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Discourse Analysis

Discourse analysis is a broad term for the study of language usage. Discourse analysis has been utilized in the humanities and social sciences, including education, linguistics, sociology, anthropology, cognitive psychology, social psychology, communication, and artificial intelligence. As such, discourse analysis includes a range of topics, such as linguistics styles and rhetoric, speakers’ and hearers’ cognition, and language in social contexts. Given that discourse analysis involves both theoretical and methodological elements, each part of the discipline has its own definition of discourse and discourse analysis as well as its own assumptions and methodologies. Data for discourse analysis are also widely ranged; they can be informal or formal conversations, in private or institutional contexts, and in spoken or written versions.

Through discourse analysis, education researchers try to make sense of the ways in which people make meaning in educational contexts. This entry focuses on describing four approaches of discourse analysis that have been largely utilized in educational research: (1) ethnography of communication, (2) interactional sociolinguistic, (3) conversation analysis, and (4) critical discourse analysis. Each approach is explained with its theory, characteristics, key concepts, and methodology.

Ethnography of Communication

Ethnography of communication, formerly called the ethnography of speaking, was developed by Dell Hymes. This approach was derived from the disciplines of anthropology and linguistics. Ethnography of communication perceives language usage as more than grammatical knowledge; it pays attention to “way of speaking,” which is culturally specific interaction. Such “way of speaking” is shared in the speech community, which is a group of people who share norms and expectations in their language usage. Ethnography of communication researchers conduct ethnographic fieldwork. Specifically, by talking to community members, observing events, and being involved in activities, researchers aim to investigate communicative patterns of the speech community to gain an understanding of how a group of people make sense of their interactions and experiences.

In the theory of the ethnography of communication, the notion of the communicative competence is a key. Communicative competence refers to grammatical knowledge as well as cultural and social knowledge on how and when to use language with grammar in an appropriate way. In relation to communicative competence, Hymes developed a framework, called SPEAKING, for an analysis of a speech event. SPEAKING is an acronym; each letter is an abbreviation for a different element of communication: S (setting and scene, including the time and place), P (participant, including identity and personal characteristics), E (ends, including the purpose of the event), A (act and sequence), K (key or the tone of the language), I (instrumentalities or the linguistic code, such as dialect), N (norms of intention and interpretation), and G (genre of the event). Utilizing the SPEAKING model, ethnography of communication seeks to discover a holistic explanation of a cultural group’s communicative competence in speech situations, events, and acts.

Interactional Sociolinguistics

Having its roots in the ethnography of communication, interactional sociolinguistics comes from a variety of academic disciplines, including anthropology, linguistics, and sociology. Linguistic anthropologist John Gumperz and sociologist Erving Goffman are the founders of this approach. Focusing on culture, society, and language, interactional sociolinguistics seeks a better understanding of how people signal and interpret meanings in face-to-face social interactions.

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