2019 応用言語学研究 Download introduction here
Introduction to Discourse Analysis
Michael Carroll, Office: Andre-kan 711,carroll@andrew.ac.jp
Course objective
At the end of the course students should be able to analyse written and spoken texts in terms of their discourse structure and to show how writers and speakers create meanings through their choice of lexis (words), and grammar (how they put the words together.
Background
The grammar that most of us learn at high school focuses on sentences, ‘rules’ and right and wrong answers. However, real communication is quite different from this.
- We don’t speak only in sentences, we speak in ‘connected texts’. (Sometimes these include sentences, but often they are incomplete, or grammatically mixed up.)
- The most important grammatical ‘rules’ are about connections between text, not within sentences.
- When we speak we choose words and grammar depending on what the previous speaker said.
- We use pronunciation and intonation, and gestures, to make grammatical meaning.
We can summarise these things by thinking of ‘grammar’ as ‘how we put words together to communicate what we want to say’.
What we’ll be doing
For the first few weeks of the course I’ll give short lectures, and you will do exercises in groups. As we get through the semester we’ll have some lecture/workshops and some opportunities for you to bring texts of your own choosing and analyse them in front of the class. (It’s a kind of ‘show and tell’ for adults.) You can do this individually or in groups, and you should reckon on doing this at least every two weeks, or more if you want. This is the best kind of practice for doing the assignments. For online presentations you will probably want to use powerpoint or some other visual presentation software.
Syllabus
Issues in Applied Linguistics: Discourse Analysis
応用言語学研究A
Course objectives
At the end of the course students should be able to analyse written and spoken texts in terms of their discourse structure and to show how writers and speakers create meanings through their choice of lexis (words), and grammar (how they put the words together.
Course Content
The course is an introduction to discourse analysis. Beginning with an outline of the nature of text, connected texts and discourse, participants will be introduced to the notion that traditional grammatical descriptions are necessary but insufficient to describe the variety of lexical and grammatical choices that actually underlie communication. There will be a brief overview of basics of English grammar, followed by units on cohesion, coherence, the nature of spoken texts, including discussion of speech acts, adjacency pairs, and Grice’s cooperative principles.
Assessment
Analysis of a written text 30%. 200-500 words (Early June)
Analysis of a spoken interaction 40%. 500 – 1000 words (July)
Examination 30%.
(Participation in forums (online discussions), and submission of both assignments is a pre-requisite for taking the exam.)
Contact hours
30 hours. Two class hours per week for 15 weeks. (Ninety minutes in class; thirty minutes preparation.)
Exam
The examination counts for 30% of the final grade, and will be held on the last or second last class of the semester. Participation in forums (online discussions), and submission of all assignments is a pre-requisite for taking the exam.
What you need to be able to do in the examination.
You will be given a selection of written or spoken texts to choose from, and will write a short analysis of cohesive devices in a text, and an essay in answer to the following question
1. Analyse the coherence of a written or spoken text so as to suggest answers to the following questions as appropriate: Who is the writer, or who are the speakers? What do the writers or speakers want the readers or listeners to do or think? How do they choose words, grammar, intonation, body language, graphical layout and so on, in order to achieve their goals? Are there any communication breakdowns, and if so how are they repaired? What can you learn about discourse from analysing this text? Your answer should make reference to how cohesive devices such as reference, repetition, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction, and lexical cohesion ‘hold together’ a written or spoken text – make it easy or difficult to understand.
What we will look at in the course (syllabus summary)
What is discourse analysis?
Coherence and cohesion
Text Cohesion: device that we use to ‘hold together’ a written or spoken text – to make it easy or difficult to understand.
Text Coherence: How people construct texts in the real world in order to achieve their goals
Speech acts and conversation (including Grice’s maxims)
Turn-taking, adjacency pairs, and politeness
Fillers, discourse markers and backchannels