Discourse vs Text Jadigerova Aygul What is “discourse”? - Discourse is a term that can be described in a number of ways. In language studies, it refers to the speech patterns and how language, dialects, and acceptable statements are used in a particular community. Discourse is a subject of study particularly in peoples who reside in secluded areas and share the same speech conventions.
- Sociologists and philosophers use the term discourse in a different way. They use it to describe the conversations and its underlying meanings by a group of people who have common ideas.
What is “discourse”? - Discourse is:
- language above the sentence or above the clause
- a continuous stretch of spoken language larger than a sentence, often constituting a coherent unit
- a stretch of language perceived to be meaningful unified, and purposive; language in use
- (viewed) as social practice determined by social structures
M. Stubbs' textbook (Stubbs 1983:1), discourse analysis is defined as - concerned with language use beyond the boundaries of a sentence/utterance,
- concerned with the interrelationships between language and society and
- as concerned with the interactive or dialogic properties of everyday communication.
Structural and functional definitions of discourse - Structural or textual definition of discourse:
Discourse is a particular unit of language (above the sentence). - Functional definition of discourse: Discourse is a particular focus of language use.
Text Analysis - Needs linguistic analysis
- Interpretation is based on linguistic evidence
- Text analysts need the right ‘knife’ to cut the right ‘bread’
- Different ‘knives’ for different ‘bread’
Discourse Analysis - How texts relate to contexts of situation and context of culture
- How texts are produced as a social practice
- What texts tell us about happenings, what people think, believe etc.
- How texts represent ideology (power struggle etc.)
Text & Discourse Analyses (Nunan, 1993) - Text analysis is the study of formal linguistic devices that distinguish a text from random sentences.
- Discourse analysts study these text-forming devices with reference to the purposes and functions for which the discourse was produced, and the context within which the discourse was created. The ultimate goal is to show how the linguistic elements enable language users to communicate.
The term discourse analysis is very ambiguous. - The term discourse analysis is very ambiguous.
- It will be used here to refer mainly to the linguistic analysis of naturally occurring connected speech or written discourse.
- Roughly speaking, it refers to attempts to study the organisation of language above the sentence or above the clause, and therefore to study larger linguistic units, such as conversational exchanges or written texts.
- It follows that discourse analysis is also concerned with language use in social contexts, and in particular with interaction or dialogue between speakers.
Conclusion - Many researchers have come to this conclusion:
- Discourse analysis includes all studies investigating the supra-sentential structure of any stretch of language, spoken or written.
- The terms ‘text’ / ‘text analysis’ lead to confusion.
- Therefore, the term ‘text’ should be abandoned unless it is used to refer to the physical arrangement of linguistic signals on paper (Tadros, 1981).
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