Analise Do Discurso Ingles 8

8° Período
Análise do Discurso
Carmen Rosa Caldas-Coulthard

Malcolm Coulthard
Viviane Heberle
Florianópolis, 2013.
Governo Federal
Presidente da República: Dilma Vana Rousseff
Ministro da Educação: Aloísio Mercadante
Coordenador da Universidade Aberta do Brasil: Celso José da Costa
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

Reitora: Roselane Neckel
Vice-Reitora: Lúcia Helena Martins Pacheco
Pró-Reitora de Graduação: Roselane de Fátima Campos
Pró-Reitor de Pesquisa: Jamil Assreuy Filho
Pró-Reitor de Extensão: Edson da Rosa
Pró-Reitora de Pós-Graduação: Joana Maria Pedro
Pró-Reitor de Planejamento e Orçamento: Luiz Alberton
Pró-Reitor de Administração: Antônio Carlos Montezuma Brito
Pró-Reitora de Assuntos Estudantis: Beatriz Augusto de Paiva
Curso de Licenciatura em Letras-Inglês na

Modalidade a Distância
Diretor Unidade de Ensino: Felício Wessling Margutti
Chefe do Departamento: Silvana Gaspari
Coordenador de Curso: Celso Tumolo
Coordenadora de Tutoria: Mailce Mota
Coordenação Pedagógica: LANTEC/CED
Coordenação de Ambiente Virtual: Hiperlab/CCE
Projeto Gráfico
Coordenação: Luiz Salomão Ribas Gomez
Equipe: Gabriela Medved Vieira
Pricila Cristina da Silva
Adaptação: Thiago Felipe Victorino
Comissão Editorial
Celso Henrique Soufen Tumolo
Lêda Maria Braga Tomitch
Lincoln Fernandes
Mailce Mota
Magali Sperling
Raquel D’Ely
Wladimir Garcia
Equipe de Desenvolvimento de Materiais
Material Impresso e Hipermídia

Coordenação: Ane Girondi
Diagramação: Pedro Gomides Lopes
Tratamento de Imagem: Pedro Gomides Lopes
Revisão gramatical: Carmen Rosa Caldas-Coulthard, Malcolm Coulthard e
Viviane Heberle
Capa: Ane Girondi
Ilustração: Pedro Gomides Lopes
Copyright@2013, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

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e gravada sem a prévia autorização, por escrito, da Universidade
Federal de Santa Catarina.
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Universitária da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina.
Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................7
1 Communication: multiple modes....................................13
1.1 How do we communicate?........................................................................15
1.2 Text, genre and discourse – introducing concepts...........................19
1.3 What is discourse analysis for students of language?.....................22
2 Discourse as interaction....................................................25
2.1 The difference between spoken and written discourse.................27
2.2 Interaction in discourse – participants and roles..............................32
2.3 Ideal readers and real readers..................................................................33
2.4 Text structure..................................................................................................35
2.5 The prospective nature of text................................................................36
2.6 Summary...........................................................................................................37
3 The structure of written text...........................................41
3.1 Introduction....................................................................................................43
3.2 The problem-solution structure...............................................................43
3.3 Problem-solution structures.....................................................................45
3.4 The signalling of discourse structure.....................................................48
3.5 Matching relations........................................................................................50
3.6 Summary..........................................................................................................57
4 Genre and text types..........................................................59
4.1 What is genre?................................................................................................61
4.2 Some definitions of genre.........................................................................62
4.3 Longacre typology of text – general characteristics........................63
4.4 The Sydney approach to genre analysis in secondary school

writing..............................................................................................................65
4.5 Genres defined and exemplified.............................................................66
4.6 Final comments.............................................................................................70
5 Telling stories: news as narrative......................................73
5.1 Introduction....................................................................................................75
5.2 The special status of news as discourse................................................77
5.3 News as genre.................................................................................................78
5.4 News as narrative..........................................................................................81
6 Critical discourse analysis.................................................91
6.1 What is critical discourse analysis...........................................................93
6.2 Topics of interest in CDA............................................................................95
6.3 Fairclough’s three-dimensional approach to CDA.........................100
6.4 Concluding the chapter............................................................................103
Final remarks......................................................................105
References and further reading.........................................107

Introduction
Overview
Dear Students,
Welcome to the Discipline Discourse Analysis!
This course introduces you to important aspects of recent research in the

areas of Discourse Analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis, and suggests
practical applications to applied linguistics and translation studies. Each
of the Chapters lists readings from a particular area, which you are asked
to read. No prior knowledge is assumed and progression through the
Chapters will be swift. However, for those of you who are completely new
to the subject, the chapters will guide you through each topic. They include
examples of analysed texts, and tasks with accompanying commentary for
you to refer to when you have completed them.
Aims
The main purpose of this course is to consider the relationship between

language, other semiotic signs, and society. We will introduce theories
of discourse analysis and spend time doing textual analysis. This course
will enable you to develop a critical understanding of some key concepts
involved in Discourse Analysis and of how language reflects, mediates and
creates our everyday reality. The first objective of the course is, then, to
make you aware of communicative processes. The second objective is to
review some different approaches to communication, especially to written
communication. By being exposed to current approaches to interaction, you
should improve your own production, both oral and written. A third objective
of the course is a practical one – you are expected to do Discourse Analysis. In
other words, we hope you will apply some of the theoretical input acquired
during the course to your own data and particularly to your own writing.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, you should:
• have developed a critical understanding of the theoretical and

practical issues relating to culture, communication and discursive
practices;
• be able to analyse different types of communication;
• significantly improve your ability to write in English.
Course Structure
Each chapter includes:
• Explanation of the main concepts, with reference to examples, some

of which provide tasks for you to do in order to better understand
the concepts.
• Reflection Tasks, Activities and some with Commentaries, which

involve the practical analysis of texts and the application of the
theory to your own texts. You may also be asked to analyse texts in
order to demonstrate particular applications of analysis.
• Reading Activities where you are asked to produce summaries to

send to your tutors to help you to improve your written English.
NOTE: When you have completed all the activities in a given chapter,
send them immediately to your tutor for feedback and evaluation.
Course Reading
Most of the required readings for this course are taken from:
• Caldas-Coulthard, C.R. (1997) News As Social Practice A Study in

Critical Discourse Analysis, Florianópolis, Brazil: UFSC
• Caldas-Coulthard, C.R and Cabral, L. Desvendando Discursos:

Conceitos Básicos (2008), Florianopolis: UFSC
• Caldas-Coulthard, C. R. and M. Coulthard (eds.) (1996) Texts and
Practices: Readings in Critical Discourse Analysis. London: Routledge
• Caldas-Coulthard, C.R and D. Figueiredo, D. (2004) Special Issue

- Análises Críticas: Perspectivas Textuais e Discursivas (Critical
Analyses: Textual and Discursive Perspectives) Journal Linguagem
em (Dis)curso. Tubarão: UNISUL.
• Coulthard, M. (1994) Advances in Written Text Analysis. London and

New York: Routledge.
• Coulthard, M. (1985) An Introduction to Discourse Analysis. London:

Longman
• Jaworski, A. and N. Coupland (eds.) (1999) The Discourse Reader.

London: Routledge.
• Meurer, J. L., Bonini, A., Motta Roth, D. (Orgs.) (2007). Gêneros:

Teorias, Métodos, Debates. (02. ed.) São Paulo: Parábola Editorial.
• Meurer, J. L. (org.) (1992) Revista Ilha do Desterro (n. 27): Text Analysis/
Análise de Texto. Florianópolis: UFSC: Pós-Graduação em Inglês.
A list of useful websites of journals and other important sites:
Journals
Critical Discourse Studies

http://www.cds-web.net/
Journal of Language and Politics

http://www.benjamins.com/cgi-bin/t_seriesview.cgi?series=Jlp
Social Semiotics:
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/10350330.asp
Discourse and Society:

http://www.discursos.org/journals/das/index.html
Discurso y Sociedad:
http://www.dissoc.org/
Discourse Studies:
http://www.discourses.org/journals/dis/
Text:
http://www.degruyter.de/
Readings
The following table contains a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of your reading
chap. Required Reading Optional Reading

1
• CALDAS-COULTHARD, C.R
(2008) “Da Análise do Discurso à • Coulthard, R. M. (1985) An Introduction
Análise Crítica do Discurso”, in C.R to Discourse Analysis. London:
Caldas-Coulthard and L. Cabral Longman. Ch. 2: 13-32.
Desvendando Discursos: Conceitos • Meurer, J.L. (2004) “Ampliando a noção
Básicos, pp. 19-44. de contexto na linguística sistêmico-
• Telles Ribeiro, B. (2008) “ A noção de funcional e na análise crítica do
contexto na Análise do Discurso” in discursos”, in C.R.Caldas-Coulthard and
C.R Caldas-Coulthard and L. Cabral D. Figueredo, pp.133-158.
Desvendando Discursos: Conceitos
Básicos , pp. 45-78.
2 • Coulthard, R. M. (1994) ‘On analysing
and evaluating written text’, in
Coulthard, R. M. (ed.) (1994a. Ch. 1:
1-11. • Coulthard, R. M. (1985) An Introduction
• Leite de Oliveira, M. do C. (2008) to Discourse Analysis. London:
“Polidez e Interação”, in C.R Longman. Ch.4, pp.59-95.
Caldas-Coulthard and L. Cabral
Básicos , pp. 197-224.
3 • Hoey, M. (1994) ‘Signalling in
Discourse: a functional analysis of a
common discourse pattern in written • McCarthy, M. (1991) Discourse Analysis
and spoken English’. In Coulthard, R. for Language Teachers’. Cambridge:
M. (ed.) (1994a). Ch. 3: 26-45. Cambridge University Press. 22-33; 74-
• Johns, T. (1994) ‘The text and its 84; 152-164
message’, in Coulthard, R. M. (ed.)
(1994) Ch. 7: 102-116.
4
• Dudley-Evans, A. (1994) ‘Genre
• Caldas-Coulthard, C. R. (1994) ‘On
analysis: an approach to text analysis
reporting reporting’. In Coulthard, R. M.
for ESP’. In Coulthard, R. M. (ed.)
(ed.) (1994a). Ch. 19: 295-308.
(1994). Ch. 14: 219-229.
5
• Meurer, J. L. (1998). Narrative in
self-help counseling. In Meurer, J.
L. Aspects of Language in Self-help
Counselling. Advanced Research in • Caldas-Coulthard, C. R. (1996)
English Series. Florianópolis: Pós- ‘Women who pay for sex and enjoy
Graduação em Inglês/UFSC, pp 19-42. it. Transgressions versus morality in
• Bastos, L. (2008) “Estórias, vida women’s magazines’. In Caldas-C.R
cotidiana e identidade – uma Coulthard, C. R. and Coulthard, M.
introdução ao estudo da narrativa’ in (eds.) (1996) Ch. 14: 250-270.
C.R Caldas-Coulthard and L. Cabral
Básicos, pp. 79-112.
6
• Fowler, R. (1966) ‘On Critical • Caldas-Coulthard, C.R and Van
Linguistics’. In Caldas-Coulthard, C. Leeuwen, T. With Van Leeuwen, T. (2002)
R. and Coulthard, M. (eds.) (1996) ‘Stunning, Shimmering, Iridescent:
Ch1: 3-15. toys as the representation of gendered
• Heberle, V. M. (2000). Critical reading: social actors. In Gender Identity and
Integrating principles of critical Discourse Analysis, L. Litosseleti, L.
discourse analysis and gender studies. and J. Sunderland. Amsterdam: John
Ilha do Desterro( 38), 115-138. Benjamins, 91-110.
Chapter 1
Communication: multiple modes
Chapter 1
1 Communication: multiple
modes
1.1 How do we communicate?

Language is only one of the ways we communicate meanings in our
daily lives. We use the resources of our bodies and the environment
we are placed in at the moment of communication to send a message
to somebody else. It is very interesting to look at babies and see how
they use their physical resources to start and to maintain interactions
with others. By using an index finger and pointing, for example, an 11
months baby ‘says’ to her mum – ‘this is my toy’.
We also communicate meanings through the choices we make in the

ways we dress, accessorize, the ways we walk (think of the different
meanings between the ways soldiers march and the ways common
people walk or the difference between ordinary women and models on
the catwalk), the ways we cut our hair, etc…
When we talk about Discourse, we refer to the ways people use different
semiotic resources, or different signs, to communicate. The linguistic
system is, of course, one of the most important modes of communication.
One important fact about communication is that it always takes place in
a context. Native speakers of all languages ‘know’ how to communicate
in certain social situations, being appropriate most of the time. This is
because communication and society are a unified conception – one does
not exist without the other. So we can state that all texts have contexts,
and even when we are examining surface linguistic features - as we will
be doing in some chapters of this course - we need to be aware of what
there is outside the text informing the text, and affecting the way it is
written or spoken. For example, we need to consider: who wrote the
text? who did the author write it for? when, where, and why did they
write it? where has the text appeared and in what format?
15
Michael Halliday (1985,1994) the main proponent of the systemic

functional view of communication and language -,as you saw in Período
4; Linguística Aplicada II and Período 7; Descrição Linguística, refers
to two types of contexts, where communication occurs, the Context of
Culture and the Context of Situation:
Text
Context of
situation
Context of
culture
The context of culture is the outside context where ways of doing things
according to specific cultural rules happen. The context of situation
is the inner circle where the immediate location will determine ways
of interacting (things going on in the world outside the text which
make the interaction what it is). Language is itself inseparable from its
socio-linguistic context. In other words, we will have different ways of
interacting if we are in a party or in a classroom, especially if we are in
places which are foreign to us like England or China. The combination of
the two contexts will produce differences in communication. Halliday
says that when we notice that language is different in different situations,
we are taking a FUNCTIONAL view of language. A functional view
focuses on what makes a piece of language different from another. For
Halliday, language is a systematic semiotic resource for expressing and
exchanging meaning through varying contexts and linguistic usage.
16
Chapter 1
Another important aspect of communication or what we will call ‘forms

of discourse’ from now on) is that our communications will depend
not only on cultural and situational contexts but also on the ways we
were raised as people (socialisation patterns), on our beliefs and values
(ideologies) and on the ways we use our social skills to maintain as good
as a social interpersonal climate as possible (face and politeness systems,
Goffman, (1955). The diagram below summarises these relationships:
Ideologies
Forms of
Discourse
Face and
Politeness Socialisation
Systems
Finally, our forms of discourse will also depend on the ways we identify
ourselves in given situations. Our identities depend also on the ways
we interact with others and these are extremely linked to our ways of
being: our gender, age, profession and social relations, our nationality,
our religion, among others. In fact, we can say that ‘because’ of our forms
of discourse we have multiple identities. So, when we refer to ‘modes of
discourse’, we are talking about the kind of text that is being made, the
channel of communication adopted, the people involved in the interaction
and finally the place and time where this interaction takes place.
17
Activity 1
Read the following six short text fragments, and say what general
kind of writing you think each comes from. How easy is it to decide?
How sure are you on a scale from 1-5?
In what contexts would you expect to find these fragments? What

clues are there in the fragments to their contexts?
a. bread 1 pane m. 2 (fig) (food) pane m cibo m: give us this day our
daily ~ dacci oggi il nostro pane quotidiano.
b. For Morton (1979), the central issue in word recognition is the

role of context, because it is easier to recognise a word in some
supporting context than in isolation.
c. The government is to unveil a £100m rescue package this week

to save coal pits in Labour’s heartlands as the party battles to
rally traditional supporters threatening to desert it.
d. First of all make the marinade in a saucepan by combining the

vinegar, spices, bayleaves and sugar with 1/4 pint (150 ml) water.
Bring to boiling point, then simmer very gently for 5 minutes.
e. Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a

bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed.
f. Individual presentations should be timed for 30 minutes, followed

by a 10 minute discussion period. There are no restrictions on
the language of the presentation, but unfortunately it is not
possible to offer interpretation.
We hope that you find this relatively straightforward and that you
recognised these fragments as coming from one of the following:
(number these according to the presentation above):
academic writing (a linguistics textbook) ( )
conference announcement. ( )
18
Chapter 1
cookery book ( )
dictionary ( )
newspaper report ( )
novel ( )
It is also very important to keep in mind the fact that all texts have
purposes. These will, of course, range widely. A humorous column in
a magazine may be intended purely to entertain, whereas a document
such as an act of parliament is intended to establish a binding principle
of law. One way in which texts can fail is that they do not fulfil their
purpose adequately.
Activity 2
List the purposes of the texts from which the fragments in the
previous Activity were taken.
1.2 Text, genre and discourse – introducing

concepts
Before we go any further, we need to establish what we mean by
‘discourse’ and what we mean by ‘text’.
When we talk about text, we are referring to language. When we study

text, we study its formal characteristics: in particular, its structure and
its grammatical and lexical choices. When we talk about a text, we are
referring to a unit of language that is complete within its own terms. A
course book, a poem, a lecture, an advertisement, an instruction leaflet,
a courtroom trial are all texts: that is, we can consider them as individual
linguistic units (although normally, of course, we react to them in the
context of other texts, or in the light of our awareness of other texts, and
not in isolation). This course can be considered as a text, as can all the
other courses that you have studied. As you work through to the end of
the course, you may like to think whether it is successful or not as a text,
in its structure as well as in its contents. We can summarise the definition
19
of ‘text’ by saying that a ‘text’ is a collection of meanings appropriate to a

context. The Purpose of any communication will determine its structure
and will contain certain obligatory elements to create meaning.
Genres (further discussed in Chapter 4) are a socially acceptable way of

using language in connection with a particular kind of social activity.
Through different ‘genres’, people use language to achieve culturally
recognised goals. When texts share the same obligatory and optional
structural elements, they belong to the same genre. Stories, comments,
anecdotes, for example, share the same generic structure and share the
same social purposes.
When we talk about discourse (in the singular) we are referring to texts
and genres in their social context. That is, we are not just considering
the language and structure of the text, but also how it relates to the
society and culture that it belongs to. When we study discourse, we
study the way a text creates meaning and reflects the views and ideology
of its writer and his/her society: we will see how, in fact, a particular
view or ideology is constructed through a text. If we were to consider
this course as a discourse, we would investigate how we - the authors
- project our view of the topic, of linguistics, and of the world, at the
same time as explaining the issues, and we would also investigate our
social purpose in creating the text. You may notice that there is not a
single structure for all chapters but rather we have varied, particularly
the types of activities, in the hope of maintaining your interest.
In this sense discourse is always part of social action: every text is

an instrument of communication placed in a social context, being
influenced by it and at the same time, influencing it. One of the major
proponents of a critical stance to discourse, Norman Fairclough in fact
suggests: “Discourse is for me more than just language use; it is language
use seen as a type of social practice” (1992:28).
This is the distinction between text, genre and discourse that we will
be making in this course. Two other terms that you will come across
during this course and the reading you will be doing are:
20
Chapter 1
• Discourse Domain, which is the socially recognized context

within which the discourse takes place – (scientific discourse –
domain of science)
• Social Practice, which can be defined as things that people (social

actors) DO with/to other people, in specific places following
conventions/rules in time and space. “Social practices are the
socially condoned models of how social activities should be
accomplished in order to achieve coordination within society
and social actors are the selected participants within a discourse”.
(Van Leeuwen, 2008: 6)
In this course, we will be interested in investigating social practices

through semiotic meanings (that arise from other signs, like type
faces, colour, diagrams, etc…) and linguistic aspects of texts, genres
and discourses, since we need to take into account features of written
communication, which help create structure and meaning. All of these
aspects of communication reflect social practices or ways of doing
things, power relations and ideologies.
Since the first studies done in Birmingham during the 1970’s, with
the pioneering work of John Sinclair and Malcolm Coulthard on
Classroom Discourse, Discourse Analysis expanded to include the
fields of linguistics, applied linguistics and sociolinguistics, semiotics,
conversation analysis, speech act theory and social theory. Discourse
Analysis as an area of study in the 21st century is now considered to be
a multi-disciplinary approach to communication and interaction. Many
other academic areas claim to ‘do’ discourse analysis among them:
• Anthropology
• Business Studies
• Cultural Geography
• Cultural Studies
• Literary Linguistics (Narratology)
• New Literacy Studies
21
• Psychology
• Sociology of Interaction
1.3 What is discourse analysis for students

of language?
Michael Stubbs’ defined it as
1. concerned with language use beyond the boundaries of a

sentence/utterance,
2. concerned with the interrelationships between language and

society and
3. concerned with the interactive or dialogic properties of everyday

communication. He says:
The term discourse analysis is very ambiguous. I will use it (in his book)
to refer mainly to the linguistic analysis of naturally occurring connected
speech or written discourse. Roughly speaking, it refers to attempts to
study the organisation of language above the sentence or above the
clause, and therefore to study larger linguistic units, such as conversational
exchanges or written texts. It follows that discourse analysis is also
concerned with language use in social contexts, and in particular with
interaction or dialogue between speakers. (Stubbs 1983:1)
We would add that Discourse Analysis is also concerned, not only with
describing linguistically or semiotically what goes in communication, but
also with understanding what people ‘do’ socially through their ways of
communication. For us, Discourse is socially constructive, constituting
social subjects, social relations and systems of knowledge and belief.
Discursive practices (like the media and other institutional practices)
have effects on social structures – they can produce and reproduce
unequal relations through the way they represent people, things, events,
since ‘all texts code the ideological position[s] of their producers’ (Caldas-
Coulthard (1996:228). Discourse Analysts, especially critical ones, are
concerned therefore with deconstructing ideologies, power relations,
discrimination and exclusion in interaction. Van Leeuwen (2008: 6) states:
22
Chapter 1
[Discourses] not only represent what is going on, they also evaluate it,
ascribe purpose to it, justify it, and so on, and in many texts these aspects
of representation become far more important than the representation
of the social practice itself.
As Discourse Analysts, it is our duty to understand how this is done

and to reveal the strategies used by participants in interaction. In this
sense, Discourse Analysis is not only an academic subject, but a tool
that we can use to interfere in and change society. We are interested in
investigating, revealing and clarifying how discriminatory values are
inscribed in and mediated through semiotic systems. We will expand
these notions when we refer to Critical Discourse Analysis.
Reading Activities:
After working through this chapter, choose one of the chapters below
AND summarise the main points in half a page.
Caldas-Coulthard, C.R (2008) “Da Análise do Discurso à Análise Crítica

do Discurso”, in C.R Caldas-Coulthard and L. Cabral Desvendando
Discursos: Conceitos Básicos, pp. 19-44. (Available on Moodle)
Telles Ribeiro, B. (2008) “A noção de contexto na Análise do Discurso”.

In C.R Caldas-Coulthard and L. Cabral Desvendando Discursos:
Conceitos Básicos , pp. 45-78. (Available on Moodle)
We also recommend you to read:
Coulthard, R. M. (1985) An Introduction to Discourse Analysis. London:

Longman. Ch. 2: 13-32.
Meurer, J.L. (2004) “Ampliando a noção de contexto na linguística

sistêmico-funcional e na análise crítica do discursos”. In C.R.Caldas-
Coulthard and D. Figueredo, pp.133-158.
23
Chapter 2
Discourse as interaction
Malcolm Coulthard
Carmen Rosa Caldas Coulthard
Chapter 2
2 Discourse as interaction
2.1 The difference between spoken and

written discourse
Although the differences between speech and writing may seem obvi-
ous, it is worth thinking, very briefly, about what the differences are,
before we begin considering some features specific to written text. First,
read the following texts:
Text 1
Bush: Yo, Blair. How are you doing?

Blair: I’m just...
Bush: You’re leaving?
Blair: No, no, no not yet. On this trade thingy...[indistinct]
Bush: Yeah, I told that to the man.
Blair: Are you planning to say that here or not?
Bush: If you want me to.
Blair: Well, it’s just that if the discussion arises... George Bush
Bush: I just want some movement.
Blair: Yeah.
Bush: Yesterday we didn’t see much movement..
Blair: No, no, it may be that it’s not, it may be that it’s impos-
sible.
Bush: I am prepared to say it.
Blair: But it’s just I think that we need to be an opposition...
Bush: Who is introducing the trade?
Blair: Angela [Merkel, the German Chancellor] Tony Blair
Bush: Tell her to call ‘em.
Blair: Yes
Bush: Tell her to put him on, them on the spot. Thanks for the
sweater - it’s awfully thoughtful of you.
Blair: It’s a pleasure.
27
Análise do discurso
Bush: I know you picked it out yourself.

Blair: Oh absolutely - in fact I knitted it!!!
(laughter)
Bush: What about Kofi? [Annan] - he seems all right. I don’t
like his ceasefire plan. His attitude is basically ceasefire and
everything sorts out.... But I think...
Blair: Yeah, no I think the [indistinct] is really difficult. We
can’t stop this unless you get this international business agreed.
Bush: Yeah.
Blair: I don’t know what you guys have talked about, but as I
say I am perfectly happy to try and see what the lie of the land
is, but you need that done quickly because otherwise it will
spiral.
Bush: I think Condi [US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice]
is going to go pretty soon.
Blair: But that’s, that’s, that’s all that matters. But if you... you
see it will take some time to get that together.
Bush: Yeah, yeah.
Blair: But at least it gives people...
Bush: It’s a process, I agree. I told her your offer to...
Blair: Well... it’s only if I mean... you know. If she’s got a..., or if
she needs the ground prepared as it were... Because obviously
if she goes out she’s got to succeed, if it were, whereas I can go
out and just talk.
Bush: You see the irony is what they need to do is get Syria, to
get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit and it’s all over...
Blair: [indistinct]
Bush: [indistinct]
Blair: Dunno... Syria....
Bush: Why?
Blair: Because I think this is all part of the same thing...
Bush: (with mouth full of bread) Yeah
Blair: Look - what does he think? He thinks if Lebanon turns
out fine. If you get a solution in Israel and Palestine, Iraq goes
in the right way
Bush: Yeah, yeah, he is struggling.
28
Chapter 2
Blair: He’s had it. And that’s what the whole thing is about. It’s
the same with Iran.
Bush: I felt like telling Kofi to call, to get on the phone to Assad
and make something happen.
Blair: Yeah
Bush: [indistinct]
Blair: [indistinct]
Bush: We are not blaming the Lebanese government.
Blair: Is this...? [Blair taps the microphone in front of him and
the sound is cut.]
Text 2
In the light of the moon a little egg lay on a leaf.
One Sunday morning the warm sun came up and pop, out of
the egg came a tiny and very hungry caterpillar.
He started to look for some food.
On Monday he ate through one apple. But he was still very
hungry.
The very hungry caterpillar by
On Tuesday he ate through two pears, but he was still very Eric Carle (Puffin Books, London,
hungry. 1994)
On Wednesday he ate through three plums, but he was still
very hungry.
On Thursday he ate four strawberries, but he was still very
hungry.
On Friday he ate through one piece of chocolate cake, one ice
cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one piece of
Salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one
cupcake, one slice of watermelon.
That night, he had a stomach ache.
The ate through one nice green leaf and after that he felt much
better.
Now he wasn’t hungry anymore. He was a big, fat caterpillar.
He built a small house, called a cocoon, around himself. He
stayed inside for more than two weeks. Then he nibbled a hole
in the cocoon, pushed his way out and
HE WAS A BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY.
29
Text 3
Apparently he didn’t hav2be there2day. I’ll ask paul if its

ok4us2meet
here. I’m workin l8r so it’l be a good excuse2get away. Maybe
paul will
be able2giv u greg’s perspective if u don’t know it. Xxx say
thanks2sally4me. Xx are u doing ok? Xx
Text 4
Mother is victim of sex attack.

A young mother of two stood screaming in a city street after being
attacked by a sex-fiend as passers-by turned a deaf-ear to her pleas for
help, police revealed last night.
...Now police have appealed for witness...
Activity 1
First, classify these texts- are they written or oral texts?
Text 1
Tex 2
Text 3
Text 4
Now, think:
1. What features do written texts have, which are not shared by

spoken interactions?
2. What features do spoken interactions have, which are not

shared by written text?
List some of them before you continue reading.
These are very broad questions. You may in fact have objected to them: you
may argue that it all depends on what kind of written text and what kind
30
Chapter 2
of spoken language. Or that in some cases, written texts have characteristics

of spoken texts. Examine with care Text 3. What is special about it?
Let’s narrow down the question a little and consider some situations
where there are fairly close parallels in form or content.
Think of the most striking differences between:
• a conversation and the script of a play
• a conversation in which someone is talking about their reactions

to a new novel that they have just read, and a review of that same
novel in a newspaper or magazine
• a monologue in which someone recounts their experiences when

on holiday, and an article in the travel section of a newspaper
• a cookery demonstration in a store about how to make pancakes,

and a recipe for pancakes in a cookery book
• an academic lecture on, say, processes of word formation in

English, and a chapter on the same subject in an academic book
Each of these pairs has its own differences and distinctions. But amongst
your comments, you have probably thought about the fact that in the
spoken situations the intended audience is actually present, in the ‘here
and now’, whereas in the written presentation, they are remote in both
place and time. You have probably also said something about the fact that
many spoken situations allow for feedback in some form, such as questions
and comments, or ‘repairs’ when misunderstandings or problems arise.
Even in monologues and lectures, the speaker is able to monitor the
audience’s attention and adjust his/her presentation accordingly. Also,
the fact that oral delivery, even when it is scripted or semi-scripted
rather than spontaneous, allows some of the meaning to be conveyed by
intonation, stress, pace and pauses, gestures hesitations, repetitions and
facial expressions, whereas in written text this has to be conveyed more
explicitly in the words and structures themselves and there is linearity in
the written mode. You may have commented on how spoken language is a
one-off experience, unfolding for the listener in real time from beginning
31
to end, whereas a reader has the opportunity to go back over passages and
to re-read, or to change the order in which the text is read.
We will primarily be looking at written discourse in this course, but

some of the issues that we will consider relate to the aspects of language
which you have just been thinking about. One of these questions is the
issue that all discourses, written or spoken are interactive and dialogic.
In other words, every act of communication involves participants that
will be interacting explicitly or implicitly (as in the case of monologues).
In the next section, we will present one of the main theories of
communication devised in the 50’s by the Russian Formalist Roman
Jakobson but it is still very relevant nowadays.
2.2 Interaction in discourse – participants

and roles
According to Jakobson (1960, 353), an act of communication involves:
The addresser who sends a message to the addressee. To be operative

the message requires a context referred to (‘referent’), accessible to the
addressee, and either verbal or capable of being verbalized, a code
fully, or at least partially, common to the addresser and addressee (or in
other words, to the encoder and decoder of the message); and finally,
a contact, a physical channel and psychological connection between
the addresser and the addressee, enabling both of them to stay in
communication.
In discourse, the addresser constructs an imagined addressee (listener

or reader) to
whom s/he attributes knowledge of certain facts, memory of certain

experiences, accurate recall of certain parts of certain other texts, plus
certain opinions, preferences and prejudices and a certain level of
linguistic competence. From this point on all decisions about content,
expression, sequencing and rhetorical devices are made with reference
to this imagined reader. Thus, once completed, every text defines its
own imagined reader. (Coulthard,1994: 9)
32
Chapter 2
However, this imagined reader is not a real person in the world, you
or me reading a text, but a construction of the addresser. Coulthard
(ibid. p.10) goes on to make an analogy with what happens in spoken
interaction, where there are three major relationships: those between
the addressee (the person for whom the message is encoded), the listener
(an acknowledged participant in a conversation who is not the addressee
for a particular utterance) and the overhearer (an unacknowledged
participant who ‘listens in’ to the conversation). So the relationships
could be represented as:
overhearer
speaker/addresser message addressee
listener
In written communication, the relationships can be represented as:
writer text (imagined reader) real reader
2.3 Ideal readers and real readers

