Critical Discourse Analysis

2023/2024

Academic Year

ENG

Instruction in English

6

ECTS credits

Delivered at:

School of Fundamental and Applied Linguistics

Course type:

Elective course

When:

2 year, 2, 3 module

Instructor

Morozova, Natalia

Course Syllabus

Abstract

: This practice-oriented course will introduce students to critical discourse analysis (CDA) of media and political texts. The course aims to equip students with one of the core methodological and analytical skills necessary to engage in research on media and political discourse, including text selection, analysis, comparison and presentation of results. By the end of the course students will be able to analyze mass media and poitical texts from the point of view of their meaning, form, argumentation and action and identify possible ideological bias and flaws in argumentation. The course comprises the following methodological approaches: critical discourse analysis of the news (T. Van Dijk) and critical analysis of political argumentation (N. Fairclough).

Learning Objectives

• The course aims to familiarize students with the main methodological approaches to the study of political and mass communication (critical theory, critical discourse analysis, social constructivism)
• The course aims to equip students with specific techniques of analyzing political and media texts that they can employ in conducting their own research (critical discourse analysis, critical analysis of political argumentation)

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Students will master the technique of critical discourse analysis (CDA) of political and media texts
• Students will master the technique of identifying and analyzing the structure of a political argument

Course Contents

• The notion of discourse and critical discourse analysis (CDA)
• Theory of political argumentation

Assessment Elements

• Analytical Essay (comparative analysis of two news media texts discussing the same event)
• Analysis of Political Argumentation in accordance with N.Fairclough's framework
• Attendance and Participation

Interim Assessment

• 2023/2024 3rd module
  0.4 * Analysis of Political Argumentation in accordance with N.Fairclough's framework + 0.2 * Analytical Essay (comparative analysis of two news media texts discussing the same event) + 0.4 * Attendance and Participation

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Melissa Zimdars, & Kembrew McLeod. (2020). Fake News : Understanding Media and Misinformation in the Digital Age. The MIT Press.
• Waring, H. Z. (2018). Discourse Analysis : The Questions Discourse Analysts Ask and How They Answer Them. New York, NY: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1585455
• Wodak, R., & Forchtner, B. (2018). The Routledge Handbook of Language and Politics. Routledge.

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Charteris-Black, J. (2014). Analysing Political Speeches : Rhetoric, Discourse and Metaphor. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1453945
• Discourse and Communication : New Approaches to the Analysis of Mass Media Discourse and Communication, edited by Teun A. Van Dijk, De Gruyter, Inc., 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/hselibrary-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3042341.
• Dunn, K. C., & Neumann, I. B. (2016). Undertaking Discourse Analysis for Social Research. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1527157
• Kate Kenski and Kathleen Hall Jamieson (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Political Communication. Oxford Handbooks Online
• Schäffner, C., & Chilton, P. A. (2002). Politics As Text and Talk : Analytic Approaches to Political Discourse. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=253276