TOPIC 4. DISCOURSE ANALYSIS AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS 4. 1. What is d, Apuntes de Idioma Inglés

¡Descarga TOPIC 4. DISCOURSE ANALYSIS AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS 4. 1. What is d y más Apuntes en PDF de Idioma Inglés solo en Docsity! TOPIC 4. DISCOURSE ANALYSIS AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS 4. 1. What is discourse? (Crystal, 1987; McCarthy et al. 2002; Mills, 1997; Ronald and Carter, 1997; van Dijk, 1997) Discourse: Ubiquitous term in a variety of disciplines (linguistics, sociology, philosophy...) Task 1. Read the following definitions of the term “discourse” found in the field of discourse studies/discourse analysis and answer the questions below: a) What do these definitions have in common? (feature ) . . . . . . . . + number of definition (x) Language use (2,4,5) Language above the sentence (1) / extended samples (4) context (3), situation context (4) Interaction speaker/addressee, writer/reader (4) → (implies) → communicative event= people use language to communicate ideas or beliefs (5) b) What other aspects are highlighted by some of the definitions? Form + function (2) Spoken/written language (4) Language use = vague concept? Include how, why, when (5) Communication of ideas or beliefs (5) c) Considering your answers to a) and b), what three dimensions should be taken into account when characterising discourse? Van Dijk (1997): 3 dimension 1. Discourse as language use: What does such language consist of? I.e. what are it components? How are those components ordered or combined into larger constructs? Discourse as a sequence of sentences, that is, as sentences that follow each other in a specific order (formal choices in relation to function) 2. Disourse as interaction in social situation: Discourse as a practical, social and cultural, phenomenon Language users engaging in discourse accomplish social acts and participate in social interaction Such interaction is in turn embedded in various social and cultural contexts 3. Discourse as cognition: Discourse studied in term of the actual cognitive processes of its production and comprehension by language users Making sense, understanding, interpretation, meaning and many other notions → Realm of discourse structures and social interaction + realm of the mind 1. Discourse analysis is „language above the sentence or above the clause‟ (Stubbs 1983:1) 2. The analysis of discourse is, necessarily, the analysis of language in use. As such, it cannot be restricted to the description of linguistic forms independent of the purposes or functions which these forms are designed to serve in human affairs. (Brown and Yule, 1983: 1) 3. „Discourse may be defined as text in context (van Dijk, 1990: 164) in Wodak 1(1996: 14) 4. More commonly, however, „discourse‟ is used in linguistics to refer to extended samples of either spoken or written language. In addition to preserving the emphasis upon higher-level organisational features, this sense of „discourse‟ emphasizes interaction between speaker and addressee or between writer and reader, and therefore processes of producing and interpreting speech and writing, as well as the situational context of language use. (Fairclough, 1992: 5) 5. They [discourse analysts] agree that discourse is a form of language use. But since this is still quite vague (….) they want to include some other essential components in the concept, namely who uses language, how, why, and when. One characterization of discourse that embodies some of these functional aspects is that of a communicative event. That is, people use language in order to communicate ideas or beliefs (or to express emotion), and they do so as part of more complex social events, for instance in such specific situations as an encounter with friends, a phone call (….) (Van Dijk, 1997: 2) 4.1.1 Discourse, text and context - The emergence of discourse analysis as a new discipline (van Dijk, 1985: 2) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1972-1974 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Nowadays, in linguistics, the phrase discourse analysis is used to refer to the analysis of both spoken and written texts. Some notes on discourse and text. According to Alba Juez (2009: 18), “the terms text and discourse have been – and still are- used ambiguously and they are defined in different ways by different researchers”. By way of illustration, consider the following extracts: Discourse analysis focuses on the structure of naturally occurring spoken language, as found in such “discourses” as conversations, interviews, commentaries and speeches. Text analysis focuses on the structure of written language, as found in such “texts” as essays, notices, road signs, and chapters. But this distinction is not clear cut, and there have been many other uses of these labels. In particular, “discourse” and “text” can be used in a much broader sense to include all language units with a definable communicative function, whether spoken or written. Some scholars talk about “spoken or written discourse”, others about “spoken or written text”. (Crystal, 1987: 116) In linguistics, the phrase discourse analysis is used to refer to the analysis of both spoken and written texts. In each case, the aim is to analyse the way texts work across the boundaries of single sentences of utterances to form whole stretches of language. (Carter, 1997: 165) In her book, Alba Juez uses text “to refer to the „purely‟ linguistic material”, in contrast to a broader sense of discourse, defined as “language in use, composed of text and context” (2009: 18). The task of discourse analysts (see Reading 4, p. 54) What are the main concerns of discourse analysts? What questions do they focus on?