Stephen H. Moore

Disinterring ideology from a corpus of obituaries: a critical post mortem

The Economist is an influential publication read by a worldwide elite audience of politically and economically powerful people and their supporters. This article explores how The Economist constructs and projects an ideology. It is hypothesized that even a peripheral feature of the journal, such as the regular obituary column, will still reveal a great deal about its ideology (i.e. its view/construction of reality). The investigation is undertaken using the paradigm of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). First, a corpus of 100 of The Economists obituaries is examined to provide a sociological profile of the typical subject. Second, drawing from the both CDA and Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG), two of these obituaries, one closely matching the typical profile and one not, are subjected to a detailed analysis to compare and contrast them stylistically and to tease out the underlying ideology. Patterns in the choice of subject and pervasion of an ideology are clearly identified.

Realising a discourse of the ‘basket case’

This paper examines the discourse of a leading Western publication (The Economist magazine) in its reporting on a poorly understood country steeped in different cultural values and traditions (Cambodia). Using a critical discourse analysis framework and the theory of systemic functional linguistics, this paper argues that The Economists reporting effectively reinforces an image of Cambodia as a ‘basket case’. This is achieved by setting the country up for failure (by measuring its performance against Western benchmarks) and then vilifying the Cambodian leadership for that failure. A solution is hinted at but with little hope of success. The data analysed consist of 129 articles published in The Economist between late 1991 and mid-2002, with a special focus on a key sub-set of 18 articles. Particular attention is given to the analysis of field settings in The Economists reporting and its treatment of Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen through the semantic system of voice.

Review of selected research in applied linguistics published in Australia (2008-2014)

This article reviews the significant and diverse range of research in applied linguistics published in Australia in the period 2008–2014. Whilst acknowledging that a great deal of research by Australian scholars has been published internationally during these seven years, this review is based on books, journal articles, and conference proceedings published in Australia. Many of these sources will be unfamiliar to an international audience, and the purpose of this article is to highlight this body of research and the themes emerging from it. The journals selected in this review include Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, Australian Review of Applied Linguistics (ARAL), BABEL, English in Australia, English Australia, Papers in Language Testing and Assessment, Prospect: An Australian Journal of TESOL, TESOL in Context , and University of Sydney Papers in TESOL . Selected refereed proceedings are from key national conferences including: ALAA (Applied Linguistics Association of Australia), ACTA (Australian Council of TESOL Association), ASFLA (Australian Systemic Functional Linguistics Association), and ALS (Australian Linguistics Society). Our review of selected applied linguistics work revolves around the following themes: the responses to the needs of government planning and policy; the complexity of Australias multicultural, multilingual society; the concern for recognizing context and culture as key factors in language and language learning; social activism in supporting language pedagogy and literacy programmes at all levels of education; and acknowledgement of the unique place held by Indigenous languages and Aboriginal English in the national linguistic landscape.

What Actions Are Being Taken Here, by Whom and Why?

This chapter is concerned with the key question ‘What actions are being taken here, by whom and why?’ It focuses on exploring discourse in social action through ‘mediated discourse analysis’ (MDA) and ‘professional vision’, drawing from Scollon and Goodwin, respectively. The chapter also deals with identities and roles in discourse, drawing upon social psychology and the work of Tajfel. Key MDA concepts introduced include mediated action, sites of engagement, mediational means, practices and nexus of practice. Three key practices in professional vision are discussed: coding, highlighting and producing/articulating representations. Social psychological approaches to discourse analysis are discussed, both experimental and discursive, focusing on identities, roles and accommodation. Communication Accommodation Theory is introduced, as is a model of social psychological approaches to discourse analysis.

