DISCOURSES OF

LANGUAGE IN
CULTURAL AND
SOCIAL RELEVANCE
Presented by: G8
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

V1. Discourse analysis in

I. Defination and example of research
discourse

VII. Policy discourses
II.Social Discourse

VIII. Political discourse
III. Purposes of a discourse

IX. Journalistic discourse
IV. The Power of Discourse

X. Media discourse
V. Discourse Analysis

XI. References
 What is a discourse?

In linguistics, discourse refers to a unit of language longer than a single sentence. The
word discourse is derived from the latin prefix dis- meaning "away" and the root word
currere meaning "to run". Discourse, therefore, translates to "run away" and refers to
the way that conversations flow. To study discourse is to analyze the use of spoken or
written language in a social context.

Various Definitions and Examples of Discourse

"Discourse in context may consist of only one or two words as in stop or no

smoking. Alternatively, a piece of discourse can be hundreds of thousands of words
in length, as some novels are. A typical piece of discourse is somewhere between
these two extremes," (Hinkel and Fotos 2001).

 What is a discourse?
"Discourse is the way in which language is used socially to convey broad historical
meanings. It is language identified by the social conditions of its use, by who is using
it and under what conditions. Language can never be 'neutral' because it bridges our
personal and social worlds," (Henry and Tator 2002).

Discourse refers to how we think and communicate about people, things, the social
organization of society, and the relationships among and between all three.

What Is Social Discourse?

·Social discourse is speech or text communication that involves a social element.
Linguists look at social communication or discourse in order to pursue technical
research on language. Others in anthropology, sociology, or other social sciences may
use this kind of discourse to understand elements of human psychology or behavior.

What are the

purposes of a To persuade

discourse?

To inform

To discover for one's own

The four primary aims of Locationneeds,
discourse are:

To create.
 The Power of Discourse

The power of discourse lies in its ability to provide

legitimacy for certain kinds of knowledge while
undermining others; and, in its ability to create subject
positions, and, to turn people into objects that that can be
controlled. Because discourse has so much meaning and
deeply powerful implications in society, it is often the site
of conflict and struggle. When people wish to make social
change, how we talk about people and their place in
society cannot be left out of the process.
 According to the famous Oxford Dictionary, Discourse
Analysis is “Linguistics, a method of analysing the

a t e x a c t l y structure of texts or utterances longer than one

Wh sentence, taking into account both their linguistic

is D i s c o u r s e content and their sociolinguistic context; analysis

performed using this method.”

Ana l y s i s ? Discourse Analysis is a method to research and study the

written and spoken language which deals mostly with its
social use. Understanding the cultural and social context
of the languages is an important agenda when it comes
to discourse analysis. Using that helps to mend their
linguistic and sociological aspects.
 Why do you need Discourse
Analysis? Let’s understand
with an example.

You are analyzing a speaker’s speech, for you to understand the

context of his speech completely, you will need to study the
background of the speaker, why did he choose to speak on that topic,
the background of the audience, and that of the locality he is
speaking in. One can also predict the power imbalance amongst the
people by observing them talk amongst each other. How they are
cultivated in culture and communicated through a language. Hence
this analysis approach can prove a perfect fit to assess social issues.
 Discourse analysis in
research

Discourse analysis is a blanket term for a range of qualitative research

approaches used in analyzing the use of language in social contexts. ...
In general, discourse analysis involves the examination of language
beyond the sentence to understand how it functions in a social context.

Discourse analysis is not a specific qualitative research method; rather,

it is a general term for describing all the approaches used to examine
and understand discourses in relation to social interactions.


Critical discourse analysis

Applied linguistics
Rhetorical analysis
Some of the Applied linguistics
common approaches Interactional sociolinguistics
to discourse Ethnography of communication
analysis include: Speech act theory

Pragmatics
Variation analysis
Conversation analysis
Cognitive psychology

 Physical Characteristics

A policy-as-discourse approach
agrees that policy is 'strategic and

t a r e p o l i c y political process'. However, it sees

Wha the battles not simply at the level of
disco u r s e s ?
wanting or resisting a particular

policy initiative, but at the level of
constituting the shape of the issues
to be considered.
What is political discourse?

Political Discourse: Discourses are also involve in

crafting a policy. The text and talk of professional
politicians or political institutions, such as presidents
and prime ministers and other members of
government, parliament or political parties, both at
the local, national and international levels, includes
both the speaker and the audience.
What is meant by journalistic
discourse?

The journalistic discourse is a communicative act

of particular linguistic phenomenon that requires
some special norms and reflects on social,
cultural, political, ideological aspects. Thus, it is
regarded as a specialized discourse, and its
translation imposes a real challenge for the
translator.
What is media discourse?

Media discourse refers to interactions that take place

through a broadcast platform, whether spoken or written,
in which the discourse is oriented to a non-present
reader, listener or viewer. Newspapers are an example
of media discourse. Media discourse can be widely
understood as any way in which the media — including
news outlets, publishers, and others — frames certain
issues and generates discussions among the public
References:

https://www.thoughtco.com/discourse-definition-
3026070

https://www.infobloom.com/what-is-social-discourse.htm

https://www.voxco.com/blog/discourse-analysis-and-
everything-you-need-to-know/
Thank You!
Do you have any follow-up questions for me?