Discourse analysis

1. DISCOURSE ANALYSIS Discourse analysis the study of language in use. The

Hallidayan model of language Maxims of conversation. Implicatures of discourse.
2. Text and Discourse Text as a unit of the highest level manifests itself as discourse
in verbal communication. Therefore actual text in use may be defined as discourse.
Discourses are formed by sequence of utterances. It is obvious that many
utterances taken by themselves are ambiguous. They can become clear only within
a discourse.
3. His soup is not hot enough the semantic representation of the sentence ? he ?
Hot? very warm or spicy? his food?
4. Youre not leaving its explicit propositional content ? a statement, a question or
an order ? Utterances have not only propositional content but illocutionary force
5. A: Would you like some coffee? B: Coffee would keep me awake. Does B want any
coffee or not? Utterances have not only explicit content but also implicit import.
6. Discourse analysis or utterances interpretation involves a variety of processes,
grammatical and pragmatic. By pragmatic processes we mean the processes used
to bridge up the gap between the semantic representations of sentences and the
interpretation of utterances in context.
7. The Hallidayan model of language The analysis has evolved primarily from the
thoughts and ideas of Michael Halliday (1985, 1994), The model was built upon
Firth's (1957) development of Malinowski's (1923, 1935) concepts of
context of situation and context of culture . The model was developed by
Derewianka (2001). It shows the way in which a text is created from context of
culture , context of situation and the language system .
8. Context of culture Any actual context of situation, the particular configuration of
field, tenor and mode that has brought the text into being, not just a random jumble
of features but a totality a package, so to speak, of things that typically go
together in the culture. People do these things on these occasions and attach these
meanings to them; this is what culture is. Halliday and Hasan (1985)
9. Context of situation Halliday defines its constituent parts, field , tenor mode .
10. Field refers to the nature of the social action: what it is the interactants are
about. refers to what is going on, where what is going on is interpreted
institutionally, in terms of some culturally recognized activity. Examples of fields are
activities such as tennis, opera, linguisticsWhen people ask you what you do when
first getting to know you, you tend to answer in terms of field

11. Tenor refers to the statuses and role relationships: who is taking part in the
interaction. refers to the way you relate to other people when doing what you do.
One aspect of tenor is statuspeople have power over one another. In some
particular discourses tenor is of most significance as it is concerned with the power
and status of the participants.
12. Mode refers to the rhetorical channel and function of the discourse: what part
the text is playing. refers to the channel you select to communicatespeech and
writinge-mail, telephone, radio, television, video, film and so on. (Halliday, 1994)
13. Genre The term has been defined by most writers engaging in text analysis of
any kind It is a socially ratified way of using language in connection with a
particular type of social activity. Fairclough (1995). [A] genre is a staged, goal
oriented, purposeful activity in which speakers engage as members of our culture.
Martin (2000).
14. Register is the set of meanings, the configuration of semantic patterns, that are
typically drawn upon under the specified conditions, along with the words and
structures that are used in the realization of these meanings (Halliday, 1978). The
notion of register proposes a very intimate relationship of text to context: indeed, so
intimate is the relationship, it is asserted, that the one can only be interpreted by
reference to the other. Kress (1985).
15. Meaning is realised in language (in the form of text), which is thus shaped or
patterned in response to the context of situation in which it is used.
16. Maxims of conversation. It was Paul Grice who attempted to explain how, by
means of shared rules or conventions , language users manage to understand one
another. He introduced guidelines necessary for the efficient and effective
conversation. He defined these guidelines as Cooperative Principle . Cooperative
Principle presupposes that conversation is governed by four basic rules, Maxims of
Conversation . There are four of them.
17. Maxims of Conversation 1. The Maxim of Quality Do not say what you believe to
be false Do not say for what you lack adequate evidence 2. The Maxim of Quantity
Make your contribution as informative as required Do not make your contribution
more informative than is required
18. Maxims of Conversation 3. The Maxim of Relevance Be relevant 4. The Maxim of
Manner Be clear Be orderly
19. Implicatures of discourse. Communicative maxims make it possible to generate
inferences which are defined as conversational implicatures conventional
implicatures.
20. Conversational implicatures are such components of an utterance that are not
expressed semantically but are understood by communicants in the process of

