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Approaches to Discourse (Q1082)

15 credits, Level 5

Autumn teaching

This module will introduce you to methods of studying various forms of discourse (both spoken and written). You will familiarise yourself with a number of different theoretical approaches to discourse and will understand the methodological premises on which they are based. Having being exposed to issues of data collection and transcription and to the conversation analysis framework in year 1, you will approach the study of discourse analysis and pragmatics from both a theoretical and an applied perspective.

Following the discussion of such theoretical approaches as ethnography of communication, critical discourse analysis, corpus and computer-assisted discourse analysis, you will focus on some of the aspects of institutional discourse for instance the discourse of the media, of politics and education. Emphasis is laid on how ideology, identity, or stance are expressed and conveyed through discourse.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 22 hours of contact time and about 128 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.