Showing papers on "Discourse analysis published in 2014"

Analysing Genre: Language Use in Professional Settings

Abstract: General Editor's Preface Preface Acknowledgements Part 1: Genre Analysis-Theoretical Preliminaries 1. From description to explanation in discourse analysis 2. Approach to genre analysis Part 2: Genre Analysis in Action 3. Product and self promotion in business settings 4. Research genres in academic settings 5. Legal discourse in professional settings Part 3: Applications 6. From description to explanation in language teaching 7. Generic integrity and language reform Bibliography Subject Index Author Index.

Accounting narratives and the narrative turn in accounting research: Issues, theory, methodology, methods and a research framework

Abstract: This plenary address paper traces the development of accounting narratives in external reporting practice and research, focussing on corporate-sourced financial communications to shareholders and analysts. It is written from the personal perspective of a researcher who began in the positivist tradition of disclosure research and is increasingly engaging with the more interpretive/critical tradition of socially-constructed narratives. Whereas early accounting narratives research existed at the margins, modern content-analytic work on disclosures rose to a position of prominence, alongside the rise of non-financial information in the practice domain. In recent years, large-scale linguistic studies have entered the mainstream positivist North American literature, supported by computerised natural language processing. Outside this community, accounting research has witnessed a ‘narrative turn’, similar to many other social science disciplines, marking a shift away from realism and positivism. This paper argues for the importance of both lines of research. Participants’ actions in relation to accounting narratives may be understood in terms of, inter alia, both economic explanations based on utility maximisation and behavioural explanations based on psychology and the embeddedness of narrative in social practice. In terms of methodology and methods, the weakening of the deep-surface divide is exemplified by the common combination of corpus linguistics approaches with (critical) discourse analysis in other disciplines. Based on a discussion of key issues, theory, methodology and methods, a framework for thinking about research in accounting narratives is offered. The challenge is to better understand the role of narratives in the increasingly rich, complex information environment of external reporting.

Critical narrative analysis: the interplay of critical discourse and narrative analyses

Abstract: In this article, I question the micro–macro separation in discourse analysis, the separation of personal and institutional discourses. I apply a mostly macroanalytic perspective (critical discourse analysis [CDA]) to inform a predominantly microanalytic perspective (analysis of conversational narratives) and vice versa. In the combination of these two analytic approaches to data analysis, I explore the connections between macro-level power inequities and micro-level interactional positionings, thereby establishing critical narrative analysis (CNA). I examine the focus of CDA on institutional discourses and problematize the definition of power discourses by looking closely at the intertextual recycling of institutional discourses in everyday narratives and at the adoption of everyday narratives in institutional discourses. Ultimately, I propose that CNA unites CDA and narrative analysis in a mutually beneficial partnership that addresses both theoretical and methodological dilemmas in discourse analysis.

Discourse and Knowledge: A Sociocognitive Approach

Abstract: 1. Introduction 2. Elements of a theory of natural knowledge 3. Discourse, knowledge and cognition 4. Discourse, knowledge and social cognition 5. Discourse, knowledge and society 6. Discourse, knowledge and culture 7. Language, discourse and knowledge 8. Conclusions.

The discourse studies reader : main currents in theory and analysis

Abstract: Discourse Studies is an interdisciplinary field studying the social production of meaning across the entire spectrum of the social sciences and humanities. The Discourse Studies Reader brings together 40 key readings from discourse researchers in Europe and North America, some of which are now translated into English for the first time. Divided into seven sections – ‘Theoretical Inspirations: Structuralism versus Pragmatics’, ‘From Structuralism to Poststructuralism’, ‘Enunciative Pragmatics’, ‘Interactionism’, ‘Sociopragmatics’, ‘Historical Knowledge’ and ‘Critical Approaches’ – The Discourse Studies Reader offers a comprehensive overview of the main currents in discourse studies, both discourse theory and discourse analysis. With short introductions elaborating the broader context, the sections present key selections from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds by placing them into their respective epistemological traditions. The Discourse Studies Reader is an indispensable textbook for students and scholars alike who are interested in discourse theoretical questions and working with discourse analytical methods.