Discussions of written communication are often presented in terms of
a Writer communicating directly with his/her Readers by means of a
Written Text. In this model the text carries, transparently, the Writer’s
ideational content and intentions and any problems that Readers have
with the text tend to be seen as deficiencies in the Reader, deficiencies
which are obviously compounded if the Reader, like yourself, is not a
Native Reader of the language in which the text is written.
However, it is in fact an unhelpful formulation to see a writer as creating

a text for those who actually read it. As we create this text we have no
way of knowing anything about you, our current reader, nor of when or
where you will read our text. Thus, we cannot create our text with you
33
in mind, we cannot take into account what you already know and what
you do not know, what you believe and what disbelieve, whether we have
your full attention or whether there is distracting background noise –
children fighting, loud music or traffic noises in the street outside.
The only strategy open to us, therefore, is to imagine a Reader, and to

create our text for that Imagined Reader. Only in this way can we decide
what we need to make explicit and what we can assume, what parts
of our argument must be spelled out in detail and what can be passed
over quickly or even omitted completely - a writer can’t begin at the
beginning of everything every time. For example, we both work and
write within a framework of Systemic Functional Grammar and thus
we wrote above, in the second sentence of this section, without a second
thought, and therefore without any overt reference to Halliday or any
of his published works, “the writer’s ideational content” rather than
simply “the writers ideas”. This phrase would cause no problems for our
particular Imagined Reader, to whom we have, of course, attributed a
basic knowledge of Halliday; however, once our text is finished, it will
be processed by Real Readers, some of whom, like yourself, have just
finished working on the Período 7, Descrição Linguistica, materials and
will be very familiar with the work of Halliday, but others may know
little more than his name. More generally, some of our Real Readers
will be very similar, in terms of knowledge and background, to our
Imagined Reader, while some will be very different. If you happen, for
whatever reason, to know less about the topics we are covering than our
Imagined Reader, you may find our chapters quite difficult in places; if
you know more, you may find we have little that is new or of importance
to say to you, although you may still be interested to see the approach we
have taken in organising and presenting the material.
Because texts are written for a specific audience, once a text exists it
defines its audience; indeed, no writer can create even a single sentence
without a target Imagined Reader, so almost every sentence provides
some clue(s) about the Imagined Reader which allows any Real Reader
to build up gradually a picture of his/her Imagined counterpart.
34
Chapter 2
Activity 2
Select a 100-150 word article from a British or American newspaper
written about a recent major event. Now imagine you are going to
rewrite this article for readers in Brazil. Make notes about your target
Imagined Reader in terms of age, gender, education, knowledge of
the topic area of the article, etc. and then decide what you will need
to add to the text, and also what you will need to omit, in order
to produce a version of the article which reads as if it had been
written originally for your Imagined Reader. What are the major
types of addition? (Perhaps the most extreme example we have
seen of a translator ignoring the Imagined Reader completely was
an article in a Mexican newspaper, obviously translated verbatim
from a news agency story, which began “There were several major
earth tremors yesterday in Mexico City, the capital of Mexico…”)
After completing this activity, now write your new version and
send it to your tutor.
Reading Activity
Now read Coulthard (1994) which analyses another text using many of
the concepts introduced in this chapter. (Available on Moodle)
2.4 Text structure

Underlying - or perhaps overlying - a text are systems, networks, and
patterns which provide a skeletal framework and structure for the
text. This enables the reader to work his way through it, by indicating
for example what to expect next, where to find a particular piece of
information, and how to interpret a particular reference. The more
clearly structured a text is, the easier it is to follow. As with other areas,
some kinds of structure are specific to certain kinds of text and genres.
Much of the rest of this chapter will be taken up with looking at some of
the structures by means of which texts are organised.
35
2.5 The prospective nature of text

A very basic organisational principle of written text is that it is linear
and unfolds in a linear way. We mentioned earlier that written text
differed from spoken text, because a reader is able to go back and re-read
parts of the text, or to read parts in a different order, whereas there is
normally no such opportunity with spoken language, unless it has been
audio-recorded. Nevertheless, written text is organised by the Writer
on the assumption that the Reader will read it starting at the beginning
and going to the end. Accordingly, we can say that text is organised
prospectively, that is ‘looking forward’.
Of course, this does not always happen. Detective stories are meant to be
read from beginning to end, but some Readers may read the final pages
at an early stage to find out what happens, or to discover the identity
of the murderer. In the same way, we have written this course in the
expectation that you will have started by reading the introduction, and
have then worked through Chapter 1. However, you may have already
dipped into Chapters 3 or 4 and then come back to this one.
In fact there are some kinds of text, like newspapers and dictionaries,
which are not designed to be read in a linear way. Hoey (1986) calls
them discourse colonies, texts “whose component parts do not derive
their meaning from the sequence in which they are placed” (p.4) Here
are some examples: shopping lists, address books, cookery book,
bibliographies, among others.
However, most texts are prospective and are organised in predictable

ways. We become familiar with this organisation through our reading
experiences, staring with the very first texts that we are exposed to. We
know that information accumulates as we read: we know more by the
end of the text than we did at the beginning. We expect later parts of
the text to build on earlier parts and to develop or illuminate them,
while the earlier parts contribute to our ability to understand the later
parts. We expect texts to begin with introductions, establishing topics,
approaches, and baselines in some way, and we expect them to end with
conclusions, summaries, or resolutions.
36
Chapter 2
This means that even when we choose not to read in a conventional

linear way, we make use of our knowledge of the prospective
organisation of text. We can skim through a book or article, paying
attention only intermittently and to only a few points which are relevant
to our purpose. But as we are skimming, we are looking for clues as
to the development of the text: these clues help us locate the points
which we believe are relevant. It is only because the text is organised in
predictable ways that we are able to do so. We skim through it, making
guesses as to what is coming next, based on assumptions that the text
is organised prospectively. If we ‘cheat’ with a detective story, and turn
to the end, it is because we know that that is where the mystery will be
explained. If we find that we do not fully understand a part of a plot,
report, or argument, we know that we can go back to an earlier part of
the text, to look for the information that we have missed, to check our
understanding, or to clarify whatever is causing confusion. This too is
an indication that text is organised prospectively. We go back over a text
because we are aware that we have missed something: our expectations
as we read through from beginning to end have been frustrated. The
facts that we have these expectations and that we naturally go back over
the text to check where we have gone wrong provide further evidence
that we are aware that the text is organised prospectively.
In order to organise a complex message so that it appears bit by bit in

such a way that the bits fit neatly one after another or one into another,
writers use complex signalling systems. These enable readers to find their
way through the text, recognising at each stage what has been said and
how it is relevant, and making predictions on the basis of this as to how
the text will develop. Chapter 3 will look at some forms of organisation
which writers adopt: text patterns and clause relations.
2.6 Summary
Summarising the discussion so far, these are the points to remember:
• Written text is essentially interactive and dialogic. Just

as spoken language is, even though the exact nature of the
37
interaction is different, and even though the identities of writer

and reader may be covert or concealed. Any written text creates
and depends on a relationship between writer and reader, and the
meaning of the text arises out of that relationship: not just what
the writer writes, but also the interpretation made by the reader.
The meaning is a matter of negotiation, as it were, between the
writer and the reader. This is a crucial point. We will be returning
again and again in this course to the interactive nature of written
text: how writers create different kinds of meaning in text, and
how readers interpret it.
• Discourse operates within an interactional framework. We often

think of written discourse in terms of its purpose. It is designed
to give information to the reader, or to persuade the reader of
some point of view or to entertain the reader. But some written
discourse is primarily social in its functions. The main purpose
is to create and maintain social relationships. This is clearly the
primary purpose of a personal letter for example. And all written
discourse has an element of social interaction built into it. This
entails that people may at different times draw on different
discourses about the same practice or practices, choosing the one
they see as most appropriate to their own interests in the given
context. Written texts realise these different practices.
• All discourses are placed in social contexts. Texts, genres

and discourses are means of talking, writing about and acting
upon the world. Through language and consequently discourse,
we construct social practices, which in turn, construct us as
members of a society and as individuals.
Commentary on Activity 1
Text 1 is a transcript of a dialogue between US President George W Bush

and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair during a break at the G8 conference
in Russia.
Text 2 is a fictional written text for children, The Very Hungry Caterpillar,
by E. Carle, Penguin Books Ltd, 1980
38
Chapter 2
Text 3 is a text message (SMS) – although is a written text, it has very

marked characteristics of a spoken text (this text message comes from
the data in Tagg’s (2009) PhD Thesis).
Text 4 is a piece of written news, taken from the newspaper The

Birmingham Daily News, 12/2/1987
Reading Activity:
After working through this chapter, read one of the chapters below AND
summarise the main points in 3 paragraphs.
Coulthard, R. M. (1994) ‘On analysing and evaluating written text’.

In Coulthard, R. M. (ed.) Advances in Written Text Analysis. London:
Routledge. Ch. 1: 1-11 (Available on Moodle)
Leite de Oliveira, M. do C. (2008) “Polidez e Interação”, in C.R Caldas-

Coulthard and L. Cabral Desvendando Discursos: Conceitos Básicos , pp.
197-224 (Available on Moodle)
39
Chapter 3
The structure of written text
Malcolm Coulthard
Chapter 3
3 The structure of written text
3.1 Introduction
As we said in Chapter 2 the task facing a Writer wanting to communicate
to a Reader through a Written Text is not easy but certainly the more
work the Writer does the less the Reader needs to do. You yourself are
very often a Reader and sometimes act as a Writer. In this Chapter we
will introduce you to some of the basic structures of written text. As a
result we hope that your writing skills will improve and that you will
also find reading easier.
3.2 The problem-solution structure

In the Activity Box below you will see 10 numbered sentences. They
originally made up a short text called “A Comparison of Two National
Approaches to the Problem of Icy Roads”. They are not in the correct
sequence. Can you now try to recreate the original sequence. There is
only one correct answer, but there are several other interesting almost
correct solutions. I can assure you that you will derive significant benefit
from doing this exercise. It should take you about ten minutes and if you
can work together with a fellow student that will be even better. As you
are working, make a note of the criteria and reasoning you are using
to reach your decisions. You can record your final solution as a simple
sequence of sentence numbers, although some students have found it
helpful to write out the individual sentences on strips of paper and then
reorder them physically.
43
Activity 1 - Text Reconstitution
Text 1 - A Comparison of Two National Approaches to the

Problem of Icy Roads
(1) In England, however, the tungsten-tipped spikes would tear the

thin tarmac surfaces of our roads to pieces as soon as the protective
layer of snow or ice melted. (2) Road maintenance crews try to
reduce the danger of skidding by scattering sand upon the road
surfaces. (3) We therefore have to settle for the method described
above as the lesser of two evils. (4) Their spikes grip the icy surfaces
and enable the motorist to corner safely where non-spiked tyres
would be disastrous. (5) Its main drawback is that if there are fresh
snowfalls the whole process has to be repeated, and, if the snowfalls
continue, it becomes increasingly ineffective in providing some
kind of grip for tyres. (6) These tyres prevent most skidding and
are effective in the extreme weather conditions as long as the roads
are regularly cleared of loose snow. (7) Such a measure is generally
adequate for our brief snowfalls. (8) Whenever there is snow in
England, some of the country roads may have black ice. (9) In
Norway, where there may be snow and ice for nearly seven months
of the year, the law requires that all cars be fitted with special steel
spiked tyres. (10) Motorists coming suddenly upon stretches of
black ice may find themselves skidding off the road.
Almost all the students with whom we have used this text produced one
of three basic solutions:
1. 9 6 4 8 10 2 7 5 1 3;
2. 8 10 9 6 4 1 2 7 5 3;
3. 8 10 2 7 5 9 6 4 1 3;
Interestingly, on those occasions when I have used this exercise with

groups of students who, like you, were not native speakers there was
much greater variation in the range of solutions. So far I have no adequate
explanation for this phenomenon, but, from your own experience,
44
Chapter 3
you might like to offer an explanation. In deciding on your own

sequencing for the sentences, you are likely to have used, consciously or
subconsciously, answers to the following five questions:
• which rhetorical structure(s) are best for presenting these

particular pieces of information in textual form;
• which country should you begin your comparison with and for
what reason(s);
• who is the intended audience of the text, i.e. who are the ‘us’ who
are said to have a ‘problem’;
• is it better to do the country comparison bit by bit, or better to

say everything about one country and then everything about the
other;
• what inter-sentential cohesive links constrain the choice of one

solution rather than another?
All those I asked to reorder this text felt they had to begin with either
sentence (9) ‘Norway’ or sentence (8) ‘England’. Which did you choose and
why? Those who began with England then felt there was a choice between
sequence 2 above – first introducing England, then discussing Norway,
then returning to England before reaching a conclusion - or sequence 3,
first discussing England at length before moving on to Norway.
The original text was in fact Sequence 3 - 8 10 2 7 5 9 6 4 1 3 - and this

version is presented in full below. If you decided on a different solution
you should at this point note how and where your solution differs and,
if you still prefer your own solution, attempt to justify it.
3.3 Problem-solution structures

A close examination of large numbers of different types of texts shows
that, at least in European languages, there is a distinct preference for
certain ways of organising and presenting information and that some
rhetorical or discourse patterns tend to recur with a regularity which
45
cannot be coincidental. The pattern we will examine, and one of the two
used to structure the ‘Icy Roads’ passage, is usually referred to as the
Problem-Solution Structure.
Reading Task 1
At this point please read Hoey (1994) pp 26-32. (Available on Moodle)
As you have just seen Hoey suggests that the full Problem-Solution
structure consists of the five categories: situation (within which there
is a complication or problem), problem (within the situation, requiring
a response), response (to the problem), result (of the response), which
is often alternatively labelled solution and finally evaluation (of the
response/result/solution). Thus:
Situation
Problem
Response
Result/Solution
Evaluation
However, a large number of texts consist of only four categories Situation/
Problem/Solution/ Evaluation. If we now apply Hoey’s analytic system
to the ‘Icy Roads’ text, which is presented in its original form below as
Text 1a, we can see that sentence (8) describes a Situation of snow and
black ice which creates a Problem of skidding for motorists (10) which
has as a Response the scattering of sand with the intended Solution of
reducing the danger of skidding, (2) a Solution which is then Evaluated
as mainly positive in sentence (7). However, sentence (5) then continues
immediately with a Negative Evaluation of this Solution when the
problematic Situation is severe weather conditions.
46
Chapter 3
When a text contains a negative Evaluation of the Solution, as here,

it is an indication that the same problem or a related one still exists
and this, therefore, creates a potentially recursive structure with further
Responses/Solutions and linked negative Evaluations. In this particular
text the author chooses, following the negative evaluation of sentence
(5) not to present immediately any further Response(s) to the original
Problem, but rather to move on to a different Situation, that of Norway,
which has a similar though more extreme Problem and a significantly
different Solution - in this case, however, you will notice that three
discourse items Situation/Problem/Solution are contained within a
single sentence (9). The subsequent Evaluation consisting of the two
sentences 6 and 4 is entirely positive, so the structure is complete and
the writer moves on to enquire whether the positively evaluated Solution
to the Problem in the Norway Situation could be equally successful as a
Solution to Problem in the English Situation. The conclusion, however,
in sentence (1) is a negative Evaluation of the success of Solution 2 when
applied to Problem 1 and a grudgingly positive Evaluation, in sentence
(3), of the original Solution.
Text 1a - The original version
A comparison of two national approaches to the problem of icy roads
(8) Whenever there is snow in England, some of the country

roads may have black ice. (10) Motorists coming suddenly
upon stretches of black ice may find themselves skidding off
the road. (2) Road maintenance crews try to reduce the danger
of skidding by scattering sand upon the road surfaces. (7) Such
a measure is generally adequate for our brief snowfalls. (5) Its
main drawback is that if there are fresh snowfalls the whole
process has to be repeated, and, if the snowfalls continue, it
becomes increasingly ineffective in providing some kind of
grip for tyres.
(9) In Norway, where there may be snow and ice for nearly
seven months of the year, the law requires that all cars be fitted
with special steel spiked tyres.(6) These tyres prevent most
skidding and are effective in the extreme weather conditions
as long as the roads are regularly cleared of loose snow. (4)
Their spikes grip the icy surfaces and enable the motorist to
47
corner safely where non-spiked tyres would be disastrous. (1)

