Assignment:
A 2,500 word essay about discourse analysis on one of the following topics:
1. Discuss the nature of roles in conversation. How are they socially determined?
2. How do concepts of face, politeness, and social deixis relate to one another? How do they affect our daily social interactions?
3. What is phatic communion? How does it work and is it really an important part of social interaction? Give examples.
4. What is the relevance of discourse analysis to the teaching of spoken language?
5. "Critical discourse analysis... is directed at making people more socio-politically aware of the way language is used to manipulate them" (Widdowson 2000, p. 9). Is this a fair summary of the goals of CDA, and how far has it shed light on racism and/ or sexism in language?
6. What are the arguments for and against the use of ‘gender neutral' equivalents for traditional ‘sexist' expressions? On balance, is this type of ‘verbal hygiene' effective?
7. What is computer-mediated communication, and how far does it constitute a new discourse genre?