Course Description:
Discourse Analysis involves the study of language communication in situ. This course focusses on interpersonal communication as socio - cultural practice: as a process of interaction - face to face and through social media, for achieving conversational order and for communicating meaning. You will explore interpersonal communication as an environment for constructing, shaping and negotiating identity; establishing, cementing and exposing social practices and engineering social order. After using the appropriate tools to collect, code and transcribe recorded data from different interactional situations around you, you will employ appropriate discourse theories to analyse the strategies which interlocutors make use of to imply and interpret meaning, to integrate themselves in society, and manage their social relations during face to face and online interaction. You will also investigate the role of discourse practices in creating conflict through interpersonal, inter-community and intercultural miscommunication and misunderstanding.