Discourse Analysis

I’m ready to
learn!
What is discourse
analysis?
Discourse is any writing, conversation, or
communicative event.
-sound (intonation etc.)
-gesture
-word order
-word choice

the analysis of discourse examines and

defines the connections between language
and structure, beyond the sentence
boundary.
The 2 parts of Discourse
Analysis
 Text analysis (writing)
 Structure of a discourse
 Relation to context and prior texts

 Conversation analysis (speaking)

 Turn-taking
 The cooperative principle
 Background knowledge
Text Analysis

 Cohesion

 Coherence

 Intertextuality

 Situationality
Cohesion

Cohesion is the grammatical and/or lexical

relationships between the different elements
of a text.
Example:
My father once bought a Lincoln convertible.
Example:
He did it by saving every penny he could. That
My father once bought a Lincoln convertible. He did
car would be worth a fortune nowadays.
it by
However, he sold it to help pay for my college
saving every penny he could. That car would be
education. Sometimes I think I’d rather have the
worth a
convertible.
fortune nowadays. However, he sold it to help pay
for my college education. Sometimes I think I’d
Cohesive ties (reference):
rather have
Fatherthe
– heconvertible.
– he – he
A Lincoln convertible – that car – it – the convertible
My father once bought a Lincoln convertible. He did it
by saving every penny he could. That car would be
worth a fortune nowadays. However, he sold it to help
pay for my college education. Sometimes I think I’d
rather have the convertible.

Cohesive ties (semantics):

[money]: bought – saving – penny – worth -
fortune – sold – pay
[time]: once – nowadays - sometimes
My father once bought a Lincoln convertible. He did it
by saving every penny he could. That car would be
worth a fortune nowadays. However, he sold it to help
pay for my college education. Sometimes I think I’d
rather have the convertible.

Cohesive ties (grammar):

Tense: bought – did – could – sold
Cohesive ties (signal words):
however
Coherence

Bad example:
My father bought a Lincoln convertible.
The car driven by the police was red.
That color doesn’t suit her. She
consists of three letters. However, a
letter isn’t as fast as a telephone call.
 Many cohesive devices, but it doesn’t
make sense
 Here we see cohesion, but no
coherence
Coherence

We can also have coherence without cohesion

example:
A: That’s the telephone
B: I’m in the bath

 There are certainly no cohesive ties within this

fragment of discourse
 By knowing actions these statements are
performing, they can make perfect sense.
Intertextuality &
Situationality
 Intertextuality
This refers to how the analysis of one text can
depend on the knowledge of a previous text.
Classroom notes for example may not be
understandable without the notes from a previous
day’s lesson

 Situationality
This refers to the context of a text, or where and
when the text occurs. Some texts, such as road
signs will have more meaning if we know the
situation in which they occur.
HELP!
Conversation Analysis

 Turn-taking

 The cooperative principle

 Background knowledge

 Schema
Turn-taking

The basic structure of a conversation revolves

around two or more people taking turns to
talk.
One person speaks at one time, and the
other(s) listen, and then they switch.

Example:
A: Hello
B: Hi
A: How are you?
B: Fine
Turn-taking

Taking turns in a conversation isn’t always

neat and clean; it can get messy.
Overlaps & interruptions occur when
people speak at the same time (They both
take the turn)

Example:
A: Didn’t you [know wh-
B: [But he must’ve been there by
two
A: Yes but you knew where he was going
Turn-taking

How do people know when to take their turn?

• At the end of a phrase or sentence
• A falling intonation
• A noticeable pause (usually 0.2 seconds)
Example:
Mom: Hello
Son: Oh hello, how are you?
Mom: Very well and you?
Son: Thanks
Half second pause
Mom: That’s good
(0.5) New topic
startedtoday
Mom: We had a huge downpour
The Cooperative
Principle
Assumption: People who are talking with each
other are cooperating to make the
conversation

