Discourse Analysis

Lesson 1 : The Paradigm Shift from langue to

discourse
1-The Paradigm Shift
The 20th century has witnessed a paradigm shift that altered the
conception of language from the Saussurean notion of langue to
discourse studies , which has had different manifestations on different
scales : Linguistic , anthropological, philosophical , multimodal and
semiotic levels .
Why do we analyze language ?
Emergence of discourse analysis
Arguments :
Definition of Discourse :
Discourse is a look at larger stretches of text and how these texts
are made
1- A public speech
2- Intentional
3- You-oriented
4- Persuasive
5- Assumed shared knowledge
6- The unit of analysis
The emergence of discourse studies witnessed a shift from the
conception of language as a system as conveyed by De Saussure
to encompass the world of parole as a window to langue.
Furthermore , the unit of analysis used to be the phoneme,
 morpheme, clause , propositions in Semantics , however, the
combination of clauses creates a coherent text or discourse.
Discourse analysis’ main premise is its focus on the analysis of
larger streches of texts rather than smaller units (Going beyond the
clause) Clauses that extend over 10 lines
The use of conjunctions –Linkers (Cohesive devices)
Cohesion at formal levels
Coherence and Cohesion
The use of discourse markers of cohesion but does not lead to
coherence
Conversely, you can have coherence without cohesion
Halliday and Hasan (1976), there are six main ways that
cohesion is created in a text. These
are : Reference, Substitution, Ellipsis, Lexical Chains, Cohesive
Nouns and Conjunction.
Text Linguistics (Textology)
Silence can be a text ( can be meaningful and worth analyzing)
Cleaning the throat Announcing the presence
/Warning

Discourse analysis doesn’t necessarily go beyond the

clause Example : Corpus Analysis ( A larger Corpus)
A development of discourse analysis : Beyond cohesion and
coherence
The analysis of this huge corpora has led to the ability to detect
the distinctive features of certain genre
 For example : the recurrence of metaphors in certain genre / the
development in Corpus analysis (Discourse analysis)
Corpus Linguistics : Reasons
1-Literary purposes : Authorship identification
2- Anonymous text : Who wrote the text ?
3- Experimental corpus : control corpus
Determine the patterns in the control corpus and
the experimental corpus (Stylo metrics)
Identification of authorship for certain eras (periods)
The philosophical perspective :Michael Focault
Focus on power and ideology
If you want to analyze discourse : Perpetuate certain types of
power
Hard power : Soft Power
State Apparatuses/ Media Discourse

Gramshi : Ideology
When people use language they reproduce certain ideological
frameworks
Power through hegemony : Hegemonic control
In France : Marxist Theory
Husseul /Raymond Williams/ Stuart Hall (revisiting the notions
of culture)
Orientalism : Edward Said
The Seven Standards of Textuality ( De Beaugrande and
Dressler)
Text linguistics is a branch of linguistics that deals with texts as communication
systems. Its original aims lay in uncovering and describing text grammars. The
application of text linguistics has, however, evolved from this approach to a
point in which text is viewed in much broader terms that go beyond a mere
extension of traditional grammar towards an entire text. Text linguistics takes
into account the form of a text, but also its setting, i. e. the way in which it is
situated in an interactional, communicative context. Both the author of a (written
or spoken) text as well as its addressee are taken into consideration in their
respective (social and/or institutional) roles in the specific communicative
context. In general it is an application of discourse analysis at the much broader
level of text, rather than just a sentence or word.