In England, however, the tungsten-tipped spikes would tear
the thin tarmac surfaces of our roads to pieces as soon as the
protective layer of snow or ice melted. (3) We therefore have to
settle for the method described above as the lesser of two evils.
Reflection Task 1
In your everyday reading I hope you will now begin to notice how
frequently the Problem/Solution structure occurs. In texts where a
range of possible Responses and Solutions to a particular Problem
are presented, how does the ordering of these responses in the text
relate to the writer’s own evaluation of them? Do Writers normally
present first a solution which they want to reject and then move on
to Solutions they want to recommend?
Do you think sequencing actually makes any difference or is it just

a matter of personal preference? Do you think that such an analysis
might have helped Brutus in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar? He
felt that, provided he spoke first, there was no danger in allowing
Mark Antony to speak afterwards. The result was disastrous, but
would it have been any better if Brutus had spoken after Antony?
There is certainly no simple consensus in this matter of sequencing
- some say that in British and American criminal trials allowing
the Defence to speak last gives them an advantage, while others
argue that allowing the Prosecution to speak first gives them an
enormous advantage.
3.4 The signalling of discourse structure

Reading Task 2
At this point read Hoey (1994) from the top of page 33, starting with the
section entitled ‘Problem-Solution: Language or Life’ and read until the
top of page 42.
48
Chapter 3
As you have just read, Hoey demonstrates that writers have the option
of signalling explicitly to their readers the structure of their texts;
sometimes even by using Hoey’s actual category labels, although more
often they use a small set of synonyms. If we now return to the Icy
Roads text we can discover many instances of structural signalling – I
have highlighted them in bold below:
A Comparison of two national approaches to the problem of icy roads
(8) Whenever there is snow in England, some of the country roads may
have black ice. (10) Motorists coming suddenly upon stretches of black ice
may find themselves skidding off the road. (2) Road maintenance crews
try to reduce the danger of skidding by scattering sand upon the road
surfaces. (7) Such a measure is generally adequate for our brief snowfalls.
(5) Its main drawback is that if there are fresh snowfalls the whole process
has to be repeated, and, if the snowfalls continue, it becomes increasingly
ineffective in providing some kind of grip for tyres.
(9) In Norway, where there may be snow and ice for nearly seven months
of the year, the law requires that all cars be fitted with special steel spiked
tyres. (6) These tyres prevent most skidding and are effective in the
extreme weather conditions as long as the roads are regularly cleared of
loose snow. (4) Their spikes grip the icy surfaces and enable the motorist
to corner safely where non-spiked tyres would be disastrous.
In England, however, the tungsten-tipped spikes would tear the thin

tarmac surfaces of our roads to pieces as soon as the protective layer
of snow or ice melted. (3) We therefore have to settle for the method
described above as the lesser of two evils.
Here we can see a large range of items being used in a comparatively short
text; I have classified them according to the structural categories they realise.
Situation whenever
Problem problem, danger, drawback
approaches, reduce, by -ing, measure, process, in providing,
Solution
prevent, method
adequate, ineffective, effective, enable, safely, disastrous,
Evaluation
settle for, lesser of two evils

49

3.5 Matching relations

A second major text structure is called Matching Relations. In
commenting on matching relations hoey observes that many texts
work by comparing and contrasting two or more situations, facts or
events. The purpose of the comparison may be either to emphasise the
similarity between what is being compared or to stress the difference(s)
and part of a reader’s contribution to the meaning of the text depends
crucially on their ability to recognise the purpose. You will have noticed
that many jokes, as well as more complex narratives, work in terms of
threes, that is triple matchings. This allows the first two situations to set
up an expectation of what is to be expected and in these cases the reader
is supposed to ignore any differences between the two. Crucially the
third situation is seen as significantly different. For example:
An Englishman, a Scotsman and an Irishman were in prison waiting to

be executed by firing squad. They took the Englishman out first and, just
as they were about to shoot him, he pointed to the sky and shouted
“Lightning”. All the soldiers looked up to the sky and he ran away. Then
they took out the Scotsman and, just as they were about to shoot him,
he pointed to the sky and shouted “Thunderbolt”. All the soldiers looked
up to the sky and he too ran away. Then they took out the Irishman and,
just as they were about to shoot him he pointed to the sky and shouted
“Fire”. And all the soldiers fired
It is in part the linguistic structure - that is the direct repetition of a

series of words from the first telling in the second telling - which alerts
the reader/listener to the fact that they are to interpret the text in terms
of matching relations. In this particular joke there is massive lexical
repetition and this repeated matter, the constant, which alerts the reader
that s/he needs to focus on what is new, the variable. Thus, the reading
becomes in a sense vertical and not horizontal. In this particular joke
the reader has to match three triplets extracted from a lot of identical
repeated text:
50
Chapter 3
Character Phenomenon Result

Englishman Lightning Escape
Scotsman Thunderbolt Escape
Irishman Fire Death
The text provides the linguistic basis for the matching, but the reader has
to interpret its significance; in the first matching the difference between
‘lightning’ and ‘thunderbolt’ is to be seen as insignificant, because both
function in the same way to allow the prisoner to escape, whereas the
matching of the third choice ‘fire’ with the other two emphasises the
difference, success against failure. So, the first two are matched for
compatibility and the third is matched against the first two for contrast.
This ability to match is a skill which children learn at a very young age,
at least in Britain, through listening to repetitive stories which also use
matched three part structures - The Three Little Pigs; The Three Billy
Goats Gruff; Goldilocks and the Three Bears to name but a few. Thus,
for example, in the Three Little Pigs the houses of the first two pigs are
differently constructed - of straw and sticks - but even so are functionally
compatible in their uselessness as a defence against the Wolf, while the
third, brick, house is functionally contrasted as a successful defence.
If you don’t know the story there is a Youtube version at http://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=G5hI9U19-m0 and a traditional illustrated story-
book version at http://w8r.com/the-colorful-story-book/three-little-pigs
The three little pigs (Ladybird
picture books, United Kingdom,
If we now return to the Icy Roads text it will be evident that, in addition
2012)
to having a Problem/Solution structure, it also has a Matching Contrast
structure, which can be reduced to:
Place Problem Solution Evaluation
England brief snowfalls sand partially successful
Norway snow for 7 months spiked tyres very successful
Once you begin to notice them I suspect you will be very surprised to
discover how frequently Matching Relations are used in our everyday
interaction:
51
Here are a couple of examples from the media
1. a car advert Beautiful by Design

Paris by Lunchtime
Car by Rover
2. front page headline “Sex, pies and videotape”

(matched with the film Sex,
Lies and Videotape)
Matching is also a basic structuring feature of conversational interaction

– as you know typically stories follow stories and the link is almost
always some kind of matching, where the next teller picks up a feature
of the previous story as a link. But you should notice that in interactions
between people from different cultural and/or linguistic backgrounds
matching can also be a major structuring device – once you are
sensitised to it you will be surprised how frequently you get versions of
“In my country we…” … “ How interesting; well in my country we…”
Activity 2
Below is an original children’s story, MR FUNNY and a published

French translation of it.
1. Analyse the text, marking all the constant items in the

matching relations and noting whether they are matched for
similarity or contrast.
2. If you can, examine the French translation to see how far the
matching relations have been accurately translated. You do not
in fact need any knowledge of French in order to do this! You
merely need to check that where there is an exact repetition
of lexical items in the English version, this matching has been
translated by exact repetition in the French. (The numbers in
brackets correspond to page numbers in the book.)
52
Chapter 3
3. Note whether there are:
a. any instances where the matching has been increased;
b. any instances where the matching has been omitted.
4. On the basis of your answers to questions 1 and 2, is the

translation successful in terms of the matching relations?
Mr. Funny
(1) Mr Funny lived in a teapot! It had two bedrooms, a

bathroom, a kitchen and a living room, and it suited Mr Funny
very nicely.
(2) One day, Mr Funny was having lunch. He wasn’t very hungry,
so he only had a daisy sandwich and a glass of toast! “Delicious,”
he murmured to himself as he finished his funny lunch.
(3)After lunch Mr Funny decided to go for a drive in his car. Mr. Funny by Roger Hargreaves
Mr Funny’s car was a shoe! Have you ever seen a car that looks (Thurman Publishing Ltd.,
London, 1976)
like a shoe? It looks very funny!
(4) As he drove along, everybody who saw him laughed to see

such a funny sight. He passed a worm at the side of the road.
The worm thought Mr Funny in his funny car was the funniest
thing he had ever seen. He nearly laughed himself in two!
(5) He passed a pig in a field. The pig thought Mr Funny in his

funny car was the funniest thing that she had ever seen. She
nearly laughed her tail off!
(6) Even the flowers he passed thought that Mr Funny was

the funniest thing they had ever seen. They nearly laughed
themselves out of the ground!
(7) Eventually Mr Funny came to some crossroads. He didn’t

know which way to go, so he looked at the signpost. One of
the signs said TO THE ZOO. “That will be fun,” thought Mr
Funny to himself, so he drove his shoe towards the zoo.
53
(8) When he arrived at the gate of the zoo, he stopped. It was

closed. “I’m sorry,” said the zoo keeper. “We’ve had to close the
zoo because all the animals have colds, and they’re all feeling
sorry for themselves.” “Oh dear,” said Mr Funny, and then he
thought “Perhaps I can cheer them up,” he said. “Well,” said
the zoo keeper, “it’s worth a try.” And he opened the gate.
(9) Mr Funny drove into the zoo. In his shoe. The first thing
he saw was an elephant. It was true. The elephant was feeling
very sorry for herself. Very sorry indeed. Mr Funny stood
and looked at the sad-looking elephant. And the sad-looking
elephant stood and looked at Mr Funny. Oh dear!
(10) Then, do you know what Mr Funny did? He pulled a funny

face! Mr Funny, as you’d imagine, is very good at pulling
funny faces. The elephant giggled. She’d never seen anything
so funny. Mr Funny pulled another funny face. The elephant
burst out laughing.
(11) The elephant laughed and laughed and laughed. She

laughed so hard, she nearly laughed her trunk off! And she felt
a lot better. Mr Funny went over to the lion house.
(12) There was a lion, feeling extraordinarily sorry for himself.

Mr Funny stood and looked at the sad-looking lion. And the
sad-looking lion stood and looked at Mr Funny. Oh dear!
(13) And then Mr Funny pulled the funniest-looking face

that’s probably ever been pulled anywhere, ever. Now, you’ve
heard a lion roar before, haven’t you? Well, this lion roared
too - with laughter. He laughed so hard he nearly laughed his
whiskers to pieces.
(14) Then Mr Funny went around to see all the other animals
in the zoo. Oh dear, what a miserable looking lot! For all of
them, Mr Funny pulled funnier and funnier faces. The big
brown bear giggled, and then burst out laughing.
(15) And the giraffe laughed so hard she nearly laughed her neck
into a knot. And the hippopotamus nearly laughed himself out of
his skin. And the penguins nearly laughed their flippers floppy.
And the leopard, well, you should have seen him, he laughed so
hard he nearly laughed his spots off! What a pandemonium!
54
Chapter 3
(16) “Oh Mr Funny,” giggled the zoo keeper, who had started
laughing as well. “Oh Mr Funny, thank you very very much
indeed for coming to cheer us all up!” “Oh, it was nothing
really,” replied Mr Funny modestly, and drove off. In his shoe.
(17) Later, when Mr Funny arrived home, he chuckled to himself.

“Well,” he said “That’s the end of another funny day!” And he
parked his shoe and went inside his teapot and, because he was
feeling thirsty, he made himself ... (18) ... a nice hot cup of cake!
Monsieur Rigolo
(1) Monsieur Rigolo habitait dans une théière! Elle avait deux
chambres, une salle de bains, une cuisine et un salon. Elle
plaisait beaucoup à monsieur Rigolo.
(2) Ce jour-là, monsieur Rigolo prenait son déjeuner. Comme

il n’avait pas très faim, il mangea seulement un sandwich a
la marguerite et un verre de pain grillé. -Délicieux, se dit-il,
lorsqu’il eut fini son drôle de déjeuner.
(3) Après avoir déjeuné, monsieur Rigolo alla faire une promenade
en voiture. La voiture de monsieur Rigolo était une chaussure.
As-tu déjà vu une voiture-chaussure? C’est très rigolo!
(4) Sur son chemin, monsieur Rigolo passa devant un ver

de terre. Le ver pensa que monsieur Rigolo, dans sa voiture
rigolote, était la chose la plus drôle qu’il eût jamais vue. Il se
tordit tellement de rire qu’il faillit se couper en deux!
(5) Il passa devant un cochon. Le cochon pensa que monsieur

Rigolo, dans sa voiture rigolote, était la chose la plus drôle qu’il
eût jamais vue. Il rit tellement qu’il faillit en perdre sa queue!
(6) Même les fleurs pensèrent que monsieur Rigolo était la

chose la plus drôle au monde. Elles rirent tellement qu’elles
faillirent perdre leurs pétales.
(7) Monsieur Rigolo arriva enfin à un carrefour. Ne sachant

quel chemin prendre, il regarda le panneau indicateur. Sur
l’une des pancartes, il vit ZOO. - Ça risque d’être rigolo, pensa
monsieur Rigolo. Et il prit la direction du zoo.
55
(8) Quand il arriva devant la porte du zoo, monsieur Rigolo

dut s’arrêter. - Je suis désolé, luit dit le gardien. Nous avons été
obligés de fermer le zoo, car tous les animaux sont enrhumés
et cela les rend bien tristes. -Oh! quel dommage! s’exclama
monsier Rigolo. Puis if réfléchit. - Et si j’essayais de les faire
rire? dit-il au gardien. - D’accord, répondit celui-ci. Cela vaut
la peine d’essayer, et il ouvrit la porte.
(9) Monsieur Rigolo roula à l’intrieur du zoo. Dans sa

chaussure. Le premier animal qu’il vit fut un éléphant. Cet
éléphant avait l’air bien triste. Vraiment très triste. Monsieur
Rigolo s’approcha de lui et regarda sa triste mine. Et l’éléphant
a la triste mine regarda monsieur Rigolo.
(10) Alors sai-tu ce que fit monsieur Rigolo? Il fit une

grimace rigolote! Monsieur Rigolo, comme tu l’imagines, s’y
connaissait en grimaces rigolotes. L’éléphant gloussa. Il n’avait
jamais rien vu d’auussi drle.
(11) Monsieur Rigolo fit une autre grimace rigolote. L’éléphant

éclata de rire. Il rit si fort qu’il faillit en perdre sa trompe. Et il
sentit beacoup, beaucoup mieux. Monsieur Rigolo se dirigea
alors vers la fosse aux lions.
(12) Il y avait là un lion qui avait l’air extraordinairement triste.

