Course Description

It can be argued that who we are and what we are able to achieve socially is determined by the range of different forms of language which we have at our disposal. We use language in a variety of contexts, to fulfill a broad range of communicative and social goals. This course explores the ways in which language varies according to subject area, social setting, communicative purpose and the social roles and identities of those involved. The time allotted to Discourse Analysis is 60min/week, which may not be sufficient to cover the wide range of topics. Nonetheless, the aforementioned course is meant to introduce (concisely, though) concepts, theories and research behind the study of naturally occurring language in use. Moreover, a historical overview of discourse analysis, why studying discourse analysis, definitions and types of discourses are discussed. Thus, opportunities to analyze both spoken and written discourse are offered. This class will help you recognize the linguistic elements of an utterance, its implicatures, the speech acts involved, and its role in conversation . Enjoy our class and please stay in contact with me and remember that you are not alone. We are all in this together! I enjoy teaching and especially enjoy linguistics and discourse analysis, so please feel free to contact me as often as you like. I want you to succeed and also to enjoy our class. Let me help you do that.