scholarly journals A Review of Discourse in English Language Education

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Amir Zand-Moghadam ◽  
Arya Golkhandan
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Teaching Methodology ◽  
Main Theme ◽  
Language Class ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Discourse Studies

The main theme of this volume is to discuss discourse analysis and familiarize the readers, especially undergraduate students of TESOL and Education, with the main topics in discourse studies. According to Flowerdew, one of the features of this book is its focus on a wide range of approaches to discourse and discourse analysis, namely Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and Register, Speech Act Theory, the Cooperative Principle and Politeness, Conversation Analysis, Genre Analysis, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), and Corpus Linguistics. However, what distinguishes this book from others books of discourse, and probably from other similar books on discourse and language teaching, is its practical view toward discourse and discourse analysis, i.e., it is clearly shown, by referring to real-life examples, how every discourse topic, issue, or feature can be analyzed and then taught in a language class. In fact, Floweredew’s attempt in this volume is to familiarize the readers with how discourse analysis can inform the practice of English language teaching. Thus, the book utilizes research findings and suggests guidelines, models, and approaches to language teachers as to how discourse studies can be insightful in language teaching methodology, materials development, and evaluation.

Research into practice: The influence of discourse studies on language descriptions and task design in published ELT materials

2015 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 506-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Gilmore
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Genre Analysis ◽  
Discourse Studies

Discourse studies is a vast, multidisciplinary, and rapidly expanding area of research, embracing a range of approaches including discourse analysis, corpus analysis, conversation analysis, interactional sociolinguistics, critical discourse analysis, genre analysis and multimodal discourse analysis. Each approach offers its own unique perspective on discourse, focusing variably on text, context or a range of semiotic modes. Together, they provide foreign language teachers and material designers with new insights into language, and are beginning to have an observable impact on published English Language Teaching (ELT) materials. This paper examines the ways in which the four approaches with the strongest links to the ELT profession (corpus analysis, conversation analysis, discourse analysis and genre analysis) have found their way into language learning materials, and offers some suggestions on how discourse studies may influence ELT classrooms in the future.

Using corpus linguistic techniques in (critical) discourse studies reduces but does not remove bias: Evidence from an Arabic corpus about refugees

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad S. Haider
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Large Data ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Corpus Linguistic ◽  
Statistical Measures ◽  
Discourse Studies

Abstract Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) investigates the relationship between language, power, and society. Corpus linguistics (CL) is the study of language based on examples of real life language use. Over the last two decades, various scholars have combined some approaches and notions of CDA with the analytical framework of CL to examine the representation of several phenomena in relatively large texts. This study follows a corpus-assisted (critical) discourse analysis approach to investigate a 2.5 million word corpus of Arabic news articles by Jordan’s News Agency (PETRA). It demonstrates how some researchers following this approach may make some decisions, at some stages of their analysis, which are likely to affect their findings. These potential decisions may include selecting what statistical measures to use, what threshold to consider, what terms from the frequency, cluster, and collocation results to further investigate, which concordance lines to include in their study, and some others. In this study, I argue that some of these decisions can be made to suit the researchers’ preconceived assumptions and pre-existing hypotheses. The study concludes that using corpus linguistic techniques to discursively analyze large data reduces but not completely removes researchers’ bias.

scholarly journals ‘And we are Stuck in One Place, Minister.’ A Study of Evasiveness in Replies to Face-Threatening Questions in Slovak Political Interviews on Scandals (A Combined Approach)

2021 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 690-704
Author(s):  
Jana Lokajová
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Cognitive Frames ◽  
Communicative Strategies ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Conceptual Background ◽  
Political Argumentation ◽  
Discourse Studies

Abstract The phenomenon of political evasiveness in the genre of a political interview has been the focus of several discourse studies employing conversation analysis, critical discourse analysis and the social psychology approach. Most of the above-mentioned studies focus on a detailed qualitative analysis of political discourse identifying a wide range of communication strategies that permit politicians to ambiguate their agency and at the same time boost their positive face. Since these strategies may change over time and also be subject to a culture specific environment, the aim of this paper is to discover a) which evasive communicative strategies were employed by Slovak politicians in 2012–2016, b) which lexical substitutions were most frequently used by them to avoid negative connotations of face-threatening questions, and finally, c) which cognitive frames formed a frequent conceptual background of their evasive political argumentation. The paper will draw on a combination of quantitative and qualitative approach to the analysis of non-replies devised by Bull and Mayer (1993) and critical discourse analysis in the sample of five Slovak radio interviews aired on the Rádio Express. The selection of interviews was not random- in each interview the politician was asked highly conflictual questions about bribery, embezzlement or disputes in the coalition. Based on qualitative research of Russian-Slovak political discourse (2009) by Dulebová it is hypothesized that a) the evasive strategy of ‘attack’ on the opposition and ‘attack on the interviewer’ would occur in our sample with the highest prominence in the speech of the former Prime Minister Fico, and b) the politicians accused of direct involvement in scandals would be the most evasive ones.

scholarly journals Language teaching methodology and teacher education: Trends and issues—An interview with Alan Waters

2013 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Chit Cheung Matthew Sung
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Teaching Methodology ◽  
Extensive Experience ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The World