Grice’s Maxims
 Maxim of Quantity (don’t say more/less than
required)
 Maxim of Quality (don’t say anything false)
 Maxim of Relation (don’t say anything
irrelevant)
 Maxim of Manner (Be clear, brief, and orderly)
The Maxims at Work
Politeness
A: “What happened to my roast beef
“If you could pass the salt that would be them
Two hunters are out in the woods when one of
collapses and sandwich?”
stops breathing. His companion calls
awesome”
an emergency number on his cell phone and cries,
“My friend is dead! What should I do?” The operator
says, “Your
B: Literal dog Iiscan
“Calmmeaning:
down; very
help.happy
positive right
appraisal
First let’s of ansure
make
imaginary
now” scenario
he’s dead.” There tois silence, then a maxim
gunshot,
This seems ignore Grice’s of and the
hunter
Many says, find
relation
people “OK,
but now what?”
in funny
this actuality the listener
because the hunter failed
Intended
must
to apply meaning:
understand
Grice’s pass
what
maxims in thespeaker
the saltthe is
interpreting
implying
ambiguous phrase make sure.
Seems to go against the maxim of relation and quantity, but
serves the goal of being polite and also performs the function of
Background Knowledge

Background knowledge is information

that is not in a text or conversation,
but it used from memory by a reader
or speaker to understand the discourse

Example:
John was on his way to school last
Friday. He was really worried about the
math lesson.
John was on his way to school last Friday. He
was really worried about the math lesson.
Last week he had been unable to control the
class.

It was unfair of the math teacher to

leave him in charge.

After all, it is not a normal part of a

janitor’s duties.
That example shows us the ways in which we
build interpretations of what we read by using a
lot more information than is presented in the
words on the page. We actually create what the
text is about, based on our expectations of what
normally happens.
Schema

Schema: The knowledge which exists in

our memories

If you hear someone describe what

happened during a visit to a supermarket,
you don’t have to be told what is normally
found in a supermarket. You already have
“supermarket schema” (food displayed on
shelves, check-out counters, etc.) as part
of your knowledge.
Our understanding of what we read or listen to
is not only based on what we see on the page or
hear (language structures), but also on other
things that we have in mind (knowledge
structures).
Overwhelmed?
Doing Discourse
Analysis

 There are many ways…

 But all the ways follow the same
basic procedure:
1. Come up with a research question or
theme
2. Gather data
3. Analyze data
4. Report
Research questions or
themes
 How is our view and understanding of
refugees shaped by the media
discourses?
 How is our understanding of health
shaped by various medical discourses?
 How do students display their economic
identities through their talk in the
classroom?
 The power relationship between doctors
and patients.
Gathering data

 Naturally
occurring discourse (real
conversations, radio interviews) vs.
invented discourse (movies, TV,
novels)

 Recording
 Video or audio

 Transcribing- write down everything

you hear
Analyzing

Ask word-choice questions:

 The tea spilled, get a mop.
broom .
-”mop” and “broom” serve as
the context that tells us what
“tea” means
 The woman entered the room.
A-Using “a” or “the” assumes
the listener does or doesn’t
know who the woman is, which
tells us what statements may
have come before this one.
Analyzing

Ask sentence-level questions:

 His soup is not hot enough
Why is “he” in the subject of the sentence, not in the
object?
Does “hot” mean spicy or the temperature?
 You’re not leaving
Is this an observation?
A question?
A demand?
 A:Would you like some coffee?
B: Coffee would keep me awake.
Does the person want coffee or not?
Analyzing

Ask conversation-level questions:

Why does the mother
C: This looks like this is an egg.
say this in an
M: Ok well this… excited, energetic
way?
That’s exactly what it is!
How did you know? Is she excited or
surprised?
C: Because it looks like it.
M: That’s what it says, see look egg,
Is it a egg…
real surprise
a fake surprise?
or

…Replica of a dinosaur egg. The child is three

years old and
From the oviraptor. cannot read, so
why is she telling
him to look at the
printed card? Why
Report

 Organize your analysis and write

about it
I.Basic
Introduce your research question
outline:

II. Literature review

-What have other researchers said about this
topic or theme

III. Presentation of data

IV. Analysis of data

V. Conclusion
What about us??

Discourse analysis is highly academic

exercise, usually reserved for Master’s
level students and specialists who
have a very high understanding of the
language they are analyzing.
 Transcription practice
 Pre-organize data that students can
analyze in small groups and report
back
 Focus on separate dimensions of
 Thank you!

Alex.James.Barrett@gma
il.com
S.P.E.A.K.I.N.G. Model
Setting: time and place
Participants: speaker and hearer
Ends: purposes, goals, and
outcomes
Action: form and order of the
speech event
Key: tone and manner, of the
speech event
Instrumentalities: styles of speech