What Gives You a Social Licence? An Exploration of the Social Licence to Operate in the Australian Mining Industry

Abstract: This article analyses the ways in which major, multinational mining companies operating within Australia understand sustainable development and articulate their “social licence to operate”. The article contributes a novel perspective to ongoing discussions about the social licence by exploring the ways in which leading Australian mining companies define and assert their social licences through sustainable development discourse. A content and discourse analysis of 18 sustainability reports across a four year period, supplemented by qualitative interview data, draws out these issues. While most companies use these reports to confirm beliefs in the necessity of a social licence, the ways in which the licence is specifically defined and maintained are not generally made explicit. Additionally, key theoretical criteria required for a social licence, such as free, prior and informed consent, appear to be overlooked. In conclusion, the article suggests ways in which criteria for a social licence within the mining industry could be defined more clearly and raises consequent questions to shape future research.

Constructing the Meaning of Social Licence

Abstract: Large companies must increasingly satisfy not only the conditions of their formal licences, but also the concerns and expectations of host communities and broader society. This has led to the emergence, particularly in the minerals industry, of the notion of “social licence”, an interdiscursive term whose meaning is rarely interrogated. We use textual analysis to critically investigate the construction of social licence discourse in minerals companies’ sustainable development reports and at a recent industry conference. We find that the texts mystify the nature of agency, and privilege processes that maintain existing power relations. Through their partial accommodation of heterogeneous discourses, the texts downplay tensions and conflicts. We conclude that there is a need to reconceptualise the nature of company–stakeholder relationships through a more collaborative, dialogic and reflexive process, avoiding the binary state implied by the term licence.

Discourse Analysis Beyond the Speech Event

Abstract: 1 Discourse analysis across events 2 Central tools and techniques 3 Discourse analysis of ethnographic data 4 Discourse analysis of archival data 5 Discourse analysis of new media data 6 Conclusions

Racism, Football Fans, and Online Message Boards: How Social Media Has Added a New Dimension to Racist Discourse in English Football

Abstract: This article presents the findings of a discourse analysis carried out from November 2011 to February 2012 on two prominent association football (soccer) message boards that examined fans’ views toward racism in English football. After analyzing more than 500 posts, the article reveals the racist discourse used by some supporters in their online discussions and the extent to which the posts were either supported or contested by fellow posters. The overall findings are that social media sites such as fan message boards have allowed racist thoughts to flourish online, in particular by rejecting multiculturalism and Islam through the presentation of whiteness and national belonging and an outright hostility and resistance toward the Other. Despite this, the majority of posts that contained some form of racist discourse were openly challenged.

On the ethics of interviewing for discourse analysis

Abstract: The focus is an ethical dilemma that arises, in an acute form, in interviews for studies using constructionist forms of discourse analysis. Informants typically assume that researchers are aiming to document their experiences, feelings, perspectives, etc., as features of a collectively shared world; an assumption that is probably reinforced by the rationales researchers provide, and by their behaviour. Yet, in such studies, the purpose of interviews is actually to generate displays of discursive practices, rather than to elicit information about the world or about people’s individual subjectivities. This discrepancy amounts to deception, but attempts to remedy it are likely to be counterproductive because of the gap between the natural attitude and a constructionist analytic orientation. From the perspective of some currently influential views about ethics, relating to informed consent and doing research ‘with’ rather than ‘on’ people, this would disqualify such research. However, these views are by no me...

Describing Discourse: A Practical Guide to Discourse Analysis

Abstract: The Discourse of Speech and Writing The Discourse of Politics The Discourse of Advertising The Discourse of Law The Discourse of Education The Discourse of Medicine Conclusion

Unpacking teachers’ language ideologies: attitudes, beliefs, and practiced language policies in schools in Alsace, France

Abstract: In France, most teachers still receive scant training in how to support plurilingual children in their learning of and through the language of instruction. In the absence of relevant, in-depth knowledge about language, we believe that many teachers are practising language policies based on beliefs rooted in ideologies unsupported by research findings.In this paper, we will present and analyse data from interviews with head teachers (n = 46) from a variety of schools in the Strasbourg area, north-east France. Critical, interpretive analysis of the reported discourse reveals evidence of linguistic hierarchies, separate spaces for different languages, a profusion of bilingual myths and a persistent monolingual habitus at school. Our findings underline the importance of uncovering and analysing teachers’ language ideologies in a bid to better understand the influences and obstacles preventing them from practising informed language policies with respect to plurilingual language development.

