Studying at York
Discourse Analysis: texts, contexts & meanings - ENG00123M
- Department: English and Related Literature
- Module co-ordinator: Dr. Lalita Murty
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: M
- Academic year of delivery: 2021-22
- See module specification for other years: 2022-23
Module summary
What role does the discourse of newspapers play in shaping the views of their readers about immigrants? How do people construct their identities on social media platforms? What functions do adverbs such as ‘obviously’ ‘clearly’, ‘apparently’ or adjectives such as ‘brilliant’, ‘amazing’, ‘awesome’ serve in different texts? These are some of the questions that discourse analysts aim to answer. We will use analytical and theoretical frameworks to examine the relationship between social context and language to identify the organization of meaning and function in written and spoken texts. We will examine the language used in texts from different genres, written and spoken, such as newspapers, advertisements, political, medical and business discourses, academic writing, conversations, online communication to uncover the functions and meanings contained within them with a view to understand how texts interact with social practices in different communicative contexts.
The MA version of this course will introduce you to the tools and frameworks required to analyse texts at a deeper level, for example, unlike BA level students who will largely analyse patterns within texts from a variety of genres, you will learn to compare patterns of forms and functions within and across genres to identify the underlying themes and ideologies of these texts.
At the MA level, you will be expected to demonstrate sufficient knowledge and understanding of the relevant theoretical approaches to be able to select the appropriate analytical tools to work on small-scale independent research projects for your assessment.
Shared teaching was approved for my previous modules. The work required for the MA level follows a similar pattern to ensure that the BA and MA levels are sufficiently distinct in terms of amount of readings, classroom activities and requirements of the final assessments required for the respective levels.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Spring Term 2021-22 |
Module aims
This module aims to introduce you to the different functions and meanings that are conveyed in the language used in a variety of written and spoken texts. It will introduce you to frameworks such as Systemic Functional Linguistics (Halliday, 1983, 1994, Martin and Rose, 2003) and to using these to analyse the discourse of a variety of genres and further to use the findings of this analysis to identify problems in communication in educational, social and workplace contexts.
Module learning outcomes
- Demonstrate critical perspectives towards the theoretical frameworks introduced in the course.
- Show evidence of the ability to assess and select the appropriate tools for analyzing different types of texts.
- Compare texts and identify the relationship between language, meaning and context to show how texts are forms of social practice.
- Gain the tools needed to identify communication problems in different real-life settings
- Evaluate and synthesize information from a range of sources and use these to analyse practical communication problems
- Design independent projects for analysing discourse
- Demonstrate ability to make detailed and complex arguments
Module content
This module covers
- An introduction to the key concepts in discourse analysis. You will be introduced to the theoretical frameworks of Systemic Functional approaches and Conversational Analysis
- You will get practical experience in analyzing written and spoken discourse from different genres and identifying communcation problems in a range of contexts and settings.
Indicative assessment
| Task | Length | % of module mark |
|---|---|---|
| Essay/coursework Essay |
N/A | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
| Task | Length | % of module mark |
|---|---|---|
| Essay/coursework Essay |
N/A | 100 |
Module feedback
Formative: During the teaching period you will be required to submit a detailed essay plan, two part-drafts and a full draft of your essay to the module convenor for feedback. You will get written comments on each of these within two weeks of submission. Further feedback will be provided in the one-to-one tutorials which will be spaced evenly throughout the teaching term. These are designed to equip you with the skills needed to successfully conduct independent and original MA level work.
Summative: you will be given written feedback on your final essay within 20 working days of submission, usually via email. You are free to discuss this feedback with the module tutor, or your pastoral supervisor, the YorkCourse coordinator and/or the NSC Director
Indicative reading
Some key texts-
Bloor. T. and M. Bloor (2013) The functional analysis of English. A Hallidayan approach. London: Routledge.
Eggins, S. and D. Slade (1997) Analysing casual conversation. London: Equinox.
Hassan, R.and M.A.K. Halliday (1976) Cohesion in English. London: Longman Publications
Halliday, M.A K. and C. Matthiessen (2013) An Introduction to Functional Grammar [4th edn]. London: Hodder Education
Martin, J.R. (1992) English Text. Structure and System. Amsterdam: John Benjamins
Martin, J.R. and D. Rose (2003) Working with discourse. Meaning beyond the clause. London: Continuum
Thompson, G. (2013) Introducing functional grammar. London: Routledge.
Wooffitt, R. (2005) Conversational analysis and discourse analysis. London: Sage Publications.
Zhang Waring, H (2017) Discourse analysis: the questions discourse analysts ask and how they answer them. London: Routledge.