DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
Presented By : Angel Aniñon , Ariane Gem Casuse, Ey-rone Dichos,
Dave Alcantara, Khurt Philip, Cherica Estaniel, Simon Bacang
WHAT is discourse analysis and its importance?
WHEN should discourse analysis be utilized?
HOW is discourse analysis conducted?
Discourse
Discourse is a spoken or written
communication between people,
especially a serious discussion of a
particular subject. Discourse looks at
the overall meanings conveyed by
language in context.
Discourse Analysis
According to the famous Oxford Dictionary,
Discourse Analysis is “Linguistics, a method
of analyzing the structure of texts or
utterances longer than one sentence, taking
into account both their linguistic content
and their sociolinguistic context; analysis
performed using this method.”
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
Discourse analysis is a qualitative research method that uses the
language presented in a corpus or body of data to draw meaning. This
body of data could include a set of interviews or focus group discussion
transcripts. Discourse analysis aims to research the working of the
language and learn the meaning derived from the words, depending on
the situation. In the process of analysis, the context of the conversation is
taken into consideration along with its meaning.
Discourse Analysis
What makes discourse analysis unique is that it posits that social reality
is socially constructed, or that our experience of the world is understood
from a subjective standpoint. Discourse analysis goes beyond the literal
meaning of words and languages.
Discourse Analysis
As Wodak and Krzyżanowski (2008) put it: “discourse
analysis provides a general framework to problem-
oriented social research”.
For example, discourse analysis could be used to assess how
language is used to express differing viewpoints on financial
inequality and would look at how the topic should or shouldn’t be
addressed or resolved, and whether this so-called inequality is
perceived as such by participants.
TYPES OF DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
Conversation Analysis
This type of discourse analysis focuses on analyzing the structure of talk and how participants in a
conversation make meaning through their interaction. It is often used to study face-to-face
interactions, such as interviews or everyday conversations.
Critical discourse Analysis
This approach focuses on the ways in which language use reflects and reinforces power relations,
social hierarchies, and ideologies. It is often used to analyze media texts or political speeches, with
the aim of uncovering the hidden meanings and assumptions that are embedded in these texts.
Discursive Psychology
This type of discourse analysis focuses on the ways in which language use is related to psychological
processes such as identity construction and attribution of motives. It is often used to study
narratives or personal accounts, with the aim of understanding how individuals make sense of their
experiences.
Multimodal Discourse Analysis
This approach focuses on analyzing not only language use, but also other modes of communication,
such as images, gestures, and layout. It is often used to study digital or visual media, with the aim of
understanding how different modes of communication work together to create meaning.
Corpus-based Discourse Analysis
This type of discourse analysis uses large collections of texts, or corpora, to analyze patterns of
language use across different genres or contexts. It is often used to study language use in specific
domains, such as academic writing or legal discourse.
Descriptive Discourse
This type of discourse analysis aims to describe the features and characteristics of language use,
without making any value judgments or interpretations. It is often used in linguistic studies to describe
grammatical structures or phonetic features of language.
Narrative Discourse
This approach focuses on analyzing the structure and content of stories or narratives, with the aim of
understanding how they are constructed and how they shape our understanding of the world. It is
often used to study personal narratives or cultural myths.
Expository Discourse
This type of discourse analysis is used to study texts that explain or describe a concept, process, or
idea. It aims to understand how information is organized and presented in such texts and how it
influences the reader’s understanding of the topic.
Argumentative Discourse
This approach focuses on analyzing texts that present an argument or attempt to persuade the reader
or listener. It aims to understand how the argument is constructed, what strategies are used to
persuade, and how the audience is likely to respond to the argument.
WHAT is discourse analysis and its importance?
WHEN should discourse analysis be utilized?
HOW is discourse analysis conducted?
The purpose of discourse analysis is to investigate the functions of language (i.e., what
language is used for) and how meaning is constructed in different contexts, which, to
recap, include the social, cultural, political, and historical backgrounds of the discourse.
Discourse analysis can be a powerful tool for assessing social issues, as well as power
and power imbalances.
WHAT is discourse analysis and its importance?
WHEN should discourse analysis be utilized?
HOW is discourse analysis conducted?
TWO MAIN APPROACHES TO DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
1. Language-in-use
This approach focuses on the regular use of language in communication.
It includes paying attention to sentence structures, grammar, phonology, etc.
It traces back to formal ways of language usage, language in use pays
attention to proper rules of grammar and when the language sounds ok to a
native.
For example, the language English has the prefix “un” and the suffix “able”
as in “unpredictable” However, an English speaker may say, “That’s un-
flipping-predictable”. From a language-in-use perspective, the infix “flipping”
could be confusing.
TWO MAIN APPROACHES TO
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
2.Socio-Political
This approach of discourse analysis focuses on not only the technicalities but
also on how a language influences the social and political context and another way
round.
1.Critical Discourse Analysis- focuses on the power spectrum. Eg: Teachers and
their students.
2.Normalized power- firm and suggestive, refers to one’s existence in the society
and within its norms. E.g., people not talking in the library.
3.Repressive power– is confidently believed. E.g.: parents threaten their kids with a
punishment.
STEPS IN CARRYING OUT
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
STEP 1: DECIDE ON YOUR DISCOURSE
ANALYSIS APPROACH
STEP 2: DESIGN YOUR COLLECTION
The first step of the process is METHOD AND GATHER YOUR DATA
to decide on which approach you will Data in discourse analysis is drawn
take in terms. For example, the from different forms of “talk” and
language in use approach or a “text”, which means that it can
socio-political approach such as consist of interviews,
critical discourse analysis. ethnographies, discussions, case
studies, blog posts.
STEPS IN CARRYING OUT DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
Step 3: Investigate the context
A key part of discourse analysis is context and understanding meaning in context. For this
reason, it is vital that you thoroughly and systematically investigate the context of your
discourse. Make sure that you can answer (at least the majority) of the following questions:
•What is the discourse?
•Why does the discourse exist? What is the purpose and what are the aims of the discourse?
•When did the discourse take place?
•Where did it happen?
•Who participated in the discourse? Who created it and who consumed it?
•What does the discourse say about society in general?
•How is meaning being conveyed in the context of the discourse?
STEPS IN CARRYING OUT DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
Step 4: Analyze your data
When performing a discourse analysis, you’ll need to look for themes and patterns. To do this,
you’ll start by looking at codes. You take these codes and identify themes. Themes are
patterns of language (such as specific words or sentences) that pop up repeatedly in your
data, and that can tell you something about the discourse.
For example, if you’re wanting to know about women’s perspectives of living in a certain area,
potential themes may be “safety” or “convenience”.
STEPS IN CARRYING OUT DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
Step 5: Review your work
This final step requires you to return to your research questions and compile your answers to
them, based on the analysis. Make sure that you can answer your research questions
thoroughly, and also substantiate your responses with evidence from your data.
WHAT is discourse analysis and its importance?
WHEN should discourse analysis be utilized?
HOW is discourse analysis conducted?
REFERENCES
Corsley, J. (2023, October 26). What is discourse analysis? . Grad Coach.
https://gradcoach.com/discourse-analysis-101/
Discourse analysis and everything you need to know. Voxco. (2022,
August 8). https://www.voxco.com/blog/discourse-analysis-and-
everything-you-need-to-
know/#:~:text=Understanding%20the%20cultural%20and%20social,wo
rds%2C%20depending%20on%20the%20situation.
Hassan, M. (2023, August 14). Discourse analysis - methods, types and
examples.
Back to Agenda Research Method. https://researchmethod.net/discourse-
analysis/
