Critical-Discourse-Analysis

CriticalDiscourseAnalysisBackgroundDoesnothaveaunitarytheoreticalframeworkormethodology.(Asharedperspectiveencompassingarangeofapproachesinsteadofaschool.)AnevolutionfromtheCriticalLinguisticsdevelopedinthelate1970sbyseveraltheoristsattheUniversityofEastAnglia(Fowleretalii,1979andKress&Hodge,1979)followingHalliday’s(1978)functionalviewoflanguage.CriticalDiscourseAnalystssharewithHalliday(1978)andCriticalLinguisticstheideathatchoicesmadebyspeakers(regardingvocabularyandgrammar)areconsciouslyorunconsciouslyprincipledandsystematic,andthattheyareideologicallybased.“Ourwordsareneverneutral”(Fiske,1994),theyconveyhowweseeourselves,ouridentity,knowledge,valuesandbeliefs.Theyarepoliticized,evenifwearenotawareofit,becausetheyreflecttheinterestsofthosewhospeak.DefinitionCDAclaimsthatdiscoursealwaysinvolvespowerandideologies,andaimstoexploreoftenopaquerelationshipsbetweendiscursivepractices,textsandevents.Criticalanalystsarethusconcernedtouncovertheideologicalassumptionshiddeninthestructuresoflanguagetohelppeopleresistandovercomevariousformsofpowerabuse.InadditiontothequestionofpowerindiscoursethereisthequestionofpoweroverdiscourseBycriticaldiscourseanalysisImeananalysiswhichaimstosystematicallyexploreoftenopaquerelationshipsofcausalityanddeterminationbetween(a)discursivepractices,eventsandtexts(b)widersocialandculturalstructures,relationsandprocesses;toinvestigatehowsuchpractices,eventsandtextsariseoutofandareideologicallyshapedbyrelationsofpowerandstrugglesoverpower;andtoexplorehowtheopacityoftheserelationshipsbetweendiscourseandsocietyisitselfafactorsecuringpowerandhegemony(Fairclough,1995a:132-33).CDAisthatdiscourseisnotproducedwithoutcontextandcannotbeunderstoodwithouttakingthecurrentandhistoricalcontextintoconsideration.discourseisconnectedtothepastandthecurrentsocialcontext,sincetextscanbeinterpretedindifferentwaysbydifferentpeople,becauseoftheirdifferentbackgrounds,knowledge,andpowerpositions.ModelsofCDAThefollowingmodelsofCDAsharetheideathatadoptingcriticalgoalsmeansforemostinvestigatingverbalinteractionstoseehowdiscourseshapesandisshapedbysocialstructures,byrevisitingthetextatdifferentlevels,raisingquestionsaboutit,imagininghowitcouldhavebeenconstructeddifferently,andmentallycomparingittorelatedtexts.1.Fairclough`sSocio-CulturalMethodhasfocusedonrelationshipsbetweensocio-culturalchangeanddiscursivechangeandismoreconcernedwiththeanalysisofmediainterviews,universityprospectusesandconsultationsbetweendoctorsandpatient.stressedtheeducationalimplicationsofCDAadvocatingcriticallanguageawarenessasakeycomponentoflanguageeducationinschoolsandotherinstitutions.a)atext(spokenorwritten,includingvisualimages);b)adiscoursepracticeproduction,consumptionanddistributionofthetext,andc)asocioculturalpractice.语篇”（text）是交际过程或者“话语实践”（discursivepractice）的产物，这个过程包括语篇的“生成”（production)、“传播”（distribution）和“接受”（consumption），所有这些都是由特定的“社会实践”（socialpractice）条件决定的。TextandtheanalysisoftextureA)Vocabulary.(theuseofthewordprotestorinsteadofdemonstratoristryingtoconveyanegativeimageofthosewhoareagainstthegovernmentandcorporateestablishment.)B)Transitivity(whoisdepictedasAgent,andthereforeempoweredandoverwhom(theAffected).)C)Moodandmodality(verbsorprepositionalphrasessuchasmay,might,could,will,can,must,itseemstome,withoutdoubtorinclusiveandexclusivepronouns)andintonationpatterns(speakinghesitantly,forinstance)toconveythedegreeofcertaintyandauthority.)D)Topicality(inamediareportingaboutprotestors,if11sentencesrefertoprotestorsandthreetoofficials,thetextisclearlyabouttheprotestor’sactions.Andinchoosingwhattoputinthetopicposition,thewritercreatesaperspectivethatinfluencesthereader’sperception.)E)Presuppositions.(Aretherepresuppositionsorassumptions?Inapeace/conflictexample,ademonstratorsignsuchasgivepeaceachancepresupposesthatthegovernmentispresentlynotdoingso.)F)Ambiguity.Arethereinsinuationsorsuggestivestatementscarryingdoublemeanings,sothatwhenthestatementischallenged,theauthorcandenyanyculpability?Thisabilitygivestheoriginatoralotofpower.AmbiguityorambivalencecanalsobeausefuldeviceinthehandoflesspowerfulparticipantsfordealingwiththosewithpowerDiscoursepracticeandordersofdiscourseDiscursivepracticereferstothesetofspokenandunspokenrules,normsandmentalmodelsofsociallyacceptedbehavioursthatgovernindividuals’thought,actandspeakinallthesocialpositionstheyoccupyinlife.Theyinvolvewaysofbeingintheworldthatsignifyspecificandrecognizablesocialidentities:students,mothers,membersofanethnic,genderorsexualgroup,etc.Thesetofdiscursivepracticesassociatedwithaparticularsocialdomainorinstitution,suchasalecture,acounsellingoraninformalconversationinanacademicinstitution,andtheboundariesandrelationshipsbetweenthemarecalled,followingGramsci,ordersofdiscourse.Socioculturalpractice.Therelationshipbetweendiscourseprocessesofproduction,distributionandinterpretation,andthesocialprocessesdiscourseisshapedbysituations,institutionsandsocialstructures,butitalsoshapesthem.Inotherwords,is“sociallyconstitutiveaswellassociallyshaped:itconstitutessitua