Discourse

Analysis

 COURSE (Golf Course, English

Course)
DISCOURSE
COURSE DESIGN (Planning a Course)

What is
discourse ?

 discourse (kb)=. pidato atau

tulisan, percakapan, ceramah.
scientific discourse = wacana
ilmiah.
discourse (kki). bercakap-cakap.
to d. on bercakap-cakap mengenai.

Definitions of Discourse
(1)

Long and serious speech (Oxford LP Dictionary)

A particular unit of language (above the

sentence), or discourse in structure;

A particular focus on language use, discourse as

function.

Definitions of Discourse
(2)

Discourse is:

language above the sentence or above the clause

a continuous stretch of spoken language larger than
a sentence, often constituting a coherent unit
a stretch of language perceived to be meaningful
unified, and purposive; language in use
(viewed) as social practice determined by social
structures

Definition of Discourse
(3)
Discourse written and spoken
Speaker/
writer

Hearer/ reader
Discourse
Context

Definitions of
discourse (4)
(a)

A set of terms, metaphors, allusions, ways of talking,

references and so on, which constitute an object

(b) A to-and-fro of exchanges in talk (or text) that

performs social actions

Structural and functional

definitions of discourse
Structural or textual definition of
discourse:
Discourse is a particular unit of language
(above the sentence).

Functional definition of discourse:

Discourse is a particular focus of language
use.

Problem:

Discourse as
structure ?

you can have a unit which looks like

a sentence
But
doesnt mean anything

e.g. Colourless green ideas sleep

furiously

Discourse as
structure ?

but on the other hand the units in

which people speak do not always
look like sentences.
e.g. You can run a hou- whatcha- now whatcha you can
run a house-you can run a house a- and do the job,
which is important, y cant y- a man cant do it
himself, and a woman cant do it himself w- if y
want it to be successful. In most cases.

Discourse as
structure ?

How do you analyse

something which is not
a sentence?

Discourse as
structure ?

How do you analyse

a sentence?

Discourse as
structure ?

How do you analyse

something which is not
a sentence?

Discourse as a System of
functions ?
e.g. whats the time?
Phatic function (opens a contact)
Emotive function (conveys the need of the speaker)
Conative function (asks something of the addressee)
Referential function (makes reference to the world
outside the language)
PROBLEM:
Discourse analysis may turn into a more general
and broader analysis of language functions.

Objects of discourse
Discourse refers to any utterance which is meaningful.
These texts can be:

- written texts
- oral texts (speech/talk)
- mixed written/oral texts (e.g. Internet chat)
Discourse does not depend on the size of a text (P and
Ladies can both be analysed as discourse)

The scope of discourse

analysis
Discourse analysis is not a discipline which exists on its own. It
is influenced by other disciplines and influences them as
well. It is a two-way process
For this reason discourse analysis examines spoken and
written texts from all sorts of different areas (medical,
legal, advertising) and from all sorts of perspectives (race,
gender, power)
Discourse analysis has a number of practical applications - for
example in analysing communication problems in medicine,
psychotherapy, education, in analysing written style etc.

Influences on discourse
analysis

psycholinguistic
s

sociolinguistics

other nonlinguistic
disciplines
computational
linguistics

Discourse Analysis

other linguistic
disciplines

pragmatics

Approaches to
Discourse

Deborah Schiffrin Approaches to Discourse (1994)

singles out 6 major approaches to discourse:

1. the speech act approach;

2. interactional sociolinguistics;
3. the ethnography of communication;
4. pragmatic approach;
5. conversation analysis;
6. variationist approach.