Monsieur Rigolo s’approcha de lui et regarda sa triste mine. Et
le lion à la triste mine regarda monsieur Rigolo.
(13) Monsier Rigolo fit une grimace très rigolote. Tu as déjà

entendu rugir un lion, n’est-ce pas? Eh bien, ce lion se mit à
rugir lui aussi mais il rit en même temps. Et il rit si fort qu’il
faillit en perdre sa crinière.
(14) Monsieur Rigolo fit le tour du zoo pour voir les autres
animaux. Oh, comme ils avaient l’air triste! A chacun d’eux,
monsieur Rigolo fit des grimaces de plus en plus rigolotes. Le
gros ours brun sourit, puis rit si fort qu’il en tomba sur le derrière.
(15) Et la girafe rit si fort qu’elle faillit faire un noeud avec son
cou. Et l’hippopotame rit si fort que son gros ventre faillit
éclater. Les pingouins, eux, rirent tant et tant qu’ils faillirent
perdre leurs ailes. Quant au léopard, il rit si fort qu’il faillit
perdre toutes ses taches. Quel tintamarre!
56
Chapter 3
(16) -Oh! monsieur Rigolo, dit le gardien du zoo, entre deux

éclats de rire, merci, merci beaucoup. Grace à vous, les animaux
ne sont plus tristes. C’est tout naturel, vous savez, r-pondit
monsieur Rigolo modestement. Et il repartit. Dans sa chaussure!
(17) Plus tard, lorsque monsieur Rigolo arriva chez lui, il

s’esclaffa. -Eh bien, dit-il, une journée rigolote de plus se
termine. Il gara sa chaussure, entra dans sa théiére, et comme
il avait soif, il se fit ... (18) ... une bonne tasse de gâteau chaud!
3.6 Summary
We have examined two common discourse patterns: ‘problem-solution’
and ‘matching relations’. These are not the only ones which English
‘approves’, and other common patterns have been identified by other
researchers, for example the ‘question-answer’ and the ‘hypothetical-real’
(see McCarthy, 1991, chapters 3 & 6), however, these two are the most
frequently exploited. We can make five general points by way of summary:
1. It is possible to discern a number of discourse patterns which

frequently occur in written English text;
2. These patterns seem to reflect ‘culturally approved’ preferences

for the organisation of discourse;
3. They commonly involve the use of specific lexis which, for the
English-speaking reader, ‘signals’ a particular pattern and the
constituent elements of that pattern;
4. Deviation from the ‘culturally approved’ patterns (‘marked’ textual

organisation) is possible, but does require more careful use of
formal cohesive devices than when standard patterns are used;
5. A number of these patterns may co-occur within a single text,

either in sequence or one embedded within another.
57
Commentary on Activity 2
The translation - Monsieur Rigolo
As you can see from the English original there are basically three major
sets of Matching Relations in this text – paragraphs 4-6 with “Mr Funny
was the funniest thing … had ever seen”; paragraphs 9-13 “feeling...
sorry for –self; Mr Funny stood and looked at; …stood and looked
at; Oh dear; followed by some more clauses which are similar but not
explicitly matched; paragraphs 15 with “nearly laughed” four times. It
is interesting that, like other books in the Mr Man series the Mr Funny
telling drifts away from massive repetition and uses more similarity
and paraphrase than identity in the separate tellings. As you can see
the French translation is pretty faithful, maintaining identity when
the original has identity and varying where there is variation. For the
translator of Mr Man books, there is, as I myself know, a real temptation
to ‘improve’ on the original by imposing greater matching through
increasing the amount of constant text. This raises the interesting
question of how far a translator can and should ‘improve’ the original
and what are the criteria for first deciding if it does need improving ad
if so what will count as an improvement.
Reading Activity:
Read one of the chapters below AND summarise the main points in a
page and half.
HOEY, M. ‘Signalling in Discourse: a functional analysis of a common

discourse pattern in written and spoken English’. In Coulthard, R. M.
(ed.) Advances in Written Text Analysis. London: Routledge. 1994, Ch.
3: 26-45 (Available on Moodle)
JOHNS, T. ‘The text and its message’. In Coulthard, R. M. (ed.) Advances

in Written Text Analysis. London: Routledge. 1994, Ch. 7: 102-116.
(Available on Moodle)
58
Chapter 4
Genre and text types
Chapter 4
4 Genre and text types
4.1 What is genre?

In order to explain what genre is we will begin with some examples of
genres. One example is the Japanese Haiku. We are told that there are
two defining features of a haiku. The first is that it has seventeen syllables,
and the second is a consistent theme displayed in lexically related words.
Another example is the holiday postcard. English speaking postcard

writers are probably unaware of contributing to the establishment
of a genre in writing their postcards home to friends and relatives.
Nevertheless the genre of postcard writing is established and recognised.
Here is an example:
10.9.93
Hi!
Having a great time in Playa de las

Americas, Tenerife! The hotel is great
but the food’s not up to much. The hotel
pool (as in the picture) is wonderfully
warm and the bar is open all day. We
have been on two trips around the Miss P. Smith
island - have hired a car for a week. 5 The Avenue
The scenery is spect - acular, especially Birmingham
the volcano, where we were yesterday.
B17 1DH
Trying not to get sunburned
- it’s very hot! 95 degrees! ENGLAND
See you soon. Liz and John xxx
The defining features of a holiday postcard in English are its regularity

of purpose and its particular linguistic style. We can note that in
common with other postcards, it has a greeting, followed by description
of the holiday destination in terms of its attributes, and closing with
a message stating that the writer will shortly be home again. There is
61
often reference to the picture on the front of the card. The message is
characterised by ellipsis and short telegraphic sentences. (Note that the
‘xxx’ means ‘kisses’!)
We can say that the nature of genre is therefore a regularity of form

or regularity of communicative purpose. As you saw briefly in Período
3 – Estudos Linguísticos II, Genre analysts study and describe the
distinguishing features of genres often for educational purposes. This
helps foreign language students to master written genres in a number
of settings: educational and business, for example. Bhatia sums up the
aims of applied genre analysis as twofold:
first, to characterize typical or conventional features of any genre-specific

text in an attempt to identify ... form-function relations; and second,
to explain such a characterization in the context of the sociocultural
as well as the cognitive constraints operating in the relevant area of
specialization, whether professional or academic. (Bhatia, 1993:16)
We should note then, that genre analysis aims to describe genres within
their sociocultural contexts and to explain the cognitive constraints
imposed on the writer, when writing within a genre. An English
postcard writer is constrained by the genre – not least in terms of the
space available! It might be interesting to conduct some field research
in the country where you live to discover whether postcard writing
has similar features to its English counterpart, or whether it possesses
different socialised conventions.
4.2 Some definitions of genre

Definitions of genre are many and varied. It is therefore necessary to
provide a definition in order to understand all that is involved in the
concept of genre.
Genres have names that are given to them by members of the professional
or academic community to which they belong. Genres may be written or
spoken. If we consider some spoken genres used in a university, we are all
familiar with the names of spoken genres of that academic community.
For example: lecture, seminar, tutorial, inaugural address/ lecture, etc.
62
Chapter 4
Written genres include: essay, academic paper, memorandum, course

outline, staff appraisal etc. Of course some of these genres are examples of
semi-spoken semi-written genres. A lecture, for example, may be written
to be spoken and a memorandum may be spoken/dictated to be read.
Martin provides a definition, which focuses on culture:
a genre is a staged, goal oriented, purposeful activity in which speakers

engage as members of our culture. ... Virtually everything you do involves
you participating in one or other genre. Culture seen in these terms can
be defined as a set of generically interpretable activities. (Martin, 1985:25)
Martin’s definition sees spoken and written genres as cultural constructs,

which are goal oriented. Therefore if we make a purchase over a counter
in a shop we participate in a genre for which there are socially agreed
stages towards a goal: the purchase of goods.
4.3 Longacre typology of text – general

characteristics
Longacre (1976, 1983), suggests that there are four broad types of
prose discourse: narrative, expository, hortatory or behavioural, and
procedural. He says that
Narrative is story telling and the most vivid kind of discourse. Expository
includes essays, scientific articles and descriptive material. Hortatory
includes sermons, pep talks,etc... Procedural is how-to-do-it or how-it-
is-done text. (1974: 358)
The primary aims of the various genres are different – narrative (and
drama) aim at entertaining or informing; procedural, at telling ‘how
to do’; expository, at explaining or describing; and behavioural at
influencing conduct. So, the purpose (or intent) of any type of text can
be expressed in terms of performative verbs: narration employs I recount
in its notional structure, procedural discourse employs I prescribe,
expository I explain, and behavioural discourse employs I propose,
suggest, urge or command (1983: 12). Longacre also stresses that a given
purpose can be realised on the surface mainly by text which seems to
63
belong to another category. Thus, a moral lesson is in intention hortatory

but may be presented in narrative form. One version of Little Red Riding
Hood, for instance, is apparently a narrative until it ends ‘... and Little
Red Riding Hood promised never to disobey her mother again!’
Figure 1 Longacre’s typology of text (Longacre 1983: 6)
Narrative (many types) (stories) Procedural (many types)- includes

instructional
1. 1/3 persons
1. Non-specific person
2. Actor Oriented
2. Goal oriented
3. Accomplished time encoded as past
or present 3. Projected time encodes as
+ Time - time
sequence is im- past, present or future
portant 4. Chronology
4. Chronology
Drama
1. Multiple ½ persons
2. Accomplished time as concurrent
3. Dialogue without quotation
Expository (scientific, academic texts) Persuasive (propaganda, sermons,

political texts)
1. Any person
1. 2nd person
- Time - time
2. Subject-matter
sequence is not
2. Addressee oriented
important
3. time not important
3. Commands,suggestions
4. Logical linkage
4. Logical linkage
Figure 1 Longacre’s typology of text (Longacre 1983: 6)
4.2.1 Contrasting narrative with other types of texts:
Narrative, the most pervasive type of text, is distinguished from the

other discourse genres, according to Longacre, in the following ways:
64
Chapter 4
1. Narrative is usually in the first or third person, while procedural

can employ a non-specific person, ‘we’ or ‘you’ or even a third
person, depending on different options. Expository discourse is
usually in the third person and hortatory generally involves a
second person component.
2. Narrative discourse is actor-oriented, while procedural is goal-

oriented, expository is subject-matter oriented and hortatory is
addressee oriented.
3. Narrative discourse encodes accomplished time, and

chronological linkage is necessary; chronological succession
is also important for procedural discourses, but not for
expository or hortatory types, which are characterised not by
chronological but by logical linkage.
4. Narrative is also distinct from other genres because of ‘plot’.
4.4 The Sydney approach to genre analysis

in secondary school writing
Martin puts forward the proposition that text structure is a sociocultural
phenomenon.
If we understand the sociocultural basis of the organisation of different

types of texts we realise these structures are learned. They are not a
reflection or manifestation of some innate ability; they are part of our
sociocultural learning. (1985: 72)
With this in mind, Martin and other Australian linguists investigated

how far children in the education system had acquired the kind of text
structures that they called factual and story genres. As you can see,
Martin’s model, devised some time after Longacres’ shares very clear
similarities, although The Sydney School does not acknowledge any debt
to Longacre’s work. The most clearly documented genres, for Martin,
are shown in the table below:
65
Genres in Education
Story Genres: Narrative

Recount
Factual Genres: Report

Discussion
Exposition
4.5 Genres defined and exemplified
4.5.1 Recount and Narrative

A Recount is ‘about something that the narrator has personally
experienced’ (Martin 1985: 4). An example of a recount might be
when after a visit to a place of interest, we tell someone about it. It
might be entitled: ‘A Visit to Stratford-on-Avon and Shakespeare’s
Birthplace’. A narrative might seem very similar but its difference is in
its communicative purpose. Recounts deal with a series of events. In
narrative, events are selected in terms of their story appeal. The writer
of a narrative is only interested in events of interest to the story. For
this reason, large periods of time may be omitted so that the story can
progress to its climax. To illustrate the difference between the two
genres, consider the medical history of a psychiatric patent, which
would be described as a recount, in comparison to a narrative in which
the central character is the victim of a tortured psyche – for example the
film: The Silence of the Lambs.
The recount would chronologically list all the relevant psychiatric

history as a series of events up to the present. The film, on the other
hand deals with events in a different way. Labov (1972), in his seminal
work on oral narratives, categorised them as having an orientation, a
beginning which will probably not be the beginning of the character’s
life but which sets the scene for the events of the story, leading to a series
of complicating actions involving several characters. There is a climax
at which point there is a resolution of the complicating action. And
66
Chapter 4
narratives conclude with a reorientation or coda. Real life psychiatric

histories are not so neatly packaged.
Written narratives also display difference from recounts in terms of the

narration. A narrative commonly uses both the first and third person
and a variety of tenses, whereas a recount selects just one viewpoint and
the past tense.
4.5.2 Report
‘Reports function in our culture to store information’ (Martin 1985: 5). We
are all familiar with news reports and scientific reports. These may also
include descriptions, which contain specific statements about objects or
things. This genre may seem similar to the recount but differs according
to Martin on the basis of its being a factual rather than a story genre.
4.5.3 Exposition
Expository writing often involves explanation. Explanations focus on
a judgement made by a writer which involves ‘the writer interpreting
the world, not simply observing it. Saying that something is important
means adopting an attitude towards it’ (Martin 1985: 11). Martin says
that Explanations involve causal relations and adds that they are similar
to Expositions. ‘The main difference is that in Exposition the judgement
which needs to be explained is one which is treated as more socially
significant and which therefore takes longer to justify’ (ibid.:13) We
discuss an example of an expository essay later in this chapter.
4.5.4 Procedure
Martin’s team defined procedural texts as being ‘built up around a sequence
of events, so they are similar to recounts (Martin 1985:4). The difference is
that the ‘generality of both participants and events in procedural writing
contrasts sharply with their specificity in Recounts’ (ibid.: 6).
67
Below are some examples of first attempts at procedural writing:
Example 1: How to Use a Periscope by L2 writer, aged 8
The first thing to do is to look up the tube. If you look up you

can see a car and buses and people.
This writer has managed to write within the conventions of the genre
using the second person form, whereas the writer in example 2 has
slipped back into the recount genre for his second sentence, by using
the first person:
Example 2: How to Use a Periscope by L2 writer, aged 8
Look into the mirror through the hole
I saw a playground
Being aware of the difference between these two genres may help you
diagnose problems in your own texts and in students’ writing. Awareness
of genres will also be of use when trying to assess language which plays
on genre knowledge that non-native speakers may be unaware of. For
examples advertising or literature may ‘send up’ a genre. For example,
in Britain at the moment there is an advert for after dinner mints, which
are called ‘Twilight’. It goes:
Tense nervous dinner party?
Try Twilight.
If symptoms persist try some new friends.
This advert adopts the procedural genre and in particular uses the kind
of procedural text which can be found on a packet of Aspirins:
If you have a tense nervous headache take two aspirins.
If symptoms persist, consult your doctor.
The 18th Century writer Swift exploits the genre of the recipe book and
animal husbandry when he writes his Modest Proposal:
A Child will make two Dishes at an Entertainment for Friends;

and when the Family dines alone, the fore or hind Quarter
will make a reasonable Dish; and seasoned with a little Pepper
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Chapter 4
or Salt, will be very good Boiled on the fourth Day, especially

in Winter….
Infants Flesh will be in Season throughout the Year; but more

plentiful in March, and a little before and after: ...
I have been assured by a very knowing American of my

