DA_lecture01-Introduction-new.ppt

1、An Introduction to Discourse AnalysisCheng XiaotangBeijing Normal University,Lecture 1: Introduction,Why bother with discourse analysis? Lets start with an example: Read the following article from a newspaper and decide what it is about?,Barking dogs of Chip Bee Gardens,I WRITE to express concern ab

2、out the growing number of burglaries in the vicinity of my house in Chip Bee Gardens. These burglaries occur at any time of the day or night. The burglars must work in large co-ordinated gangs because usually several houses are burgled at the same time. I wish something could be done about it. One n

3、ight last week was pretty typical. There were burglaries at 9.30 p.m., 10.15 p.m., 11.40 p.m., 1.30 a.m., 4.20 a.m., 5.10 a.m. and 6.30 a.m. Most of the burglars were over 10 minutes, but some took as long as half an hour to be completed.,It is puzzling, but the owners of the houses being burgled di

4、d not seem to to be particularly bothered. They didnt call the police to the scene of the crime. Ah, I know the answer the poor unfortunates are probably deaf, and they slept through the din of their guard dogs barking furiously as the burglars went happily about their work. P. E. CLIFFORD,The artic

5、le is an ironic letter to the Forum Page of the Singapore Straits Times Newspaper (24 May 1990) complaining indirectly about the nuisance of barking dogs. (Goatly, 2000:130) Now read the letter again and try to find out the hints of irony.,Coming back to the question: Why bother with discourse analy

6、sis?,As the example has shown, discourse analysis will enable us to reveal the hidden motivations behind a text. Discourse analysis enables us to understand what a text really means and how it means what it means. Discourse analysis helps us to use discourse more effectively.,Some basics of discours

7、e analysis,What is discourse? What is discourse analysis? What are the aims of discourse analysis? How is discourse analysis done? How is discourse analysis relevant to learning English?,1. What is discourse?,Discourse or language? Discourse or text? Written or spoken? Product or process?,For some p

8、eople, discourse refers to spoken language whereas text refers to written language; For other people, discourse and text are the same, hence, spoken discourse/text and written discourse/text;,For some people, discourse is a product: any naturally occurring piece of language (written or spoken); For

9、other people, discourse is a process: an interactional act of communication in which the writer intends to affect a reader, and the reader attempts to work out the writers intentions (Goatly, 2000:333).,The use of discourse,What are the purposes for which discourse is used? Consider the follow situa

10、tions: Children talking to themselves when playing with toys Parents scolding their children People greeting each other (daily and on special occasions) Politicians speaking to congregation? Poets writing poems People writing diaries/journals,So what is discourse?,Dictionary definitions: The power o

11、f the mind to reason or infer by running from one fact or reason to another, and deriving a conclusion; The art and manner of speaking and conversing. Consecutive speech, either written or unwritten, on a given line of thought; Communication in speech or writing; A speech or piece of writing about a

12、 particular, usually serious, subject.,A working definition,Discourse usually means actually instances of communicative action in the medium of language, although some define the term more broadly as “meaningful symbolic behavior” in any mode (Johnstone, 2008). A piece of discourse could be A word o

13、r phrase A sentence A passage A book ,2. What is discourse analysis?,Discourse analysis is the study of how stretches of language used in communication assume meaning, purpose and unity for their users (Johnson and Johnson, 2001),Discourse does not only transmit information or convey meaning, it sha

14、pes information and creates meaning. Discourse analysis studies how discourse is used to transmit, shape and create information and meaning.,Other terms,Textlinguistics Text analysis Text grammar Conversation analysis,3. The aims of discourse analysis,To learn how good discourse conveys meaning succ

15、essfully; To learn how to create good discourse, e.g. cohesive and coherent discourse; To learn the devices used in discourse to convey special meaning or purposes.,4. How is discourse analysis done? Some examples,雅虎体育讯 在北京时间6月18日凌晨结束的荷兰世青赛B组第三轮比赛中，已锁定小组出线名额的中国队对阵此前两战皆败的巴拿马，中国风暴再现赛场，中青队凭借着周海滨、郜林、蒿俊闵

16、和卢琳的入球，以4：1击败巴拿马队，从而3战全胜以小组第一名而挺进十六强 中青激情“四”射 斩巴拿马小组头名出线,冰岛火山灰“堵塞”全球经济 火山灰“呛”了浙商 火山灰呛了一周 空运渐恢复每天损失过亿 冰岛火山灰呛晕欧洲航空业 冰岛火山灰“呛”到全球经济 广交会二期被火山灰“呛”着了 从被火山灰“呛”了一口说起 火山灰面前 全欧航空的确够“呛” 火山灰“呛”出N种“心病”,Some examples,一位学生给她的老师写的邮件的一部分： 没能抢到您下学期开的语篇分析课非常遗憾还是想上您的课,Compare these two pieces of discourse: which is more

17、 coherent? Why? 1. We went to the movies. John didnt come. He was ill. 2. We went to the movies. John was ill. He didnt come.,Some examples,Last week we went to the Great Wall, which is one of the important sights in Beijing. We can learn more about the outside world and what is happening around us through various activities. Its just like a bird in