8.2 Discourse Analysis and Coherence

Discourse analysis goes beyond sentences, examining how we use language in social contexts. It reveals hidden patterns and power dynamics in our communication, helping us understand how language shapes our world and relationships.

Coherence in discourse creates meaningful connections between parts of a conversation or text. It involves thematic progression, logical organization, and the use of cohesive devices to maintain clarity and flow throughout the communication.

Discourse analysis and its significance

Understanding discourse analysis

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• Systematic study of language use beyond sentence level focuses on social and cultural contexts of communication
• Examines how language constructs meaning, establishes relationships, and performs social actions
• Investigates spoken and written language (conversations, speeches, narratives, written texts)
• Draws upon linguistics, sociology, anthropology, and psychology for comprehensive understanding

Importance and applications

• Reveals underlying patterns, ideologies, and power structures embedded in language use
• Contributes to understanding how language shapes and is shaped by social norms, cultural practices, individual identities
• Examines language use in creating and maintaining social relationships
• Analyzes negotiation of power dynamics and construction of shared meanings within communities

Discourse coherence: Key elements

Thematic and logical progression

• Discourse coherence creates logical and meaningful connection between parts of text or conversation
• Thematic progression develops and maintains central topic throughout discourse
• Propositional relevance ensures each statement contributes meaningfully to overall discourse
• Temporal and spatial organization provides clear structure for events or descriptions

Linguistic and contextual factors

• Logical connectives and transitional phrases explicitly link ideas and guide listener or reader
• Consistent use of referents (pronouns, noun phrases) maintains clarity and cohesion
• Background knowledge and shared context between participants allow for implicit connections and inferences

Cohesive devices in discourse

Lexical and grammatical cohesion

• Cohesive devices connect different parts of text or conversation, contributing to overall coherence and unity
• Lexical cohesion uses semantically related vocabulary (repetition, synonymy, collocation)
• Grammatical cohesion utilizes linguistic structures (pronouns, ellipsis, substitution) to maintain reference
• Conjunctions and connectives signal relationships between ideas (addition, contrast, causality)

Structural and referential cohesion

• Thematic progression strategically places new and given information for flow and continuity
• Referential cohesion maintains clarity by consistently referring to people, objects, or ideas
• Temporal and spatial cohesion devices organize information chronologically or spatially
  • Temporal devices (first, then, finally)
  • Spatial devices (above, below, adjacent to)

Discourse analysis techniques: Application

Critical and interactional approaches

• Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) examines power relations and ideologies in language use
  • Analyzes political speeches for underlying ideological messages
  • Investigates media representations of social issues
• Conversation Analysis (CA) studies naturally occurring talk-in-interaction
  • Examines turn-taking patterns in workplace meetings
  • Analyzes repair mechanisms in everyday conversations
• Interactional Sociolinguistics explores influence of social and cultural knowledge on language interpretation
  • Studies code-switching in multilingual communities
  • Investigates misunderstandings in intercultural communication

Specialized analytical methods

• Narrative Analysis investigates structure and content of stories
  • Examines personal narratives of illness experiences
  • Analyzes storytelling techniques in literature
• Multimodal Discourse Analysis considers interaction of multiple semiotic resources
  • Studies gestures and facial expressions in political debates
  • Analyzes visual and textual elements in advertising
• Corpus-based Discourse Analysis identifies patterns in large text collections
  • Compares language use in academic writing across disciplines
  • Investigates changes in news reporting over time
• Genre Analysis focuses on characteristic features of different text types
  • Examines structure and language of scientific research articles
  • Analyzes rhetorical strategies in persuasive speeches