...The media Anne O’Keeffe Historical overview of media discourse ‘The media’ is a very broad term, encompassing print and broadcast genres, that is anything from newspaper to chat show and, latterly, much more besides, as new media emerge in line with technological leaps. The study of ‘the media’ comes under the remit of media studies from perspectives such as their production and consumption, as well as their aesthetic form. The academic area of media studies cuts across a number of disciplines including communication, sociology, political science, cultural studies, philosophy and rhetoric, to name but a handful. Meanwhile, the object of study, ‘the media’, is an ever-changing and ever-growing entity. The study of ‘the media’ also comes under the radar of applied linguistics because at the core of these media is language, communication and the making of meaning, which is obviously of great interest to linguists. As Fairclough (1995a: 2) points out, the substantively linguistic and discoursal nature of the power of the media is a strong argument for analysing the mass media linguistically. Central to the connection between media studies and studies of the language used in the media (media discourse studies) is the importance placed on ideology. A major force behind the study of ideology in the media is Stuart Hall (see, for example, Hall 1973, 1977, 1980, 1982). Hall (1982), in his influential paper, notes that the study of media (or ‘mass communication’) has had...
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...1. Stereotypes, narratives, ideologies and discourses are devices that, in different ways according to different theorists, fortify media power. Critically analyse how these devices work, according to various theorists, and reflect upon which best explains communicative power. The social construction of reality is mediated through the communicative powers of stereotypes, narratives, ideologies and discourses and the media is extremely powerful in communicating messages with these devices. It will be argued that discourses are the most powerful communicating device used by the media in the postindustrial era today. Furthermore as per Croteau & Hoynes (2014, p. 9), the analysis will focus on recognised mass media that is readily available in print, film, radio, television, sound recordings and the Internet. Poststructuralists within sociology examine the structures of society and human agency. Human agency or action is influenced by sociocultural factors such as ideology that shape human identity and act subconsciously over an individual. Ideology is the system of meaning that helps explain, define and make value judgments about the world (Croteau & Hoynes 2014, p. 152). As we live in an interconnected world there are many ideologies as there are social structures in any given society. Related to this is that dominant ideas are hegemonic. Marx created the superstructure, which is the domain of ideas for example religion, legal structures, family, institutions...
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...ABSTRACT: This report explores critical discourse analysis as a theory in rhetoric discourse and speech act and pragmatics. The framework of analysis includes the mixture of my own ideas and theory of various experts such and Aristotle, Tuan Van Dijk, H.P Grice and Robert Dilts. As critical discourse analysis is a very flexible term of social linguistic study and it allows one to go with the own ideas, here I have chosen suitable analytical tool of experts to analyze the two different discourse, one is verbal discourse ( Tryst with Destiny) and second is written discourse ( Toyoda’s statement 2013) and at the end comparison of both discourse. Key words: critical discourse analysis, rhetoric discourse, speech act, pragmatics, social linguistic, tryst with destiny, Toyoda’s statement 2013. INTRODUCTION Critical discourse analysis (CDA) comprises three inter-related processes of analysis which are linked up with three inter-related dimensions of discourse. Three inter-related process of analysis. 1) Text analysis (description) 2) Processing analysis ( interpretation) 3) Social analysis ( explanation) Three inter-related dimensions of CDA. 1) Discourse structure (systematically and explicitly described structure at all level) 2) Social structure (in the context of society) 3) Cognitive structure ( mental cognitive interface) The three dimensions of CDA is coherently related with each other to make up a substantial discourse where mental cognitive interface...
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...select appropriate media for communicating their own messages or stories and for reaching their intended audience;and v. gain, or demand access to media for both reception and production. Regarding criticality, critical thinking is one of the generic skills in the NSS curriculum in Hong Kong. The training of media literacy is rooted in critical thinking ability, hence this kit will provide assessment scheme specifying students’ critical thinking into testable abilities and skills, with the purpose to: i. include reflections on media strategies placed within reasoning; ii. problematize the frozen ideologies and power relations embedded in media gendered messages Teaching & Learning Activities To accommodate these rationale and aims, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) will be employed in this package to facilitate discourse and differentiate student learning, in relation to the intended and unintended messages sent by print media. Both micro (language use, discourse, verbal interaction, imagery communication) and macro level (social power, male dominance, and gender inequality) would be included in the analysis. Three key strategies will be utilized to analyze media discourse at classroom...
