Discourse

Most of what we know about the world we learn through discourse, be it news reports, academic texts, stories, novels or everyday communication. Language both represents and shapes the language users’ perception and view of the social world. Discourse Analysis, then, in very general terms, investigates the relationship between language use, the mind and social structure. It analyses patterns of language use across written and spoken texts using a myriad of methods including, among others, systemic-functional analysis, analysis of text cohesion, conversational analysis, and intertextual analysis. In this course, we will examine the means by which discourse analysis (as a multidisciplinary discipline) explores language in performance. We will have a close look at those three spheres that any proper analysis of discourse analysis needs to take into account, namely text, society and cognition. We will discuss not only the most fundamental concepts of text linguistics, but also the more recent strand of Critical Discourse Analysis. As Discourse Analysis is very much about the application of linguistic concepts, we shall investigate historical and more recent discourses using authentic language material to gain insights into, say, the (re)production of power structures, ideologies and inequality. At the end of the course, students will be familiar with traditional and contemporary approaches to analysing discourse and will have a deep understanding about the links between text, cognition and social structure. They will develop a critical stance towards the social environment in it's linguistic aspects and will be able to apply a range of methods to analyse discourse systematically and critically. Recommended Reading – Fairclough, Norman et al. (2003) (eds.) Discourse and contemporary social change. Lang. Fairclough, Norman (2003) Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research. Routledge. van Dijk, Teun A. (2008) Discourse and Power. Palgrave Macmillan. Englisch, Ergänzungsstudiengang 3. Fach LA Gym. Registration – StudIP 6.3.2015-23.3.2015 / Size restriction – 30 / Prerequisites – LingF1 and LingF2 / Further Information – pascal.hohaus@engsem~ LingF4 Universität Hannover SoSe 2015 Englisch, Bachelor Tech. Edu. (M. Ed.) Hohaus Pascal M Ed