Acquaintance in London; that a young healthy Child, well
nursed, is, at a Year old, a most delicious, nourishing, and
wholesome Food; whether Stewed, Roasted, Baked, or Boiled;
and, I make no doubt, that it will equally serve in a Fricasie, or
Ragoust. (A Modest Proposal pp. 23-24)
In the text above we can see that Swift has selected the lexis and
grammar of cookery and farming procedural texts and exploited them
for the purpose of satire.
4.5.5 Analysis of Narrative

This section looks at the application of genre analysis to a narrative text.
The text used here is a short, simple narrative. This one is from a native
speaker of English, aged eight.
Noddy
Noddy was taking a walk in town when he saw Jumbo the

elephant going into the police station looking very cross,
Noddy followed him in. The first person he saw was Mr. Plod.
the reason Jumbo was there is because somebody had been
stealing his peas, potatoes and carrots. Mr. Plod didn’t know
what to do Noddy overheard this then he went up to Mr. Plod
and said “I got a letter from you saying that I had to go round
to your house pick all the vegetables and put them in sacks and
put them outside your house behind a bush!” Mr. Plod and
Jumbo were gasping. “I didn’t” said Jumbo still gasping.
“AAAAHHHH!” said Mr. Plod surprised “I’ve got it” and he

told them that somebody from red goblin corner would come
to collect the sacks, not cross with Noddy at all. Then they
went round to Big-Ears for a plan. Big-Ears said that they
could catch the robber if they themselves went to red goblin
corner. So Noddy very quietly switched off his headlamps
69
went over to the bush and felt for the sacks. They were still
there then suddenly Noddy heard a rustle Noddy felt a hand
then he grabbed the hand surely it was Gobo the goblin.
Then Noddy took him down to the police station and he got
locked up, and all was well again when Jumbo sold all his
vegetables.
We can analyse the narrative according to the Labovian generic staging

of: Orientation, Complication, Evaluation, Resolution, Reorientation.
You can also use Winter and Hoey’s Situation/Problem/Solution Pattern
discussed Chapter 3, since they share obvious similarities. Recognition
of these stages is straightforward. The orientation/situation sets the
scene, placing characters in an imaginary world. There may be a series
of complications (problems) or events and resolutions (solutions) which
present the central character(s) with a problematical experience that
they have to resolve. The events/complications are evaluated in terms of
their significance to the character(s) and involve some reference to the
significance of the event to the character and the narrative as a whole.
Activity
Analyse the ‘Noddy’ narrative in terms of its generic stages. You
can mark the text to show each stage.
We can conclude that the narrative can be analysed in terms of the

stages of narrative suggested by the Sydney school and say that the writer
shows a strong grasp of the conventions of this genre. All the stages
are included giving a balanced global structure commencing with an
orientation stage and concluding with a reorientation. (This story can
also be analysed in terms of a Problem/Solution structure.)
4.6 Final comments

Different genres have different functions in society. It is very important
for students and writers to be aware of the different conventions so
they can be appropriate to different social occasions. If you know that
you will have to write an academic report, for example, you have to be
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Chapter 4
aware of the particular conventions of the genre so that you don’t make
mistakes or are interpreted as inappropriate for that special social event.
Commentary on Activity
Orientation Noddy was taking a walk in town
Complication He saw Jumbo going into the Police Station looking

very cross.
Noddy followed him in and found that Jumbo was

reporting the theft of his vegetables.
Noddy had received a note telling him to remove Jumbo’s

vegetables
Evaluation Mr. Plod, Jumbo and Noddy realised this was a trick
played by a goblin and planned to capture the culprit.
Resolution Noddy captured the goblin and took him to the police
station. The vegetables were recovered. All was well again.
Reorientation Jumbo’s vegetables were returned and he was able to sell

them.
Reading Activities:
Read the chapter below AND make summarise the main points in a
page and half.
Dudley-Evans, A. (1994) ‘Genre analysis: an approach to text analysis

for ESP’. In Coulthard, R. M. (ed.) (1994a). Ch. 14: 219-229. (Available
on Moodle)
Caldas-Coulthard, C. R. (1994) ‘On reporting reporting’. In Coulthard,

R. M. (ed.) (1994a). Ch. 19: 295-308. (Available on Moodle)
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Chapter 5
Telling stories: news as narrative
Chapter 5
5 Telling stories: news as narrative
5.1 Introduction
One of the basic statements made by Discourse Analysis is that discourse
and language are not neutral, but highly constructive mediators of social
practices. To start this chapter on the discourse of the news (or stories in
the media), I would like you to reflect on the following questions:
• On what do you rely for your knowledge of what is going on in

the word in your daily life?
• Are some sources you read more reliable than others?
• Finally, do you believe in what you read in the media?
Let’s take a very ordinary, uncomplicated occurrence/event to illustrate

the problem facing readers confronted with a piece of news – an egg
found on a floor and the possible reports retelling what happened:
• The egg broke
• Joe broke the egg
• The egg fell
• Joe dropped the egg and it broke
• The egg fell and broke
• The egg rolled from Joe’s hand and broke
• The egg hit the floor and broke
From the different reports with their different interpretations of what

happened, two processes are at work here:
75
1. selection
2. organisation
A report, as we have seen in the previous chapter, can be prioritised in

the selection of events according to:
Time – an event is isolated in time from the continuous chain of events

to which it belongs. (We are not told, for example, how the egg comes to
be in Joe’s hand. Other accounts make no mention of Joe and begin the
event with the egg already falling);
Relevance – some reports can give more information than others – ‘The
egg rolled from Joe’s hand and broke’ is an example where we have more
information about Joe and his body;
Observation – information is there or not there because the reporter

did not notice events.
Also, events can be linguistically organised according to different values,

ideologies, agencies, and subjects. If we decide for example to report that
‘the egg broke’ we are excluding an agent of the action and nobody will
be blamed. This is a very popular discursive technique used by children
to exempt themselves from wrongdoings. Therefore, the Grammar and
the lexical choices reflect the organisation of the text.
If we extend the same ideas to news reporting or stories in the media,

we can say that news is socially constructed – it is a practice far from
reflecting social reality and empirical facts. It is, nevertheless, a discourse
that intervenes in the social construction of reality. The example of the
egg demonstrates that there can not be any objective account or recount
of any event, since there is always a particular choice made by reporters.
If we think in terms of what happens in the world, we can say that there
is no limit to what might be reported. However, we could ask, what
makes some events become news?
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Chapter 5
5.2 The special status of news as discourse

News in the written or oral press is a specific kind of mass media discourse
which for many people enjoys a privileged and prestigious position in our
culture’s hierarchy of values. In western societies, people are exposed to
media language probably more than any other kind of language, since its
production is immense. People watch or read ‘news’ because they think
‘news’ is about society. The implication is that if you are exposed to news
you are more knowledgeable about social facts. However, as I intend to
discuss here, news is a reconstruction of reality through the eyes of many
people. The reality observed depends on how it is looked at.
The relationship between the ones that are in control of media discourse,
like producers and presenters, and the receivers of the messages is highly
asymmetrical – there are only a few people who produce and present
‘news’ to a too large audience, who in a sense, receive messages passively.
The controllers of the semiotic (images and scenarios) and the linguistic
production (the texts) can therefore establish norms and values without
being questioned
Within media discourse, news is the most important language genre.

Hours of radio and television and many pages of newspapers are dedicated
to the report of events that happen in the world. However, as Bell (1991)
points out, there was a time when news was not a dominant genre:
The year 1930 was early days for radio. The youthful British Broadcasting
Corporation (BBC) sometimes found there was a shortage of news deemed
worthy go be broadcast. If this happened, no attempt was made to fill the
gap. The announcer just said: ‘There is no news tonight.’ (Bell, ibid.: 1)
We can not imagine this happening nowadays. There are always topics
to be reported in our daily media. In fact, news carries the daily stories
of our times.
The concept of news can be ambiguous. It implies in the first place that
a given source will display some kind of new information to a general
public, and in the second place that this new information is passed on
objectively and from an outside point of view. Many of us watch the
77
major television news or read the daily newspaper for information and
‘believe’ that what we listen to or read is a faithful account of recent
events happening in the world.
In recent years, however, the professional journalist’s self image on

the question of impartiality has come under strong examination from
students of the media. See, for example, the work of University of
Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (Hall 1980), and
the publications of authors like Van Dijk (1988), Fowler (1991), Caldas-
Coulthard (1992), and Fairclough (1995). The question of faithfulness
and impartiality has been challenged definitively.
We now know that ‘news’ is a socially and culturally determined genre.

It is a representation of the world just like any other kind of discourse.
It is also a product of social practice, as I have already suggested.
Anything that is said or written about the world is articulated from an
ideological position.
In this chapter, I will discuss ‘news as text’ and specifically, news in the
written press. I will concentrate on the different types of text produced
by the media discourse and the concept of news as a narrative genre.
5.3 News as genre

In newspaper discourse, we find many kinds of genres, most of which
have specific linguistic realisation – editorials, letters to the editor,
documentaries, etc. Each genre presents certain textual strategies that
indicate a certain type of discursive experience with a given view on
some specialised area. It is interesting to see how different people prefer
some genres to others. Is it true for example, that men are more interested
in the Sports and Business sections than women? According to Fowler
(1991: 227) little is know so far about the characteristics of these genres.
It is clear nevertheless, that there is no ‘standard’ form and style for
some of these text types and some genres are mixed. Advertising, for
instance, can be disguised as a consumer’s report, or some article may
‘sound’ like a scientific report.
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Chapter 5
Although keeping in mind that some genres can be intertwined, we can

broadly classify this variety into four categories:
1. service information;
2. opinion;
3. advertising;
4. news.
In service information, we find texts like sports results, television and

cultural information, weather forecast, etc., and in opinion, we include
the editorials, the articles signed by professional experts, and letters to
the editor.
Advertising, like news, is one the most powerful discourses in the media.
There is no newspaper, television or radio without some sort of advertising.
Here we can include paid adverts, as well as classified columns.
News is the primary discourse. One important aspect to keep in mind

is that news is not the event itself, but the report or account of an event.
It is a discourse made into a meaningful ‘narrative’.
Nearly all newspapers present some kind of news. Sometimes, however,

it is impossible to separate what is news (supposedly factual) and what is
opinion. In most newspapers, these two categories are definitely marked
apart. The major topics covered are politics, the economy, foreign affairs,
domestic news, occasional stories and sport.
News can be thus subdivided into three further categories:
1. hard news;
2. soft news or feature news;
3. special topic news (sports, racing, business, arts, etc.).
Hard news is the core product – the basic content is conflict. It is the
report of accidents, crimes, etc. from a supposed impersonal perspective.
It appears in sections like ‘local’, ‘national’ and ‘international’. It covers
79
events that have just happened and it is concerned with the public sphere.
A second major category of hard news covers is politics. All hard news
is marked by a narrative structure. The stories reported do not express
private beliefs or opinions. They are statements of a ‘fact’ retold through
an institutional voice.
Soft news, is often defined by the journalistic profession (Hartley 1982:

38) as having ‘a woman’s angle’. (The adjective ‘soft’ is significantly
used in relation to ‘the woman’s angle’. It makes explicit the contestable
assumption behind the saying – women are soft and by implication,
weak!) Soft news includes humour and human interest and is concerned
with the private sphere. Soft news is not time bound for immediacy
and is licensed to deviate from the structures of hard news. They are
longer feature articles, rather than ‘stories’, they provide background
information, and they generally carry the writer’s personal opinion.
According to Bell for news workers and researchers, the boundaries

between hard and soft news are unclear; ‘indeed, journalists spend
much of their energy trying to find an angle which will present what is
essentially soft news in hard news terms’ (1991: 14).
Special topic news appears in specialised sections of newspapers in

terms of subject matter. Politics, sport and business are examples of this
kind of news.
Although we might think that media discourse covers a wide range of

the social life, there seems to be an overwhelming bias toward certain
aspects of society. Hartley (1982) points out that the public is more
targeted than the private and that there is an explicit bias towards men
rather than women, for example. He says:
Little is said about the lives of ordinary people, only about the decisions
made in politics, the economy, etc. Personal relations, sexuality, family
and working conditions, and the more or less coherent voices which
sound a different note to that of the familiar spokesman – all these are
invisible in news. The question arises: are the events that get so much
coverage there because they already affect our lives, or do they affect
our lives largely because they are constantly reported in the news?
(1982: 39)
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Chapter 5
The treatment of any topic will always depend on who is chosen to comment
and whose opinions and definitions are sought. Choice and selection,
therefore, will determine how a certain event will be reported and the
implications derived from this choice will have ideological consequences.
Clearly, therefore, news does not tell us about society. It show us, as Hartley
suggests, certain aspects of society. News is not a separate force outside the
social relations it portrays but it is inherently part of it.
News is just one social agency among many, news organisations are
themselves determined by the relationships that develop between them
and other agencies. ‘The two most important agencies likely to have a
say in the news are capital and the State - commerce and government’
(Hartley, ibid.: 48).
Activity 1
Choose two or three different types of recent news from the

newspapers you normally read. See their generic characteristics
– are they hard or soft news? What is the main topic and how is it
reported? How many people are there in the discourse? Write these
findings and send to your tutor.
5.4 News as narrative

One of the explanations for the domination of news in the discourse of
the media is that news is narrative or story telling and, therefore, the
most attractive and vivid representation of experience through language.
As Barthes (1975) suggests, narrative is present in every age, in every

place, in every society. For him;
Narrative starts with the very story of mankind. There is not, there
has never been anywhere, any people without narrative; all classes of
human groups have their stories... Like life itself, it is there, international,
transhistorical, transcultural. (p. 237)
Like any other kind of narrative text, news is centrally concerned with
past events, which develop to some kind of conclusion. In contrast with
81
commentary/opinion and political evaluation, news focuses on event

orientation and causality.
5.4.1 News production

In every act of communication, as we discussed in Chapter 2, there is an
addresser who sends a message in a determinate code to an addressee
(Jakobson, 1960).
Narratives in general are texts produced by a teller, who recounts ac-

tions or events prior to the recounting act or occasionally in the process
of happening –prophesy is one of the few kinds of narratives that project
future events.
By contrast with oral narratives where there is generally only one teller,
in the written press, narratives are not produced by one single source.
According to Bell (1991), news as narrative is a text produced by multiple
parties: principal sources of information, agencies, institutions, other
media and authors, copy editors, editors, etc.
The ‘copy’ – the actual written text – is handled by many people and
undergoes many transformations on its way to printing. According to
Bell, the copy follows a path, which is, itself, a narrative of changes:
A document arrives at the chief reporter’s desk, who then assigns the
topic to a journalist (the first writer). This person reads the written
report and looks for background information. Then, the chief reporter
receives back the first version of the text. If there are problems, the chief
reporter can alter or send the text back to the journalist for corrections.
A subeditor now edits the text – cutting, pasting, adding, etc. The text is
sent back either to the journalist or now to the editor, who gives the story
a final check. Editor sends text to subeditor, who finally sends it to the
printers. The diagram below illustrates the process of news production,
starting from the News source:
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Chapter 5
News Source
Chief Reporter
Writer
Sub Editor Editor
Recieving Media
(Bell 1991: 35)
So, many people are involved in the production of a news text. This
naturally accounts for one of the major characteristics of news as a kind
of narrative text – embedding. Version 1 is embedded in version 2 which
is embedded in version 3, and so on. The text therefore undergoes many
modifications and authorship and responsibility for the text is diluted in
the process. Ultimately, the newspaper editor is responsible for what is
said, although all the versions are based on other authors including the
unknown ones who write for the agencies.
In a classical narrative there is a teller who is somehow identifiable and

who can choose to aver, in other words, to be responsible for what s/
he recounts, or to detach her/himself from the responsibility of what
is being uttered by transferring the averral to other tellers and creating
other narrators.
Another important and very common feature of (both fictional and

factual) narratives is the introduction of other people speaking. Direct
or indirect quotation is hence a pervasive textual and ideological strategy
common to all narrative discourses.
83
In the press, given the process of production outlined above, and even if
the author’s name is given in a by-line, we do not know who is responsible
for what is reported, and the complicating process of production blurs
the factual and fictional distinction, as I have already mentioned.
The text below exemplifies this point (the text is divided in paragraphs
for reference):
Man Shot Dead After Car Blast
1. A Market trader was shot dead outside his home yesterday after
two men blew up his car and van.
2. Mr Alex Syme, aged 34, raced from his home in Hamilton, near
Glasgow, Lanarkshire, as the vehicles went up in flames.
3. He chased two men who had placed incendiary devices in the

vehicles, causing an explosion which ripped the roof from the van.
4. One of the men turned and fired a leaded shotgun into his stomach.
5. Mr Syme, a father of two girls, aged 11 and six, staggered towards

his home but collapsed before he could reach his door.
6. A neighbour, Mrs Martha Riddock, said: “I came out when I heard

his wife, Marion, screaming. Alex chased the men then I heard a
shot and he came staggering up the lane clutching his stomach.”
7. A relative said: “ He was a quiet man who hardly spoke to anyone.

