✅ What is Discourse?

✅ 1. Levine & Rowe

“A series of connected utterances, such as conversation, story, lecture, or any other
communication event.”
✅ Emphasizes:
 Discourse is not just one sentence, but connected language
 Can be spoken or written
 Any communication situation counts: conversations, lessons, storytelling
✅ 2. Crystal
“A continuous stretch of language larger than a sentence, often constituting a
coherent unit such as a sermon, argument, joke, or narrative.”
✅ Emphasizes:
 Discourse is longer than a sentence
 It must be coherent (meaningful and logically connected)
 Examples include sermons, arguments, jokes, narratives
✅ 3. Cook
“Novels, as well as short conversations or groans might be equally rightfully named
discourses.”
✅ Emphasizes:
 Discourse can be big or small
 A novel = long discourse
 A short conversation or even a groan = still discourse
 Meaning can come not just from full sentences, but from sound, expression, or
minimal language
Discourse refers to any connected use of language—spoken or written—that conveys
meaning in context.
It can be:
 long (novel, sermon, lecture)
 short (conversation, a complaint, even a groan)
What matters is:
✔ language is used with a purpose
✔ meaning exists in context
✔ communication happens between people
✅ Discourse Analysis
Discourse Analysis is the study of how language works beyond individual sentences,
especially in real communication.
✅ Key Ideas from the Given Statements
1. “The process of discovering the rules of a series of connected utterances, such
as conversation, lecture, or any other communication event.”
o Discourse Analysis looks for patterns and rules in how people speak or
write in actual situations.
2. “Discourse analysts study the way sentences and utterances go together to
make texts and interactions and how these texts and interactions fit into our
social world.”
o It investigates how sentences link together to form meaningful
communication like conversations, speeches, essays, and stories.
o It also studies how language reveals social relationships, power,
politeness, identity, etc.
3. “A way of looking at language that focuses on how people use it in real life to do
certain things and to show that they are certain kinds of people and belong to
certain types of groups.”
o Language is used to do actions (request, argue, persuade, joke, insult,
apologize).
o It also shows who we are (identity) and what group or culture we belong
to.
Discourse Analysis is the study of how language is used in real communication—how
sentences connect to form meaningful conversations and texts, and how these reflect
social relationships, identity, and purpose.
✅ What Discourse Analysis Examines
✔ How people organize their speech or writing
✔ How meaning depends on context
✔ How language shows politeness, power, emotions, or beliefs
✔ How people communicate identity and group belonging
✔ How conversations and interactions make sense in society
✅ Example:
 Saying “Could you open the window?” is not just grammar—it is a polite
request.
 Saying “Open the window.” is more direct, less polite.
Discourse Analysis explains why the speaker chooses one form depending on
relationship, situation, and social meaning.
✅ Importance of Discourse Analysis
✅ 1. To communicate more effectively
 Discourse Analysis helps us understand how language really works in
conversations, speeches, classrooms, media, and everyday life.
  By studying tone, politeness, context, and word choice, people learn how to
speak and write in ways that others understand clearly.
✅ It improves:
✔ speaking
✔ listening
✔ writing
✔ persuasion
✅ 2. Discourse analysis is not just a study of language
 It connects language with society, culture, identity, and power.
 It explains why people say certain things, how they say it, and what hidden
meanings are carried in communication.
 It shows how language reflects beliefs, values, emotions, status, and
relationships.
Examples:
 A politician uses words to persuade and influence opinions.
 A teacher uses language differently when speaking to students, parents, or
colleagues.
 A conversation changes depending on social roles, age, culture, or power.
Here is a clear and student-friendly explanation of Beaugrande and Dressler’s Seven
Standards of Textuality, often used in Discourse Analysis:

✅ Beaugrande & Dressler’s Seven Criteria of a Text

These seven standards determine whether a piece of language (spoken or written)
can be considered a meaningful text.

✅ 1. Cohesion
 How sentences are linked together through grammar and vocabulary.
 Words, pronouns, conjunctions, and repetition connect ideas.
✅ Example:
Maria bought a dress. She wore it to a party.
“She” and “it” connect the sentences smoothly.

