week 7: doing critical discourse analysis educ2029

Week 7: Doing Critical Discourse Analysis

EDUC2029

Anticipatory setPick the Appraisal language from Courier Mail 7 September 2009

Finals Raid: Broncos set sights on Titans showdown

It is set to be civil war like southeast Queensland has never experienced before.

Brisbane last night ensured the dream showdown most Queenslanders had been hoping for, edging past Canberra Raiders 22-10 to put themselves on a qualifying final collision course with the Gold Coast Titans. It will be the first all-Queensland final since the Cowboys and Broncos locked horns in 2004 in Townsville.

Anticipatory set - answerPick the Appraisal language from Courier Mail 7 September 2009

Finals Raid: Broncos set sights on Titans showdown

It is set to be civil war like southeast Queensland has never experienced before.

Brisbane last night ensured the dream showdown most Queenslanders had been hoping for, edging past Canberra Raiders 22-10 to put themselves on a qualifying final collision course with the Gold Coast Titans. It will be the first all-Queensland final since the Cowboys and Broncos locked horns in 2004 in Townsville.

Aims

• To discuss key concepts in CDA• To review this week’s reading• To further practise CDA• To introduce nominalization

Outline of lecture

• Anticipatory set• Aims and outline• Housekeeping: syllabus v policy documents• Key concepts in CDA• What’s lunch got to do with it?• Doing CDA (includes nominalization)• Conclusion

HousekeepingAssignment 2: syllabuses are curriculum documents, not

policy. However, many syllabuses contain policy, e.g. on educational equity – see the sections after “Assessment”.

QSA also has policies on:• P-12 syllabus design principles• late and non-submission• Quality assurance• Special provisions• PrivacyFor more, see:

http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/learning/7446.html

http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/learning/7446.html

Key Concepts for the CDA

Key Concepts for the CDA• Discourse• ideology• discourse• Text• Genre• Social and cultural context• representation• Binary opposition• Privilege• Silence• Naturalisation• Reading position• Frames of reference

Plus grammar terms, especially:• Semiotic resources • Systems of choice• Transitivity: Process,

Participant, Circumstance• Noun group• Mood• Appraisal (including Modality)• Theme• Nominalization• Cohesion

What’s lunch got to do with it?

Reflections on the Week 7 reading


• Critical literacy in action• Different ‘meanings’ of language:– Social Languages – relationship building– Situated Meanings – ‘this time and place’

meanings– Cultural Models – theories and beliefs about the

world– Identity building – being different kinds of people

within different Discourses


Multiple perspectives on data: ‘ Understanding the perspectives we choose to take is critical to understanding what we can look at and how, so that we can shift from one angle of vision to another in order to triangulate perspectives, data, theory and methods. Because each angle of vision makes certain phenomena visible and others invisible, they key is to understand what each enables us to see, say, and know and what it masks. By juxtaposing various perspectives, a richer and fuller understanding of classroom life is possible.’ (p116)

Doing CDA

A National Action Plan to Build on Social Cohesion, Harmony and

Security

Fairclough’s dimension of discourse and discourse analysis


Description: what does it look like? (text analysis)

Explanation: why is it this way? (social analysis)

Interpretation: what does it all mean? (processing analysis)

A National Action Plan to Build on Social Cohesion, Harmony and Security

Context:

http://www.immi.gov.au/living-in-australia/a-diverse-australia/national-action-plan/nap.htm




Purpose

The purpose of this National Action Plan (NAP) is to reinforce social cohesion, harmony and support the national security imperative in Australia by addressing extremism, the promotion of violence and intolerance, in response to the increased threat of global religious and political terrorism. It is an initiative of Australian governments to address issues of concern to the Australian community and to support Australian Muslims to participate effectively in the broader community.

The NAP is part of the Australian governments’ national strategic framework to address terrorism, developed

since the events of 11 September 2001. The framework is based on the principles of maximum preparedness, comprehensive prevention and effective response and recovery.

