Discourse Theory.docx

Discourse Theory writ wr itte ten n by: Mol olly ly Ch Cha and ndy y • ed ediite ted d by: El Eliz izab abet eth h Sta tann nnar ard d Gromisch • updated: 9/11/212 !iscourse rse

theo heory

is "ainin" prominenc nence e

and and it

has

"reat

implications in an educational conte#t$ especially in the %eld o&  second lan"ua"e ac'uisition( )hen a sentence "i*es a limited meanin"$ the rele*ant te#t around it should be considered &or a deeper meanin"(

Relevance of Discourse Theory in Language Acquisition +in" +in"ui uist sts s trad tradit itio iona nall lly y de%n de%ne e a sent senten ence ce as the the basi basic c unit unit o&  e#pression( , sentence is de%ned as a "roup o& words that ma-es sens ense( Most utte tteranc ances and te# te#ts are in &act more ore than han a sentence( .he surroundin" te#ts o& the sentence "i*es it a deeper meanin"( Subse'uently$ it "i*es *alidity and depth o& meanin" to a discourse( .o understand the meanin" o& a sentence in its &ull meani meanin" n"$$ the read reader er is helpe helped d by the su surr rrou ound ndin in" " te#t te#t to "et "et clarity o& thou"ht and meanin"( !iscourse theory states that all the rele rele*an *antt te#t te#t aroun around d a mess messa" a"e e sh shoul ould d be cons consid ider ered ed to understand it clearly and uni*ersally$ instead o& *iewin" it as a

stand alone sentence( !iscourse theory has recei*ed prominence in social sciences( !iscourse theorists challen"e rationalist and indi*idualist approaches in many %elds( ,ndrew Cliord in his wor-$ 0!iscourse .heory and er&ormance 3ased ,ssessment: .wo .ools &or ro&essional 4nterpretin"$0 proposes

usin"

discourse

theory

to

de*elop

assessment

instruments( 5e has made some "roundbrea-in" obser*ations rele*ant to interpreters all o*er the world( .he impact o& discourse theory is tremendous$ especially in the translation industry( )hen a sentence is translated &rom one lan"ua"e to another$ discourse theory allows the purity o& the messa"e to be trans&erred into another lan"ua"e( 4n discourse theory$ thou"hts and words are or"anized systematically &or "reater understandin"(

Discourse

Theory

On

Second

Language

Acquisition  .he discourse theory has "reat implications in an educational conte#t( 4t shows how written$ *isual and oral te#ts "i*e more depth to the te#ts when the conte#t is understood( 4nteraction and cate"orization between teachers and students can be understood more deeply in the rele*ant circumstance in the social

conte#t( 4nstructional dialo"ue should be closely lin-ed to the particular scenario in a classroom( .he thou"hts and connections between teachers and students durin" the process o& teachin" and

lan"ua"e

ac'uisition

de*elop

the

ri"orous

nature

o& 

peda"o"y( 4n this scenario$ ideas and concepts will be mutually understood( 4t calls &or a *ariety o& teachin" methods and teachin" conditions speci%c to that classroom( 6or instance$ i& the topic o& history is to be tau"ht$ it would not be %ttin" to ma-e a &ew statements &rom the te#t about the topic(  .he topic should be discussed and the teacher should %nd out the e#istin" -nowled"e o& the learner$ alon" with the learner7s interest$ opinion and &eedbac- on the topic( .his process calls &or a lar"e *ariety o& speech moti*ation and *ocabulary buildin" in lan"ua"e ac'uisition( 4t should call &or a "lobal approach to a "i*en topic with clear distinctions o& what is important and what is not( ,s a result$ learners will distin"uish between what is the core o& the lesson and what are 8ust details( Classroom instruction can consist o& creatin" titles$ -eywords$ abstracts$ themes and reports( 6ormin" "roups$ pairs or clusters to plan$ deli*er and implement e*ents and pro"rams can be part o& a schemata(

4n order to understand topics o& "eo"raphy$ law and social sciences$ students would need bac-"round -nowled"e o& the world they li*e in( En*ironmental discussions will call &or an understandin" o& the plants$ animals and the li*in" world around them( isual and auditory in&ormation would enhance

the

understandin" o& what is important and what is not( racticin" in simulated

or

realistic

situations

"i*es

students

a

better

understandin" o& the in&ormation learned( 4deas and their lin"uistic e#pressions e#ist within a society$ with its web o&  customs$

practices

and

institutions

and

discourse

theory

enhances the understandin" o& learners in lan"ua"e ac'uisition( !iscourse theory is increasin"ly becomin" popular in the study o&  national ideolo"ies$ &orei"n policies and in a whole ran"e o&  academic and nonacademic perspecti*es(

We Also