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Discourse analysis
I will try to explain discourse analysis in simple words to make it easy to understand.
First of all, we will look into what discourse is and then we will move forward to discourse analysis
In simple words, discourse is a language written or spoken and has a specific context.
Discourse encompasses various kinds of conversation for example media talk, political talk, interviews, conversation between two people etc
Now that you know what discourse is we will proceed to explain discourse analysis.
Discourse analysis.
Discourse analysis is analysing a text written or spoken taking into consideration its linguistic context and also the context in which you want to analyse the language for example society, politics, etc.
There are two ways of discourse analysis
1: Language in-use approach
And
2: Socio-political approaches, most commonly known as Critical Discourse Analysis.
Language in-use approach
Here language is analyzed by focusing on the technicalities of language, such as grammar, semantics, phonology, etc.
For example in English, the sentence structure is subject verb object
1:Sara played football
2:The football Sara played…
The first sentence is following the rule of subject verb object but the same sentence is written differently where the football is brought first in the sentence or we can say the football is focused.
This is discourse analysis to find reasons for the change in the pattern of a sentence, and that is much more to be found in a text while using the discourse analysis method.
Many linguistic technicalities could be found in the text which are as follows.
Cohesion is related to the style of language, focuses on the grammar of a language and is the connection of sentences.
Coherence is clarity of expression, the text should make sense and be understandable.
Repetition is the words repeated in a text to show emphasis.
We can look for repetition in discourse if there is any, for example, repetition in Romeo and Juliet
let it snow, let it Snow, Let it Snow
Ellipsis is a punctuation mark denoted by three dots(…)or 4 dots(….), a word or words omitted to show pause and create suspense.
For example
She carefully opened the cupboard and found… her lost jewelry.
Pronoun: the type of pronoun used, shows the writer or speaker thought, for example.
I would like to explain it with the help of a Pashto saying which is translated below.
If you say it’s me and I said it’s me there will be no you and no I
But if you say you are and I say you are there will be both you and me
The above saying indicates the use of pronouns and shows that the speaker and listener both are using pronouns in such a way that they are valuing themselves and the speaker then suggests with the help of pronoun you are that by using this pronoun we will both be benefitted.
Reference is an expression used in language to refer to someone and something and shows the relation to the things mentioned.
Anaphoric reference
Anaphoric reference is a word or words used to refer to previously mentioned words in the text, for example
She has a black dress in her wardrobe and she shared it with a friend.
In this example, her and it are anaphoric references because her refers back to the pronoun she and it refers back to the black dress.
Cataphoric reference is the use of word or words to refer to the words mentioned later in the text, for example
The most beautiful and pure relationship in life, the calming effect of a cool breeze, and the soothing fruit tree are just a mother’s relationship.
In the above example, all the things are referring to the mother which is mentioned later in the text.
Exophoric reference is a word or words that show something outside of the immediate text, for example
I asked her to follow me but you know how she is
Homophoric reference is referring to the same cultural, general knowledge, or shared knowledge rather than to knowledge in the text, for example
The headteacher is going to announce the results
Here the head teacher is known by the students because they share the same knowledge.
Endophoric reference is referring to something within the text, for example
If she likes it, she can take it
The above-mentioned points are technicalities of language now we will proceed to look into the second way or process of discourse analysis and it is as follow
Critical discourse analysis or CDA
Critical discourse analysis is an interdisciplinary approach to study and analyze a language.
What is interdisciplinary? It is related to more than one branch of knowledge, so CDA includes not only one branch of knowledge which is language but includes other branches as well such as sociology, anthropology, politics, etc.
CDA is studying language with its context to understand or express power and its dynamics.
CDA analyses language on a deeper level by assessing its relation to the broader social processes and ideologies, for example, the important issues underlying the discourse.
Discourse analysis focuses on the purpose and effects of languages.
Cultural rules in discourse
And
How beliefs and values are communicated.
You can analyze the technicalities of lang as well as the ideas and emotions that are conveyed through text by the use of critical discourse analysis and can conclude the study by drawing inferences from the discourse analyzed.
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