Governments are committed to working in partnership to ensure the NAP is implemented in a co-ordinated and co-operative manner so that duplication does not occur, for example via exchange of information protocols. However, the approach adopted by individual jurisdictions will vary due to local demographic, social, cultural, religious and economic factors and these will be reflected in each jurisdiction’s implementation of the plan.

A National Action Plan to Build on Social Cohesion, Harmony and Security• Genre and purpose• Subject matter• Writer/s? Readers? Relationships?• Mode and medium

• What values, beliefs, assumptions, theories are evident?

Grammatical analysis

• What follows is a brief look at some significant features – selective!!

• See handout on web for full analysis• Full analysis may reveal more, may change

your interpretations


Stages and Phases

Purpose• “purpose”• “addressing terrorism”

Current situation• “many cultures, one

nation”• “stress”• “risk”• “solution”• “improving the status

quo”


Process, Participant, Circumstance

Purpose• “purpose”: lots of work being done by Circumstances (How, Why)• “addressing terrorism”: lots of work being done by Circumstances (Where,

Why)Current situation• “many cultures, one nation”: focus on Participants, especially ‘Australians’• “stress”: Participants focus on ‘the global security environment’, ‘events’,

anxiety’, ‘consequences’• “risk”: Participants focussing on ‘Australian security authorities’

‘Australians at risk’, ‘risk’ ‘acts of violence and terrorism’, ‘potential for violent and extremist group action’

• “solution”: Participants are ‘The NAP’ and ‘the underlying causes’• “improving the status quo”: lots of work being done by Circumstances

(Where, How, Why)


Circumstances

How When Why With what4 4 8 3


Themes (of paragraphs)

Purpose• “purpose”: ‘The purpose of this National Action Plan

(NAP’• “addressing terrorism”: ‘The NAP’Current situation• “many cultures, one nation”: ‘Australia’• “stress”: ‘The current global security environment and

the treat of international terrorism’• “risk”: ‘Australian security authorities’• “solution”: ‘The NAP’• “improving the status quo”: “Shared Australian values’


Naming practicesThe National Action Plan NAP

Australian governments governments Australian security authorities

Australia • Australian community• Australian society• Australian citizens• Multicultural community• Terrorist targets

• Australian Muslims• Indigenous Australians• Young people

(Terrorists) • Violent or extremist group action• International terrorism• Home grown terrorists

Developing a metalanguage

What is nominalization?

• a type of grammatical metaphor – i.e. saying something in an indirect way

• “the use of a nominal form to express a process meaning” (Thompson, 1996)

In simple terms – turning an event into a “thing”

ExamplesMany people have criticised these ideas. These ideas have been subject to widespread criticism.

Basically, we assume that (learners) retain unfamiliar words depending on how much they are involved in processing these words.

Our basic assumption is that the retention of unfamiliar words is conditional upon the degree of involvement in processing these words.

NominalizationNominalisation – turning an event into a thing, e.g.

The timber workers chopped down all the trees.

The clear-felling was performed by the timber workers.

allows writers to:– move information around while maintaining the Mood (e.g.

Declarative)– omit the Actor (doer of the action), possibly for ideological

reasons, e.g. “Clear-felling has occurred near Innisfail.”

Student assignment – little/no nominalization (Yr 12 EEI)

‘However, the Biological Oxygen Demand (B.O.D.) levels produced were quite low, showing that the lake was healthy in terms of not much bacteria was present as usually much of the dissolved oxygen is consumed by bacteria and this makes it unavailable to other organisms. In my opinion, I think that you cannot have high dissolved oxygen and low B.O.D. at the same time because, as soon as the dissolved oxygen gets high, bacteria from all sources will start invading, consuming all the oxygen available. So, in terms of dissolved oxygen levels the lake is not healthy as there is not enough oxygen for aquatic lives to be sustained. However, the B.O.D. levels show that there is very little oxygen or dead plants and animals that are consuming the oxygen, so that in a sense Lakewood Lake is not healthy. Yet, these results may be inconclusive as the B.O.D. levels may be low only because there is not high enough dissolved oxygen for bacteria to even live, which in a sense says that the lake is not healthy at all.’(p8)