Languaging when contexts collapse: Audience design in social networking

Abstract: This paper examines strategies of language choice in social networking interactions among multilingual young people on Facebook. In media studies the term “context collapse” describes the process by which online social networks bring together people from various social contexts, thereby creating a diverse networked audience. In online social networks that involve participants from different countries and language communities, language choice becomes a pertinent issue. This paper draws on empirical data from social networks among young multilingual people on Facebook to examine strategies of language choice and negotiation. Drawing on the sociolinguistic framework of audience design, the sociolinguistics of multilingualism and computer-mediated discourse analysis, the analysis examines language choice in initiating and responding contributions, metapragmatic negotiations of language style and the role of English as a resource among networked writers.

A Cultural Analysis of the Achievement Gap Discourse: Challenging the Language and Labels Used in the Work of School Reform.

Abstract: In this article, I critique the labels and terms used to frame practices aimed at closing the achievement gap. I examine how an unacknowledged achievement gap Discourse has emerged from the language that informs practices and policies of contemporary school reform. I use Gee’s uppercase “Discourse” and a cultural analytic framework to critique what I refer to as the achievement gap “Discourse.” I challenge educational stakeholders to rethink (a) student comparisons, (b) teacher and student assessments, (c) labels, (d) community input and involvement, and (e) the collective commitment to public schooling as an institution.

Facing Facebook: Impression management strategies in company-consumer interactions

Abstract: This study examines interaction between corporate representatives and critical consumers in today’s social media environment. Applying a microanalytical form of discourse analysis to a data set of ...

Multiactivity in Social Interaction: Beyond Multitasking

Abstract: Doing more than one thing at the same time – a phenomenon that is often called ‘multitasking’ – is characteristic to many situations in everyday and professional life. Although we all experience it, its real time features remain understudied. Multiactivity in Social Interaction: Beyond multitasking offers a fresh view to the phenomenon by presenting studies that explore how two or more activities can be related and made co-relevant as people interact with one another. The studies build on the basis that multiactivity is a social, verbal and embodied phenomenon. They investigate multiactivity by using video recordings of real-life interactions from a range of different contexts, such as medical settings, office workplaces and car driving. With the companion collection Interacting with Objects: Language, materiality, and social activity, the book advances understanding of the complex organisation and accomplishment of social interaction, especially the significance of embodiment, materiality, participation and temporality. A close appreciation of how people use language and interact for and during multiactivity will not only interest researchers in language and social interaction, communication studies and discourse analysis, but will be very valuable for scholars in cognitive sciences, psychology and sociology.

An ecolinguistic approach to critical discourse studies

Abstract: This article explores the recently emerging area of ecolinguistics as a form of critical discourse study. While ecolinguistics tends to use the same forms of linguistic analysis as traditional critical discourse studies, the normative framework it operates in considers relationships of humans not just with other humans but also with the larger ecological systems that all life depends on. Ecolinguistics analyses discourses from consumerism to nature poetry, critiquing those which encourage ecologically destructive behaviour and seeking out those which encourage relationships of respect and care for the natural world. The expanded context of ecolinguistics complicates power relations between oppressor and oppressed since it considers impacts on non-human subjects and future generations not yet born, necessitating both theoretical development of CDS and an application of an ecologically based normative framework for judging discourses against.

Building Chinese Discourse Corpus with Connective-driven Dependency Tree Structure

Abstract: In this paper, we propose a Connectivedriven Dependency Tree (CDT) scheme to represent the discourse rhetorical structure in Chinese language, with elementary discourse units as leaf nodes and connectives as non-leaf nodes, largely motivated by the Penn Discourse Treebank and the Rhetorical Structure Theory. In particular, connectives are employed to directly represent the hierarchy of the tree structure and the rhetorical relation of a discourse, while the nuclei of discourse units are globally determined with reference to the dependency theory. Guided by the CDT scheme, we manually annotate a Chinese Discourse Treebank (CDTB) of 500 documents. Preliminary evaluation justifies the appropriateness of the CDT scheme to Chinese discourse analysis and the usefulness of our manually annotated CDTB corpus.

