Discourse analysis
K Allan
8 points * 3 hours per week * Second semester * Clayton
It is reasonable to believe that phonological, syntactic, and semantic analyses are all properly included within discourse analysis and that they should each be constrained by their efficacy in the task of explaining discourse. In the division of linguistic labors, however, discourse analysis is concerned with language expressions larger than a single sentence. This course aims to be study of the practical analysis of written texts and conversation, paying particular attention to cohesive factors within texts and to stylistic and varietal differences in discourse structure. We shall investigate conversational structure; narrative structures in different languages; indicators of semantic cohesion; how topics are introduced and terminated; how they are recognized and maintained; the distribution of information in a text (given-ness, focus, etc.) and the place of knowledge and context in language and understanding.
Assessment
Written assignment (5000 words): 80% * Class presentation (1000 words): 15% * Class participation: 5%
Prescribed reading
A set of readings will be made available from the Linguistics department in July