A brief introduction to discourse analysis

1. Introduction to Discourse
Analysis
Dr. Zoulaikha Elbah
elbahzoulikha@gmail.com

2. • In the late 1960’s and through 1970’s.
• Discourse = language in use.
≠ language in isolation.
“ Social constructionism denies that our knowledge is a direct
perception of reality. Instead, as a culture or society we construct our
own versions of reality between us” (Burr, 2015, p. 9).
- Lge in isolation.
- Static entity.
- Structuralism.
- Discourse (lge in use).
- Dynamic, relational,
situated and relative.
- Social constructivism
(meaning is constructed
on the spot).

3. Language vs. Context (Situation)
• Gee speaks about language “ magical property ” ( Gee, 1999, p. 11).
• Language both construes (explains/interprets) and is constructed by
the situation.
• “Language has a magical property: when we speak or write, we design
what we have to say to fit the situation in which we are
communicating. But, at the same time, how we speak or write creates
that very situation” (Gee, 2005, p. 10).
- Monologic
conception .
- Dialectical conception
(Fairclough, 1992; Halliday &
Hasan, 1989; Linell, 2009;
Rogers, 2011).
- No boundaries between
discourse and context (Celce-
Murcia and Olshtain, 2000)

4. “the directions in which its meanings may fan out are limitless” (Schiffrin, Tannen, and
Hamilton, 2015, p. 7).
- Structuralism
(Textual elements).
- Post-structuralism
(Textual & contextual
elements).
“ a curse of discourse”
Schiffrin,Tannen, and
Hamilton (2015).
- Modernism
- Post-modernism

5. However, Samual Butler states:
Everything must be studied from the point of view of itself, as near as we can
get to this, and from the point of view of its relations, as near as we can get to
them. If we try to see it absolutely in itself, unalloyed with relations, we shall
find, by and by, that we have, as it were, whittled it away. If we try to see it in its
relations to the bitter end, we shall find that there is no corner of the universe
into which it does not enter. (as cited in Brown & Yule, 1983, p. x)

6. Language and Culture
• “ all human activities are linguistically and culturally mediated”
(Hornberger & McKay, 2010, p. 455).
- Social Semiotics
E.g., Englishes (instead
of English)
- Codes
E.g., Arabic language, Arabic
culture/French language,
French culture.
- “Language exists as an entity in its own right
and is largely detached from its users” (Kohler,
2015, p. 18).
- Culture is defined as an isolated set of static
facts (Claude & Weston, 2006; Ferraro &
Andreatta, 2010).
“Social semiotics...takes a poststructuralist approach
in emphasizing the social dimension of representation
and consumption. Its aim is to uncover how meaning is
generated, maintained, challenged or subverted”
(Mikula, 2008, p. 181).
- Language & culture are socially-constructed
processes.
Structuralism
Post-
structuralism
Cultural turn in linguistics
and linguistic turn in cultural
studies
Linguistic and non-linguistic
phenomena are understood
as interrelated.

7. Bibliography
•
• Brown, G., & Yule, G. (1983). Discourse analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Burr, V. (2015). Social constructionism (3rd ed.). Hove: Routledge.
• Claude. R. R., & Weston, B. H. (Eds.). (2006). Human rights in the world community issues and action (3rd
ed). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
• Elbah, Z. (2019). Overcoming EFL Learners' Ethnocentric Discourse Through Developing
Intercultural Communication Sensitivity (doctorate thesis). Retrieved from: https://dspace.univ-
ouargla.dz/jspui/bitstream/123456789/21863/1/ELBAH-Zoulaikha.pdf
• Ferraro, G., & Andreatta, S. (2010). Cultural anthropology: An applied perspective (8th ed.). Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
• Hornberger, N. H., & Mckay, S. (Eds.). (2010). Sociolinguistics and language education. Bristol: Multilingual
Matters.
• Kohler, M. (2015). Teachers as mediators in the foreign language classroom. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
• Mikula, M. (2008). Key concepts in cultural studies. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Schiffrin, D.,Tannen, D., & Hamilton, H. (Eds.). (2015). The handbook of discourse analysis (2nd ed.).
Oxford: Wiley Blackwell.