Introduction
Reasons for text linguistics
Much attention has been given to the sentence as a self-contained unit, and not
enough has been given to studying how sentences may be used in connected
stretches of language. It is essentially the presentation of language as sets of
sentences.
Text is extremely significant in communication because people communicate
not by means of individual words or fragments of sentences in languages, but by
means of texts. It is also the basis of various disciplines such as law, religion,
medicine, science, and politics.
Definitions
"A text is an extended structure of syntactic units [i. e. text as super-sentence]
such as words, groups, and clauses and textual units that is marked by
both coherence among the elements and completion ... [Whereas] a non-text
consists of random sequences of linguistic units such as sentences, paragraphs,
or sections in any temporal and/or spatial extension." (Werlich, 1976: 23)
"A naturally occurring manifestation of language, i. e. as a communicative
language event in a context. The surface text is the set of expressions actually
used; these expressions make some knowledge explicit, while other knowledge
remains implicit, though still applied during processing." (Beaugrande and
Dressler, 1981: 63)
"[A term] used in linguistics to refer to any passage- spoken or written, of
whatever length, that does form a unified whole [….] A text is a unit of
language in use. It is not a grammatical unit, like a clause or a sentence; and it is
not defined by its size [….] A text is best regarded as a semantic unit; a unit not
of form but of meaning." (Halliday and Hasan, 1976: 1–2)
"A text is made up of sentences, but there exist separate principles of text-
construction, beyond the rules for making sentences." (Fowler, 1991: 59)
"[Text is] a set of mutually relevant communicative functions, structured in such
a way as to achieve an overall rhetorical purpose." (Hatim and Mason, 1990)
Text linguists generally agree that text is the natural domain of language, but
they still differ in their perspectives of what constitutes a text. This variance is
mainly due to the different methods of observations of different linguists, and as
such, the definition of text is not yet concrete.
Text types
 Most linguists agree on the classification into five text-types: narrative,
descriptive, argumentative, instructive, and comparison/contrast (also called
expositive). Some classifications divide the types of texts according to their
function. Others differ because they take into consideration the topic of the texts,
the producer and the addressee, or the style. Adam and Petitjean, (1989)
proposed analyzing of overlaps of different text types with text sequences.
Virtanen (1992) establishes a double classification (discourse type and text type)
to be used when the Identification text-text type is not straightforward.

Structure
As a science of text, text linguistics describes or explains among different types
of text the:

 Shared features
 Distinct features

Text linguistics is the study of how texts function in human interaction.

Beaugrande and Dressler define a text as a “communicative occurrence which
meets seven standards of textuality” – cohesion, coherence, intentionality,
acceptability, informativity, situationality and intertextuality, without any of
which the text will not be communicative. Non-communicative texts are treated
as non-texts.
Cohesion
Surface texts are the exact words that people see or hear. Cohesion concerns the
ways in which the components of the surface text are connected within a
sequence. Grammatical forms and conventions are adhered to by surface
components and therefore cohesion rests upon grammatical dependencies. The
grammatical dependencies in surface texts are major signals for sorting out
meanings and uses. Cohesion encompasses all of the functions that can be used
to signal relations among surface elements.
SLOW

CARS

HELD UP
Such a text can be divided up into various dependencies. Someone might
construe it as a notice about "slow cars" that are "held up", so that conclusions
could be drawn about the need to drive fast to avoid being held up. However, it
is more likely for one to divide the text into "slow" and "cars held up', so that
drivers will drive slowly to avoid accidents or take alternative routes to avoid
 being caught in the slow traffic. A science of text should explain
how ambiguities such as these are possible, as well as how they are precluded or
resolved without much difficulty. For efficient communication to take place
there must be interaction between cohesion and other standards of textuality
because the surface alone is not decisive.
Coherence
Coherence concerns the ways in which concepts and relations, which underlie
the surface text, are linked, relevant and used, to achieve efficient
communication.
 A concept is a cognitive content which can be retrieved or triggered with a high
degree of consistency in the mind
 Relations are the links between concepts within a text, with each link identified
with the concept that it connects to

Surface texts may not always express relations explicitly therefore people supply
as many relations as are needed to make sense out of any particular text. In the
example of the road sign "SLOW CARS HELD UP', "cars" is an object concept
and "held up" an action concept, and the "cars" are the link to "held up'.
Therefore, "slow" is more likely to be interpreted as a motion than as the speed
at which cars are travelling. Types of relations include:

I. Causality
"Itsy Bitsy spider climbing up the spout. Down came the rain
and washed the spider out."
The event of "raining" causes the event of "washing the spider out"
because it creates the necessary conditions for the latter; without the rain,
the spider will not be washed out.
II. Enablement
"Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great
fall."
The action of sitting on the wall created the necessary but not sufficient
conditions for the action of falling down. Sitting on a wall makes it
possible but not obligatory for falling down to occur.
III. Reason
"Jack shall have but a penny a day because he can't work any
faster."
In contrast to the rain which causes Itsy Bitsy spider to be washed out, the
slow working does not actually cause or enable the low wage. Instead, the
 low wage is a reasonable outcome; "reason" is used to term actions that
occur as a rational response to a previous event.
IV. Purpose
"Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard to get her poor dog a
bone."
In contrast to Humpty Dumpty's action of sitting on the wall which
enables the action of falling down, there is a plan involved here; Humpty
Dumpty did not sit on the wall so that it could fall down but Old Mother
Hubbard went to the cupboard so that she could get a bone. "Purpose" is
used to term events that are planned to be made possible via a previous
event.
V. Time
"Cause", "enablement" and "reason" have forward directionality with the earlier
event causing, enabling or providing reason for the later event. "Purpose',
however, has a backward directionality as the later event provides the purpose
for the earlier event.

More than just a feature of texts, coherence is also the outcome of cognitive
processes among text users. The nearness and proximity of events in a text will
trigger operations which recover or create coherence relations.

"The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts;

The Knave of Hearts, he stole the tarts;
The King of Hearts, called for the tarts."
In the explicit text, there is a set of actions (making, stealing and calling); the
only relations presented are the agent and the affected entity of each action.
However, a text receiver is likely to assume that the locations of all three events
are close to one another as well as occur in a continuous and relatively short
time frame. One might also assume that the actions are meant to signal the
attributes of the agents; the Queen is skilled in cooking, the Knave is dishonest
and the King is authoritative. As such, coherence encompasses inferencing
based on one's knowledge.

For a text to make sense, there has to be interaction between one's accumulated
knowledge and the text-presented knowledge. Therefore, a science of texts is
probabilistic instead of deterministic, that is, inferences by users of any
particular text will be similar most of the time instead of all of the time. Most
text users have a common core of cognitive composition, engagement and
process such that their interpretations of texts through "sensing" are similar to
what text senders intend them to be. Without cohesion and coherence,
communication would be slowed down and could break down altogether.
Cohesion and coherence are text-centred notions, designating operations
directed at the text materials.

Intentionality
Intentionality concerns the text producer's attitude and intentions as the text
producer uses cohesion and coherence to attain a goal specified in a plan.
Without cohesion and coherence, intended goals may not be achieved due to a
breakdown of communication. However, depending on the conditions and
situations in which the text is used, the goal may still be attained even when
cohesion and coherence are not upheld.

"'Want I carry you on my back?'"

Even though cohesion is not maintained in this example, the text producer still
succeeds in achieving the goal of finding out if the text receiver wanted a
piggyback.

Acceptability
Acceptability concerns the text receiver's attitude that the text should constitute
useful or relevant details or information worth accepting. Text type, the
desirability of goals and the political and sociocultural setting, as well as
cohesion and coherence, are important in influencing the acceptability of a text.

Text producers often speculate on the receiver's attitude of acceptability and

present texts that maximize the probability that the receivers will respond as
desired by the producers. For example, texts that are open to a wide range of
interpretations, such as "Call us before you dig. You may not be able to
afterwards" require more inferences about the related consequences. This is
more effective than an explicit version of the message that informs receivers the
full consequences of digging without calling, because receivers are left with
great uncertainty as to the consequences that could result; this plays to people's
risk aversion.

Informativity
Informativity concerns the extent to which the contents of a text are already
known or expected as compared to unknown or unexpected. No matter how
expected or predictable content may be, a text will always be informative at least
to a certain degree due to unforeseen variability. The processing of highly
informative text demands greater cognitive ability but at the same time is more
interesting. The level of informativity should not exceed a point such that the
text becomes too complicated and communication is endangered. Conversely,
the level of informativity should also not be so low that it results in boredom and
the rejection of the text.
Situationality
Situationality concerns the factors which make a text relevant to a situation of
occurrence. The situation in which a text is exchanged influences the
comprehension of the text. There may be different interpretations with the road
sign
SLOW

CARS

HELD UP
However, the most likely interpretation of the text is obvious because the
situation in which the text is presented provides the context which influences
how text receivers interpret the text. The group of receivers (motorists) who are
required to provide a particular action will find it more reasonable to assume
that "slow" requires them to slow down rather than referring to the speed of the
cars that are ahead. Pedestrians can tell easily that the text is not directed
towards them because varying their speeds is inconsequential and irrelevant to
the situation. In this way, the situation decides the sense and use of the text.