communication: Was it you who broke the cup? Conversational implicatures are
universal , they do not depend on the language used.
21. Conventional implicatures are derived from a definite lexical or grammatical
structure of an utterance: I saw only John (conventional implicature I didnt see
anyone else ), Even Bill is smarter than you ( Everybody is smarter than John, John
is stupid ).
22. Implicatures and indirectness. Both kinds of implicatures are of great interest for
discourse analysis. When there is a mismatch between the expressed meaning and
the implied meaning we deal with indirectness. Indirectness is a universal
phenomenon: it occurs in all natural languages.
23. Polonius: What do you read, My Lord? Hamlet: Words, words, words. Hamlet
deliberately gives less information than is required by the situation and so flouts the
Maxim of Quantity. At the same time he deliberately fails to help Polonius to achieve
his goals, thereby flouting the Maxim of Relevance.
24. Law is law, woman is woman, students are students. The Maxim of Quantity is
also flouted. This makes us look for what these utterances really mean.
25. Youre being too smart! the Maxim of Quality is flouted and the hearer is made
to look for a covert sense. He is made of iron The same maxim is flouted with
metaphors.
26. A: Can you tell me the time? B: The bell has gone. The Maxim of Relevance can
also be responsible for producing a wide range of standard implicatures.
27. The lone ranger rode into the sunset and jumped on his horse The utterance
violates our expectation that events are recounted in the order in which they
happen because the Maxim of Manner is flouted.
28. Politeness Principle Minimize the expression of impolite beliefs; Maximize the
expression of polite beliefs. According to G.Leech, the Politeness Principle is as valid
as Cooperative Principle because it helps to explain why people do not always
observe Maxims of Conversation. A: Would you like to go to the theatre? B: I have
an exam tomorrow.
29. DISCOURSE ANALYSIS Initial analysis Conversation Analysis Critical Discourse
Analysis and its levels
30. Initial analysis Holborow (1991) provides six factors that help to initially assess
the context of situation: Setting; Topic/subject/theme; Activity/activities of speech
participants (equal or dominating); Addressor/addressee identities (social, personal,
age, sex, etc.); Addressor/addressee relationships (boss/employee, mother/child,
teacher/student, etc.); Socio-cultural context (shared assumptions about behaviour,
rules and norms, seen to be appropriate by the interlocutors ).

31. Conversation Analysis (CA) is an ethnomethodoligical approach to analysing

discourse, has its origins in sociology. Eggins and Slade (1997) list three major
drawbacks of CA: its lack of systematic analytical categories, its fragmentary
focus, and its mechanistic interpretation of conversation.
32. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) Fairclough (1995) is the study of often opaque
relationships of causality and determination between (a) discursive practices,
events and texts, and (b) wider social and cultural structures, relations and
processes; to investigate how such practices, events and texts arise out of and are
ideologically shaped by relations of power and struggles over power; to explore how
the opacity of these relationships between discourse and society is itself a factor
securing power.
33. Eclectic analysis Eggins and Slade (1997) is essential in dealing with the
complexities of casual talk. has three main stages of analysis which respectively
look at three different levels of discourse: mood choice at the lexico-grammatical
level, Appraisal analysis at the semantic level and exchange structure analysis at
the discourse level.
34. Semantic or Appraisal analysis represents an attempt to analyse texts at the
discourse semantic level, Halliday (1985, 1994), is used to address how
interpersonal meanings are constructed within a text and between the participants.
is used to examine the different values within a text that work to create
interpersonal meanings. These values are considered to be Appraisal item s
35. An Appraisal item i s any item that carrie s some degree of interpersonal
meaning, expressing attitude towards the world or the other participant in the text.
is the semantic resources used to negotiate emotions, judgements, and valuations,
alongside resources for amplifying and engaging with these evaluations.
36. The stages of Appraisal analysis to identify all of the Appraisal items in the text
to divide t he Appraisal items into one of three main categories.
37. Appraisal items ATTITUDE GRADUATION ENGAGEMENT Judgment Affect
Appreciation
38. ATTITUDE Values of Judgement are categorised as assessments of human
behaviour by reference to social norms. The system of Judgement is concerned with
language which criticises or praises, which condemns or applauds the behaviour
the actions, deeds, sayings, beliefs, motivations etc of human individuals and
groups. White, 2002 .
39. Judgement S ocial esteem S ocial sanction N ormality T enacity C apacity V
eracity P ropriety

