Discourse analysis

Question 1

What is discourse analysis?

Answer 1

The analysis of language
‘beyond the sentence’

“a type of discourse
analytical research that
primarily studies the way
social power abuse,
dominance, & inequality
are enacted, reproduced,
& resisted by text & talk
in the social & political context.”
(Van Dijk, 2003)

Consider the large
discourse context
in order to understand
how it affects
the meaning of
the sentence

Question 2

How do social situations influence?

Answer 2

Context is conceived of
in terms of independent social varibles,
such as gender, class, ethnicity,
age or identity,
or as social conditions of text & talk

And the way the participants
define such a situation also influence
language use & discourse

Question 3

Frame analysis

Answer 3

Is principally concerned with
dissecting how an issue
is defined & problematised,
and the effect that thsi has
on the broader discussion of the issue

(WHO is the author?)

Question 4

The uses of frame analysis

Answer 4

Typically frames define
problems, diagnose,
evaluate & prescribe

Define problems -
determine what a causal agent
is doing with the costs & benefits

Diagnose causes -
identity the forces creating
the problem

Moral judgements -
evaluate causal agents &
their effects

Suggest remedies -
offer and typify treatments
for the problems &
predict their likely effects

Question 5

Discourse Markers

Answer 5

Little words like
‘well’, ‘oh’, ‘but’, ‘and’

these markers don’t necessarily
mean what the dictionary says
they mean

Realizing that these words can
function as discourse markers
is important to preven
the frustration

Question 6

Speech Acts

Answer 6

Speech act analysis
asks not what form
the utterance takes
but what it does

E.g., giving a compliment
In a discourse analysis,
we could ask:
>what counts as
>who gives to whom
>what other function it can serve

Question 7

Word groups

Answer 7

Take a closer look at
nouns, verbs, & adjectives,
find any common features

:it can shed light on
the sort of logic
that text implies
(religious terms)

Question 8

GGrammar features

Answer 8

Check who or what
the subjects & objects
in the various statements are
(‘we’ & ‘they’
~
protagonists & antagonists)

A look at adjectives & adverbs
tell more about judgements
that the text passes on these groups

Question 9

Direct and indirect speech

Answer 9

Does the text include quotes?
Are they paraphrased or
cited as directed speech?

Question 10

Modalities

Answer 10

See if the text includes
any statements on
what ‘should’ or ‘could’ be

(a sense of urgency,
call to action)

Question 11

Evidentialities

Answer 11

Are there any phrases
in the text that suggest
factuality?
‘of course’, ‘obviously’, ‘as everyone knows’

In discourse theory,
all statements are controversial.
SO how it ‘naturalizes’
certain statements as
‘common sense’ or ‘fact’

Question 12

Steps

Answer 12

Pre-analysis:
formulate a research question &
collect source material

1. Establish the context
2. Explore the production process
3. Prepare material for analysis
4. Code material
5. Examine the structure of the text
6. Collect and examine
   discursive statements (code)
7. Identify cultural references
8. Identify linguistic & rhetorical mechanisms
9. Interpret the data
10. Present findings