What Teachers Say When they Write or Talk about Discourse Analysis
WHAT TEACHERS SAY WHEN THEY WRITE ABOUT DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
Findings
The result of the lexical frequency count showed that the student teachers used more closed-set words in the top 30 positions; the first 30 items also included, in small proportions, the lexical items students, language, discourse, analysis and English, as well as the personal pronouns I and we. The item ‘discourse’ was the third most frequent content word.
The next step in the analysis was to investigate the item ‘discourse’, the focus of the written evaluation submitted. It was believed that evaluation was spread throughout each and every text submitted, thus making it necessary to separate the most obvious chunks. By collating the most frequent collocates for discourse, or words which appear in its vicinity, it was found that there were seven instances of a cluster made up of discourse analysis plus is. In these seven clusters, one was seen to include a formulaic expression, As far as teaching discourse analysis is concerned, and four were worded so as to imply that the subjects simply adhered to answering the probing questions, as in
…Discourse analysis is therefore of immediate interest to us teachers...
…and I sincerely believe that Discourse Analysis is worth studying...
…discourse analysis is the ultimate/ highest stage of the English Language learning...
…at least I understand that my knowledge on discourse analysis is highly dependable.
The remaining two clusters were, interestingly, attempts at definition, as in
Discourse analysis is concerned with the study of the relationship between ...
Because discourse analysis is not a method, but a way of describing...
These attempts at definition, not part of the rubric given to the teachers, will be discussed at a later stage in this study.
A subsequent step was to classify the concordance lines displaying the core word, by applying the analytical system developed by Martin (op.cit). Within the context of this part of the research, the input questions somewhat determined what the focus of the answers would be. Thus, the respondents’ answers were worded as APPRECIATION: SOCIAL VALUE (how important/beneficial the DA modules had been). Typical answers, mostly positive, follow the patterns below:
Therefore, I can say that discourse analysis classes have given us insights into how texts are structured beyond sentence level, how talks follow regular patterns in different situations, how discourse norms differ from culture to culture. (text 3)
Actually, almost everything that was told in Spoken and Written Discourse Analysis classes was very important for my professional progress. (text 5)
In the Discourse Analysis Course we had the opportunity to learn how to give focus on ordinary language, to analyze meaning as use in the language, the language-game and context, function, speech activities, the connection of language to our students’ daily life, the role of customs and rule- governed activities; and also to adapt all these knowledge to our students’ needs and interests as learners of English and according to their reality, (text 6)
...principally the contribution of the Oral Discourse Analysis course. It made me become more aware that not always what people want to say is what we understand from their speech. (text 11)
There was, however, one example of negative APPRECIATION: SOCIAL VALUE as in
At the moment, I am not working in any language school. For this reason, the part of Spoken Discourse Analysis was not appropriate to my reality (text 5).
Interestingly, the respondent opted to word his/her negative comment in terms of SOCIAL VALUE (“not appropriate to my reality”), rather than simply as APPRECIATION: REACTION (“not interesting”)
Although uncalled for, attempts at definition, or in Martin’s terms, APPRECIATION: COMPOSITION, were also provided, as in the texts below:
Although discourse analysis has come to be seen as a subdiscipline of linguistics, it is of immediate interest for us EFL teachers because we are language teachers, therefore we are interested in language in use. (text 6)
One such area is discourse analysis, which is interested in language in use, in how real people use real language, as opposed to artificially created sentences. (text 3)
Discourse Analysis is concerned with the study of the relationship between language and the contexts in which it is produced. (text 3)
One possible explanation for these inclusions is that the respondents may have felt that the written essays were not meant to evaluate the course proper, but were rather a means of checking whether they had learned anything about the content of the courses.