We can’t understand why this happened”
8. Police are investigating a theory that Mr Syme was the victim of

a market traders war. (The Guardian - 4/11/81)
In this text, there is a voice that is not present explicitly in the discourse
– possibly the newspaper writer (the second person in the process of
production). This reporter gives voice to two people, Mrs Martha Riddock
and a neighbour, who then become the recounters and evaluators of the
same events. The first reporter, by making other people speak, therefore,
transfers the responsibility for averring that Alex Syme’s wife screamed
and he staggered, and that he was a ‘quiet man...’. Here, the particular
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Chapter 5
formulation chosen – ‘[I recount that] Mrs Riddock (or a relative) said
that...’ – does not question the reported averral. Other options do,
though – for example, ‘[I recount that] Mrs Riddock claimed that...’.
Tellers of narratives, whoever they are in the press, as I mentioned

when discussing the Egg example above, are also in charge of selecting,
ordering and organising the sequence in which events will be recounted.
There is always a choice and a construction, therefore, since events are
interpreted and then recounted by a teller who lives in a particular
society at a given time.
The temporal relations, for instance, allow us to see how the recounter
constructs the narrative. The events in the Market Trader text are by
no means presented in linear temporal sequence – the relationships
between the temporal order and the linguistic realisation of the events
is complicated. Contrary to simple and linear narratives, events in the
press are not presented in chronological order. The most important
event comes first. This serves to demonstrate that a given series of
events can allow many different recountings and interpretations, of
which the matching of temporal and linear sequence is just one. This
also shows that perspective or point of view determines how a text will
be interpreted and posteriorly produced. The cyclical nature of news
production, therefore, makes it difficult to identify whose hands have
produced which language and the representation of an event, through
many interpretations, becomes very similar to a fictional representation.
Activity 2
Analyse the Market Trader text in terms of either Labov’s narrative

categories or Winter and Hoeys’ problem/solution pattern (also use
Chapter 3 and 4 as references).
5.4.2 Hard News as Stories

Journalists, when reporting ‘hard news’, write narratives. Their stories
have to have a situation and a problem, a direction and evaluation and
a point of view. As Bell suggests (1991: 147), the fairy tale starts, ‘Once
upon a time…,’ and the hard news begins:
85
‘Fifteen patients have died at North Manchester General Hospital in the

past month…’(The Independent, Jan. 10, 1992)
Hard news has the main components Longacre, Labov and Hoey refer
to, but with some structural variations. The main ones (according to
the Labovian model) are the headlines, lead (the first paragraph that
summarises the whole story- a micro story), the resolution and the
coda. Source attributions, actors, time and place are also important
features of all media narratives. In fact, according to Bell (1991: 175),
journalists have a shortlist of what should go in a story, the five W’s and
an H – who, when, where, what, why and how.
Another important characteristic of news as narratives is that readers

are indirectly present in the discourse. Readers are addressed as a large
group defined by political, ideological allegiance undifferentiated at
personal level.
Because there is no reader addressed directly, (no ‘you’ as reader in the

text) there is a constraint in the speech acts produced by the news writer
– acts like promises, threats, etc.. are not present and assertions, the
main speech act produced, are accepted as possible truth.
In personal narratives or fictional stories, the title does not necessarily

give the listener/reader a clue to the topic to be developed. A recent film,
for example, entitled ‘The Silver Linings Playbook’ and translated as ‘O
Lado Bom da Vida’ (directed by David O. Russell, 2012) does not tell us
anything about the theme of the narrative, which tells the story of a bi-
polar man and his recovery to health.
In newspaper language, on the other hand, the headline is crucial. It is

a summary of a summary (the lead paragraph). It should contain the
basic information about the topic. In fact, many readers choose to read
a story only if the headline calls her/his attention.
The abstract summarises the central action and it is used to answer the
questions: what is this about? why is this story being told? Orientation
sets the scene: the who, when, where and what of the story. It establishes
the ‘situation’ of the narrative.
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Chapter 5
In hard news the lead, in most cases, fulfils the dual function of the
abstract and orientation. It is the most important paragraph of the
story. It establishes the main theme, it gives information about the basic
facts and people involved in the event. Orientation, on the other hand,
can also continue through the story, and characters can be introduced
as the events develop. The headline and lead of the text discussed above
illustrate the points:
Man Shot Dead After Car Blast
1. A Market trader was shot dead outside his home yesterday after
two men blew up his car and van.
…
Evaluation is a very important category in all kinds of narratives. There

is no basic difference between media and other narratives, but it is
important to say now that it is through evaluation that the recounter
or writer indicates her/his position on the events being reported. It is
also through evaluation that ideological values are communicated.
In newspaper language, evaluation is a crucial entrance point to the
hidden discourses.
For stories of personal experience or other kinds of story, if we look at

these from Hoey’s problem-solution perspective, the problem must be
solved. Otherwise the questions ‘so what?’ or ‘why are you telling me
all this?’ could be asked. Hard news, on the other hand, often does not
present a clear-cut end and, sometimes, they are not even rounded off.
See for example the end of the Market trader story:
8. Police are investigating a theory that Mr Syme was the victim of

a market traders war.
Here, the reader does not know what will happen and the solution to
the problem of Alex’s death is not given. Nobody is caught or put in
prison, for instance.
The coda, as a category, is not present in news story either. In an oral

narrative, the coda concludes the account and brings the listener back
to the present. Obviously, in a newspaper account, this is not necessary.
87
Concluding this discussion, although hard news and other kinds of

narratives share similarities in terms of their structural properties, they
also present differences. Orientation and evaluative material tend to
occur right at the beginning, the central action is generally told in non-
chronological order. One feature that all narratives share, however, is
the report of what people say.
Speech representation is a textual feature present in most media

discourse. ‘Quotation’ (or even indirect citation) is a powerful strategy
used to avoid the constraints on impersonality, opinion and formality.
However, newsmakers will always have the control over what other
people say – they are the ones who interpret a set of events according to
their point of view and the ones who structure in language these events
according to given news values.
Commentary on Activities
Activity 2
If we examine the Market Trader text in terms of Labov’s and Hoey’s

categories we can determine clearly the structure of the text.
The title and paragraph 1 are the abstract - they summarise the main
point and present a situation, which indicates a problem - the shooting.
Paragraphs 2, 3, 4, 5 present at the same time orientation - name, age,

place, and the complicating action - the sequence of dynamic events
(he raced, he chase, the men turned, fired a loaded shot gun, Mr Syme
staggered but collapsed).
Paragraphs 6 and 7 break the thread of the narrative, sub layering it

(another problem/solution pattern is then repeated) with the introduc-
tion of new voices, who tell the same events again. This is an evaluatory
device used by the teller, in Labov’s categories.
Paragraph 8 is an overt statement that there is no resolution to the

killing. It does offer, however, a possible solution to the enigma (Mr
Syme could be the victim of a market traders war). It also marks coda,
since the present tense takes us back to the reporting time (“police is
investigating...”).
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Chapter 5
All Labov’s and Hoey’s categories, therefore, are present in the discourse,
making this a complete narrative.
Reading Activity:
Read one of the chapters below AND summarise the main points in two
pages.
• Meurer, J. L. (1998). Narrative in self-help counseling. In Meurer,

J. L. Aspects of Language in Self-help Counselling. Advanced
Research in English Series. Florianópolis: Pós-Graduação em
Inglês/UFSC, pp 19-42
• Bastos, L. (2008) “Estórias, vida cotidiana e identidade – uma

introdução ao estudo da narrativa’ in C.R Caldas-Coulthard and
L. Cabral Desvendando Discursos: Conceitos Básicos, pp. 79-112.
• Caldas-Coulthard, C. R. (1996) ‘Women who pay for sex and

enjoy it. Transgressions versus morality in women’s magazines’.
In Caldas-Coulthard, C. R. and Coulthard, M. (eds.) (1996) Texts
and Practices: Readings in Critical Discourse Analysis. London:
Routledge. 250-270.
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Chapter 6
Critical discourse analysis
Viviane M. Heberle
Chapter 6
6 Critical discourse analysis
In this book, all the topics covered so far, as well as the reflection tasks
and reading activities will help you to see the turn from discourse
analysis to an alternative view known as critical discourse analysis
(CDA), more specifically the view proposed by the British linguist
Norman Fairclough. This unit also has strong connections with
In Brazil, CDA is known as
English 7, Descrição Linguística, because CDA makes use of systemic análise crítica do discurso,
functional linguistics for the lexicogrammatical analysis, as you will but at Universidade de
Brasília they prefer to call it
see. At the end of the unit I also hope you will be able to perceive that “análise de discurso crítica”.
the more we understand about the texts we analyse in terms of linguistic
forms and structures and their sociocultural contexts, the better we can
describe, interpret and explain the link between text and context, between
language and society. According to Halliday (1978, p. 3): ‘The context
plays a part in determining what we say; and what we say plays a part in
determining the context’.
6.1 What is critical discourse analysis

CDA studies are widespread throughout the world, and in Brazil,
research in CDA has increased, especially in universities such as UFSC,
UnB, UFMG, UFSM, UFPB, PUC SP, USP, UFRN, UFPE, UFRJ, UFSJ,
UERJ, UECE, and UFC. In July 2012, Caldas-Coulthard and Heberle
offered a post-graduate course on CDA in Portuguese, and there were
students from Physical Education, Journalism, Economic Sciences, Law,
Social Work, Translation, and Education, besides Linguistics. It seems
these students were interested in how CDA could help them in their
data analysis, linking discourse with broader social concerns.
93
CDA explores the relations between discourses and social processes, and
Fairclough (2003, p. 2) explains that his version of CDA ‘is based on the
assumption that language is an irreducible part of social life, dialectically
connected to other elements of social life so that social analysis and
research always has to take account of language’. He also states that CDA
is ‘the analysis of the dialectical relationships between discourse (including
language but also other forms of semiosis −e.g. body language or visual
images− and other elements of social practices’ (Fairclough, 2003, p. 205).
CDA sees discourse as ‘socially constitutive as well as socially conditioned’

(Fairclough and Wodak, 1997, p. 258, see the quote below). What
In Unit 1, you have already
studied an introductory text Fairclough wants to say by the socially shaped or conditioned aspect of
to CDA in Portuguese by communication is that when we use language, we reinforce or perpetuate
Caldas-Coulthard (2008).
Two other brief introductions social conventions. The constitutive dimension of language, on the
include: Magalhães, I. other hand, means that by using language we are able to transform or
(2005). Introdução: a
análise de discurso crítica. transgress social relations. According to Fairclough and Wodak (1997),
DELTA, 21(especial), 1-9.
and Magalhães, C. (2001). CDA sees discourse – language use in speech and writing – as a form
A análise crítica do discurso
of ‘social practice’. Describing discourse as social practice implies a
enquanto teoria e método de
estudo. In C. Magalhães (Ed.), dialectical relationship between a particular discursive event and
Reflexões sobre a análise the situation(s), institution(s) and social structure(s), which frame it:
crítica do discurso
The discursive event is shaped by them, but it also shapes them. That
(pp. 15-30). Belo Horizonte:
FALE-UFMG. is, discourse is socially constitutive as well as socially conditioned – it
constitutes situations, objects of knowledge, and the social identities of
and relationships between people and groups of people”. (p. 258)
CDA, thus, concentrates on the bidirectional link between language and

society, in opposition to some earlier studies on language, which did
not consider the social context. CDA also considers social theories and
linguistic theories (Chouliaraki & Fairclough, 1999), taking into account
sociopolitical and/or sociocultural aspects of discourse. Fairclough
emphasizes that linguistic phenomena are social and social phenomena
are linguistic, in the sense that when we interact with other people (in
speaking, listening, reading or writing) we use language in specific,
socially determined ways, and our social activities are in part linguistic.
Besides focusing on the bidirectional link between text and context,

between discourse and social structures, CDA is also transdisciplinary
and as such it interacts with other areas of knowledge, especially within
94
Chapter 6
the Social Sciences and the Humanities: it is ‘a resource for critical

social research that is best used in combination with theoretical and
analytical resources in various areas of social science’ (Fairclough, 2003,
p. 210). So, CDA is both a theory and a method: it is a theoretical and
methodological alternative to analyse discursive events in contemporary
society, that is, to analyse written, oral, multimodal texts and their
relations to social practices.
6.2 Topics of interest in CDA

In CDA there is a great concern with social problems, power relations
and ideology related to injustice, inequalities, suffering, prejudice, in
Lately Fairclough prefers to
terms of politics, economic relations, gender, ethnicity, law, education use the term social wrongs
and business, for instance, and the foci of analysis have included:
advertisements, interviews, editorials, news reports, classroom talk, TV

programs, police reports, political speeches, among so many others.
Let us look at some examples: regarding gender, we find analysis of:

women´s magazines (Heberle, 2004); narratives related to sex (Caldas-
Coulthard, 1996); appellate decisions on rape cases (Figueiredo, 1998).
For example:
Women’s magazines in the 21 century: still a discursive practice of

consolidating or of renovating ideas?
Abstract: Women’s magazines (WMs), as a multimodal semiotic system,

composed of several genres, incorporate dualities and/or contradictions
which are interdiscursively amalgamated and serve as guides for the
solution of women’s problems. In this paper, based on critical discourse
analysis, systemic-functional linguistics and research on WMs, I present
recent studies on WMs from several countries. Then I discuss local and
global issues in WMs and carry out a brief textual and multimodal
analysis of two articles from two different countries about the Brazilian
top model Gisele Bündchen, who is multimodally represented in the
capitalist international circuit as a symbol of femininity in contemporary
society. (Heberle, 2004, p. 110)
95
Another publication on CDA and gender is the book edited by Lazar

(2005), entitled Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis: Gender, Power
and Ideology in discourse. As proposed by the editor, Lazar (2005),
feminist CDA (linking CDA with feminist language studies) focuses
on different possible gendered identities and forms of empowerment.
In this specific publication there is another interesting chapter by the
Brazilian researcher Izabel Magalhães (2005) entitled ‘Interdiscursivity,
gender identity and the politics of literacy in Brazil’, which links CDA
with educational concerns.
Regarding education, there are also different foci of interest, such

as Reichmann, Malatér and Gama (2010)´s study. These 3 authors
are university lecturers and researchers in three different Brazilian
universities, working with professional identities of EFL teachers, teacher
education and EFL teaching and learning. They refer to their doctoral
studies at PPGI/UFSC (Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras/Inglês e
Literatura Correspondente) and discuss their results. They re-examine
diary journals, the discursive construction of future teachers of English
and also the representation of Brazilian public school teachers by the
IMF, as can be seen in the quote below:
Neste texto, ao abordarmos a questão de construção de identidade

profissional, descrevemos e comentamos algumas retextualizações
sobre a prática docente. Baseando-nos na linha anglo-americana de
análise crítica do discurso (ACD) [...], adotamos uma perspectiva da
linguagem como prática social e utilizamos como ferramenta de análise
a linguística sistêmico-funcional (LSF) [...], uma teoria de linguagem
ancorada no contexto social e nas escolhas léxico-gramaticais,
advindas das práticas e histórias discursivas de cada indivíduo [...].
Constituídas por discursos institucionais e práticas educativas
contraditórias, atuamos como professoras, pesquisadoras e formado-
ras em contextos universitários, documentando e analisando práticas
discursivas no processo de ensino e aprendizagem de línguas...faremos
três recortes: inicialmente é revisto o discurso pedagógico em um diário
dialogado reflexivo...; segue-se uma análise crítica da construção
discursiva de futuras professoras de língua inglesa... e, finalmente,
discute-se a representação discursiva de professores da escola pública
brasileira sob a ótica do Banco Mundial. (Reichmann, Malatér and Gama,
2010, p. 91-2)
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Chapter 6
More recently, with technological advances and new media there has
been a concern with multimodality and visual grammar (Kress and van
Leeuwen, 1996; 2006), which may involve the analysis of visual, spatial,
gestural and/or aural modes. As Kress and van Leeuwen explain:
visual structures [and we could add other semiotic resources as well, my

comment] realize meanings as linguistic structures do also and thereby
point to different interpretations of experience and different forms of
social interaction... (Kress and van Leeuwen,1996, p. 2)
Caldas-Coulthard and van Leeuwen (2002), for instance, analyse toys.

