Scribd
Upload
11 views

language as a discourse

Discourse is a system of language that encompasses extended pieces of communication, both written and spoken, and is analyzed in the context of social interactions. It is influenced by culture, gender, and context, and can be categorized into four types: description, narration, exposition, and argumentation. Understanding discourse requires an examination of how language shapes and is shaped by cultural and situational factors.

Uploaded by

mervind066
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
11 views

language as a discourse

Discourse is a system of language that encompasses extended pieces of communication, both written and spoken, and is analyzed in the context of social interactions. It is influenced by culture, gender, and context, and can be categorized into four types: description, narration, exposition, and argumentation. Understanding discourse requires an examination of how language shapes and is shaped by cultural and situational factors.

Uploaded by

mervind066
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

LANGUAGE as a Discourse

Discourse is one of the four systems of language, the others being vocabulary,
grammar and phonology. Discourse has various definitions but one way of thinking
about it is as any piece of extended language, written or spoken, that has unity and
meaning and purpose. One possible way of understanding 'extended' is as language
that is more than one sentence.

Example
Something as short as two phrases in a conversation or as long as an entire
extended essay are both examples of discourse and both show various features of
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.

Discourse studies look at the form and function of language in conversation beyond
its small grammatical pieces such as phonemes and morphemes. This field of study,
which Dutch linguist Teun van Dijk is largely responsible for developing, is interested
in how larger units of language—including lexemes, syntax, and context—contribute
meaning to conversations.

Relationship between Language and Discourse:


Language and discourse are connected at a basic level in that all discourse is
constructed with language. The manipulation of language impacts how people
interact and respond. Language and discourse are fluid, however, because they both
shape and define the culture in which they are present. It is culture that provides
much of the meaning for the language that happens within discourse.

People who learn how to control language learn how to manipulate discourse, as
well. Language contains clues about what should come next in a discourse.

For example, if someone says "hello," that person generally expects the other
person to say "hello" as well. At the very least, the first person wants an
acknowledgement they have spoken, which the second person might give with a nod
or other gesture. In this way, language controls some of the direction of discourse.

A main principle behind language and discourse is that, because language controls
discourse direction to a large degree, people who learn how to control language
learn how to manipulate discourse, as well. This is known as discourse management.
By phrasing a question in a very specific way, for example, a person might force
another person to respond in a particular way or even to stop the discourse
altogether. Control of language thus is a tool for gaining and exercising power over
others.
One important connection between language and discourse is that culture dictates
language interpretation to a large degree. For example, if someone comes from a
very religious Christian area, he might see it as irreverent if someone who isn't
religious uses the phrase "my God" nonchalantly. This can lead to misunderstanding
and conflict, hindering discourse and subsequent relationship building. Normally,
evidence of the cultural beliefs that drive language and discourse is present
elsewhere in a person's life.

Culture is always changing, and as a result, so is language. What is


appropriate discourse at one time might not be appropriate in another time.
An example is the use of words and phrases such as "swell" or "it's the bee's knees,"
which were popular in the 1950s but have fallen out of favor. Based on current
interpretation of these words and phrases, a person might see another individual
who used them in discourse as old-fashioned or outdated.

Gender also has a huge impact on language and discourse. For instance, in some
cultures, women are seen as second-class citizens or the weaker sex. In these
cultures, it sometimes is considered very rude for a woman to enter into a discourse
without invitation from a man. In other cultures, more effort is taken to create
gender equality through language and thereby encourage different rules of discourse
engagement, such as the integration of gender neutral pronouns.

The connections between language and discourse mean that one cannot study
language in depth without also studying discourse. Studying these areas, in turn,
requires an understanding of cultural contexts. This is why linguistics is such a
challenging field: meaning is not constant. Linguists are constantly trying to figure
out exactly how language adapts and adjusts the rules of discourse.

Contexts and Topics of Discourse


The study of discourse is entirely context-dependent because conversation involves
situational knowledge beyond just the words spoken. Often times, meaning cannot
be extrapolated from an exchange merely from its verbal utterances because there
are many semantic factors involved in authentic communication.

"The study of discourse...can involve matters like context, background information


or knowledge shared between a speaker and hearer," (Bloor and Bloor 2013).

Subcategories of Discourse
"Discourse can...be used to refer to particular contexts of language use, and in this
sense, it becomes similar to concepts like genre or text type. For example, we can
conceptualize political discourse (the sort of language used in political contexts) or
media discourse (language used in the media).

In addition, some writers have conceived of discourse as related to particular topics,


such as an environmental discourse or colonial discourse...Such labels sometimes
suggest a particular attitude towards a topic (e.g. people engaging in environmental
discourse would generally be expected to be concerned with protecting the
environment rather than wasting resources). Related to this, Foucault...defines
discourse more ideologically as 'practices which systematically form the objects of
which they speak'," (Baker and Ellece 2013).

four types of discourse:


The four types or modes of discourse are

 Description,

 Narration,

 Exposition and

 Argumentation.

 Description
Description is the first type of discourse. Description helps the audience
visualise the item or subject by relying on the five senses.

 Narration
Narration is the second type of discourse. The aim of narration is to tell a
story. A narrator usually gives an account of an event, which usually has a
plot. Examples of the narrative mode of discourse are novels, short stories,
and plays.

 Exposition
Exposition is the third type of discourse. Exposition is used to convey
background information to the audience in a relatively neutral way. In most
cases, it doesn't use emotion and it doesn't aim to persuade.
Examples of discourse exposure are definitions and comparative analysis.

 Argumentation
Argumentation is the fourth type of discourse. The aim of argumentation
is to persuade and convince the audience of an idea or a statement. To
achieve this, argumentation relies heavily on evidence and logic.
Lectures, essays and public speeches are all examples of the
argumentative mode of discourse.

You might also like