Ch. 11 - Discourse Analysis ENG 150

ENG 150 Palomar College Linguistics

discourse

language beyond the sentence

discourse analysis

the study of language in texts and conversation

goal of discourse analysis

understand how meaning is constructed in discourse

cohesion

textual connections through grammar and lexis (reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunctions, lexical ties)

ellipsis

omitted elements in text or speech, a speaker's trailing-off thoughts and pauses, signal an incomplete sentence, and can serve to connect 2 sentences

coherence

logical connection perceived by listener/reader; based on world knowledge, expectations

incoherent conversation

conversation lacks clear connections, where ideas jump around without logical flow, even if individual sentences are grammatically correct ex. A: I need to go to the library. B: I like apples.

conversation analysis

studies structure and order of talk, “no gap no overlap”, conversations rely on turn-taking, adjacency pairs, and repair mechanisms

strategies for holding the floor in conversation

verbal fillers (um), intonational cues (pitch), syntactic structures (fragments), pausing, and physical cues (eye contact, gestures, interactional strategies)

turn-taking

each speaker takes turns smoothly

completion point

asking a question, pausing at end

filled pauses

hesitation markers (uh, em, you know); serve to keep the turn or plan speech

adjacency pairs

a sequence of two turns, where the first part creates an expectation for a specific type of second part (ex. Q & A, greeting-greeting)

insertion sequence

an additional, smaller adjacency pair that can occur between the 2 parts of a larger, main AP (Q1, Q2, A1, A2) often to address a prerequisite or contingency (clarifying, permission)

repair

correction during talk

self-initiated, self-repair

a real-time correction to ensure greater accuracy or clarity

self-initiated

the speaker is the one who recognizes and signals the error in their own speech; speaker interrupts themselves with a hesitation marker (uh)

self-repair

the same speaker goes on to correct the trouble source in their own utterance by replacing the word with a more accurate word

trouble source

the original utterance that contains a problem such as a misunderstanding, misstatement, or difficulty in finding the right word

other-initiation

a signal from a conversation participant that they have identified a problem with the preceding utterance, can be explicit or implicit

explicit

question like “what"?”, or a partial repeat of the trouble source with a rising intonation

implicit

a hesitation, puzzled look, or delayed response

other-initated, self-repair

the original speaker corrects their own utterance in response to the other-initation

background knowledge & inferences

interpretation depends on shared knowledge

schema

a mental framework that’s organized and interprets information; your knowledge about the world, people, and social roles

script

a specific type of schema that details a predictable sequence of events for a particular situation (ex. ordering coffee); sequence of typical actions

intertextuality

links between texts via allusion or quotation

Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) Fairclough 1995

explores language, power, ideology, and identity; 3 dimensions (text, discursive practices, and sociocultural practices)

stylistics

studies distinct language use, often in literature; identifying unique textual features; examines vocabulary, sentence structure, rhythm, and tone