They say:
This study is the Optional
In the ‘toyland’ of every country, dolls, accessories, cars, construction toy Reading for this chapter
kits and computer games unveil the cultural and social meanings of the
world that surrounds them. With regard to this, given that the world is
directed by adults – not by children – toys have become a powerful
expression of their values and beliefs, a semiotic representation which
embeds the ideology of real-life social actors “through their design,
movement, colour schemes, among other things” (Caldas-Coulthard &
van-Leeuwen, 2002, p. 94).
Thus, with the role of semiotic systems other than verbal language as
meaning-making resources, new areas of research in CDA are opening
up, and research may include analysis of websites, chats, blogs, e-mail
messages or different kinds of interactions on discussion forums
or social networks on the Internet. Leppänen (2008), for instance,
discusses the interactions on the Internet by Finnish teenage girls in a
fan fiction forum and Almeida (2006) analyses toy advertisements from
two different websites, the American doll the Bratz (from Micro Games
America – MGA ) and the Brazilian doll Susi (from Estrela).
Here is another study focusing on educational concerns. At UFSC, 4

undergraduate students participated in an ethnographically-based
study on multimodality and multiliteracies. This is the abstract of the
paper they presented at Semana de Letras (UFSC) in 2008:
97
Resumo para a II Semana Acadêmica de Letras da Universidade Federal

de Santa Catarina (2008)
Título: Investigando práticas de letramento: Uma análise qualitativa do

Ensino-Médio catarinense
Autores: Bruna B. Abreu, Fernanda Aline Souza, João Eduardo Quadros &
Joseline Caramelo Afonso.
Orientadadora: Profª Drª Viviane Maria Heberle
O presente trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar resultados parciais

de uma pesquisa na área de Lingüística Aplicada que visa investigar
práticas de letramento de alunos e professores do ensino médio dentro e
fora do ambiente escolar. A pesquisa, qualitativa e de cunho etnográfico,
conta com quatro alunos pesquisadores, e voluntários de três escolas de
Santa Catarina, sendo nove professores e dezoito alunos A pesquisa de
campo foi realizada entre os meses de setembro e novembro de 2007,
e contou com: 1) Observação de aulas; 2) Entrevista com professores,
utilizando um questionário semi-estruturado; 3) Entrevista com
alunos, utilizando um questionário diferenciado do dos professores; 4)
Composição, por parte dos alunos, de um diário escrito no período
de uma semana. Tendo concluído a etapa da pesquisa de campo e
estando na fase de análise, os pesquisadores contam com o suporte
da Lingüística Sistêmico-funcional e da Análise Crítica do Discurso
para dar embasamento às suas conclusões deste trabalho, que busca
enfatizar a importância da utilização de diferentes recursos
multimodais e tecnológicos na contribuição da melhoria do processo
ensino/aprendizagem.
Palavras-chave: letramento, multimodalidade, ensino/aprendizagem.
CDA studies usually concentrate on different forms of oppression and

discuss important sociocultural issues, especially because the area
has an emancipatory perspective, to make people aware of power and
This study is mentioned in our ideology in discourse and other semiotic resources, and consequently
Required reading for chapter to empower them. Concerning education, CDA can be relevant for
6: (Heberle, 2000)
reading, writing and literacy. According to Bloome & Talwalkar (1997),
CDA studies raise questions about the role of language and students’
interpretation of texts and students’ awareness regarding ideology,
power relations and sociocultural contexts.
98
Chapter 6
So, as teachers of English, with a view on a more critically oriented view

of discourse, it is important for us to find materials for our classes from
different sources. These may include (and some of them have already
been mentioned):
• wedding invitations (Roseli Nascimento (EFL teacher from

UFSM) has discussed this in a CDA module at UFSC);
• architectural spaces (I have made a field trip with my post-

graduate students at PPGI to São Paulo, to visit museums,
cultural and historical buildings, for them to describe, interpret
and explain the multimodal and sociocultural meanings of these
spaces, based on Ravelli, 2006)
• cartoons, comic books (see, for example, Abreu and Heberle,

2011), postcards, memos, business letters, newsletters, websites,
blogs, posters, recipes, lyrics of songs, classified ads, instruction
manuals, leaflets, e-mails, traffic signs, films, documentaries,
horoscopes, among others.
Some of these materials may be used not as the main focus of analysis
but for triangulation of data, as complementary data sources for the
investigation. In other words, a research may involve news reports,
interviews, questionnaires and other documents in order to investigate
a specific object of interest or social wrong in a community. Possibilities
of sources both as main and as complementary include
• Interviews, questionnaires
• Observations (direct or audio/video recordings)
• Field notes, diaries, documents
• Text analysis
• Experiments, quantitative analysis
• Use of new technologies (concordancing tools such as

Wordsmith, Microconcord, visual Thesaurus...)
• Video-biographies, reports, films
99
Please note also that in order to carry out research in discourse

analysis, we need to submit our projects to the Ethics Committees in
our institutions, especially if we use people’s testimonies, as found in
interviews or texts. For the study reported above about teachers’ and
students’ literacy practices, for example, we had to follow specific
procedures, including the consent to the study signed by the students
or, in case they were minors, by their parents.
Reflection Task 1
This text will be available to
you in our moodle, too.
Based on Fairclough, Meurer (2001) proposes 3 questions for the analysis
of texts in EFL classes. They are:
1. How does this text represent the specific ‘reality’ it relates to?
2. What kind of social relations does the text reflect or bring about?
3. What are the identities, or the social roles, involved in this text?
Select a text from the Internet and answer these questions in relation to
the text you have selected.
6.3 Fairclough’s three-dimensional

approach to CDA
As suggested before, CDA focuses on the bidirectional study of
language and society. In his publications (for instance in Language and
Power, 1989, Critical Discourse Analysis, 1995 and 2010), Fairclough
proposes a three-dimensional framework for the analysis of discourse
(text, discourse practice, and social practice) and three dimensions of
discourse analysis (description, interpretation and explanation of the
phenomena being analysed). Fairclough (2010, p. 94) explains:
Each discursive event has three dimensions or facets: it is a

spoken or written language text, it is an instance of discursive practice
involving the production and interpretation of text, and it is a piece
of social practice.
100
Chapter 6
Process of production
Text Description (text analysis)
Interpretation (processing analysis)

Process of interpretation
Discourse practice
Explanation (social analysis)

Sociocultural practice
(Situational: institutional; societal)
Dimensions of discourse Dimensions of discourse analysis

Fig. 1: Dimensions of discourse and discourse analysis (Fairclough, 2010, p. 133)
Looking at Figure 1, the smallest square on the left labeled Text refers to
the lexicogrammatical features, notably vocabulary, grammar, cohesion
and text structure. In practice, this level refers to the linguistic analysis
per se and Fairclough draws on systemic-functional linguistics, a social
semiotic theory which you have already studied, both in Linguística
Aplicada II (very briefly) and in English 7, Descrição Linguística. The
critical discourse analyst can choose to investigate experiential meanings,
interpersonal meanings and/or textual meanings, from individual words,
groups or phrases, clauses, clause complexes to complete texts. Depending
on the kind of texts being investigated and the object of investigation,
different lexicogrammatical units can be taken into account.
To explore the experience being portrayed in a text, for instance, the

analyst can resort to the transitivity system in SFL, to better understand
the process, the participants and the circumstances represented in texts.
Here the analyst may observe the kinds of processes (material, mental,
relational, verbal, behavioral, existential) and which ones prevail. S/he
may also see the participants, the doers of the actions, the agents, the
101
social actors (van Leeuwen, 1996). And the circumstances (adverbial

groups or prepositional phrases) will allow for the background scenarios
built around the actions.
The second square on the left, Discourse practice, links the text and
the sociocultural practice. It concerns text production, interpretation
and consumption of a text, especially by looking at interdiscursivity
(meaning relations between genres and discourses) intertextuality
(meaning dialogic relations between the text and other texts), coherence
(related to inferences and assumptions) and force (related to speech
acts). Here the analyst will investigate how the speakers/writers produce
and interpret texts and/or which discourses are drawn upon.
The third square on the left, Sociocultural practice, concerns the broader
levels of context, from the local context of situation, to institutional and/or
wider sociocultural environments. In this level, the concepts of ideology,
hegemony and power relations are taken into account.
The arrows on the right refer to the methodological aspects of the

analysis, involving description, interpretation and explanation.
According to Fairclough (2010, p. 132):
The method of discourse analysis includes linguistic description of

the language text, interpretation of the relationship between the
(productive and interpretative) discursive processes and the text, and
explanation of the relationship between the discursive processes and
the social processes.
Reflection Task 2 (Last one!)
Based on what you have studied so far, on Meurer’s questions on Reflection

Task 1 and on the required reading for this chapter (Heberle, 2000,
especially the section Questions to help develop critical reading), select
a possible text to be used in one of your English classes and write a brief
CDA analysis on the selected material. Use approximately 500 words.
In this unit we will not be able to discuss Fairclough’s framework any

further. If you are interested you can read Fairclough (1989; 2010),
or, in Portuguese, Meurer (2005) or Brent (2009). Also, Chouliaraki
102
Chapter 6
and Fairclough (1999) and more recently Fairclough (2010) have also
proposed a methodology for CDA, based on Bhaskar (1986), but again,
this may only be developed in further studies.
6.4 Concluding the chapter

This chapter tried to show some of the concerns related to CDA and
a few examples of studies in the area. For future teachers of English,
CDA can be seen as a viable alternative in language studies and social
scientific research, as it provides tools for the analysis of different texts
in specific sociocultural contexts.
Likewise, CDA can contribute to critical approaches to EFL and teacher

education, both for teachers to analyse their discursive identities and
the use of ‘critical lens’ and for students to become more critically aware
of sociocultural issues when they read or write texts.
103
Final remarks
This book has presented an overview of key issues related to
discourse analysis. As you have seen discourse analysis is a valuable
multidisciplinary way to study language use in context, to investigate
identity, ideology, and power relations in different institutional settings.
We hope we have shown that studying the linguistic and sociocultural

options in texts and taking a critical stance to produce and interpret
discourse in contemporary society may contribute to a better
understanding of local, national and global concerns in social life.
For those of you who are teachers we hope that the topics chosen and
the activities proposed will open up further space for discussion and
development of relevant educational applications with your students.
Your students may, for instance, study classroom talk, discuss
differences between spoken and written language, investigate people’s
views on a particular issue or compare different versions of the same
fact as reported in different newspapers, magazines or other media.
If you are not a teacher the topics discussed in this course will help you
to understand better the ways communication happens and improve
your own production of texts.
And Finally…
This is the last page of the last book of your undergraduate degree.
Congratulations on completing the course. We know that working at
a distance is not an easy option. We, and all the other professors and
tutors who contributed to the degree, hope that all the work you have
put in over the past four years and all you have learned by studying and
researching has equipped you to succeed in your chosen profession. A
degree in English Language is very valuable and opens up many careers
that offer national and international opportunities.
As we say goodbye and good luck we also hope that in the next few years
you will think of returning to study at postgraduate level and come and
105
join us at UFSC to take and Masters degree a enjoy the added benefits of
full-time study and daily contact with your colleagues and teachers.
Carmen, Malcolm and Viviane
106
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8° Período

Carmen Rosa Caldas-Coulthard

Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

Curso de Licenciatura em Letras-Inglês na

Equipe de Desenvolvimento de Materiais

Material Impresso e Hipermídia

Copyright@2013, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

1 Communication: multiple modes....................................13

1.1 How do we communicate?........................................................................15

1.2 Text, genre and discourse – introducing concepts...........................19

1.3 What is discourse analysis for students of language?.....................22

2.1 The difference between spoken and written discourse.................27

2.2 Interaction in discourse – participants and roles..............................32

2.3 Ideal readers and real readers..................................................................33

2.4 Text structure..................................................................................................35

2.5 The prospective nature of text................................................................36

3 The structure of written text...........................................41

3.2 The problem-solution structure...............................................................43

3.3 Problem-solution structures.....................................................................45

3.4 The signalling of discourse structure.....................................................48

3.5 Matching relations........................................................................................50

4.1 What is genre?................................................................................................61

4.2 Some definitions of genre.........................................................................62

4.3 Longacre typology of text – general characteristics........................63

4.4 The Sydney approach to genre analysis in secondary school

4.5 Genres defined and exemplified.............................................................66

4.6 Final comments.............................................................................................70

5 Telling stories: news as narrative......................................73

5.2 The special status of news as discourse................................................77

5.3 News as genre.................................................................................................78

5.4 News as narrative..........................................................................................81

6 Critical discourse analysis.................................................91

6.1 What is critical discourse analysis...........................................................93

6.2 Topics of interest in CDA............................................................................95

6.3 Fairclough’s three-dimensional approach to CDA.........................100

6.4 Concluding the chapter............................................................................103

References and further reading.........................................107

Welcome to the Discipline Discourse Analysis!

This course introduces you to important aspects of recent research in the

The main purpose of this course is to consider the relationship between

By the end of the course, you should:

• have developed a critical understanding of the theoretical and

• be able to analyse different types of communication;

• significantly improve your ability to write in English.

Each chapter includes:

• Explanation of the main concepts, with reference to examples, some

• Reflection Tasks, Activities and some with Commentaries, which

• Reading Activities where you are asked to produce summaries to

• Caldas-Coulthard, C.R. (1997) News As Social Practice A Study in

• Caldas-Coulthard, C.R and Cabral, L. Desvendando Discursos:

• Caldas-Coulthard, C.R and D. Figueiredo, D. (2004) Special Issue

• Coulthard, M. (1994) Advances in Written Text Analysis. London and

• Coulthard, M. (1985) An Introduction to Discourse Analysis. London:

• Jaworski, A. and N. Coupland (eds.) (1999) The Discourse Reader.

• Meurer, J. L., Bonini, A., Motta Roth, D. (Orgs.) (2007). Gêneros:

A list of useful websites of journals and other important sites:

Critical Discourse Studies

Journal of Language and Politics

Discourse and Society:

The following table contains a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of your reading

chap. Required Reading Optional Reading

1.1 How do we communicate?

We also communicate meanings through the choices we make in the