How Do You Know That

This chapter is concerned with the key question that can be asked of any interpretation of discourse, ‘How do you know that?’ The chapter draws on the work of Gumperz, dealing with processes of inferencing, reasoning and evidencing in discourse, and the work of Cicourel, dealing with the notion of ‘ecological validity’. The notion of ‘interpretive potential’ is introduced, and how we make sense of utterances through inferencing is discussed. Interpretive and negotiative resources are considered in the practice of interactional sociolinguistic analysis. The key concept of ‘contextualisation cues’ is presented and discussed, including the cultural dimension of discourse. Issues and challenges relating to participant accounts are discussed, and the various roles of the applied linguist as a discourse researcher are explored in depth.

‘ What Is It That’s Going on Here?’

This chapter investigates the key question posed by Goffman, ‘What is it that is going on here?’, and how, using ethnographically informed insights from Geertz, we can understand and interpret discourse. It introduces Goffman’s concepts of frames, strips and footing, and participation roles such as ratified and unratified speaker/hearer. The chapter also discusses the management of ‘face’ and ‘facework’ in discourse, including its relation to politeness theory which is also introduced. Linguistic ethnography is presented and exemplified, and the various roles of the researcher in ethnography are critically discussed. Ethnographic practices are introduced, including assumptions relevant to ethnographic methodology in discourse analysis. The key concepts of ‘reflexivity’ and ‘thick participation’ are also introduced and discussed.

Discourses on Discourse

This chapter discusses discourse in relation to key principles and practices and sets out the model of describing, interpreting and explaining discourse. It introduces the concepts of ‘communities of practice’, ‘site of engagement’ and ‘critical moments’ as central to discourse, and explains the relationship between social practice and discursive practice, drawing on the work of three key scholars Bourdieu, Foucault and Habermas. In the case of Bourdieu, the terms ‘habitus’, ‘field’, ‘market’ and ‘game’, and ‘capital’ are introduced and discussed; for Foucault, it is the notions of the ‘archaeology of knowledge’, ‘statements’ and ‘orders of discourse’; and for Habermas, his view on public versus private spheres, and ‘distorted communication’. Key scholar ‘portraits’ are also provided for these major figures.

Why That Now

This chapter deals with the key question ‘Why that now?’, and in doing so examines the notion of ‘talk in action’. It focuses on the micro analysis of discourse, and issues of sequence and membership; and processes of contextualising and localising inquiry. It draws upon the work of Garfinkel, Sacks, Schegloff and Heritage, and the methodological concerns of ethnomethodology and conversation analysis (CA). How members of particular groupings ‘do things’ and how ethnomethodologists account for that is discussed, as is the notion of human interaction as a foundation for CA. Intentionality and interactivity are also discussed. Various CA concepts (the ‘micro-level systematics’) are introduced and exemplified, including openings, closings and overall organisation of talk; topic management; turn-taking; adjacency pairs; preference organisation; feedback markers; and repairs and clarifications.

Who’s Involved in Discourse?

This chapter deals with the key question ‘Who is involved in discourse?’ It investigates participants, roles and behaviours, and focuses on the processes of indexing, inscribing and accounting in discourse. The chapter draws extensively on the work of Goffman and Garfinkel, discussing participants and actors in terms of their associated interaction and institutional orders and covering the relationship between discourses and professional, institutional and personal identities. This includes examination of Goffman’s notions of ‘front’ and ‘back’ stages of social life, and performances in terms of events, activity types and genres, and discusses actions, discourse types and discourse strategies, indexicality and reflexivity, and the notion of categorising membership in communities of practice.

How Do Discourse and Social Change Drive Each Other

This chapter addresses the question ‘How do discourse and social change drive each other?’ It focuses on going beyond ‘pattern-seeking’ and explores interdiscursivity and social/institutional change, drawing on the work of Fairclough and Wodak, in Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). CDA is discussed as an approach to discourse analysis, rather than a methodology, and eight principles underlying it are presented. An historical account of the development of CDA is provided, including the shift from macro theory-focused to practice-oriented. CDA as description, interpretation and explanation is explored. Social change is discussed, and how it is in a reflexive relationship with discourse, each informing the other. Key scholars introduced throughout the book are revisited in this chapter in the context of social change.