Discourse analysis

About: Discourse analysis is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 16055 publications have been published within this topic receiving 515384 citations. The topic is also known as: DA & discourse studies.

Analysing Power Relations in Partnerships: Is There a Role for Discourse Analysis?

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to assess power relations between the participants involved in a newly formed, multi-sectoral, urban regeneration partnership. The paper examines the extent of 'transformation' during the progress of the partnership; focusing on identifying changes in partners' theories of the causes of the local regeneration 'problem'. It draws upon the theoretical framework and analytical tools provided by critical discourse analysis in order to explore how a focus on language use can contribute to identifying changes in assumptions and values. The overall purpose of the paper is to consider the practical usefulness of discourse theory and analysis in identifying instances of the exercise of power. It concludes that discourse analysis can help to detect ways in which power is being exercised which may not be apparent to or acknowledged by those involved in partnerships and can therefore be made to play a useful role in assessing power in partnership working.

Reading English for Specialized Purposes: Discourse Analysis and the Use of Student Informants*

Abstract: by a small group of investigators. The studies investigated a bio-chemistry student's experience reading a survey article on genetics, two biology students' experiences reading textbook material on genetics, an economicsinternational relations student's experience reading an analysis of the voting process, and three South East Asian history students' experiences reading the introduction to a basic history text. For comparison purposes the fourth study also elicited responses from native English speakers. Although the reading passages untilized in the studies reflected different disciplines and different rhetorical approaches, students across disciplines were found to have similar problems. Among those were difficulty with heavy noun phrase subjects and objects, syntactic markers of cohesion, and the role of non-technical vocabulary in technical texts.

3. meaning beyond the clause: sfl perspectives

Abstract: This chapter takes note of the longstanding orientation Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) to discourse studies before moving to a more detailed and selective presentation of current developments in SFL with respect to discourse models, developing research methodologies, and applications to different domains The reinterpretation of cohesion as discourse semantics (identification, negotiation, conjunction, and ideation) is reviewed with respect to metafunctions (textual, interpersonal, and ideational) This work on texture is then related to social context through the register variables tenor, field and mode alongside genre The chapter then reviews recent SFL-inspired research that applies these models to analysis of discourse across languages, modalities of communication, and domains Work done on school and workplace discourse has raised new questions about appropriate units of discourse structure and their relationship to register analysis It is predicted that some of these questions may be answered by the development of improved software for discourse analyses affording greater specificity in mapping the relationships among genres

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.

Talk in institutional context and institutional context in talk: Categories as situated practices

Abstract: The conception of the relationship between social context and communicative practices is a critical element of social science theorizing. What is at stake is, amongst other things, the balance between accounting for stable institutional practices, on the one hand, and the occasioned nature of interactional accomplishments, on the other. This analytical issue is discussed in the context of talk in a particular institutional setting, an employment office, with particular reference to the use of categories, a rather neglected topic in discourse analysis. In this setting, participants invoke specific traditions of argumentation and ways of reasoning through their use of categories (and categorical knowledge), and such resources are essential for the accomplishment of interaction. This implies, amongst other things, that for the analyst to be able to account for the accomplishment of in situ talk, familiarity with traditions of argumentation and their constituting possibilities within institutional practices is essential.