Intro Discourse Analysis

8/9/2019 Intro Discourse Analysis

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Introduc

Discourse AnaJona



What is “discourse”?

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 unifie

purposive; language in use

(viewed) as social practice determined by social structu



Definitions of Discourse

A particular unit of language (above the sentence), odiscourse in structure;

A particular focus on language use, discourse as func



Discourse as structure

Problem: you can have a unit which looks like a sentence but doesn’t me

Colourless green ideas sleep furious



Discourse as structure

On the other hand the units in which people speak do not always look lik

sentences.Bow Chica Bow Wow

That's what my baby said

Bow Bow Bow

And my heart starts pumpin'

Chicka Chicka Chew-Op

Never Gunna Stop

Gitchi Gitchi Goo Means That I love

you!



Discourse as a System of functions

Phatic function (opens a contact)

Emotive function (conveys the need of the sp

Conative function (asks something of the add

Referential function (makes reference to the outside the language)



Definition of Discourse

Discourse – written and spoken

Discourse

Speaker/

writer

Heare

reader

Context



Types of Discourse

There are many ways to classify discourse:

• According to whether it is written or spoken

• According to the register (level of formality)

• According to the genre (communicative purpose, styaudience)

• According to whether it is monologic (one speaker/wproduces an entire discourse)/ or dialogic/ multipar(two/more participants interact/ construct discourse t



Distinction between Written and SpokenDiscourse

The distinction between speecwriting is often referred h nnel (D. Hymes) or medi

speaking and writing indifferent psy hologi l proce



Distinction between Written and Spoken

Discourse

Spoken and written discourse differ forreasons. Spoken discourse has to beunderstood immediately; written discocan be referred to many times




Features of spoken d iscou rse:

• Variations in speed, but it is generally faster

writing.

• Loudness/quietness.



Spoken discourse:

• Gestures/ Body language

• Intonation

• Pitch range

• Stress:

• Rhythm.• Pausing and phrasing:




Objects of discourse

‘Discourse’ refers to any utterance whichmeaningful. These texts can be:

- written texts

- oral texts (‘speech’/’talk’)- mixed written/oral texts (e.g. Internet c



The scope of discourse analysis

• Discourse analysis is not a discipline which exists on it

is influenced by other disciplines and influences themis a two-way process …

• For this reason discourse analysis examines spoken antexts from all sorts of different areas (medical, legal,

advertising) and from all sorts of perspectives (race, gpower)

• Discourse analysis has a number of practical applicatioexample in analysing communication problems in medpsychotherapy, education, in analysing written style e



Influences on discourse analysis

sociolinguistics

Discourse Analysis

psycholinguistics

computational

linguistics pragmatics

other non-

linguistic

disciplines

other linguis

disciplines



Structural and functional definitions of disc

• Structural or textual definition of discourse:

Discourse is a particular unit of language (above thesentence).

• Functional definition of discourse: Discourse is a par

focus of language use.



Functional approach to discourse

• Roman Jakobson: language performs seven fu

Expressive or Emotive

Directive/ Conative/ Persuasive

Poetic

Contact (Physical or Psychological);

Metalinguistic (Focusing on meaning);

Referential;

Contextual/ Situational



Recent approach to DA

• Discourse is no longer studies for its own sake. Discourse is a social practice.

• M. Foucault, N. Fairclough

• Discourse is characterised as:

produced/consumed/monitored by social actors

(producers/receivers of social practices);shaped by social structures;

with social implications;

socially valued and regulated (production, reception andcirculation).



Approaches to Discourse

Deborah Schiffrin “Approaches to Discourse”(1994) s

out 6 major approaches to discourse:

• the speech act approach;

• interactional sociolinguistics;

• the ethnography of communication;

• pragmatic approach;

• conversation analysis;

• 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 shopper’s paradise“ (assertive)

Although speech act theory was not first developed as a meansanalyzing discourse, particular issues in speech act theory (indspeech acts, multiple functions of utterances) led to discourse



Speech Acts

• Austin (1962)

• An utterance in dialogue is an ACTION

• Speech acts

• Performative sentences uttered by an authority(they change the state of the world)

• Any sentence in real speech contains

• Locutionary act• Illocutionary act

• Perlocutionary act



Speech Acts

• Searle (1975)• All speech acts classified as

• Assertives – suggesting, boasting, concluding, etc.

