DA Week1 Lect2

							       Computational
       Models of
       Discourse Analysis
    Carolyn Penstein Rosé
 Language Technologies Institute/
Human-Computer Interaction Institute
    Warm-Up
   Read the short conversation
   Jot down your thoughts related to
    the following ideas:
     What   social languages are
                                                 Don’t worry if
      involved?                                    you can’t
     What socially situated identities       remember all the
                                                  definitions.
      and activities do these social               Trying to
      languages enact?                          remember will
                                                 prime you for
     How does intertextuality work in this    learning during
      discourse?                                the lecture….
     What figured worlds are relevant,
      and what insights do they bring to
      light?
Styles of Analysis (Do David and Beka agree?)
   Eric: Our two styles of analysis are quite similar:
    first we frame the ‘text’ in its intertextual context,
    then we consider the heteroglossic possibilities of
    the text, and finally we draw our conclusions by
    interweaving the two together.
   David: I think my natural tendency in analysis is
    more story-oriented, favoring larger chunks or
    themes than much of Jim's element-based
    analysis. I find myself drawn to analyze and
    synthesize the whole of the piece to fit a single
    (critical?) lens, rather than treating the features
    and elements separately.                            ?
 Form-Function Correspondence                         Imagine an environmentalist
 Range of meanings for the word “sustainability”      commercial

                                                     Conversation
                                                     Global Warming
            Discourse                                              Discourse
            Environmentalism                                       StatusQuo
      Socially Situated Identity
      Environmentalist
                                                     What do we
                                                     gain from
          Social Language                            looking at
          Liberal rhetoric                           these
                                                     elements?

Figured World
Expected structure of
Conservationist Commercial

     Situated Meaning
     Meaning of “sustainability” in the commercial
Student Comment
   “Something that comes across from the analyses
    of the commercial in the reading and from class is
    how much thought went into the design of the
    commercial. Despite the number of themes in the
    commercial, they work together to convey a
    positive message about the product when you
    consider the target audience.”


   So today we’re talking about something
    less planned
Student Quote
   One aspect that I had not considered before
    reading was Gee's analysis of the monsters. He
    assigns characteristics to the monsters
    (describing them as "tough, hard, destructive
    beings") and suggests that the viewers'
    impressions of them might change after seeing
    them fall in love. I hadn't considered the
    implications of that shift but I now think it plays an
    important role in how we view the rest of
    commercial.


   Please elaborate….
Discourses
   Definition: enacting a kind of social identity,
    like “being a real Indian”
     More  than just language, exists apart from the
      individual people who enact that identity
     Involves more than language, for example,
      clothing and other “props”
     Scientists are “real scientists” when they
      contribute a scholarly argument

     How do you do “being an Environmentalist”?
     How do you do “being a discourse analyst?”
Socially Situated Identities
   Definition: a role or “who doing what”
     More  narrowly targeting one person’s role as
      part of a Discourse
     Example: daughter displaying her intelligence
      to her proud parents
     Example2: woman having a personal
      conversation with her boyfriend
    Warm-Up
   Read the short conversation
   Jot down your thoughts related to
    the following ideas:
     What   social languages are
                                                 Don’t worry if
      involved?                                    you can’t
     What socially situated identities       remember all the
                                                  definitions.
      and activities do these social               Trying to
      languages enact?                          remember will
                                                 prime you for
     How does intertextuality work in this    learning during
      discourse?                                the lecture….
     What figured worlds are relevant,
      and what insights do they bring to
      light?
    Social Languages
   Definition: Style of language use associated
    with a socially situated identity
     Example: daughter displaying her intelligence to her
      proud parents
          “It seemed to me that Gregory should be the most
           offensive. He showed no understanding for Abigail…”
     Example2:  woman having a personal conversation
      with her boyfriend
          “What an ass that guy was, you know, her boyfriend…”
     Note:  same person, same viewpoint, same content,
      but different audience
    Warm-Up
   Read the short conversation
   Jot down your thoughts related to
    the following ideas:
     What   social languages are
                                                 Don’t worry if
      involved?                                    you can’t
     What socially situated identities       remember all the
                                                  definitions.
      and activities do these social               Trying to
      languages enact?                          remember will
                                                 prime you for
     How does intertextuality work in this    learning during
      discourse?                                the lecture….
     What figured worlds are relevant,
      and what insights do they bring to
      light?
Conversations
   Definition: Exchanges between more than
    one Discourse (e.g., ongoing debates)
     Example: Creationists versus Evolutionists
     Example: Liberal versus Conservative political
      debates
Intertextuality
   Definition: Mixing, borrowing, or switching
    between social languages
     Occurs often within the context of a Conversation
     May also occur in other places
     More narrowly textual than a Conversation

     by pointing out the inflation of Saddam’s body count by
     neocons in an effort to further vilify him and thus further justify
     our invasion we are not DEFENDING saddam....just pointing
     out how neocons rarely let facts get in the way of a good war.

