Approaches to analysing discourse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Approaches to analysing discourse - Essay Example One has to know how to speak a particular language in order for them to get to understand and be able to analyze the vocal language. One should be able to read and write in order for one to understand and be able to analyze written materials (JÃ ¸rgensen & Phillips 2009). This is one of the theories that help one in analyzing discourse. Like the name suggests it is very important for one to know why he or she is analyzing the particular language, is it to benefit a person or others. Is the analysis meant to help others or is it just for your own understanding? The relevance theory enables one to know the reasons of conducting the analysis then steps to follow when conducting the analysis (Wodak et.al 2012). The writing language according to the relevance theory is a very broad field. One has to generalize on the subject that one wants to understand and dig deep. The subject will help one narrow down the specific topics one wants to analyze and to what extend one wants to go with the research (Tannen 2012). The Subject or what one is passionate about is the most important thing here. For instance, if one wants to know about the politics of America, the topic is too broad, but it is the guide to what exactly one want to know about the American politics . Then one can decide on the exact thing one wants to know about the American politics (Tannen 2012). Let us say someone wants to know about the first president of America and how it was being the president. This makes work easier for one because one can now gather the relevant reading materials of the particular topic and analyze them. The written materials are available, and the particular topic has probably been researched by many. A lot has been written, but one has to choose the right materials not just anything that has been written about the topic (Marston 2011). Relevance theory suggests that the structure and context of discourse analysis