Approaches to Discourse (1)

The Speech Act Approach

Founders of the speech act theory: John Austin & John
Searle.
There are different types of speech acts:
e.g. speak louder (directive)
Oxford Street is a shoppers paradise (assertive)
Although speech act theory was not first developed as
a means of analyzing discourse, particular issues in
speech act theory (indirect speech acts, multiple
functions of utterances) led to discourse analysis

Approaches to Discourse (2)

Interactional sociolinguistics
Represents the combination of three disciplines:
anthropology, sociology, and linguistics.
Focuses on how people from different cultures may
share grammatical knowledge of a language but
contextualize what is said differently to produce
different messages.
e.g. yeah, bring them down here. Ill flog them for
you (Australian English)

Approaches to Discourse (3)

The ethnography of
communication
The way we communicate
depends a lot on the culture
we come from. Some
stereotypes:
Finnish people: the hardest
nation for communication,
quiet and serious?
Turkish people: very talkative
and friendly?
Ethnography investigates
speaker culture

Approaches to Discourse (4)

Pragmatics

H. P. Grice: the cooperative principle

and conversational maxims.
People interact by using minimal
assumptions about one another.

Approaches to Discourse (5)

Conversation analysis
e.g. A: This is Mr. Smith may I help you
B: I cant hear you
A: This is Mr. Smith
B: Smith.

Conversational analysis is particularly

interested in the sequencing of
utterances, i.e. not in what people
say but in how they say it

The Rules of Language

All of us who have learned a second language or

studied our own language are aware that language
has rules.
What are some of these rules?

The Rules of Language

Phonological rules how we put sounds together to

make words
(1a) cat + s
(1b) dog +z
Syntactic rules how we put words together to make
sentences
(2a) The big dog quickly ate my breakfast
(2b) *The dog big ate quickly my breakfast

 Have a good week

end
(Heve gud wigen)

ANJING, MAKAN AYAM MATI

ANJING MAKAN AYAM ,MATI
ANJING MAKAN, AYAM MATI
ANJING MAKAN AYAM MATI?

Seminggu yang lalu, oleh mereka,

mahasiswa baru itu belum dikenal.
Seminggu yang lalu, mahasiswa baru
itu oleh mereka belum dikenal.
Seminggu yang lalu, belum dikenal
oleh mereka mahasiswa baru itu.
Mahasiswa baru itu, seminggu yang
lalu belum dikenal oleh mereka.
Mahasiswa baru itu, seminggu yang
lalu oleh mereka belum dikenal.

The Rules of Conversation

We also have rules for putting sentences
together to make larger units of discourse
(written or spoken)
Discourse means any spoken or written
language that has been produced in order to
communicate.
Our primary concern is with spoken language
more specifically with conversation.

The Rules of Conversation

In any language, there are rules for
conversation:

how to interrupt a speaker,

how to know when a speakers
turn is over,

how to change a topic,

what topic is appropriate,

etc.

Discourse Markers
Speakers give us clues about:
when they are finished speaking,
when they are going to change a topic,
when they expect us to speak or not to
speak.
These clues are known as discourse markers.
There are certain kinds of discourse markers,
called logical connectors, that gives us
information about how one part of spoken
discourse relates to the next.

Discourse Markers
It is important to know that all languages
have :
conversational rules and
discourse markers.
Conversational rules and discourse
markers are different for different
languages.
Knowing a language also means knowing
the system of conversational rules and
discourse markers.

Rules of Talk
Talk is structured and is based
upon principles which govern
who may talk and for how long
Principles of conversation are
culturally specific

Rules of Talk
Rules of talk determine:
Who talks and when they talk (turn
taking)
Who sets the topic of the talk
Who may change the topic and
when it may be changed
What kind of language is used in
the talk (formal, informal, polite)

The Situational Context of Talk

Another factor that will affect the
rules of talk is the situation itself.
That is, the purpose of talk.
If you are seeking refugee status,
there are probably procedures in
place that will dictate things such as
the topic, who speaks when, who asks
and answers questions, what kinds of
questions may be asked, etc.

The Situational Context of Talk

Talk in the context of seeking medical
or legal services visiting a doctor or
a lawyer, will determine different
rules of setting the topic, who speaks
when, etc.
It is very important to be aware of the
social and situational contexts of an
interview and how they will affect the
rules of talk.

More About the Rules of Talk:

The Topic
As we know, the topic of your talk is set
by the context of the talk: interview
seeking status, services, etc.
During the interview, the topic may
change. Whether or not your client may
initiate a change in topic depends upon
the context of the talk and the nature of
the social relationship between your
client and the person to whom he or she
is talking.

