ENGLISH DISCOURSE ANALYSIS IN CLASSROOM AND SCHOOL

Murni Mahmud

What is Discourse?

the term discourse and discourse analysis are two different terms (Schriffin et al, 2001:1). the term discourse comes from a Latin word discursus which means conversation or speech (Wisnieski, 2006:3). discourse as a mode of action and a mode of representation (Fairclough (1992, cited in Thornton and Reynolds, 2006:273).

Fairclough (1992, cited in Thornton and Reynolds, 2006:273)

Fairclough stresses the important relationship between discourse and social structure and put three dimensions of discourse analysis framework: 1. discourse as text, giving the emphasis on linguistic features and organizations of concrete instances of discourse. 2. discourse as discursive practice, emphasising that discourse is something produced, distributed and consumed in society. 3. discourse as social practice, combining social relevance and textual specificity.

Jawoski and Coupland (1991, cited in Schriffin et al, 2001:1)

identify three main categories of definitions of discourse, namely 1. anything beyond the sentence, 2. language in use, and 3. a broader range of social practice that includes non-linguistic and nonspecific instances of language.

Kress (cited in Wood and Kroger, 2000:19).

Discourses are systematically-organized sets of statements which give expressions to the meanings and values of an institution...

a discourse provides a set of possible statements about a given area, and organizes and gives structures to the manner in which a particular topic, object, process is to be talked about

What is Discourse

Another scholar defines discourse as structured systems of terms, figures of speech, and metaphors (Burman and Parker, 1993). Fairclough (1993) and Harre (1995) define discourse as an extension to semiotic practice in other semiotic modalities such as visual images and non verbal movements (cited in Wood and Kroger, 2000:19).

What is Discourse?

discourse is an action, which can be in the form of talk and text (Wood and Kroger 2000). the forms of communications or interactions in talks (oral way or speech) and text (written or printed forms) are the major areas of discourse.

What is Discourse

According to Wood and Kroger (2000:19), the term discourse is sometimes used interchangeably with text. In this case, the terms discourse is used to cover all spoken and written forms of language use (talk and text) as social practice.

For example, discourse is used for spoken forms whereas text is used for written forms (Wood and Kroger, 2000:1)

Discourse Analysis

Discourse analysis as a kind of discipline in linguistic study. One of the definitions emphasizes that discourse analysis is concerned with the study of the relationship between language and the contexts in which it is used (MaCarthy, 1991:6). Cook (1990:ix) confirms that discourse analysis examines how stretches of language, considered in their full textual, social, and psychological context, become more meaningful and unified for their users.

Discourse Analysis

Stubb (1983:1) also argues that the term discourse analysis is very ambiguous. It is used to refer mainly to the linguistic analysis of naturally occurring connected speech or written discourse. Roughly speaking, it refers to attempts to study the organisation of language above the sentence or above the clause, and therefore to study larger linguistic units, such as conversational exchanges or written texts.

Discourse Analysis

In addition, discourse analysis is also concerned with language use in social contexts, and in particular with interaction or dialogue between speakers. Discourse analysis is concerned with language use beyond the boundaries of a sentence/utterance, the interrelationships between language and society and the interactive or dialogic properties of everyday communication.

Discourse Analysis

Brown and Yule (1994:viii) defines discourse analysis based on its functions and areas. Discourse analysis is used with a wide range of meanings and a wide range of activities, to describe activities in the intersection of disciplines: sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, physical linguistics, computational linguistics.

Dimension of Discourse Analysis

Grammar Phonology Morphology Lexicon Pragmatics Argumentative Analysis Narrative Analysis Analysis on Non Verbal Behaviour

Disciplines

Linguistics Sociolinguistics Linguistic Anthropology Psycholinguistics History Literature Legal context Educations politics

Areas

Talk-In Interaction in everyday conversation Childrens conversations Parent-Child Discourse News Interviews Classroom Interactions Courtroom Interactions Meetings Conversational storytelling Verbal duelling Fun and Jokes Rumors and Gossiping

Forms

Wood and Kroger (2000:68) classify two main types of discourse, namely SPOKEN and WRITTEN discourse.

Spoken Discourse

Spoken Discourse, for example, can be obtained from three ways: face to face interaction, through telephone, and by using media or other.

face to face spoken discourse

home (including residential institutions); schools; offices or work sites; medical settings (hospitals, clinics, physicians offices, nursing homes); legal settings (police stations, courthouses, prisons); playgrounds (athletic clubs, tennis courts, golf courses); museums; theatres; cinemas; stores; restaurants; and street settings.

face to face spoken discourse

household chores, recreational interactions, parties such as meals, meetings, coffee breaks, joint task, simulations or training exercises; medical interviews (discussions, meetings, questions and answer sessions, interviews, and other exchanges);

face to face spoken discourse

classroom or seminar discussions, job talks, book clubs, focus groups; faculty meetings, community meetings, conferences, conventions; ordering and purchasing merchandise, trading at the stock exchange, auctions, talk at information-return-complaint counters; therapy sessions, medical consultations; talk show interviews or conversations;

face to face spoken discourse

political debates; door-to-door campaigning, selling, soliciting of donations; oral examinations; parliamentary question period, Senate hearings, press conference, courtroom and quasi-judicial proceedings such as professional associations); speeches, lectures, conference presentations; advertisements; opening and closing statements in courts of law; picketing; political demonstrations.