Student assignment – increased nominalization

However, the production of low Biological Oxygen Demand (B.O.D.) levels reveals good lake health in terms of bacterial presence; usually consumption of much of the dissolved oxygen by bacteria results in lack of availability to other organisms. In my opinion, con-current levels of high dissolved oxygen and low B.O.D. are not possible because, high levels of dissolved oxygen result in bacterial invaders that consume all the available oxygen. So, in terms of dissolved oxygen levels, lake health is poor due to a lack of oxygen for the sustenance of aquatic life. However, the B.O.D. levels show that there is little consumption of oxygen by dead plants and animals, so that in a sense Lakewood Lake is not healthy. Yet, these results may be inconclusive as the cause of the low B.O.D. levels may be dissolved oxygen levels that are not high enough for bacterial life. In this sense, then, the lake is not healthy at all.

Common ways of turning verbs into nouns

• -tion (receive reception; conceive conception) – also –sion, -cion• -ation (visit visitation; invite invitation; accommodate

accommodation)• -ization (civilize civilization; realize realization; nominalize

nominalization)• -ance (perform performance)• -ment (enhance enhancement; enchant enchantment)• -ing (snorkel snorkelling; rustle rustling)• -y (discover discovery)• -er (kill killer; hunt hunter; eat eater)

But, there are other possibilities

Some easy steps

‘The carnivore is classified scientifically as Australovenator wintonesis. It has been dubbed “Banjo” after Banjo Patterson, who composed Waltzing Matilda in Winton in1885.’

Note: not every verb group needs to be nominalized.

Some easy steps


1. Choose a base sentence

Some easy steps


2. Nominalize a significant verb group.

is classified classification

Some easy steps


3. Turn the adverb into an epithet.

Scientific classification

Some easy steps‘The carnivore is classified scientifically as Australovenator

wintonesis. It has been dubbed “Banjo” after Banjo Patterson, who composed Waltzing Matilda in Winton in1885.’

4. Turn the remaining words into a noun group

The carnivore which has the scientific classification of Australovenator wintonesis

Note: ‘it’ in the second sentence refers to ‘carnivore’, so there’s a clear signal that this must be take Thing position in the noun group.

Some easy steps‘The carnivore is classified scientifically as Australovenator

wintonesis. It has been dubbed “Banjo” after Banjo Patterson, who composed Waltzing Matilda in Winton in1885.’

5. Insert this into the base sentence. (In this case, just replace ‘it’.)

The carnivore which has the scientific classification of Australovenator wintonesis has been dubbed “Banjo” after

Banjo Patterson, who composed Waltzing Matilda in Winton in1885.

Questions?

Try this

‘People who drink too much alcohol and drive often cause motor vehicle accidents.’

Did you have something like…

‘People who drink too much alcohol and drive often cause motor vehicle accidents.’

‘Excessive consumption of alcohol by drivers is a frequent cause of motor vehicle accidents.’

What functions does nominalization serve?

• An important feature of written text.• Brings different aspects of the message into prominence and

can change the message, e.g. Does ‘major cause’ mean the same as ‘causes lots of accidents’? In the nominalised version, who is causing the accident?

• Can be used to condense information.• Converts and event to a ‘thing’ that can be argued about,

discussed and evaluated more easily.

So what?

Makes the writing “formal”, “sophisticated” and “academic” – gains credibility?

A way of turning experience/observation into abstract concepts – “people drink too much alcohol” (observation) & “excessive consumption of alcohol” (abstraction).

Can be used as a way of eliding (omitting) the Actor - ideological.

Warning: Too much nominalization (particularly in conjunction with long noun groups) can result in dense, difficult to read text.


