ENGL 562 A: Discourse Analysis

This course will work as an introduction to some of the major approaches to studying oral and written texts. Various analytic perspectives will be examined such as conversation analysis, critical discourse analysis, narrative analysis, interactional sociolinguistics, etc. We will examine both the theoretical underpinnings which inform these approaches as well as study how these are applied to the analysis of oral or written data. The (con)texts examined could include mass media and popular culture, conversational and interview data, classroom interactions, legal and policy documents, political speeches, and other texts of special interest to seminar members. Issues of power will be systematically engaged in such analyses. The goals of the seminar are threefold: (1) to acquaint students with approaches to and research in discourse analysis, (2) to provide a forum for evaluating this work, and (3) to provide opportunities to students to engage in discourse analytic methods in relation to texts, sites, and questions of consequence to them.