Abstract
This book is designed to be a comprehensive and accessible introduction to discourse analysis. In a series of 40 units, it provides the reader with a clear overview of key concepts and topics in discourse analysis, examines both traditional and contemporary approaches to the topic, and embraces a range of methods of doing discourse analysis in both theory and practice. Each strand across sections A, B, C and D cross-refers and integrates with other strands. The 10 strands in this book break down into four parts.
Strand 1 seeks to give a general introduction to the field by looking at three different perspectives on discourse, respectively advanced by Zellig Harris, Henry G Widdowson and James Paul Gee. Strands 2–4 are concerned with written discourse, illustrating with examples the cohesion and coherence devices used in texts, the social functions of texts, the structural moves utilized in a genre to achieve its communicative purpose, and the ways in which ideology is expressed and reality is constructed in texts, reviewing the methods employed in analyzing texture, genre and voice.
Strands 5–7 address spoken discourse, introducing in an accessible way conversational analysis, discursive strategies, and the components of the speaking model in answer to questions including how people do things with words, how people construct and negotiate identities and activities in talk, as well as how speaking acts, events and situations are produced and interpreted.
Strands 8–10 are devoted to three new approaches to discourse: mediated discourse analysis, multimodal discourse analysis, and corpus-assisted discourse analysis, which examine how different media, modes of communication, and computer science affect the kinds of discourse produced and the methods of discourse analysis respectively.
A major advantage and innovation of this book lies in its user-friendly ‘two-dimensional’ structure. Vertically, the book centers around four interrelated but basically self-contained sections adapting instruction to the needs and interests of readers at varying stages of study: introduction (introducing key concepts and theories in the study of discourse analysis in Section A), development (reviewing traditional and more recent approaches to discourse analysis in Section B), exploration (exemplifying how different analytical tools and techniques can be implemented to do discourse analysis in Section C) and extension (offering key readings from leading scholars on previously discussed topics for further thought in Section D). Horizontally, the book unfolds in a logical sequence as discussions on each key topic in discourse analysis are carried out step by step across the strands. For readers with no prior knowledge of discourse analysis, horizontal reading accords more with the universal law of cognitive development and thus can help those readers build gradually on the knowledge gained. The final part of the book, which contains suggestions for further reading, a thorough reference list, an author index and a glossarial index, can guide interested readers towards further detail. The book’s structural features allow for its use in a broad range of classes, catering to a diversity of student abilities, interests and learning styles.
An important step in evaluating a textbook is to determine the physical appropriateness of the text – in other words, whether the textbook’s instructional design and presentation can effectively support the attainment of its specified pedagogical goals. This book is clearly written and obviously edited with care and wisdom. It provides a rich and flexible set of exercises correlated directly to the content of each unit that instructors can assign for online homework, case study, class discussion and presentation, and further research. The format of the book is visually appealing and well organized. There is a reasonable and appropriate balance between text and illustration. Activities, study questions, sample analysis, figures and tables are all well integrated into the text. A clearly cross-referenced table of contents and appropriate headings, together with author and glossarial indexes, make it easy to navigate around the book. Written in a highly accessible style with plenty of examples from conversational interaction, ceremonial vows, dating adverts, films, popular music lyrics, newspaper articles, and social media such as Facebook, blogs and MSN, the book is suitable for a wide audience interested in the above subjects.
As a resource for students, the book provides an accompanying website featuring additional readings, explanations and activities for each unit, along with useful links to valuable online resources. Supplementary materials on the website, such as multimedia examples including sound files, YouTube clips and videos, are well organized, of high quality and useful in enhancing readers’ understanding of the concepts discussed in the book. What’s more, these supplementary materials can give readers additional practice in applying these concepts to real-life communication and encourage independent and critical thinking.
Overall, the book covers all the most important issues, concepts, movements and approaches in the field and features a glossary of key terms in the area of discourse analysis. Readers will learn methods of discourse analysis and how to work with various kinds of texts, conversations, and mediated and multimodal discourses. They will also debate the ideas of key thinkers and discuss the differences between schools of thought. It is a book that brilliantly underlines how central and fundamental discourse analysis is to so many fields of enquiry. The companion website for the book offers both a survey of current research and gives more practical guidance for advanced study in the area. It also offers a comprehensive and accessible reference resource for research in contemporary discourse studies. I recommend this engagingly written, comprehensive introduction to discourse analysis as an essential one-volume resource for students encountering discourse analysis for the first time, whether at undergraduate or postgraduate level.