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Discourse analysis is a qualitative method that has been adopted and developed by social
constructionists. Although discourse analysis can and is used by a handful of cognitive
psychologists, it is based on a view that is largely anti-scientific, though not anti-research.
Social constructionism is not easy to define in a single sentence, but it is possible to
outline some basic assumptions of the approach:
• People are the products of social interaction. In the scientific approach it is assumed
that many of the constructs used are ‘inner essences'. That is to say that personality,
anxiety, drives, and so on exist somewhere within our heads and our bodies. However, it
may be the case that many of these so-called essences are actually the products of social
interaction.
In order to understand these assumptions, let's look at the example provided by Burr
(1995) on the issue of personality.
The traditional view of personality
Personality consists of a number of traits such as generosity, shyness, charm, and so on.
What makes people different is that they can be high on some traits and low on others. A
further assumption is that, by and large, personality is stable over time – although a
generous person may have one or two lapses, they are generous most of the time. Another
assumption is that personality influences out behaviour – we ascribe the inner essence
‘generosity' to someone acting very generously. This view of personality is not just
common sense but makes sense in our everyday understanding of people.
Personality, it is argued, is a socially constructed concept and that traits do not exist as
inner essences but are rather in the interactions between people. When you think about
the traits we use to describe people, virtually all of them involve actions that can only
take place with reference to other people. For example, if a shy, extraverted, and
generous person were stranded alone on an island for the rest of her life, could she ever
again call herself shy, extraverted, and generous?
Social constructionists remind us that since personality can be observed directly its
existence has to be inferred, and it is inferred from behaviour. However, someone's
behaviour can be very different depending on the context or situation they are in.
Furthermore, people can be both nice and nasty, i.e., behave in opposite ways to the traits
they are commonly described as having.
So, who am I?
By now you may be completely confused, as I was when I first encountered this
viewpoint. If personality and inner essences do not exist then we must ask ourselves who
we are and what makes us who we are? According to social constructionism each version
of ‘you' is a product of your relationships with others. The word ‘identity' is preferred and
it refers to a person's purpose within a social relationship. In other words, we have
different identities based on who we are with, where we are, the situation we our in, and
so on. The creation and use of such identities can be understood by psychologists by
trying to study the language that people use. Furthermore, by studying conversations and
all forms of communication we can understand how people and society ‘construct' their
own versions of reality.
The first point to note is that in order to do a discourse analysis you need to have read a
handful yourself first. By reading published articles that use the method, you will have a
better understanding of (1) how to do an analysis and (2) some of the theoretical
orientations that you will need to know to do your own analysis. Having identified a
theory and a chosen item (text or recorded conversation) to analyse, you need to
transcribe it in one of the accepted/published ways. The transcript must always appear in
the appendices. There are many different forms of discourse analysis, so here we will
focus on thematic analysis as an example.
In the results section of the report, the themes abstracted are collated and reported on. In
doing so, it is usual to cite from the transcription examples of the points you are trying to
make. A summary of the findings can be offered but also a critique of the authro's own
interpretations – this refers to the concept of 'reflexivity', that the author's is only one
interpretation of the text.
Adverbial clauses
Why didn't the poor woman have money? Answer: because she had lost
her job
To what degree of lateness will Jones arrive? Answer: (later) than Smith
(will arrive)
Comma use with adverbial clauses depends upon placement of the adverbial
clause.
If the adverbial clause introduces the sentence, place a comma between it and
the main clause.
If the adverbial clause follows the main clause in a sentence, do not place a
comma between the two.
Adjectival clauses
An adjectival clause usually begins with a relative pronoun, which makes the
clause subordinate (dependent).
Common relative pronouns:
Adjectival clauses always follow the person, place, or thing they describe, usually
immediately.
Which book did Joe read? Answer: the one that I gave him
What kind of politician has the support of the people? Answer: one who is
trustworthy
Comma use with adjectival clauses depends upon essentiality of the adjectival
clause.
If the adjectival clause is essential (or "needed"), no commas should be used to
separate it from the main clause.
Examples
Since the adjectival clauses in the above examples are needed to clarify the
noun that they describe, they are essential and should not be separated from
the rest of the sentence with commas.