Spoken Discourse from Telephone

conference calls, calls to information, complaint, reservation order (services, merchandise) lines: interviews: surveys, polling, emergency (911) calls, telephone answering machine messages.

Spoken Discourse from Media

In addition, spoken discourse can be mediated such as from television, film, documentaries, audio-videotaped correspondence, and messages

Written Discourse

Three types: correspondence, publications, and unpublished materials.

Correspondence type

the form of letters; memoranda; messages; e-mail (including chat groups); questionnaires and written responses; requests for feedback such as by stores and airlines and responses.

Publications type

articles in magazine, newspapers, and journals (e.g. academic articles); books, book chapters; court judgements, statutes; contracts; policy documents, advertisements, notices, signs, announcements; minutes of meetings; files (e.g. for job candidates, graduate school applicants, and patients, including case notes made following examinations, interviews, etc); calendars; brochures; manuals; letters to the editor; fictional work, namely novels, plays, short stories, television and film scripts, librettos, and poems.

Unpublished materials

Unpublished written discourse can be in the form of diaries, shopping lists, memos, notes; and work of fictions.

Non Verbal Communication

Besides spoken and written data, there is also non-verbal data. These kinds of data can be taken by using video recorders such as the use of gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, smiles, etc.

Methods and Procedures

Identify the problems Producing/collecting related data (spoken or written) Transcribing the data Analysing the data Elaborating the analysis

Identifying problems

What are the problems to investigate? Put the problems in theoretical framework: sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, etc Choose the location and scope: Talk-In Interaction in everyday conversation, Childrens conversations, Parent-Child Discourse, News Interviews, etc.

Producing Data 1

Research Design Naturalism Sampling Issues Audio or video Recordings and other sources of information Hunting for data Consent Radio/TV broadcast Existing recordings

PRODUCING DATA 2

Getting or making recordings of natural interaction for spoken discourse or just take existing written texts for written discourse Transcribing the tapes, in whole or in part Analysing selected episodes Reporting the research

Some symbols for transcriptions

continued
.. Short pause (less than roughly 0.8 seconds) ... Long pause (longer than roughly 0.8 seconds) <@ words @> Words are spoken while laughing; can also be written @word @word @word. <X words X> Uncertain transcription. (text) explaining what the conversation/the turn is about [text] giving the literal meaning of the conversations (text) (text) indicating interjections

continued

In each extract of conversation, speakers utterances are rendered in italics, whereas translations are written in normal fonts in quotation marks: .. All of them are in font size 11. To make it clearer, the points for discussions from the extracts will be underlined. When utterances are quoted from conversation extracts for more explanation in the text, they are also underlined, but with the font size 12. Any points of discussion under a later topic are not underlined but are referred to by writing down the words/expressions followed by their meanings.

Continued

I use initials for names of speakers mentioned for the first time followed by the age, such Puang Aji Madi (PAM, 50) or Ibu Wahyuni (W, 36). In extract explanations in the text, I still use initials for names which are more than three syllables such as PAM for Puang Aji Madi, whereas names like Pak Abulheri or Ibu Wahyuni are written in full. Names of speakers who are not older than 35 years old are mentioned in full without any titles.

continued

In extract translations, some utterances are not translated, such as the titles Pak, Na, Bu, Aji, Puang, D, Ndi and so forth. There are also some utterances that are neither translated nor written again in the translation of the extracts such as aww, hm, , h, ih, aa, oh, ou, b, h, ha, ai, ci and so forth. These terms are also rendered in different italic fonts depending on the type of language and will be followed by their meanings in English in quotation marks. Abbreviations appear the first time in the chapter, and if they are in extract conversations, they will be written in the extract translation in the same way as in the text.

continued

In conversation extracts, I also use different fonts for each language. Times New Roman is generally used for Bugis. For Indonesian or Bugis-Indonesian, I used Comic Sans MS, whereas for foreign languages such as Arabic or a term that is adopted from foreign words I used Arial font.

Some questions?

How to get natural recordings? How to get sample? What are the sources of data? What strategies to produce data? Any problems with consent?

References

Adger, Carolyn Temple. 2001. Discourse in Education Settings. In Schriffin, Deborah, Deborah Tannen, Heidi H. Hamilton (Eds). The Handbook of Discourse Analysis. USA: Blackwell Publishers. Pp. 503-517). Austin, John L. 1962. How to Do Things with Words. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Berman, Laine. 1998. Speaking Through the Silence: Narrative, Social Conventions, and Power in Java. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press Brown, Gillian & Yule, Brown. 1984. Discourse Analysis. London: Cambridge University Press.

