Analyzing written language Text and discourse analysis The

Analyzing written language

Text and discourse analysis • „The value of having some explicit knowledge of the grammar of written language is that you can use this knowledge, not only to analyse the texts but as a critical resource for asking questions about them”- (Halliday 1966) • Methods of text and discourse analysis help explain language in its context of use

Discourse • Totality of interaction between humans within a given sphere or context (e. g. political discourse: speeches, editorials in newspapers, books about politics, comments by politicians in public arenas)

Discourse analysis • Analyzes not just the text, but also relevant background from the wider discourse, such as what other texts have had to say, what the relationships among participants, etc.

Discourse analysis • Methods focus on text, although they are in no way confined to it, and include ways of analyzing how text is organized beyond the level of the sentence as well as at the level of the sentence and below

Topics of interest • • • Genres of discourse (various types of discourse in politics, the media, education, science, business, etc. ) The relations between discourse and the emergence of syntactic structure The relations between text (discourse) and context The relations between discourse and power The relations between discourse and interaction The relations between discourse and cognition

Critical discourse analysis (CDA) • The analysis of texts in their social context

Research questions in CDA • Why was this text constructed at all? • To whom is it addressed, and why? • Does the writer of speaker have hidden purposes, and what are they? • What hidden assumptions and biases underlie the text?

Topics • Unequal power relations determined by gender, ethnicity, nationality, age, wealth, education and culture • Not only does discourse reflect and illustrate these inequalities: it creates them

CDA in law • The law of the land is created and implemented linguistically in courtroom dialogue, written statutes and other texts • The legality or illegality of e. g. slavery is determined through such textual processes • The phenomen of racism is inseparable from its textual manifestations

Ideology • CD analysts believe that ideology underpins most discourse and that in order to critically deconstruct a text, it is necessary to make the ideology explicit • E. g. racist utterances are often prefaced by a denial of bigotry (‘I’m not a racist but…’) and sometimes this denial and the expression of prejudice can take a much more subtle form

CDA • Examines any features of the text that will shed light on its meaning, especially on those aspects that are hidden • Lexical choices, presuppositions, implicatures, metaphors, cohesive ties, politeness pehnomena, grammatical options, stance and appraisal

CDA fields of interest • Racism and related forms of discrimination • Economic globalization • Gender studies • Discourse of advertising

CDA in legal contexts • Discourse-based injustices suffered during the trial by e. g. rape victims, child abuse victims, aboriginal Australians charged with crimes, etc.

Genre analysis • Examines texts which are considered members of a genre to describe their typical configuration in terms of their features, such as layout and organization of concepts, and their use of vocabulary and grammar (their lexicogrammar) • Texts take on certain characteristics which allow us to identify for whom they were written and for what purposes • Another clue is the subject matter of the text

Exercise: identify the following texts in terms of where you think it would be found, what its purpose is, who is writing for whom, what might have come immediately before it and what might come immediately after • Text 1: Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease one 9 x 13 inch pan. • Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl until well blended. Beat the eggs, oil, and vanilla in a separate bowl until smooth. Fold in the flour mixture, then stir in the pumpkin.

Text 2 • Mary has also been involved this year as a volunteer ESL teacher in our Community English Language program. This program provides free English language instruction for members of the community, and classes ate taught by our university students. Mary has brought to the program an incredible amount of enthusiasm and insight, and her students enjoyed having her as a teacher, and also felt that they had learned quite a bit of English. • Mary’s enthusiasm, willingness to work hard, and ability to communicate with people are all qualities which have been of great nenefit to our campus.

Text 3 • Last summer, I worked as a receptionist at the Northern Hospital Health Clinic. My position involved me in greeting and helping patients, scheduling appointments, and handling insurance bulling under the guidance of the office manager. • I hope you find that my background and skills would be beneficial to your practice.

Text 4 • Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived on the edge of the forest.

Text 5 • Discussion • Ellis and Mellsop (1985) concluded that de Clerambault’s syndrome is an aetiologically heterogeneous disorder. Theories of aeiology have encompassed alcholism, abortion, post-amphetamine depression, epilepsy, head trauma and neurological disorders. None of these is relevant in this case.

Genre A staged, goal-oriented, purposeful activity in which speakers engage as members of a culture • While there is variation within a given genre, as genres are not fixed, they tend to follow a series of ‘moves’ • E. g. Academic articles: Introduction – methods – results – discussion conclusion

Genre • Letter of recommendation: Recommendation, willingness to provide further information if needed • Job application: Declaration of intention, willingness to provide more information and attend an interview, along with contact details • Recipies: list of ingredients, step-by-step procedure

Recognizing Genre • These staged moves help us recognize genres and form the basis for our own writing in recurring situations, allowing us to participate in communicative situations in a way which others will recognize as targeted toward a communicative purpose • In addition, we can recognize genres by the lexicogrammatical choices text producers make

Discourse community • A group of people with a set of shared goals and purposes for communicating, which leads to a type of communication which tends to be replicated in similar ways • Many studies within genre-based research include descriptions of the context in which the genres are embedded

Textual patterns • • Labov’s analysis of spoken interview data: Narrative structure: Abstract (What was this about? – optional element) Orientation (time, persons, place, situation) Complication (a crisis point, turning point) Evaluation (the teller’s attitude; not a separate step, pervades the whole narrative) Result (What happened? Resolution to crisis) Coda (optional way of finishing by returning listeners to present)

Textual patterns • Problem/solution pattern: • Situation • Problem • Response • Evaluation/result

Sample analysis: situation, problem, response, result • So often in my teaching, I find students whose English is communicatively strong, and possibly accurate too, until pen hits paper. Many are badly let down and held back by their spelling. U decided to find out how I could help these learners imrove this skill. There is very little EFL material on the subject, so I also researched spelling for native speaker children and adults. The results of that research have led to the following ideas on how to learn spelling, some ways to teach it and some games to revise itl

Other patterns • Problem – solution (unable) • Goal – achievement (want to, would like to, in order to) • Opportunity – taking pattern (taking advantage of) • Desire - fulfillment pattern (attractive, helpful) • Gap in knowledge-filling pattern (in the absence of, given the lack of…)

Decide which pattern best describes the texts below • If you would like to have a nice vacation in a Branson cabin rental we have some of the nicest vacation rentals and cabins available anywhere

Lexical signaling • Patterns in text are often signaled by the word choices we make