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Discourse Analysis
Before giving a simplistic definition of
"discourse analysis ", it is expedient to
look at some definitions and quotations
from well –known scholars in the field
of discourse analysis.
The idea of introducing these
definitions and quotations at the
beginning of this section is:-
To introduce you to some of the
i)
basic concepts and terms in the field of
discourse analysis.
To introduce you to some well- (ii)
known linguists whose names are
associated with various aspects of
discourse analysis.
To draw your attention to fact
(iii)
that there is not a single theory about
or a single approach to discourse
analysis
Defining Discourse
Study the following definitions and
quotations carefully:
Coulthard (1977: 6)
(i)
In any spoken text there are at least
four major levels of organization –
phonology, grammar, discourse and
nonlinguistic. The structure in each of
these levels can be expressed in terms
of small units combining to form larger
units …
Halliday and Hasan (1976 :1)
(ii)
The word text is used in linguistics to
refer to any passage, spoken or written.
A text may be spoken or written,
prose or verse, dialogue or monologue .
It may be anything from a single proverb
to a whole play . from a momentary cry
for help to an all-day discussion on a
committee . A text is a unit of language
in use.
Hatim and Mason (1990 : 240 )
Discourse : Modes of speaking and
writing which involve participants in
adopting a particular attitude towards
areas of sociocultural activity ( e.g.,
racist discourse , official , etc. )
Stubbs (1983 : 1)
Discourse is language above the
sentence or above the clause.
Text vs. Discourse
Two of the above definitions use the term •
discourse and text to refer both to the spoken
and written language.
Thin is the position which most linguists and •
researchers adopt nowadays.
At some point some researchers / linguists
used the term text to refer to the written
language and discourse to the spoken
language.
= We shall follow the main trend and use the
term discourse to refer to both the spoken
and the written language.
Two of the above definitions (Coulthard
& Stubbs ) view discourse as language
above the sentence . In fact this is the
view which some linguists and
sociolinguists still adhere to . Other
researchers do not accept this view.
They argue that any appropriate /
relevant speech /writing event that
serves a communicative function is an
example of discourse regardless of its
constituents . This could be a word , as in
the case of greetings , or one phrase as
in the case of SMS or an e-mail
massage.
Discourse analysis = DA
Study the following statements carefully :
1. Schiffrin (1994:5 )
Discourse analysis is widely recognized as one
of the most vast , but also one of least defined ,
areas in linguistics …
One reason for this is that our understanding of
discourse is based on scholarship from a number of
academic disciplines that are actually very different
from one another . Included are not just disciplines in
which models for understanding … discourse first
developed ( i.e. linguistics , anthropology ,
sociology , philosophy)
But also disciplines that have applied … such
models …e.g. communication , social psychology
and artificial intelligence…
2. Coulthard ( 1977:1 )
…the serious study of spoken discourse is
only just beginning and currently much of the
work is being undertaken not by linguists but
by sociologists , anthropologists and
philosophers .
3. Brown an Yule ( 1983:1 )
…the analysis of discourse , is necessarily ,
the analysis of language in use . As such , it
can not be restricted to the description of
linguistic forms independent of the purposes
or functions which these forms are designed
to serve in human affairs .
The conclusions that can be drown from
the above definitions may be categorized
under three major headings :
1.Objectives of discourse analysis
2. Approaches to discourse analysis
3. Disciplines concerned with discourse
analysis .
Below is a brief discussion of each of the
aforementioned categories.
1. Objective of discourse analysis.
The main objective is to study all aspects
related to language use , or strictly
speaking language in use , i.e. language
as used in real communicative situations by
real people and the contexts in which
communication takes place.
Approaches to DA.
As mentioned before there is not one single
approach to discourse analysis .
The most Well-Known approaches are the
following:
(a) Speech Act Theory = SAT
A theory developed by two philosophers ,
namely John Austin & John Searle , from the
basic contention that human language is used
to perform actions – It should be kept in mind
that some issues in speech act theory are
directly linked to discourse analysis.
(ii) Ethnography of communication.
(iii) Conversational Analysis.
(iv) Pragmatics.
Disciplines concerned with discourse analysis.
Although discourse analysis deals with language
in use , this issue is not restricted to linguistic
analysis. This is due to the fact that language is
not simply a formal mathematical system. It is
more than that :
(a) L is a human behavior , and this is of interest to
psychologists and psycholinguists ,
(b) L is a social activity , and hence sociologists are
interested in it ,
(c) The basic function of language is
communication and hence anthropologists are also
interested in it .
(d) L is assumed to be linked to thinking , and this
constitutes an area of interest for
philosophers.