Adopting appropriate teaching methods and designing suitable teaching materials are among the major concerns of language teachers around the world. Although many teachers are eager to find the ‘best’ or most effective ways of teaching, there are no easy answers, given the wide range of sociopolitical contexts in which teaching takes place. In this interview, Alan Waters, a leading expert in English language teaching (ELT) from Lancaster University, talks about the trends and issues surrounding language teaching methodology, materials design, as well as teacher education in ELT. With extensive experience in the field, Alan has taught English as a foreign language and taken part in teacher training projects in various parts of the world, and has published several books and numerous journal articles. He is interested in all the main aspects of the theory and practice of ELT.

scholarly journals Implementing Poetry in the Language Class: A Poetry-Teaching Framework for Prospective English Language Teachers

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Safiye İpek Kuru Gönen
Keyword(s):  
Student Teachers ◽  
Prospective Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Material Selection ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Teaching Methodology ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Language Class

Poetry has often been neglected as a favorable tool for language teaching. What is more, its role to expand human experience and create language awareness has not been fully realized. As a reaction to often-underestimated value of including literature in the language class, this article proposes a poetry-teaching (POT) framework for language practitioners to bridge the gap between literature and language teaching methodology. Step-by-step procedure followed in the framework aimed at helping prospective teachers incorporate poetry into language teaching, while at the same time offering various materials and activities to be used in their future teaching practices. The proposed framework was presented to 21 student teachers at an English Language Teaching (ELT) department of a state university in Turkey to help them integrate the ideas of using poetry in a micro-teaching context. Prospective teachers acted both as learners and teachers while following the steps of the suggested framework, and reflected on this experience through reflective diaries and stimulated recalls of their teaching performances. They also took part in semi-structured interviews at the end of the study. Qualitative analyses revealed that poetry can have a place in language teaching by using a systematic and guided framework tailored to the features of a language classroom. With the help of the proposed framework, implementing poetry in the language class helped to promote motivation, creativity and self-expression along with multi-skill development and interaction among learners. However, incorporating poetry into the language class was challenging in terms of time and effort required and difficulties in material selection and design. This study suggests that poetry can become part of language teacher education. In this regard, this article proposes implications for teachers and teacher educators for the implementation of poetry in language teaching practice.

scholarly journals A Narrative Discourse Analysis of Poe's Short Story "The Tell-Tale Heart": Implications for Language Teaching

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Morad Alsahafi
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Narrative Discourse ◽  
Narrative Strategies ◽  
Generic Structure ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
High Level

This paper employs narrative discourse analysis to analyze Edger Allen Poe's short story "The Tell-Tale Heart" by using two narrative analysis frameworks that focus on the macrostructure (Stein, 1982) and microstructure (Halliday & Hasan, 1976) aspects of the story. The analysis covers the story's purpose, generic structure, and lexicogrammatical cohesion. Findings show that the writer follows a series of structural moves and uses a variety of narrative strategies (e.g. high level of involvement and a wide range of lexical and grammatical cohesive ties) which contribute to the creation of a well-formed text that has effectively achieved its purpose and made its intended effect. This paper argues that there are many ways in which this macro- and microstructure analysis of the story may be exploited in the English language classroom. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the analysis and offers some suggestions and engaging activities for language teaching purposes.

scholarly journals Examining a News Discourse of a Female Politician in Indonesia: Fairclough's Model of Critical Discourse Analysis and its Implication in English Language Teaching

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wulandari Santoso
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
News Media ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
News Article ◽  
News Discourse

<p>As one of the most important sites in which particular agenda are articulated and disseminated, news media play important roles in reproducing power relations and ideologies. Drawing on Fairclough’s approach of three-dimensional model within the paradigm of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and of the qualitative research, this study aims to identify the ideology enacted in a news article which reports the appointment of Susi Pudjiastuti as the Indonesian minister of maritime affairs and fisheries. It does so by analysing the textual, the discursive, and the social practices of the news discourse. Underpinned by the results of the analysis, this research also investigates the integration of CDA in English classrooms in Indonesia. The results of this study reveal that the patriarchal ideology is enacted in the news through (1) the construction of language use in comparing the qualifications of Susi with Indroyono Soesilo as the coordinating minister for maritime affairs; (2) the use of direct and indirect speech constituted intertextuality; (3) the enquiry of socio-political contexts surrounding the news discourse in relation to women’s participations in politics. Based on these findings and Cot’s framework, this research also attempts to design a reading task using the news article by constructing consciousness-raising questions, so that students can enhance their critical thinking skills and their ability to reveal hidden meanings in discourse. The implications of the research both in the theoretical importance and in the English language teaching are also discussed with reference to intercultural issues.<strong></strong></p><strong>Keywords: </strong> critical discourse analysis, news discourse, ideology, patriarchy

Practitioners respond to Freda Mishan's ‘The Global ELT coursebook: A case of Cinderella's slipper?’

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
David Connolly
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Wide Range

First of all, I would like to thank Freda Mishan (2021) for a fascinating and insightful article into English language teaching (ELT) coursebooks. She covers a wide range of perspectives and raises many important issues. Although I may have different views on some of these, I think she has done a great service in helping me look with fresh eyes at what many teachers take for granted: the humble yet ubiquitous ELT coursebook.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document