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English Language Unit 1 Did you know? The first English dictionary was published in 1604.
English Language Unit 1
Did you know?
The first English dictionary
was published in 1604.
Learning intention:
Develop the skills to analyse a
discourse.
Success criteria:
Able to:
- identify discourse devices
- analyse a discourse
GKR
Discourse analysis – try this (booklet p 29)
Discourse
Ambiguous
Context
Discourse devices
Key Vocabulary:
Discourse – What is it?
What is discourse?
Discourse Analysis
Is an attempt to interpret what the writer or speaker intended to say.
It focuses on naturally spoken language as found in conversations, interviews, commentaries and speeches
Its aim is to make explicit what normally gets taken for granted; it is also to show what talking accomplishes in people’s lives and in society at large
Discourse Analysis Example
Mother: Are they your shoes in the family room?
Daughter: Yes (continues to text her friend)
Is the mother really just asking a question?
Is the mother’s question ambiguous?
Has the daughter chosen to take advantage of the ambiguity of her mother’s question?
Discourse Analysis
Read page 29 and 30 – highlight or
take notes
Stop before Meaning and the Mock
Turtle
Discourse types
Four types of discourse:
◦ argument – the writer / speaker is
attempting to convince an audience that
his or her opinion is correct, typically by
using logic and appealing to the
audience’s sense of reason
◦ narration - to tell a story, often in order to
make the audience feel differently about a
certain topic
Discourse types
◦ description - usually used to help the
audience visualise people and places, but
it can also put the audience in a particular
mood or create a certain type of
atmosphere
◦ exposition - inform the audience about a
particular topic
What are Discourse Devices?
Discourse devices – examples:
◦ ambiguity – word possibly has more than
one meaning
◦ malapropisms – using an incorrect word
in place of one that is similar in
pronunciation
◦ discourse particles – filler words used to
give the speaker time to think without
losing their turn in the conversation
◦ italics – can provide emphasis
Discourse Analysis
Examine Meaning and the Mock Turtle
Mock Turtle Analysis
What type of discourse is Mock
Turtle?
What tells us it is a conversation?
Who are the characters?
Who is the intended audience?
What is the context (background)?
What is the overall meaning?
What is the style of the language?
Mock Turtle Analysis
What is the structure? (full sentences,
paragraphs, dot points)
Word choice - do the words make
sense?
What would be the author’s intended
purpose to use nonsense words?
What impact does it have on Alice?
1) List 3 discourse
devices
2) Identify 2
questions to
ask when
analysing a
discourse
3) Name 1
learning
strategy you
used today