Situationality can affect the means of cohesion; less cohesive text may be more
appropriate than more cohesive text depending on the situation. If the road sign
was "Motorists should reduce their speed and proceed slowly because the
vehicles ahead are held up by road works, therefore proceeding at too high a
speed may result in an accident', every possible doubt of intended receivers and
intention would be removed. However, motorists only have a very short amount
of time and attention to focus on and react to road signs. Therefore, in such a
case, economical use of text is much more effective and appropriate than a fully
cohesive text.

Intertextuality
Intertextuality concerns the factors which make the utilization of one text
dependent upon knowledge of one or more previously encountered text. If a text
receiver does not have prior knowledge of a relevant text, communication may
break down because the understanding of the current text is obscured. Texts
such as parodies, rebuttals, forums and classes in school, the text producer has to
refer to prior texts while the text receivers have to have knowledge of the prior
texts for communication to be efficient or even occur. In other text types such as
puns, for example "Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana', there is no
need to refer to any other text.
 Cohesion : Reference (Endophoric (Anaphoric -
Cataphoric / Exophoric)+ Linkers+ Substitition+
Ellipses +lexical Cohesion
Coherence : has to do with semantic link taht is not
expressed (a matter of culture)
He looked at her, she had a heart attack (Evil eye)
Coherence has to do with what is hidden and taken
for granted
Intentionality : Ulterior motive/ the goal/purpose of
the text
The intentional fallacy
Agenda of writer/agenda of reader
Acceptability
Taboo topics
Informativity : Adding value to the reader

The text Textuality / Cohesion

/Coherence
Example : Reading the Quran : reading a text fulfills certain
conditions

How can we square certain linguistic features within social

functions ?

Quantity : How much a given text constitutes a text ?

Copora : Huge corpora made of millions of words

Corpus Linguistics : Discourse analysis

 Genre analysis : Discourse analysis

There are certain types of discourse : based on graphics

Multi-modal analysis

Analysis of videos / The study of emojis

Silence / Analyzing facial expressions

Para-linguistic features / Slogans on t-shirts

Everything is readable

From a syntactic perspective to a pragmatic perspective in

scope and methods of analysis

Orality Versus Literacy

Register Genre

1/ Layout - Social
context

2/ The discourse structure Rituals

Expected effect

3/Lexis

4/ Grammar

5/ Connectivity

The Question of Orality and Literacy is of great

importance

Officialese
Official
Formal Each level has a social
connotation/association/values
Informal
Colloquial
Slang
Officialese has to do with legal discourse
Example : National Concours of agregation
The language which the professor is using in classes is
informal = His language in diocuments = In Sociolinguistics,
there are many languages used by different social groups
(Social strata)
In terms of register : Register has to do with language
The layout : Example : A check / An enveloppe (You know its
layout)
The first thing we do when reading a text , we pay attention
to its external layout /appearances
Van Dijk « The interpretation is not a fixed process, it is a
dynamic process »
The discourse structure = Who is represented in the text/who
is speaking to whom
In America,defending a thesis in 1st personal pronoun
Lexis= Choice of diction /vocabulary
When you use language spontanously , you use anglo-saxon
terms
When in writing , you use formal English language
Grammar : We look at the text from the complexity of its
structure
Connectivity : The text is highly dependant on context
Broadening of a movement from a text to discourse analysis
The focus on text as text
Analyzing Grafiti / background music in Tv Programs
Using different media to pass on certain messages
Discourse analysis has necessarily broader scope of different
methodology to analyze a text
Discourse analysis relies on corpus
Methodologies used in discourse analysis are widely
identified
Any domain of knowledge can provide tools for discourse
analysis
Everything is measurable to analysis through discourse
analysis