• Directives – asking, ordering, inviting, etc.

• Commissives – promising, planning, vowing, etc.

• Expressives – thanking, apologizing, deploring, etc.

• Declarations – performatives (state-changing)



Speech act theory

Each speech act consists of 3 components:

• Locutionary act (the actual words which the speaker is saying);

• Illocutionary act (the intention of the speaker);

• Perlocutionary act (the effect of the utterance on the hearer).

Example 3

(From "Sense and Sensibility")

Wait, he is kneeling down.



Speech act theory

• Compare Austin’s classification with other classification of speech acts

Conclusions for DA:

• speech act theory is concerned with what people do with language or it iconcerned with the function of language.;

• a piece of discourse (what is said) is chunked/segmented into units thathave communicative functions,;

• these function are identified and labelled;

• different speech acts initiate and respond to other acts. Acts to a certain

degree specify what kind of response is expected;• they create options for a next utterance each time they are performed;

• An utterance can perform more than one speech act at a time ;

• there is more than one option of responses for a next utterance;

• Deborah Schiffrin: ‘this flexibility has an important analytical consequencit means that a single sequence of utterances may actually be the outcomof a fairly wide range of different underlying functional relations.’




Interactional sociolinguistics

Represents the combination of three disciplines: anthropologsociology, and linguistics.

Focuses on how people from different cultures may sharegrammatical knowledge of a language but contextualize whis said differently to produce different messages.

e.g. “yeah, bring them down here. I’ll flog them for you”(Australian English)




The ethnography of communication

The way we communicate depends a lot onthe culture we come from.

Men - WomenAsians - Westerners

Teachers - Students




Pragmatics

H. P. Grice: the cooperative principle andconversational maxims.

People interact by using minimal assumpti

about one another.



Pragmatics

• Based primarily on the ideas of Paul Grice:

• People interact having minimal assumptions (implicatures) about one

• Two types of implicatures: conventional and conversational;

• Conventional implicatures do not require any particular context in ordunderstood (or inferred);

• Conversational implicatures are context – dependant. What is implied

according to the context of an utterance.



Pragmatics

• To explain HOW we interpret implicatures Grice introducedCooperative Principal:

• Make your contribution such as required, at the stage at woccurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exwhich you are engaged.



Pragmatics

• There are four conversational maxims which help us to realize the imp

meaning if an utterance:

• Maxim of Quantity:

Make your contributions as informative as required (for the current puthe exchange). Do not make your contribution more informative than

• Maxim of Quality:

Do not say what you believe to be false. Do not say something if you laadequate evidence.



Pragmatics

• Maxim of Relation:

Be relative.

• Maxim of Manner:

Be perspicuous (or express your ideas clearly)

Avoid obscurity of expressions (= do not use expressions which are not clear or eunderstand);

Avoid ambiguity (= presence of more than one meaning);Be brief (avoid unnecessary usage of too many words);

Be orderly.



Pragmatics

• The contribution of Gricean pragmatics to DA is a set of printhat constrains speakers’ sequential choices in a text and allhearers to recognize speaker’s intentions.




Conversation analysis

• e.g. A: This is Mr. Smith may I help you

• B: I can’t hear you

• A: This is Mr. Smith

• B: Smith.

Conversational analysis is particularly interested inthe sequencing of utterances, i.e. not in whatpeople say but in how they say it



Summary of approaches to discourse

Approaches to Studying Discourse Focus of Research Research

Structural CA Sequences of talk Why say tmoment?

Variationist Structural categories within

texts

Why that

Functional Speech Acts Communicative acts How to do

words?

Ethnography ofCommunication

Communication as cultural behaviour

How doesreflect cul

Interactional

Sociolinguistics

Social and linguistic meanings

created during communication

What are

Pragmatics Meaning in interaction What doe

mean?





Sources

Fromkin, Rodman, and Hymes. (2010). Introduction to linguisticPhilippines: Cengage.

Discourse Analysis Online. http://extra.shu.ac.uk/daol/about/

Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing Discourse. London: Routledge.

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Intro Discourse Analysis