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.

An investigation of planning time and proficiency level on oral test discourse

Abstract: The inclusion of planning time in semi-direct oral interaction tests adds consider ably to the overall length of the test, and it is important to be clear that the increase in length is justified by the language outcome. Previous research has shown that the effect of planning time in second language can differentially influence the resultant discourse with planned discourse eliciting more complex language on a range of measures. However, where planning time has been provided it has gener ally been a substantial amount of time (ten minutes or more), and in a second language classroom situation, rather than a testing situation. Where planning time is provided in an oral interaction test it is generally limited to one or two minutes. In this study planning time was manipulated as a variable in a trial administration of a semi-direct test. Discourse analytic techniques were then used to determine the nature and/or significance of differences in the elicited discourse across the two conditions in terms of comp...

The Product of Text and 'Other' Statements: discourse analysis and the critical use of Foucault

Abstract: Much has been written on Michel Foucault's reluctance to clearly delineate a research method, particularly with respect to genealogy (Harwood, 2000; Meadmore, Hatcher & McWilliam, 2000; Tamboukou, 1999). Foucault (1994, p. 288) himself disliked prescription stating, ‘I take care not to dictate how things should be’ and wrote provocatively to disrupt equilibrium and certainty, so that ‘all those who speak for others or to others’ no longer know what to do. It is doubtful, however, that Foucault ever intended for researchers to be stricken by that malaise to the point of being unwilling to make an intellectual commitment to methodological possibilities. Taking criticism of ‘Foucauldian’ discourse analysis as a convenient point of departure to discuss the objectives of poststructural analyses of language, this paper develops what might be called a discursive analytic; a methodological plan to approach the analysis of discourses through the location of statements that function with constitutive effects.

Knowledge society discourse and higher education

Abstract: The growing importance of knowledge, research and innovation are changing the social role of universities in the globalized world One of the most popular concepts used to approach these changes in post-industrial and post-modern societies is the concept of ‘Knowledge Society’ In this paper, we will analyse the roles higher education is expected to play with regard to various knowledge society discourses We will begin with analyzing the uses of knowledge society as an intellectual device and continue by reflecting on how changes in higher education are related to knowledge society discourses in national, regional and global levels In the final section we will reflect on current challenges and expectations generated within these discourses for higher education and the implications these expectations have for higher education research

Socio-cognitive dynamics of knowledge building in the work of 9- and 10-year-olds

Abstract: This study examines four months of online discourse of 22 Grade 4 students engaged in efforts to advance their understanding of optics. Their work is part of a school-wide knowledge building initiative, the essence of which is giving students collective responsibility for idea improvement. This goal is supported by software—Knowledge Forum—designed to provide a public and collaborative space for continual improvement of ideas. A new analytic tool—inquiry threads—was developed to analyze the discourse used by these students as they worked in this environment. Data analyses focus on four knowledge building principles: idea improvement; real ideas, authentic problems (involving concrete/empirical and abstract/conceptual artifacts); community knowledge (knowledge constructed for the benefit of the community as a whole); and constructive use of authoritative sources. Results indicate that these young students generated theories and explanation-seeking questions, designed experiments to produce real-world empirical data to support their theories, located and introduced expert resources, revised ideas, and responded to problems and ideas that emerged as community knowledge evolved. Advances were reflected in progress in refining ideas and evidence of growth of knowledge for the community as a whole. Design strategies and challenges for collective idea improvement are discussed.

The Emergence of Metaphor in Discourse.

Abstract: We show how emergence offers new explanations for the behaviour of metaphorically-used expressions. Analysis of metaphors in two types of natural language data are combined: detailed analysis of continuous discourse, which offers wealth of context and the possibility of monitoring emergent forms as the discourse unfolds, and computer-assisted corpus analysis, which enables the examination of large numbers of examples of specific words and phrases across a range of contexts. We find that non-literal expressions with a relatively fixed form and highly specific semantics and pragmatics are very frequent in our data but are not well accounted for by current cognitive metaphor theory. We term these non-literal expressions ‘metaphoremes’, and argue that they represent the coalescence of linguistic, semantic, affective, and pragmatic forces into attractor states in the discourse system, appearing in discourse as relatively stable bundles of patterns of use. We show a metaphoreme emerging in the course of a discourse event and another which appears to have emerged recently as a result of a changing social environment. We then combine analyses and data types to track the use of as a metaphoreme, showing its patterns of formal, semantic, affective, and pragmatic characteristics.