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...Qualitative Approaches to Classroom Research 1 Qualitative Approaches to Classroom Research with English Language Learners Patricia A. Duff University of British Columbia Address: Department of Language & Literacy Education University of British Columbia 2125 Main Mall Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 Canada Courier: 2034 Lower Mall Road University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2 Canada Qualitative Approaches to Classroom Research 2 ABSTRACT This chapter provides an overview of recent qualitative research in classrooms examining English language learners (ELLs). I first present common features of qualitative research and review debates regarding research paradigms in the social sciences and humanities. I also discuss the role of triangulation and capturing participants’ insider or emic perspectives in qualitative research and highlight various data collection methods and ways of combining macro-level and micro-level analyses, particularly in ethnographic research. Ethical issues, difficulties obtaining informed consent in classroom research, and criteria for evaluating qualitative research are then considered. Three qualitative studies that have been deemed exemplary and meritorious by scholars in English language education are then presented and some common themes in current qualitative classroom research with ELLs are identified. The chapter concludes with directions for future qualitative research. Introduction Over the past 2 decades, research...
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...Library on July 5, 2011 Volume 8(4): 339–366 Copyright © 2008 SAGE www.sagepublications.com DOI: 10.1177/1470593108096540 articles Marketing the hegemony of development: of pulp fictions and green deserts1 Steffen Böhm University of Essex, UK Vinícius Brei Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Brazil Abstract. In this paper we analyze the role of marketing in the construction of what can be called the hegemony of development. Through an investigation of the marketing practices of the pulp and paper industry in South America and the resistances that are articulated by a range of civil society actors against the expansion of this industry, we problematize marketing as a political and contested discourse and practice. By using Laclau and Mouffe’s (1985, 2001) theoretical framework, which is centered on the concept of ‘hegemony’, we highlight the crucial role marketing plays in the social and cultural legitimation of the highly controversial development of the pulp and paper industry – regarded as one of the most polluting industries in the world – in South America. We build on...
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...Running head: AUDIENCE ANALYSIS Audience Analysis Charles Connors University of Phoenix Business Communication COM/285 Reginald Redford December 10, 2009 Audience Analysis Delivering information to an audience may seem like a simple task, but appearances may be deceiving. Delivering messages to an audience is more than just the presentation. A great deal of forethought must be exercised; the message must be tailored to the specific audience it will be presented. By taking into consideration audience characteristics, communication channels, diversity, and how to make the message effective all stakeholders will obtain the most out of the communication. Audience characteristics Identify the audience Identifying the audience is the first step in crafting an effective communication. The roles that must be identified are the gatekeeper, primary audience, secondary audience, auxiliary audience, and watchdog audience (Locker & Kienzler, 2008). These roles must be identified so that an understanding is obtained of which segments of the audience will have control over the message itself, taking action based on the message, or just becoming more informed on the core topics within the message. In the example of the audience being composed of managers, salespeople, and customers, management would be the gate keeper and primary audience, salespeople would be the secondary audience, and customers would be the auxiliary audience. Once the audience has been identified...
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...available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0953-4814.htm “Flexibility” as the rationale for organizational change: a discourse perspective Richard Dunford, Suresh Cuganesan and David Grant “Flexibility” as the rationale for change 83 University of Sydney Business School, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia Ian Palmer College of Business, RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) University, Melbourne, Australia, and Rosie Beaumont and Cara Steele Faculty of Business and Enterprise, Swinburne University, Hawthorn, Australia Abstract Purpose – The concept “flexibility” is ubiquitous as a rationale for organizational change. However, its broad application is accompanied by a general lack of definitional agreement or theoretical cohesion. The purpose of this paper is to propose the merits of an alternative approach – applying a discourse perspective to the use of flexibility as a rationale for organizational change. Design/methodology/approach – This paper first illustrates the broad referencing of flexibility as a desired organizational characteristic. It then discusses the associated lack of theoretical coherence associated with the use of the concept “flexibility” before arguing the merits of a discourse perspective on flexibility as a rationale for organizational change. Findings – This paper identifies a set of questions to frame a discourse perspective on the use of “flexibility” as a rationale for organizational change. Research limitations/implications...
