Perspectives On Discourse Analysis: Theory And Practice

Perspectives on Discourse Analysis Theory and Practice provides the studentreader with the basic theoretical knowledge and the empirical tools of some of the most relevant approaches to the analysis of discourse It has been mainly conceived of as a general (university) course on Discourse Analysis but it can also be useful for any person or group whose main concern is to acquire the basic necessary knowledge and skills for analyzing any type of discourse The subject matter of the book could not only be of use for linguists or prospective linguists given its interdisciplinary character its findings can be (and in fact are) used and applied by practitioners and scholars from different fields such as sociology psychology medical science computer science and so on Thus the book can be used by
any person who having certain linguistic knowledge is interested in exploring the fascinating world of discourse All the chapters contain both a theoretical and an empirical section the latter containing examples of analysis as well as exercises (Practice) and self-evaluation questions whose answers can be found at the end of the book (in the Practice key and Key to self-evaluation questions sections) The book is divided into 12 chapters The first two introduce basic information about discourse analysis and text linguistics as well as the necessary techniques for gathering data including a very brief introduction to corpus linguistics Chapters 3-11 present and discuss some of the most prominent and well-known approaches to discourse analysis namely Pragmatics Interactional Sociolinguistics
Conversation Analysis The Ethnography of Communication Variation Analysis and Narrative Analysis Functional Sentence Perspective Post-Structuralist Theory and Social Theory Critical Discourse Analysis and Positive Discourse Analysis and Mediated Discourse Analysis Finally Chapter 12 deals with crucial and further issues such as the type of discourse chosen for the analysis the strategies and functions of discourse or the problem of choosing an appropriate unit of analysis which will suit the aims of research Perspectives on Discourse Analysis Theory and Practice may prove of value to all those who are professionally involved in the area of discourse and pragmatic studies or simply to those who wish to acquire the necessary basic knowledge and techniques for analyzing any type of discourse
from medical journalistic or political discourse to computer-mediated humoristic or hegemonic discourse (where the use and abuse of power is an important issue) just to name a few of the innumerable possibilities A desirable and intended effect of this book is also the development of an open and tolerant mind which will eventually lead to a better understanding of the different and varied manifestations of language culture and communication in human society