Examples
Since the adjectival clauses in the above examples are not needed to clarify
the noun that they describe, they are nonessential and should be separated
from the rest of the sentence with commas.
Like a noun, a nominal clause names a person, place, thing, or idea. A nominal
clause may function in a sentence as any of the following:
• a nominal clause
• the function of the nominal clause within the sentence
• the function of the interrogative within the nominal clause
"Of the various structures which, when mapped on to each other, make up a
clause, we will consider first the one which gives the clause its character as a
message. This is known as thematic structure.
We may assume that in all languages the clause has the character of a message: it
has some form of organization giving it the status of a communicative event. But
there are different ways in which this may be achieved. In English, as in many
other languages, the clause is organized as a message by having a special status
assigned to one part of it. One element in the clause is enunciated as the theme;
this then combines with the remainder so that the two parts together constitute a
message." (Halliday, p 37)
• creates discourse
• clause as message
• the linguistic expression of the other two metafunctions (ideational, interpersonal)
• theme vs. rheme
Theme. Textual clause function: the point of departure of the clause as message.
It sets up the local context for each clause. This local context often relates to the
method of development of the text: the Theme is selected in such a way that it
indicates how the clause relates to this method and contributes to the
identification of the current step in the development. The term theme has an
entirely different meaning in formal grammars (as does the term thematic roles),
which has nothing to do with the long tradition of work on theme in Prague
School linguistics and other functional traditions. => IFG Chapter 3. => LexCart
Section 6.2. (From Christian Matthiessen: Glossary of systemic-functional terms.
http://minerva.ling.mq.edu.au/)
Topic. The subject matter of a clause; what it is about – often as one member of
the pair topic + comment. Topic corresponds roughly to the experiential part of
Theme, Topical theme, in Halliday's analysis of English, but it typically excludes
textual and interpersonal Themes. (Sometimes the notion of given or known is
also included in topic, but never in Halliday's Theme.) Cf. IFG p. 39. (From
Christian Matthiessen: Glossary of systemic-functional terms.
http://minerva.ling.mq.edu.au/)
Theme Rheme
point of departure of clause as message; Non-Theme – where the presentation
local context of clause as piece of text. moves after the point of departure; what is
presented in the local context set up by
Theme.
initial position in the clause position following initial position
(table from Martin et al)
1. As soon as she had pressed the doorbell – it let out a musical jingle – Philippa
sensed that the house was empty.
2. Resisting the temptation to peer through the letter-box, she decided to try next
door.
3. At least they would know whether Ducton still lived at 41 or where he had gone.
Theme Rheme
Parts of Northern Britain were brought to a standstill by heavy snow
and ice yesterday with roads closed and
dangerous driving conditions.
Scotland was worst hit.
Two hundred schools were closed in Aberdeenshire, where
roadswere impassable,
and more than seven inches of snow was recorded at Aberdeen airport.
An injured climber survived 18 hours in sub-zero temperatures
clinging to an ice-covered ledge after falling
400ft in Glencoe.
Lawrence Reeve, 40, a computer operator was recovering in hospital yesterday after
from Chessington, Surrey, suffering severe facial injuries, a punctured
lung and frostbite.
The lone walker was making his way along a ridge when he
fell into Glen Cam, striking a boulder which
saved him from a further drop of 300ft.
Theme Rheme
Once upon a time, a very long time ago Winnie-the-Pooh lived in a forest all by
now, about last Friday himself under the name of Sanders.
One day when he was out walking he came to an open place in the middle of the
forest
and in the middle of this place was a very large oak tree
and from the top of the tree there came a large buzzing noise.
Winnie-the-Pooh sat down at the foot of the tree,
put his head between his paws
and began to think.
First of all he said to himself
"That buzzing noise means something.
You don’t get a buzzing noise like that, just
buzzing and buzzing, without its meaning
something.
If there’s a buzzing noise, somebody’s making a buzzing noise
and the only reason for making a buzzing is because you’re a bee."
noise that I know of
Then he thought for another long time
and said
"And the only reason for being a bee that I is making honey."
know of
And then he got up,
and said
"And the only reason for making honey is so as I can eat it."
So he began to climb the tree.