2. What is discourse Discourse has 2 meanings Linguists’ original meaning a stretch of language greater than the sentence The top level of organisation of language Discourse the organisation of utterances, texts Syntax the structure of sentences Morphology the study of the structure of words Phonology the study of sounds within a language Phonetics the study of human sound making
3. types and genres we will examine Spoken discourse – written discourse Co-constructed by speaker and listener Author and reader Different genres Different functions of language
4. Foucault’s discourse Abstract meaning the collection of ways of talking about a given topic In the writings of Foucault ‘discourse’ refers to distinct configurations of representation, institutions and practices through which meanings are produced and authorised Each new discourse in the linguists’ sense adds to the existing discourse in this abstract sense. How does America see its role in the world? Human rights as a discourse
5. What we will be examining We will be looking at quite a few levels of language Discourse – both senses Pragmatics – the study of speaker intentions Sociophonetics – the social meaning of variants in pronunciation ...... BUT .....
6. Reinvigorating the sociology of sociolinguistics We will be linking these linguistic questions to newer ways of thinking about society Earlier research into sociolinguistics was rather atheoretical in its approach to what was meant by society, class, gender etc
7. Social Theory Recent Sociology and Social Theory Seeks to understand the relationship of the individual to the social world around them Seeks to explain the increasing importance of a having a sense of identity in modern times Seeks to explore how identity is formed through the interaction of individuals and the social forces around us
8. What is identity? Identity is a set of verbal practices though which persons assemble and display who they are while in the presence of, and in interaction with, others. Hadden & Lester, 1978, p.331 use the term identity to refer to how people understand their relationship to the world, how that relationship is constructed across time and space, and how people understand the possibilities of their future. Norton 1997, p.410
9. What is identity We recognise [identity] now as non-fixed, non-rigid, and always constructed by individuals of themselves or by peoples who share certain values or perceive another group as having such values ... Omoniyi & White 2006; cover Social identities come and go but my identity goes on as something which unites all the social identities I ever had, or will have. My identity always overflows, adds to, transforms the social identities that are attached to me. Craib, 1998, p.4
10. Social constructionism Social categories are not real but are constructed by people who belong to a community. William Labov wanted to know how middle class NY’ersspoke r, or lower middle class NY’ers The social identity is the stimulus – the language variation is the response. What if we see this the other way round – people are choosing to act in certain ways to construct their social identity. Social construction sees people as having some choice in their self representation and different kinds of language as the building blocks to presenting an identity
11. The consequences of constructionism If our identities are not permanent, we are are able to construct and reconstruct them This means we are able to contextualise identity performances We are able to present different facets of our self through language (among other things) for specific audiences. If I am this everchanging parade of identities why do I always feel like me? Is there a real me under it all?