Investigating Criterial Discourse Features across Second Language Development: Lexical Bundles in Rated Learner Essays, CEFR B1, B2 and C1

Abstract: In this study, we investigated criterial discourse features in L2 writing through the use of recurrent word combinations, a.k.a. lexical bundles, taking a corpus-driven and expert-judged approach by examining L2 English data across various proficiency levels from L1 Chinese learners. Proficiency was determined by a robust rating procedure which is often used in high-stakes tests, instead of the traditional approach of utilizing extra-linguistic judgement such as program levels. Expository and argumentative essays produced by learners were rated by experienced raters and then subjected to post-rating statistical analysis. Three sizeable subcorpora, representing the Common European Framework of Reference B1, B2, and C1 levels, were then selected for investigation. After lexical bundles were retrieved and refined, structures and discourse functions were manually annotated. The findings suggest that learner writing at lower levels tends to share more features with conversation, whereas the discourse of more proficient writing is closer to that of academic prose. The implications and limitations of the study will also be discussed.

Participation in virtual academic communities of practice under the influence of technology acceptance and community factors

Abstract: Participation in virtual communities of practice (vCoP) can be influenced at the same time by technology acceptance and by community factors. To overcome methodological issues connected with the analysis of these influences, learning analytics were applied. Based on a recent vCoP model, the collaborative dialogue comprising 4040 interventions in 1981 messages created by a vCoP located at a US American online university was automatically analyzed. The text-based asynchronous online discussions were scored using a cohesion-based participation and collaboration analysis. Additionally, a sample of N = 133 vCoP participants responded a technology acceptance survey. Thus, a combined research model including the vCoP model and an established technology acceptance model was verified. The results confirmed the vCoP model entirely, and the acceptance model only partially. As consequence for educational research, the CoP model was confirmed and extended to vCoP settings, while the acceptance model appears to need reconsideration. For academic practice, the study initiates the development of assessment tools fostering knowledge sharing through dialogue in vCoP. Also, it suggests how virtual classrooms can be extended to open spaces where value creation takes place through social learning. Learning analytics proved thus successful, provides information that impacts both theory and practice of technology-enhanced learning.

Discourse of the real kind: : A post-foundational approach to organizational discourse analysis

Abstract: In response to the postmodern invasion of organization studies, some critics have issued increasingly loud cries that we should ‘get real’ about organizational discourse analysis. But what precisely do these proponents take to be the ‘real’? In this article we trace out some of the attempts of ‘getting real’, arguing that these approaches have some important limitations. We then explore the relevance of a post-foundational approach to discourse, which, we argue, have far reaching implications for the study of organizational discourse. We argue that such approach offers us a way of theoretically linking the ‘real’ with (1) the way discourses are structured around fundamental gaps, (2) how discourses are brought together through nodal points and (3) how discourses generate affective and emotional attachment. We then offer some suggestions of how these points can be used to study organizational processes. We conclude by reflecting on some of the limitations of this approach to studying discourse.

Between Communicative Interaction and Structures of Signification: Discourse Theory and Analysis in International Relations

Abstract: This paper discusses contemporary engagement with the theory and analysis of discourse in international relations. It argues that discourse understood as “meaning in use” has emerged as one of the core concepts in constructivist scholarship, being of tremendous theoretical and analytical value. The paper identifies two distinct types of discourse analysis around which most contributions in this field converge: micro-interactional approaches that emphasize the communicative, pragmatic aspects of discourse and macro-structural approaches focusing on discourse as structures of signification. What unites these studies is their interest in the diffuse power relationships that characterize social interaction in international politics and the productive effects of power that the term “discourse” serves to underline. Through a combination of these two different strands of discourse research, with two different conceptualizations of power (deliberative and productive), the paper develops a taxonomy of discourse approaches that reflects four distinct variants of discourse research. These variants are illustrated by means of an in-depth discussion of recent innovative studies. In conclusion, the paper points to a number of limitations in the present conceptualization of power through discourse as well as in terms of the uneasy combination of positivist epistemology and constructivist ontology in much empirical discourse research. Discussing the overlap between discourse and practice scholarship, the paper sketches future directions for research in this field.

Introduction: Discourse Analysis and Policy Discourse

Abstract: markdown: As introduction to a collection on policy discourses and patterns of argumentation in international development, this paper clarifies different meanings of `discourse' and 'discourse analysis', including as applied in development studies, and explains why effective discourse analysis requires systematic attention to both text and context, based on serious methods and theories. It then outlines important areas and current work in policy discourse analysis, including with reference to metaphors, framing, and policy narratives; and comments on main emphases in a set of papers which present methodical approaches of various types, for examining a range of discourses.