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Discourse vs. Text
Is it discourse analysis
Or Text analysis?
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There has been some confusion in theliterature regarding the distinction
between discourse analysis and textanalysis.
It is a result of the confusion in the termsdiscourse and text.
Introduction
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The Confusion
Some researchers label their analysisdiscourse analysis, while others claim
they are doing text analysis, but thedifference is often inconsistent.
Some claim to make clear distinctions
between discourse and text, but a closerlook reveals that their distinctions do nothold.
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Examples:Widdowson (1973)
Text:is made up of
sentences.
- A text is made up ofsentences having theproperty ofgrammaticalcohesion.
-Text Analysis: dealswith cohesion.
Discourse:is the use of such
sentences.
- A discourse is madeup of utteranceshaving the propertyof coherence.
- Discourse analysis:investigatescoherence.
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Problems with the distinctions:
It contradicts the known and well-established distinction between sentence
and utterance in the literature.
Widdowson did not maintain thisdistinction himself: In 1978 he argued that
discourse is made up of sentences havingthe properties of cohesion & coherence!
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Another distinction
Text: Text is defined in
terms of its being aphysical product.
Meaning is not foundin text.
Discourse: Discourse is viewed
as a process.
Meaning is derivedthrough the readersinteraction with thetext discourse.
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Problems with such distinctions:
There is considerable overlap between thefindings of studies claiming to look at text as
product and of those claiming to investigatediscourse as process.
Thus, it is not necessary to maintain adistinction between discourse analysis and textanalysis on the basis of investigating a processas opposed investigating a product.
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Others
Text: written
Text analysis:investigates writtenform
Discourse: Spoken
Discourse analysis:analyzes spokenform.
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Problems:
Many studies have used models originallydeveloped for studying spoken form to
investigate written form (Tadros 1981),and vice versa (Hoey 1983).
Thus, such a distinction is not necessary.
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Conclusion
Many researchers have come to thisconclusion:
Discourse analysis includes all studiesinvestigating the supra-sententialstructure of any stretch of language,
spoken or written.
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What about text analysis?
The terms text / text analysis lead toconfusion.
Therefore, the term text should beabandoned unless it is used to refer to thephysical arrangement of linguistic signals
on paper (Tadros, 1981).