References

Brinton, Laurel J. 2001. Historical Discourse Analysis. In Schriffin, Deborah, Deborah Tannen, Heidi H. Hamilton (Eds). The Handbook of Discourse Analysis. USA: Blackwell Publishers. Pp. 138-160. Cook, Guy. 1990. Discourse. New York: Oxford University Press. Coulthard, Malcolm. 1985. An Introduction to Discourse Analysis. London: Longman. Danet, Brenda. 1985. Legal Discourse. In Dijk, Teun A.Van (ed). Handbook of Discourse Analysis. Vol I Discipline of Discourse. London: Academic Press pp: 273-291.

Errington, J. Joseph. 1985. Language and Social Change in Java: Linguistic Reflexes of Modernization in a Traditional Royal Polity. Ohio, USA: Center for International Studies, Ohio University. Errington, J. Joseph. 1986. Continuity and Change in Indonesian Language Development, The Journal of Asian Studies, 45(2): 329-353. Errington, J. Joseph. 1988. Structure and Style in Javanese: A Semiotic View of Linguistic Etiquette. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Errington, J. Joseph. 1998. Shifting Languages: Interaction and Identity in Javanese Indonesian. UK: Cambridge University Press.

References

Ginting, Daniel. 2009. Gaya Retorika dan Strategi Kesopanan dalam Pidato Politik Kepala Negara Studi Kasus: Analisis Isi Terhadap Pidato Pelantikan Presiden Barrack Obama dan Presiden Soesilo Bambang Yudoyono. Proceeding of KOLITA 7 (Konferensi Linguistik Tahunan 7 Tingkat Internasional). Jakarta: Unika Atma Jaya, pp: 51-57. Grimes, Joseph E. 1975. The Thread of Discourse. Paris: Mouton The Hague Have, Paul T. 1999. Doing Conversation Analysis: A Practical Guide. London, California: New Delhi, SAGE Publications Ltd. Hutauruk, Bertaria Sohnata. 2009. Code-switching Made by Lecturers in Bilingual Classes at Bunda Mulia University. Paper at the Proceeding of the Second International Conference on Applied Linguistics (CONAPLIN 2). Bandung: Language Centre, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, pp:143146. Mahmud, Murni. 2008. Politeness in Bugis. A Thesis. Canberra: The Australian National University.

Mahmud, Murni. 2009. Bahasa dan Gender dalam Masyarkat Bugis.

Mahmud, Murni. 2010. Politeness in Bugis: A Study in Linguistic Anthropology (Volume I and II). Makassar: Badan Penerbit UNM Mahyuni. 2003. Speech Styles and Cultural Perspectives in Sasak Community. Ph.D Thesis. Melbourne, Australia: University of Melbourne. McCarthy, Michael. 1991. Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers. New York: Cambridge University Press. Schriffin, Deborah, Tannen, Deborah & Hamilton, Heidi E.. 2001. The Handbook of Discourse Analysis. USA: Blackwell Publisher. Shuy, Roger W. 2001. Discourse Analysis in the Legal Context. In Schriffin, Deborah, Deborah Tannen, Heidi H. Hamilton (Eds). The Handbook of Discourse Analysis. USA: Blackwell Publishers pp:437-452. Struever, Nancy S. 1985. Historical Discourse. In Dijk, Teun A.Van (ed). Handbook of Discourse Analysis. Vol I Discipline of Discourse. London: Academic Press pp: 249-272. Thornton, Steve and Noemi Reynolds. 2006. Analyzing Classroom Interactions Using Critical Discourse Analysis. In Novotna J.,Maraova, H., Kratka, M and Stehlikova, N. (eds). Proceeding 30th Conference of the International Group for Psychology of Mathematics Education, Vol 5 pp 273-280. Prague: PME. Van Dijk, Teun A. 1985. Handbook of Discourse Analysis. Vol. 1. Discipline of Discourse. London: Academic Press.

References

Wajdi, Majid. 2009. Alih Kode dan Silang Kode: Startegi Komunikasi dalam bahasa Diglossia Jawa. Proceeding The Second International Conference on Applied Linguistics (CONAPLIN 2), Balai Bahasa Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI), Bandung, pp 304-317). Wessing, Robert. 1974. Language Levels in Sundanese Man 9(No 1): 5-22. Wilson, John. 2001. Political Discourse. In Schriffin, Deborah, Deborah Tannen, Heidi H. Hamilton (Eds). The Handbook of Discourse Analysis. USA: Blackwell Publishers pp:398-415. Wisniewski, Kamil. 2006. What is Discourse Analysis? http:www.tluemaczenia-angieslski.info/linguistics/discourse.htm. Wood, Linda A. and Kroger, Rolf O. 2000. Doing Discourse Analysis. New Delhi: SAGE Publications. Yulimar, Vidi Arini. 2010. A Political Discourse Analysis of Barrack Obamas Speeches. Paper at the 57th Teflin (Teaching English as a Foreign Language in Indonesia), Bandung: UPI