Discourse Analysis

This course offers a clear, engaging, and structured introduction to Discourse Analysis, taking you from the fundamental concepts of discourse to conversation analysis, pragmatics, power, ideology, and Critical Discourse Analysis.

Module 1: Introduction to Discourse Analysis

• What is discourse?
• Discourse vs. sentences and texts
• The scope and aims of discourse analysis
• Spoken vs. written discourse
• Discourse analysis vs. pragmatics and sociolinguistics
• Key concepts: context, coherence, and cohesion

Module 2: Cohesion and Coherence

• Grammatical and lexical cohesion
• Reference, anaphora, and cataphora
• Substitution and ellipsis
• Conjunction and its role in texts
• Lexical cohesion
• How coherence helps us understand and interpret discourse

Module 3: Conversation Analysis

• The fundamental principles of conversation analysis
• Turn-taking systems
• Adjacency pairs
• Preference organization
• Repair mechanisms in conversation
• Everyday conversation vs. institutional talk

Module 4: Discourse, Power, and Ideology

• How language reflects and creates social power
• Introduction to Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)
• Ideology and its role in discourse
• Representation, dominance, and inequality
• Analyzing media discourse
• Political and institutional discourse

Module 5: Pragmatic & Interactional Aspects of Discourse

• Speech acts in discourse
• Politeness and face theory
• Implicature and inference
• Deixis in discourse
• Contextualization cues and interaction

Go Beyond Grammar. Understand Discourse.

Language is more than vocabulary and grammar. Meaning is shaped by context, interaction, relationships, social structures, and the way language is used.

Throughout this course, you’ll explore the tools and concepts that allow you to look beneath the surface of language and understand how discourse actually works.

Start your journey into Discourse Analysis and discover the deeper meaning behind the language we use every day.