More About the Rules of Talk:

The Topic
If the person is an official of some
organization, such as the UNHCR, that person
will have a higher social status, in the context
of the interview, according to the rules of talk.
Therefore, that person, and not your client,
will be the one to set and change the topic.
That person may give your client the
opportunity to change the topic, but your
client should probably ask first.
Breaking these rules can have different
outcomes: they may negatively affect the
results of the interview or they may not.

More About the Rules of Talk:

Turn Taking
The social and situational context of the
interview will also determine who speaks first,
how long they may speak, and whether or not
they have the right to interrupt a speaker.
Generally, a person of higher social status will
speak first, for as long as they need, and
should not be interrupted.
One thing that you should know as an
interpreter is how to recognize discourse
markers that indicate when a speaker is
finished with his or her turn.

More About the Rules of Talk:

Turn Taking

A speaker may signal the end of a turn

by asking one person to respond, either
by asking a question, making a
request ,or issuing an invitation.
Or, a speaker may stop talking and leave
a period of silence. This is culturally
specific.
If the speaker is a native-speaker of
English, then any period of silence may
be interpreted as giving up a speaking
turn.

More About the Rules of Talk:

Backchannel Cues
When one person is speaking to
another, the listener has to let the
speaker know that they are listening
and want the speaker to continue.
This is done differently in different
languages, but most languages use
some kind of speech device to signal the
speaker to continue. These devices are
know as backchannel cues.

More About the Rules of Talk:

Backchannel Cues
In English, the listener often says uh hu,
ya, right, sure or simple nods the head
once in a while.
If you dont believe these are necessary
for conversation in English, try an
experiment.
Next time you are speaking to a native
speaker of English, dont do anything
when its their turn to talk and see what
happens.

Understanding Talk:
Recognizing Discourse Markers
As an interpreter, it is important to be
able to recognize when the speaker is
changing topics, making an important
point, and linking one idea to another in
some logical way.
Some English discourse markers used to
indicate a change in topic are: the
repetition of a main theme; using words
such as OK, alright, now, moving along.

Understanding Talk:
Recognizing Discourse Markers
Words that signal the logical relationship
between one statement and another are called
conjunctions. We may want to think of them
as logical connectors.
I could give you a visa (but, though, however)
it will be for just one month
You would need to get the proper forms (then,
after that, next) youll have to bring them back
to this office
Knowing what all of these are helps you to
more quickly understand a speakers meaning.

Summary of approaches to
discourse
Approaches to Studying Discourse

Focus of Research

Research Question

Structural

CA

Sequences of talk

Why say that at that

moment?

Variationist

Structural categories
within texts

Why that form?

Speech Acts

Communicative acts

How to do things
with words?

Ethnography of
Communication

Communication as cultural How does discourse

behaviour
reflect culture?

Interactional
Sociolinguistics

Social and linguistic

meanings created during
communication

What are they doing?

Pragmatics

Meaning in interaction

What does the

speaker mean?

Functional

From The Sun online 21 June 2006

ENGLANDS next clash will be against a nation of

GUINEA PIG eaters.We avoided a showdown
with old enemy Germany for now and will
play Ecuador on Sunday.
Heres your Sun guide to the South American
teams dangermen plus a few facts about
the country where their national dish is a
roasted pet.
It would be easy to underestimate them. But
Ecuador beat mighty Brazil and Argentina in
the South American qualifying rounds.
[continues]

ENGLANDS next clash will be against

a nation of GUINEA PIG eaters.We
avoided a showdown with old
enemy Germany for now and
will play Ecuador on Sunday.
Heres your Sun guide to the South
American teams dangermen
plus a few facts about the country
where their national dish is a
roasted pet.

Thewholenation?
Nothingelse?
Whyoldenemy?

Facts?
Whosepet?

