFL CDA

Discourse AnalysisPatterns in Turn-taking:One of important patterns in turn-taking is Adjacency Pairs. This pattern includes pairs such as: greeting-greeting (A: Good morning --- B: Hi, good morning) , compliment-thanks (A: Congratulations on the new job ----- B: Oh, thanks), apology-acceptance These are known as preferred sequence in contrast with dispreferred sequence (A: Hi, how is it going? ----- B: Drop dead!)



SFL CDA

Discourse AnalysisOther common Types of pattern:Solidary routines ( A: I have a terrible headache ------ B: Oh, Im sorry, can I do anything) and Converging pairs ( A: I just love that green sweater. ------- B: Oh, so do I, )Note: Conversational Analysis involves the actual recorded data of naturally occurring interactions and rejects experimental methods of collecting data by simulating dialogues or artificial interactive context.Implication: Using authentic spoken materials in class in addition to examples of course-book.



SFL CDA

Discourse Analysis



SFL CDA

Discourse AnalysisEthnographic approaches to conversation have been led by Hymes and are concerned with the situation and uses, the patterns and functions of speaking as an activity in its own right. Or concerned with understanding the social context of linguistics interactions. In seeking to account for who says what to whom, when, where, why and how. (Hymes 1972b)Examples of speech event can be conversation at a party or ordering a meal. Any speech event comprises several components listed as grid and known as Speaking grid.



SFL CDA

Discourse AnalysisSpeaking gridThis grid emphasizes the contextual dimensions that determine our use of language.One important part of the grid is genre which says that there are different text-types with their own different internal structures, which accord with different social goals.



SFL CDA

Discourse AnalysisDeveloped by Lobov (1972) and in particular his description of the structure of spoken narratives has made a major contribution to the analysis of discourse. 6 stages of Structure of a narrative of personal experience:1-Abstract (summary of story, with its point) 4-Evaluation (narrators attitude towards narrative)2-Orientation (in respect of place, time and situation) 5-Resolution (protagonists approach to crisis)3-Complication (temporal sequence of events, 6- Coda (point about narrative as a whole) culminating in crisis)



SFL CDA

Discourse Analysis



SFL CDA

Discourse AnalysisModel developed by Sinclair et.al (1975) for analysis of classroom discourse.Considering teachers questions-pupils answers discourse they identified units of pattern (bounded by discourse markers such as Now , then and Right) which they called Transaction.

Transactions Exchanges Moves Acts



SFL CDA

Discourse AnalysisModel developed by Sinclair et.al (1975) for analysis of classroom discourse.The next level of pattern consists of question-answer-feedback which is called Exchange.




SFL CDA

Discourse AnalysisModel developed by Sinclair et.al (1975) for analysis of classroom discourse.the next level represent a single action such as questioning, answering and feeding back which is called Move.




SFL CDA

Discourse AnalysisModel developed by Sinclair et.al (1975) for analysis of classroom discourse.Finally there are local, micro-action (such as nominating a student, acknowledge) which is called Acts. These levels form a rank-scale in which any levelis composed of all the levels below it.




SFL CDA

Discourse Analysis



SFL CDA

Discourse AnalysisSystematic functional linguistics is one variety of functional linguistics, its distinctive feature being the concern to explain the internal organization of language in terms of the functions that it has evolved to serve (Halliday, 1978,1994).It investigate how language is structured to achieve socio-cultural meaning, it focuses on the analysis of texts, considered in relationship to social context in which they occur.



SFL CDA

Discourse AnalysisIt is similar to conversational analysis, both are concerned to describe the relationship between language and its social context.However the focus of SFL is on the way that language is organized to enable conversation to function as it does, but CA focuses on social life and sees conversation as a key to that.

Critical discourse analysisCritical discourse analysis(CDA) is an interdisciplinary approach to the study ofdiscoursethat views language as a form ofsocial practiceand focuses on the ways social and political domination are reproduced in text and talk.SinceNorman Fairclough'sLanguage and Powerin 1989, CDA has been deployed as a method of multidisciplinary analysis throughout the humanities and social sciences.

Genres in CDA are seen as social actions occurring within particular social and historical contexts. As Miller stated, similarities in form and function are seen deriving from the similarity in the social action undertaken, therefore, Texts are looked at the textual regularities they display and what class, gender and ethnic bias they incorporate, what social practices they reflect. This new conception of genre in CDA sees genres as both social and textual categories which are dynamic and changing. Genres are not only arise out of the social context but also they shape the social context.

Discourse analysis questionnaire1. who wrote these topic?2. name two approaches to discourse analysisWhat does SFL stand for?

1. MaCarthy et al2. conversational analysis, etnography

Stands for Systemic functional linguistics

Discourse AnalysisSpoken and Written DiscourseAt first glance it seems that spoken discourse is formless but research on the analysis of spoken discourse shows that spoken English does have a consistent and describable structure and that in many respects the language patterning is the same as written English.

One way of approaching differences between speaking and writing is to plot individual texts along scales.

Discourse AnalysisSpoken and Written Discourse

At first glance it seems that spoken discourse is formless but research on the analysis of spoken discourse shows that spoken English does have a consistent and describable structure and that in many respects the language patterning is the same as written English.