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...social responsibility (CSR). I make use of Jacques Derrida’s theorizing on contested meaning to argue that CSR’s ambiguity is actually necessary in light of its functional role as a ‘‘supplement’’ to corporate profit-seeking. As a discourse that refuses to conclusively resolve the tension between profit-seeking and prosociality, CSR expresses an important critical perspective which demands that firms act responsibly, while retaining the overall corporate frame of shareholder supremacy. CSR does this by ambivalently affirming both profit-seeking and prosociality, a necessary contradiction. Attempts to reduce CSR’s ambiguity can thus only succeed by undermining its viability as a normative discourse that captures how certain elements of society understand how firms should act. The analysis suggests that greater scholarly attention is needed with regard to the material discursive environments within which discourses such as CSR are deployed. A discursive approach to research could thus benefit future practitioners, who have to act according to fluid standards of responsibility that cannot be authoritatively defined, but which can be better understood than they are at present. ´ Keywords Corporate social responsibility Á Differance Á Discourse Á Jacques Derrida Á Supplementarity Á Undecidability C. Sabadoz (&) Department of Political Science, University of Toronto, 100 St. George St., Toronto, ON M5R3G3, Canada e-mail:...
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...between classroom tasks and self-identification: does the learner redefine herself in order to access the L2 discourse? Does the classroom allow her to? What purpose does self-definition serve? In several studies I found, students did not feel that they identified with the target language, and those who did fell in and out of favor with the target language as they struggled to figure out their position between discourse communities. This type of struggle and lack of clearly measurable improvement is frequently viewed as a classroom failure. For example, as we have discussed in class, interpretations of a text that deviate from the “authoritative” interpretation are considered failed attempts even though reader response theory sustains that students read texts against their L1-mediated life experiences. It would seem that some sort of conflict between what is expected and what the learner brings to the table is a site for learning. Therefore, teacher emphasis on language as a tool to mediate an “identity crisis” may actually discourage students from identifying with the target language. The teacher is in danger of providing an “identity solution” of accommodation or acculturation (Lu 1992). Since to some extent the goal of reading and writing classrooms is have students actively redefine their identity position both as a learner and as a person in the world through critical reading, teachers must be wary of prescribing L2 identity categories for students in the process. Borrowing...
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...Research Proposal Provisional title- Social media and the hidden spaces of online identity management Topic: Social Networking and Interaction This project is concerned with computer mediated communication (CMC) between individuals via the social networking platform, Facebook. Created by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004, Facebook is a social networking forum wherein individuals can share photographs, personal information, conversations and friends (Buckman, 2005). Although other online sites such as MySpace, Friendster and Bebo are also designed to carry out such functions, Facebook is generally considered to be the leading site of its kind, currently consisting of over a billion users worldwide (Facebook, 2013). Facebook has increasingly become deeply integrated into user’s daily routines (Debatin, 2009). Indeed, a recent study found that students spend an average of 38 minutes a day ‘Face-booking’ (Muise et al, 2009). This equates to almost 9 days every year being dedicated to communication activities via the medium. With the internet increasingly being accessed via mobile devices, anytime, anyplace, it is likely that this figure will increase over time. With these ideas in mind, it is interesting to consider sites such as Facebook as capable of revealing important information about how young adults interact with one another in the information age. Platform functions such as wall posts, comments, statuses, private messages and so on provide a vast space for a number...