✅ 2. Coherence
 The meaning and logic of a text.
 Even if sentences are grammatically correct, they must make sense together.
✅ Example:
“The lights went out. We used a candle.”
The ideas fit logically. If it said: “The lights went out. We baked a cake,”
coherence is lost.
✅ 3. Intertextuality
 How a text relates to other texts—quotes, references, allusions, shared
knowledge.
✅ Example:
A news article referencing the Constitution, or a story that mentions Romeo and
Juliet.
Readers understand more because they know related texts.

✅ 4. Intentionality
 The purpose of the writer or speaker.
✅ Example:
A teacher intends to inform.
A commercial intends to persuade.
A story intends to entertain.
A text is a text if it was produced on purpose for a communicative goal.

✅ 5. Acceptability
 The reader/listener accepts the text as understandable, correct, and
meaningful.
 It meets expectations for grammar, style, length, and relevance.
✅ Example:
A text message full of abbreviations is acceptable among friends but not in a
formal report.

✅ 6. Situationality (or Situationality)

 The text fits the situation in which it is used.
✅ Example:
 A prayer in church is situationally appropriate.
 A job interview speech is different from a speech at a birthday party.
Language changes based on the setting.

✅ 7. Informativeness
 The text gives new information, ideas, or insights.
 Too much known information = boring; too much unknown = confusing.
✅ Example:
“A dog is an animal” → low informativeness
“Dogs can smell 40 times better than humans” → higher informativeness
A communication becomes a text when:
 It is connected (cohesion)
 It makes sense (coherence)
  It relates to other texts (intertextuality)
 It has a purpose (intentionality)
 The audience accepts and understands it (acceptability)
 It fits the situation (situationality)
 It informs or adds something new (informativeness)

✅ 1. Textual Analysis (Microlinguistic Approach)

This approach studies the internal structure of language within the text itself. It treats
language as a system and examines how its parts work together to create meaning.
✅ What it focuses on:
✔ Grammar – sentence structure, verb tenses, modality (e.g., might, must, should)
✔ Vocabulary Choice – emotional words, technical terms, euphemisms, slang, formal vs.
informal language
✔ Cohesion – how sentences are connected through:
 conjunctions (however, therefore, because)
 reference (he, she, it, they)
 repeated words or synonyms
✔ Discourse Markers – words like well, so, you know, actually that guide the flow of
conversation
✔ Turn-taking in Conversation – who speaks, interruptions, pauses, overlaps, politeness
strategies
✔ Speech acts – apologizing, promising, threatening, greeting, requesting
✅ Main Goal
To understand how linguistic choices shape meaning inside the text—without necessarily
analyzing social or cultural background.
✅ Expanded Example
 A news article may use words like “claimed,” “alleged,” or “accused” instead of “said” to
suggest doubt or mistrust.
 Advertisements often use positive adjectives like “fresh, natural, proven, new and
improved” to influence buyers.
 In courtroom dialogue, lawyers ask yes/no questions to control how witnesses answer.

✅ 2. Social/Contextual Analysis (Macrolinguistic Approach)

This approach studies language in relation to social context, meaning, power, culture, and
relationships. It sees language not only as words on paper but as a social action.
✅ What it focuses on:
✔ Who is speaking – age, status, profession, social class, gender, background
✔ Purpose of the communication – to persuade, to inform, to control, to entertain
✔ Audience – who the message is directed to and how they might interpret it
✔ Power relationships – teacher–student, doctor–patient, politician–citizen, employer–
employee
✔ Ideology and belief systems – what values or assumptions the text promotes
✔ Cultural influences – language showing respect, authority, politeness, discrimination, or bias
✅ Main Goal
To understand how language reflects and shapes society—how it can influence beliefs, maintain
power, or challenge social norms.
✅ Expanded Example
 A politician may repeatedly use the words “we” and “our” to create unity, or use
metaphors like “war on drugs” to frame issues as battles that require strong action.
 A textbook might describe historical events differently depending on what ideology the
authors support.
 A job interview involves polite language, formal tone, and power difference, where the
interviewer controls the questions.

✅ Why Both Are Important

Using both approaches gives a complete understanding of how language works:
 The textual approach explains how language is constructed.
 The contextual approach explains why it is used that way and what it does in society.