     So wait, how many do you think Saddam killed or oppressed?
     You’re trying to make him look better than he actually was. You’re
     the one inflating the casualties we’ve caused! Seriously, what
     estimates (with a link) are there that we’ve killed over 100,000
     civilians. Not some crack pot geocities page either.
Student Quote (agree or disagree?)
   The biggest enlightenment for me after
    reading Gee’s theory was the concept of
    ‘heteroglossia’ or multi-voicedness. This is
    important because we were trying to find
    the ‘one right answer’ in class, when in fact,
    everyone could have been right. For
    example, caring parents would see the
    advertisement as loving and soft, but
    people with insatiable egos would see the
    hummer as a force to be reckoned with—a
    vehicular manifestation of themselves.
    Warm-Up
   Read the short conversation
   Jot down your thoughts related to
    the following ideas:
     What   social languages are
                                                 Don’t worry if
      involved?                                    you can’t
     What socially situated identities       remember all the
                                                  definitions.
      and activities do these social               Trying to
      languages enact?                          remember will
                                                 prime you for
     How does intertextuality work in this    learning during
      discourse?                                the lecture….
     What figured worlds are relevant,
      and what insights do they bring to
      light?
Form-Function Correlations
   Definition: Linguistic knowledge that we use
    to interpret language
     Example:   If a subordinate clause is fronted,
      that’s unusual, so we must be highlighting its
      significance
Figured Worlds
   Definition: Theories or schemas that
    explain how the world works and provide
    expectations about how things go.
Student Quote (comment about intertextuality,
but connects nicely with figured worlds)
   We talked about several different themes
    going on in the commercial (i.e., Japan v
    America, monster movies, love stories,
    children, environmentalism, etc.) but we
    never really talked about where these
    themes came from, or how we knew about
    them. For instance, being able to identify
    the monster movie theme shows a sort of
    image-based intertextuality. It's a graphical
    theme borrowed from somewhere besides
    car commercials.
Student Quote (comment about Conversations,
but connects nicely with figured worlds)
   In Chapter 4, Gee talks about
    Conversations and missions statements as
    things that provide context for
    understanding discourse and as agents
    that influence discourse. Thinking about
    these concepts shaped my analysis of the
    Hummer commercial because many of the
    messages in the commercial are
    dependent on previous knowledge of
    concepts like: old monster movies, love
    stories, and information about the Hummer.
Situated Meaning
   Definition: Using context to select one from
    many possible interpretations
     Example: expectation associated with “how are
      you?” when two friends meet for coffee versus
      when two acquaintances pass in the hall
    Warm-Up
   Read the short conversation
   Jot down your thoughts related to
    the following ideas:
     What   social languages are
                                                 Don’t worry if
      involved?                                    you can’t
     What socially situated identities       remember all the
                                                  definitions.
      and activities do these social               Trying to
      languages enact?                          remember will
                                                 prime you for
     How does intertextuality work in this    learning during
      discourse?                                the lecture….
     What figured worlds are relevant,
      and what insights do they bring to
      light?
Assignment 1 (not due til Jan26)
   Transcribe a scene from a favorite move, play, or TV show
        As a shortcut, you can find a script online
        Excerpt should be no more than one page of text
   Select one of the methodologies we are discussing in Unit 1
    (e.g., from Gee, Martin & Rose, or Levinson)
   Do a qualitative analysis of the script and write it up
        Use readings from Unit 1 as a collection of models to chose from
   Due on Week 3 lecture 2
        Turn in transcript, raw analysis (can be annotations added to the
         transcript), and write up (your interpretation of the analysis)
        Prepare a powerpoint presentation for class (no more than 5
         minutes of material)


   Other Ideas: Twitter data, Google Groups, transcribe a real
    conversation (if your conversational partners agree…)
Research Connection: Social
Interpretation of Code Switching
English-Tswana-Afrikaans-English (Casaburi 1994)
[An extract from the inaugural address of Matsephe Casaburi, the first woman to
   be sworn in as provincial premier (i.e. governor) in South Africa’s Free State
   Province. Tswana is in italics.

'YOU CANNOT DISCOVER NEW OCEANS UNTIL YOU HAVE THE
 COURAGE TO LOSE SIGHT OF LAND. KE TLA SEBEDISA TSEBO YA KA
   GO BONTSHA GORE KE TLA KGONA GO KAONAPATSA PROVINCE YA
   RONA. ONS MOET SOOS BROERS EN SUSTERS SAAMLEEF EN NIE
   SOOS SWAPE SAAM STERF NIE. THANK YOU.'

(TRANSLATION: “You cannot discover new oceans until you have the courage
   to lose sight of land. I will use my knowledge to show that we are capable of
   improving our province. We must live together like brothers and sisters and
   not die together like fools. Thank you.”)
Questions?