Ecuadors capital Quito is 9,300ft above

sea level, giving their footballers a
home advantage when they play in the
thin air.
They were a Spanish colony until they
seized their independence in 1822. Out
of a population of 14 million, 3,000
Ecuador fans are in Germany. Football
is the No1 sport but they also love
basketball and bullfights.
The main exports are coffee and bananas.
The language is Spanish. But lets hope
their fans get no chance to shout Ol
against England in Stuttgart on Sunday.

Otherfacts
notchosen?

Whosus?
InevitableSpanish
speakerbehaviour?

The Times online 22 June 2006

PRESIDENTBUSHsoughtto
Assumesitis
tattered
repairhistatteredreputationin
Europeyesterday,talkingofhis
deepdesiretoclosethe
Compare
GuantanamoBayprisoncamp
expressinghis
andconcedingthathisresponse
deepdesire
tothe9/11terroristattackshad
notbeenunderstoodbymuchof
Assumes
thecontinent.
(someone)has
madean
accusation

DAY 2

 Learning to use the

analysis of
language to solve
real-life problems at
work, at school and
at home.
Theory and
Practical Application

Discourse
Discourse is: language above the sentence
level or above the clause.
Stubbs 1998

The study of discourse is the study of any

aspect of language use.
Fasold 1990

The analysis of discourse is the analysis of

language in useit cannot be restricted to
the description of linguistic forms
independent of the purposes or functions
that they serve in human affairs.
Brown and Yule 1983

Discourse
Discourse is for me more than just
language in use: It is language use,
whether speech or writing, seen as a type
of social practice.
Fairclough 1992

Discourse constitutes the social

Discourse is shaped by relations of power,
and invested with ideologies.
Fairclough 1992

 Discourse (non-count) vs.

Discourses
Saying, Doing, Thinking,
Behaving, Believing,
Valuing, Interacting
combinations that show
who we are (Gee)
The Discourse of
medicine
The Discourse of romance

Discourse is
How language reflects reality
How language creates reality
How language shapes our identities
and interactions
How language is used as to tool to
control people

What is the meaning of this

sentence?

Yes, I am happy.

Meaning depends on
How
Where
When
To whom
Why

Pragmatics
How we do things with words
The study of meaning in different contexts
of use
How language is used to do things in real
world situations

Discourse Analysis
Multimodal
Discourse
Analysis
Critical
Discourse
Analysis

Ethnography
Of
Speaking
Mediated
Discourse
Analysis

Discourse
Analysis
Conversation
Ansalysi

Genre
Analysis
Pragmatics

The Ethnography of
Communication
Communication as a matter of cultural
competence
Focus on things like setting, participants,
mood, and other kinds of behavioral rules
What are some of the rules for
complaining to your superior?

Genre Analysis
Communication as using the generic
conventions of a discourse
community
Focus on the structure of the
interaction

Pragmatics
Communication as doing things with
words
Sentence meaning vs. speaker
meaning

Politeness Theory
Communication as a way of
encoding social relationships
Focus on Face threatening acts
and Face saving strategies

Conversation Analysis
Communication as joint activity
Attention to the sequential
organization of talk, turn-taking and
topic management

Interactional Sociolinguistics
Communication as a way of signaling
social activities and social identities
Attention to strategies speakers use to
signal activity and identity

Critical Discourse Analysis

Communication as a way of
exercising and resisting power
Focus on existing power relations and
how they are reinforced
Examines underlying assumptions
Asks, who really won?

Multimodal Discourse
Analysis
Communication as a matter of
combining multiple modes
Focus not just on words but on
gestures, facial expressions, posture,
proxemics, gaze, object handling,
spatial layout, time and timing

Mediated Discourse Analysis

Communication as a tool for taking action
Focus on actions and the cultural tools that
make them possible

Conclusion
Communication is not just a matter
of words
Communication is a matter of action
Communication is a matter of
relationships and power
Communication creates and recreates our social worlds

 DAY 3

From The Sun online 21 June 2006

The Times online 22 June 2006

Discourse analysis: Teun Van Dijk

Discourse analytical approaches systematically
describe the various structures and strategies of text
or talk, and relate these to the social, cultural or
political context.
For instance, they may focus on overall topics, or
more local meanings (such as coherence and
implications) in a semantic analysis. But also the
syntactic form of sentences, or the overall
organisation of a news report may be examined in
detail.
The same is true for variations of style, rhetorical
devices such as metaphors or euphemisms, speech
acts such as promises and threats, and in spoken
discourse also the many forms of interaction.
Teun Van Dijk, (2000)New(s) Racism: A Discourse Analytical
Approach in S.Cottle(ed) Ethnic Minorities and the Media:
Changing Cultural Boundaries. Open University Press.