Nominalization

• Purpose• “purpose”• cohesion• harmony• national security imperative• extremism, the promotion of violence and intolerance• threat of global religious and political terrorism• an initiative of Australian governments to address issues of concern to the Australian community• • “addressing terrorism”• the principles of maximum preparedness, comprehensive prevention and effective response and

recovery• a co-ordinated and co-operative manner • duplication • exchange of information protocols • the approach adopted by individual jurisdictions • local demographic, social, cultural, religious and economic factors • each jurisdiction’s implementation of the plan.


Nominalization

“stress”• The current global security environment• the threat of international terrorism• Events such as 11 September 2001 and the July 2005 London bombings• anxiety about the likelihood of such events occurring in Australia.• the consequences of terrorist action overseas • “risk”• terrorist targets • acts of violence and terrorism• the potential for violent• extremist group action • involvement in this behaviour

“solution”• the underlying causes of terrorism• the social and economic factors that encourage radicalisation and motivate extremist behaviour• a contribution to a comprehensive approach to counter-terrorism.

A National Action Plan to Build on Social Cohesion, Harmony and SecurityAppraisal - examples

Purpose“purpose”The purpose of this National Action Plan (NAP) is to

reinforce social cohesion, harmony and support the national security imperative in Australia by addressing extremism, the promotion of violence and intolerance, in response to the increased threat of global religious and political terrorism. It is an initiative of Australian governments to address issues of concern to the Australian community and to support Australian Muslims to participate effectively in the broader community.

A National Action Plan to Build on Social Cohesion, Harmony and SecurityAppraisal- examplesCurrent situation

“many cultures, one nation”Australia is a land of many faiths, many languages and many cultures.

Today, Australia’s 20.3 million residents come from 230 countries, speak more than 190 languages and follow more than 100 religious faiths. Apart from Indigenous Australians, all Australians can trace their roots to somewhere else, and Australia’s heritage does not belong to any one individual, group or faith. Over the last 150 years many diverse groups have worked together to build a multicultural community based on the principles of democracy, tolerance and equality. All Australians, whether they were born here or migrated here, have equal rights and responsibilities – the right to freedom of speech, religious practice, freedom of cultural expression, and the responsibility to respect the rights of others and follow Australia’s laws and democratic principles.

A National Action Plan to Build on Social Cohesion, Harmony and SecurityAppraisal- examplesCurrent situation

“stress”The current global security environment and the threat

of international terrorism places unusual stress on Australian society. Events such as 11 September 2001 and the July 2005 London bombings have increased anxiety about the likelihood of such events occurring in Australia. Already, Australian citizens have suffered the consequences of terrorist action overseas, in places like New York, Washington, London, Bali and Jakarta.

A National Action Plan to Build on Social Cohesion, Harmony and SecurityAppraisal- examplesNote how much the ‘volume is turned up’ (i.e.

graduation), e.g.:• Extremism and radicalisation (not ‘strongly

held beliefs’)• Threat (not ‘some danger’)• Events such as 11 September 2001 and the

July 2005 London bombings (not ‘a couple of unfortunate incidents’)

• Anxiety (cf. ‘some genuine concern’)


Description: what does it look like? (text analysis)

Explanation: why is it this way? (social analysis)



• How is the text positioned or positioning?• Whose interests are served by this positioning?• Whose interests are negated?• What are the consequences of this positioning? (Janks, 1997 – see book of Readings)

So, why is it written in this way?

Questions?

Conclusion

Conclusion

Show me your texts for the second assignment

Tutorial• Questions and clarifications• Practising CDA

References

For the National Action Plan, see http://www.immi.gov.au/living-in-australia/a-diverse-australia/national-action-plan/nap.htm

week 7: doing critical discourse analysis educ2029

Documents

cda slide

nominalization slide

cda whats lunch

titans showdown

anticipatory set answer

allqueensland final

appraisal language

practise cda