Discourse Analysis: Key Concepts and Projects
Key Considerations in Discourse Analysis
1. Planning a Discourse Analysis Project
When planning a discourse analysis, consider the following:
- Actual research question: Does it contain a good, researchable idea?
- Well-focused question: This is the key to a good research project.
- Identifying information: Determine what kind of information each approach can supply.
2. Evaluating a Discourse Analysis
The following issues are crucial when evaluating a discourse analysis:
- Reliability: The consistency of the results
Understanding Discourse and Textuality
Discourse and Text: Form, Meaning, and Context
Discourse is text in context. It involves an internal relationship between form and meaning and relates coherently to an external communicative function or purpose and a given audience.
Key Elements of Discourse
- Channel: Spoken, written, audiovisual, or visual.
- Agent: Monologic, dialogic, or multilogic.
- Register: Formal or informal.
- Social Context: The social setting.
- Purpose: Transactional, instructional, interactional (e.g., interview).
- Context: Embedded
Understanding Politeness in Communication
Politeness in Communication
Calsamiglia Blancafort summarizes the most important aspects of politeness:
- It focuses on verbal interaction and the choice of certain linguistic markers of politeness.
- It is based upon the acknowledgment that the interpersonal function of language is always present as the essence of human communication.
- It is used for making social relationships smoother and for compensating aggressiveness, that is, all those actions that can constitute a virtual threat for the participants
Mastering Interviews and Focus Groups: Techniques & Tactics
Conducting Effective Interviews
Iñiguez Lupicinio
To conduct an effective interview, the interviewer’s role is essential. Consider the following:
- Engage in everyday conversation to build rapport.
Key Setpoints for Interviews:
- Present the topic clearly.
- Focus on and repeat key issues for emphasis.
Interview Tactics:
- Deepening: Explore topics in greater detail.
- Expressions of Interest: Use brief, clear affirmations like “ahhh, you are absolutely right” to show understanding.
- Short Expressions: Use concise
Textual Cohesion: Lexical and Grammatical Procedures
These are mechanisms that provide a continuity of meaning from the text of the meanings of the main procedures for granting words. The lexical cohesion to a text are repetition, reiteration, and association.
Repetition
This is the exact replica of the same word or expression in different parts of the text.
Reiteration
The meaning of a term is repeated through different words or expressions. The reiteration may contain synonyms (words that are different but have similar or identical meanings) or hypernyms
Read MoreUnderstanding Irony: Definition, Types, and Interpretation
Irony: Definition and Characteristics
Human beings are the only species capable of being ironic. Irony is the difference between what someone would reasonably expect to happen and what actually does. It is a complicated pragmatic phenomenon.
Situational irony occurs when one’s efforts produce the opposite results of what was expected.
Key Aspects of Irony Processing
- Irony can be spotted simply by accessing the information supplied by one single contextual source.
- Human cognition is capable of obtaining