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...INTERLANGUAGE Introduction In this part, it is discussed that there are differences between teaching and learning. For example, in teaching perspective, anyone may write very well a methodology paper which related desired output to known inputs in a principled way. But in learning perspective, anyone may write very well a paper describing the process of attempted learning of second language. The interlanguage part is written from the learning perspective, regardless of one’s failure or success in the attempted learning of a second language. The concept of interlanguage was suggested by Selinker in order to draw attention to the possibility that the learner’s language can be regarded as a distinct language variety or system with its own particular characteristics and rules. There is a key term which is named ‘meaningful performance’. It is used to refer to the situation where an adult attempts to express meanings, which he or she may already have, in a language which he or she is in the process of learning. The writer thinks that one of our greatest difficulties in establishing a psychology of second language learning which is relevant to the way people actually learn second languages, has been our inability to identify unambiguously the phenomena we wish to study. I agree with the writer, because we have difficulty in learning second language and a correct understanding of this phenomenon leads to the postulation of certain theoretical constructs...
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...“HOW CAN LOGIC BEST BE APPLIED TO ARGUMENTS?” | March 10 2015 | | | Abstract This talk surveys a number of methods currently being developed that assist in applying logic to the evaluation of arguments used in particular cases. A case is seen as speci_ed by a given text and context of discourse. The methods used are pragmatic, and are based on the Gricean Cooperative Principle (CP), as implemented in several types of goal-directed conversational exchanges. Abstract This talk surveys a number of methods currently being developed that assist in applying logic to the evaluation of arguments used in particular cases. A case is seen as speci_ed by a given text and context of discourse. The methods used are pragmatic, and are based on the Gricean Cooperative Principle (CP), as implemented in several types of goal-directed conversational exchanges. “HOW CAN LOGIC BEST BE APPLIED TO ARGUMENTS?” INTRODUCTION How can logic best be applied to arguments? The goal of this address is to extend the boundaries of the subject known as logic towards the task of evaluating arguments as found in given cases of natural language argumentation. Of course, recently in philosophy, many influential voices are saying precisely that it is not possible to carry out this task (in an objective way that would be suitable for use in logic). I will argue that it can be done, or at least that there are resources available that can be brought...
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...shopping centre that housed it fulfilled a longstanding need in that part of the Lyon suburbs where shopping facilitIes on that scale were inadequate. Many view this hypennarkcl as a concrete illustration of the type of contribution semiOlic:l can make in defining a new type of shopping experience. I Not only \\as such an approach used in the design conception based on efforts to reconcile the desires expressed by consumers frequenting the catchment area or those taking part in discussion groups ahout their shopping bcha\iour bUI it was all implemented in accordance with the requirements drawn up by the technical starr and management teams \\ Ithm thc Mammouth company. Furthermore a semiotic approach \\as used 10 perform a discourse analysis of the consumers' wishes. \\hlch \\as then used to define the general layout of the hypcnnarket as a whole. Semiotics thus played a twin role in the conception and design of the Lyon hypermarket. Firstly. semiotics provided an interpretative model for consumers' representations and expectations of what the hypermarket should provide. The usc of such a model facilitated the identification of the dirrerel1\ values ascribed to hypermarkets and the revelation of the logic underlying the rejections or expectations associated with certain types of layouts, certain atmospheres and so on. Secondly, semiotics contributed to the actual design concept of thc hypermarket itself by supplying precise. concrete information as to the formal...
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...Birmingham University (Chandler 2001). Encoding/Decoding is a theoretical framework devised to critically examine how society or the hegemonic institutions in society, disseminate messages implanted or ‘encoded’ (Hall 2001, p.167) with meaning ‘through the operation of codes within the syntagmatic chain of a discourse’ (Hall 2001, p.166). Hall’s model examines the processes in which television texts are constructed with dominant codes or ‘preferred readings’ (Hall 2011, p.172), whilst signifying theoretical strategies from which audiences can deconstruct and consume such readings existing within texts in correspondence to cultural and social conditions. Hall’s model laid the foundations for much ethnographic research; it is upon this premise and its comprehensive influence, that in this essay the advantages and limitations of his model will be evaluated with focus on how effectively it functions within the indicated parameters of specific texts and discourses. Hall’s model which is fundamentally a mode of communication and audience reception theory, stems from early models of which proposed to analyse how audiences interpreted texts through the visual and aural discourse of television. Hall utilised and developed upon preceding and often problematic models such as the Effects and the Uses and Gratification models. Conversely from a structuralist standpoint, ‘it took, from the effect theorists, the notion that mass communication is a structured activity, in which the institutions...
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