LING 485: Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers
Instructor: Prof. Andrea Tyler
Time: MW 1:15-2:30 Place: NN 412
Using insights from several approaches to discourse analysis, this course focuses on the nature of spoken communication with special emphasis on how discourse analysis can be effectively used in L2 classrooms. In each class, we will analyze video and audiotaped conversations, classroom interactions, and other speech events, such as Oral Proficiency Interviews. We will consider how various discourse analytic approaches can clarify our understanding of L2 communication patterns, including cross-cultural communication breakdowns, as well as inform daily classroom teaching practices, assessment measures, and materials and curriculum development. Students will undertake several mini-projects that will require them to apply a number of discourse approaches to language learning and teaching situations. A primary goal is to develop analytical skills for purposes of teaching and research.
Course Requirements:
15% Group work: collection and analysis of classroom data
30% 4 short (approximately 4 pages) individual investigations
15% Class participation
10% Research proposal and preliminary bibliography
30% Final research project
Readings will include select chapters from:
Cameron, D. (2001) Working with spoken discourse. London:Sage Press.
Hatch, E. (1994) Discourse and Language Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
McCarthy, M. (1998) Spoken language and applied linguistics. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
McCarthy, M. & R. Carter. (1994) Language as discourse. London. Longman Press.
Riggenbach, H. (1999) Discourse analysis in the language classroom. Ann Arbor, MI:
The University of Michigan Press.
A packet of readings from journals and edited volumes: Preliminary Reading List
Green, G. 1989. Pragmatics and Natural Language Understanding.Lawrence Earlbaum.
Hartford, B. and Bardovi-Harlig, K. 1992. Closing the conversation :Evidence from the academic advising session. DiscourseProcesses, 15, 93-116.
Scollon, R. 1999. Cultural codes for calls: The use of commercial television in teaching culture in the classroom. In E.Hinkle (Ed.) Culture in Second Language Teaching and Learning (181-195) Cambridge: CUP.
Sacks, H., Schegloff, E., and Jefferson, G. 1974. A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversations. Language, 50, 696-735.
Clancy, P., S. Thompson, R. Suzuki, H. Tao. 1996. The conversational use of reactive tokens in English, Japanese, and Mandarin. Journal of Pragmatics. 26:355-387.
Schegloff, E., Jefferson, G. and Sacks, H. 1977. The preference for self-correction in the organization of repair in conversation. Language, 53, 361-382.
van Lier, L. 1988. The organization of repair in second-language classrooms. IN L. van Lier The Classroom and the Language Learner. (pp.180-212) London: Longman.
Nakahama, Y., Tyler, A. and van Lier, L. (2001) Negotiation of meaning in conversation and tasks: A comparative discourse analysis. TESOL Quarterly.
Chaudron, C. 1988. Teacher talk in second language classrooms. In C. Chaudron. Secondlanguageclassrooms, (pp. 50-89). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Scollon, R. and Wong-Scollon, S. 1991. Topic confusion in English-Asian discourse. WorldEnglishes, 10, 113-125.
Cheng, W. and Warren, M. 1999. Inexplicitness: What is it and should we be teaching it? AppliedLinguistics 20:293-315.
Hinkel, E. 1994. Native and nonnative speakers' pragmatic interpretations of English texts. TESOLQuarterly, 28, 353-376.
Boxer, D. 1993. Complaints as positive strategies: What the learner needs to know. TESOLQuarterly, 27, (pp. 277-299).
Hua, Z., Wei, L. and Yuan, Q. 2000. The sequential organization of gift offering and acceptance in Chinese. JournalofPragmatics 32 (1): 81-105.
Judd, E. 1999. Some issues in the teaching of pragmatic competence. In E. Hinkle (Ed.)(152-166).
Rose, M. 1999. Teachers and students learning about requests in Hong Kong. In E. Hinkle (Ed.) (167-180).
Carrell, P. 1982. Cohesion is not coherence. TESOLQuarterly, 16, 479-487.
Tyler, A. 1994. The role of repetition in perceptions of discourse coherence. Journalofpragmatics, 21, 671-688.
Ramsey, V. 1987. The functional distribution of preposed and postposed IF and WHEN clauses in written discourse. In R. Tomlin, ed., CoherenceandGroundinginDiscourse. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Riddle, E. 1986. Discourse uses of past perfect tense in English.TESOL Quarterly.
Celcia-Murcia, M., Donnyei, Z., & Thurrell, S. 1995. Communiative competence: A Pedagogically motivated model with content specifications. In E. Hinkle (Ed.) (137-151).