Discourse analysis: Teun Van Dijk

Topics
Quotes
Argumentation
Local meanings (ie. code words) and meanings of
sentences
Implicit Meanings
Example:
The West Indian woman claimed
that they were being
discriminated against.
Presupposition:
Example: If the ordinary British taste for decency
and tolerance is
to come through, it will need
positive and unmistakable
action.
(Telegraph, editorial 13. August.)

Discourse analysis: Teun Van Dijk

Syntactic style
Example: On Saturday, police were petrolbombed, shops looted and cars
burned after the shooting of a West Indian
woman.
(Times, 30 September)
Rhetoric: alliteration, rhyme, parallelism
Example: (Handsworth) FACE TO FACE WITH
THE FEAR AND FURY OF LOZELLS ROAD.
(Mail, 11 September)

Discourse analysis: Teun Van Dijk

Rhetoric: alliteration, rhyme, parallelism

Example: (Tottenham) BOMBS, BULLETS, BLOOD IN
BARRICADED BRITAIN (Mail, 27 December)
Example:

The widow of Keith Blakelock, the brave bobby

butchered by black rioters, said last night that
she
pitied the killers. (Sun, 8 October)

Example: (Handsworth) It was in essence, not a race riot

It
was not a spontaneous eruption of human misery
It was not caused by unemployment, or poverty.
(Telegraph 13 September, editorial)

Discourse analysis: Teun Van Dijk

Hyperbole
Example: (Broadwater Farm) Militant youths who
masterminded the Tottenham riots planned
the mass murder of policemen in a blazing
underground trap.
(Mail, 12 January)
Understatement
Example: (CRE report on discrimination)
HOME LOANS UNFAIR TO BLACKS
(Telegraph, 16 October)

Discourse analysis: Teun Van Dijk

Metaphor, comparison and metonymia

Example:
(Handsworth) FLAMES OF
WRATH IN THE CITY OF FEAR
(Mail, 11 September)
Example:
(Handsworth) Police chief
tells of riot locusts in Handsworth
(Times, 18 September)
Example:
re. Mrs Jarrett the riot
woman (Mail, 29 November)

Discourse analysis: Teun Van Dijk

Denial (Modality)
Example:
The woman was recently found
guilty of racial harassment by a council
disciplinary tribunal because she allegedly
caused offence to a black member of the
union.
(Times, 6 August)
Example:
(Black man sues club for
discrimination) claiming his performance
was cancelled because of his colour.
(Telegraph, 16 August)

Discourse analysis: Norman

Faircloth

Discourse analysis can be understood as an attempt to

show systematic links between texts, discourse practices,
and socio-cultural practices.
Representations are a long-standing concern in debates
about bias, manipulation, and ideology in the media, but
identities and relations have received less attention. The
wider social impact of the media is to do with what sorts
of social identities, what versions of self, they project and
what cultural values (be it consumerism, individualism or a
cult of personality) these entail.
And it is to do with how social relationships are defined,
especially social relationships between the mass of the
population who constitute audiences for the most popular
media output and people like politicians, scientists, church
leaders, and broadcasters themselves.
Norman Faircloth, (1995)Media Discourse. Edward Arnold, p. 17.

Construction of relations and identities leads to focus on:

Linguistic systems of mood and modality
Interactional control features, including turn-taking

Summary/Conclusion
Language-Culture-Representation
Saussure/Linguistics to Semiotics
Discourse Theory but note
commonsense, linguistic and social
theoretical approaches
Power/ideology/language/discourse
But also: relationships/identities
how discourse positions us.

 DAY 4

More Fact than Fiction

14

90

A Novel Perspective

14

91

Reading and Writing

14

92

What time is it?