One way of approaching differences between speaking and writing is to plot individual texts along scales.

Discourse AnalysisSpoken and Written Discourse

At one end we have the most formal written texts, such as academic articles. At the other end there are the most informal spoken interactions such as casual conversations. In the middle of the scales are the informal, written text such as letters to friends and the formal spoken text such as job interview.Spoken and written discourse usually have different lexical density which is defined as the rate of occurrence of lexical items ( content word such as sun, confuse, tiny ) against grammatical items ( he, was, on ). Spoken discourse typically has lower lexical density.

Discourse AnalysisSpoken and Written DiscourseDifferences between formal and informal spoken English (Table below) can indicate to some extent (not as extreme) differences between spoken and written discourses.Final point: Both spoken and written discourse have consistent and describable structures.

Discourse AnalysisSpoken and Written DiscourseWritten Discourse only relies on text-activated context and therefore it is more structured and formal.Spoken Discourse relies on immediate context and has less need to refer to everything. As consequence of this we face a lot of ellipses in spoken discourse.

Important Aspects of Differences : Grammare.g. Ellipses in Spoken (Deletion of Item whose reference is implicitly transferred)Absent of auxiliary: A: Anybody want soup?B: No thank you.(Does Anybody want )Absent of pronoun, article: A: Nice restaurant?B: Yes, it is, isnt it.(Its a nice restaurant.)Discourse Grammar appreciates distinction between spoken and written grammar and is interested in the spoken-written divide wherever it is relevant.

Discourse AnalysisLexical Patterns in Spoken LanguageUsed for signaling and confirming an agreed meaning:e.g. A: California was really beautiful.B: Its a beautiful place. 1. Repetition2. Relexicalization: Synonyms & Antonyms Synonyms: Used for converging on agreed meaning.e.g. A: Alice where did you get that skirt? B: Isnt it lovely. A: Its so nice. C: In Top Shop Antonyms: Used for distinguishing instantial meaning from out-of-context semantic meaning.e.g. A: Sometime its hard but I really fell B: Well it is hard, isnt it. Its not easy to go forward.Final point: Repetition and relexicalization are part of the speaking skill and in the case of relexicalization (the ability to retrieve synonyms and antonyms) present a considerable challenge to second language learners .

Cohesioncohesion is the grammatical and/or lexical relationships between the different elements of a text.

Example: My father once bought a Lincoln convertible. He did it by saving every penny he could. That car would be worth a fortune nowadays. However, he sold it to help pay for my college education. Sometimes I think Id rather have the convertible.

Cohesive ties ( In reference): Father- he- he- he; A Lincoln convertible- that car- it- the convertible

My father once bought a Lincoln convertible. He did it by saving every penny he could. That car would be worth a fortune nowadays. However, he sold it to help pay for my college education. Sometimes I think Id rather have the convertible.

Cohesive ties ( in semantics): [money]: bought- saving- penny- worth- fortune- sold- pay [time]: once- nowadays- sometimes

My father once bought a Lincoln convertible. He did it by saving every penny he could. That car would be worth a fortune nowadays. However, he sold it to help [ay for my college education. Sometimes I think Id rather have the convertible.

Cohesive ties (in grammar): Tense: bought- did- could- would- sold Cohesive devices for textual relation: however

Example: My father bought a Lincoln convertible. The car driven by the police was red. That color doesnt suit her. She consists of three letters. However, a letter isnt as fast as a telephone call. Many cohesive devices, but a text very hard to interpret.

Here we dont see any coherence but there is a cohesion.

Cohesive (with many cohesive ties)

Coherent (easy to interpret)

CoherenceCoherence is the relationships which link the meanings of utterances in a discourse or of the sentences in a text. Example:HER: Thats the telephoneHIM: Im in the bathHER: O.K.There are certainly no cohesive ties within this fragment of discourse. Here we see coherence but no cohesion.

Coherence and cohesion

Discourse AnalysisImplications for Pedagogy Discourse analysis enables language practitioners to precisely delineate in materials the different genres of language with which learners will need to engage and to select discourses relevant to learners needs. Discourse analysis can help teachers to explain the underlying features of the text types associated with different type of writing (academic paper, business letters,..) Discourse analysis may serve to raise awareness of the nature of teacher-leaner interaction. It can help teachers consider their own interaction practices in a more systematic manner and offer a full-rich context for learners to engage in the genuine interaction. Discourse analysis provides teachers with more insight to evaluate their own learners performance in classroom task in terms of its proximity to or distance from the real-world discourse. Conversation analysis offer the possibility of systematic teaching of features such as the language of openings and closings, discourse markers and common adjacency pairs. Discourse analysis provides the descriptive information which come in the form of pedagogical grammars and learners dictionaries which are more sensitive to context.

Discourse analysis questionnaireWhat are some differences between spoken and written discourse?

What is the difference between coherence and cohesion?

Written Discourse only relies on text-activated context and therefore it is more structured and formal.Spoken Discourse relies on immediate context and has less need to refer to everything. As consequence of this we face a lot of ellipses in spoken discourse.Coherence is:the relationships which link the meanings of utterances in a discourse or of the sentences in a text.

Cohesion is:the grammatical and/or lexical relationships between the different elements of a text.

Thanks

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Discourse analysis