What Is Exactly Is Discourse Analysis?
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS – In this article, we will learn more about what discourse analysis is.
Discourse analysis, in a nutshell, is the analysis of language. It contrasts the different types of analysis with modern linguistics.
These areas of linguistics are concerned with the study of grammar. In other words, the study of smaller bits of language.
These may include any of the following:
- Sounds
- Parts of words (morphology)
- Meaning (semantics)
- Order Of Words (syntax)
With this in mind, discourse analyst studies larger chunks of language as they intertwine together. Moreover, the importance of context is emphasized.
In order to understand the meaning of a sentence or a phrase, the analyst must first determine the context. Here are some examples according to the Linguistics Society.
Imagine that you’re in a swimming pool. There, you see two signs, one says, “Please use the toilet, not the pool”, the other says “Pool for members only”.
If taken independently, each sign makes sense given the context that you’re in a pool. However, if taken as a single discourse, it makes you want to re-interpret the first sentence after reading the second.
Other important factors to discourse analysis are the following:
- Discourse and Frames
- Turn-taking
- Discourse Markers
- Speech Acts
Frame analysis is a type of discourse that wants to resolve: What activity are speakers engaged in when they say this? What do they think they are doing by talking in this way at this time?
Turn-taking is based on a conversation. One starts off speaking, and the other listens.
Analysts who study conversation say that speakers have systems for knowing when one individual’s turn is over and the next person’s turn begins.
Discourse Markers – Is the term linguist give to words like “well”, “oh”, “but”, and “and”. These words break speech into parts and show relationships between them.
Speech Acts asks not what form speech takes but rather, what it does. For example, a priest saying, ” I now pronounce you man and wife”.
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