14

93

DIAGOLIC AND INTERTEXTUALITY

[A novel] is made in the

head, and has to be
remade in the head by
whoever reads it, who will
always remake it
differently.
(Byatt 214)
14

94

SCRIPTS
In all Western countries, the
restaurant script is very much the
same. It involves the following:
Seating, Menu, Waiter, Meal,
Payment, Tipping, Departure

14

95

14

96

It is the language of intimacy, the language of

no pretentions. The words are simple and
the grammar is simple.
The writing is not planned, but just happens,
in a stream of consciousness kind of way
you are there.
The sentences are short and choppy. If there
is conjunction it is coordination, not
subordination.
It is the language of the loosened tie and the
rolled up shirt sleeves, with no pretentious
multi-syllable or low-frequency words.
14

97

Being egocentric, it is subjective, and

whether it is written from the author
participant or the author omniscient
point of view, it is concerned with
communicating peoples innermost
feelings.
Tough language is the language of fiction,
and therefore the process of in medias
res is totally appropriate to this style
In the late summer of that year we
lived in a house in a village that looked
across the river and the plain to the
mountain.
14

98

SWEET LANGUAGE
Sweet language is the language of
advertisers. Walker Gibson calls
this language AROMA (Advertising
Rhetoric of Madison Avenue).
Sweet language is listener-oriented
in an attempt to seduce listeners
into buying products they dont
want or need.
14

99

It is language full of innovative

spellings, creative grammar, and
wild punctuation.
Sweet writing contains many
sentence fragments, and would
rather flaunt a grammatical rule
than conform to it: Winston
tastes good like a cigarette
should. What do you want, good
grammar, or good taste?
14

100

 Sweet language is the language of

sensationalism, the language of superlatives
and hyperbole.
It is the language of diversion; it plays tricks
on the reader with its puns, its word
coinages, its humor, its packaging, its sex,
and other aspects which have nothing to do
with the product itself.
It is informal, or sometimes even intimate or
cutesy in tone.
Contractions, clippings, blendings, and
deletions abound, making it all the more
cryptic and intimate.
14

101

STUFFY LANGUAGE
Where tough language is I-oriented,
and sweet language is you-oriented,
stuffy language is it-oriented.
It is the language of laboratory
experiments , of research papers and
theses and dissertations and
scholarly books, and academia in
general.
14

102

Stuffy language is highly grammatical

and highly formal.
The syntax contains a great deal of
subordination, and the sentences are
frequently long and complex.
Infinitives, gerunds, present and past
participial constructions, nominative
absolutes, perfect, progressive, and
passive constructions are almost
totally confined to this style of writing.
14

103

It is an impersonal style to the extent that

first-person pronouns are seldom allowed.
For this and other reasons, passive
constructions and impersonal
constructions with abstract subjects are
common.
Stuffy language is also the language of
limitations, restrictions and qualifications
because the writer doesnt want to make
claims beyond the evidence.
Limiting (as opposed to descriptive)
adjectives are frequent, as are
prepositional phrases and relative clauses.

14

104

!THE BIRMINGHAM RIOTS:

REPORTED IN THREE DIFFERENT STYLES

STUFFY:
The police and firemen drove
hundreds of rioting Negroes off
the streets today with high
pressure hoses and an armored
car.
(New York Times May 8, 1963)
14

105

MORE INTERESTING:
Three times during the day, waves of
shouting, rock-throwing Negroes
had poured into the downtown
business district, to be scattered
and driven back by battering
streams of water from high-pressure
hoses and swinging clubs of
policement and highway patrolmen.
(New York Herald Tribune)
14

106

POETIC:
The blaze of bombs, the flash of
blades, the eerie glow of fire, the
keening cries of hatred, the wild
dance of terror at nightall this
was Birmingham, Alabama.
(Time, May 7, 1963)

14

107

Conclusion
Need to analyze media texts against
total system
Consider processes of production,
content, reception and circulation
Comprehensive discourse analysis:
Better understanding of generation
and reproduction of social meanings
through news media