40. But you still want a full public inquiry, dont you? Yes. I do, yes. These culprits
need to be brought to justice. The culprits who sent the racist hate mail? The
culprits who sent the racist hate mail and the people who covered up for them.
41. ATTITUDE Affect items are described as being those which describe the
speakers attitude towards emotional states. The category of Affect is concerned
with emotional response and disposition and is typically realised through mental
processes of reaction White (2002)
42. Affect items can be of two main types: irrealis Affect and realis Affect . Values of
Affect , like all ATTITUDE items may be positive or negative in their evaluation.
43. Affect Irrealis Affect is concerned with the future and unrealised actions and
states rather than present ones. White (2000). It has only one sub-category,
dis/inclination . Realis Affect values can be described as reactions to a stimulus, and
have three sub-categories, which are: un/happiness, in/security and dis/satisfaction .
44. And then when constables started saying well hang on, were fearing whats
going to happen. And I just want to move forward and get on with my career. At, at
the time I wasnt bitter at all. I mean I was quite happy with my career.
45. ATTITUDE Values of Appreciation are defined as those which refer to the
speakers evaluation of objects and productsby reference to aesthetic principles
and other systems of social value. White (2001). Appreciation are concerned with
positive and negative assessments of objects, artefacts, processes and states of
affairs rather than with human behaviour.
46. Appreciation R eaction C omposition V aluation I mpact Q uality B alance C
omplexity
47. GRADUATION is defined by White (2002) as Values by which (1) speakers
graduate (raise or lower) the interpersonal impact, force or volume of their
utterances, and (2) by which they graduate (blur or sharpen) the focus of their
semantic categorisations.
48. Three sub-categories of AMPLIFICATION/ GRADUATION Enrichment , which
involves a speaker adding an additional colouring to a meaning when a core,
neutral word could be used. Augmenting , which involves amplifying attitudinal
meaning Mitigation , which attempts, as it suggests, to mitigate attitudinal
meaning.
49. It MUST have a corrosive effect on you, doesnt it, after a while? Youre putting in
for application after application, job after job, course after course. I applied for a
driving course, just a SIMPLE, BASIC, driving course.
50. ENGAGEMENT Values of ENGAGEMENT are concerned with the linguistic
resources which explicitly position a texts proposals and positions inter-subjectively.

is the name given to a range of semantic systems which offer interactants ways to
realize, construct and vary the level of intimacy of an interaction.
51. Four subsystems of INVOLVEMENT naming ; technicality ; swearing ; slang or
anti-language . These factors are more common in multi-party talk .
52. Tim Sebastian: Gurpal Virdi, a very warm welcome to the programme. Gurpal
Virdi: Thank you very much, Tim. The INVOLVEMENT items are: I mean, Thats
like, You know Ill be honest with you, and Lets.
53. Exchange structure analysis is the most suitable for assessing the effects of
context on register. The model has forty-four possible speech function codings . The
model is used to separate the text into moves of various natures, and these moves
are then further divided into speech functions. The end of a move is a point of
possible turn transfer, that is a place where a speaker could stop without turn
transfer being seen as an interruption.