


	Jamaica Language Unit

MA in English Language

L64G — Discourse Styles of English

Credits:

Pre-requisites:

L14A, L14B, L23A, L23B

Duration:

39 hours

Evaluation:

1 Short Research Paper (5,000 words) (40%)
1 Final Examination (2 hours) (60%)

Rationale

This course is intended to ensure that students have a perspective on English which is broader than that of the narrowly linguistic features such as morpho-syntax, phonology and lexicon. They need an understanding of the effect which differences in genre can have on choices of specific linguistic forms in English as well as on the structure of the discourse itself.

Objectives

By the end of the course, students should be able to demonstrate (i) a grasp of the major discourse styles of English, as viewed from different theoretical perspectives, (ii) an awareness of Caribbean English discourse styles and how these conform to and/or vary from those of other varieties of English, and (iii) the ability to research some of these using the range of actual language data currently available.

Content

Identifying with reference to the literature as well as personal experience the linguistic features stereotypically associated with various discourse styles in English, across the range from informal to formal situations and from private to public domains.
With a view to generating amongst students notions of discourse based on actually occurring data, analyse,
1. Spoken English data, ranging from private conversations to public speeches and the language use within the broadcast media, and
2. Written English data, ranging from personal letters to more formal and public discourse in writing and the print medium, inclusive of the worldwide web and internet.
Use analyses derived in 2) to develop an understanding of
1. the features of the major discourse genres in English, and
2. the differences that exist in these features across the varieties of English, with specific reference to the characteristics of discourse styles in Caribbean varieties of English.
Discuss the insights derived from 3) in relation to the various approaches to discourse, e.g. genre analysis contrastive rhetoric, ethnography and corpus linguistics, interactional sociolinguisttics.

Reading List

Barton, D. & N. Hall 2000 Letter Writing as Social Practice. John Benjamins.
Bell, Allan. 1991 The Language of the New Media (Oxford, U.K.: Blackwell, 1991
Berk, M. 1999 English Syntax: From Word to Discourse Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Fairclough, N. 2001 Language and Power, Longman, New York.
Findlay, M, 1998 Language and Communication: A cross-cultural encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, CA.
Flowerdew, J. 2001 Academic Discourse Pearson ESL.
Fowler, R. 1991 Language in the News: Discourse and Ideology in the Press, Routledge, London.
Fox, B. 1987 Discourse Structure and Anaphora : Written and Conversational English Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Goody, J. 1987 The Interface Between the Written and the Oral. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Hiltunen, R. & H. Skaffari 2003 Discourse on English: Medieval to Modern. John Benjamins.
Hyland, K. 2001 Teaching and Researching Writing. Pearson ESL.
Karin, A. 2002 English Discourse Particles: Evidence from a Corpus, John Benjamins.
Lassen, I. 2003 Accessbiliy and Acceptability in Technical Manuals. John Benjamins.
Luke, K. K. & T. Pavlidou 2002 Telephone Calls: Unity and Diversity in Conversational Structures Across Languages and Cultures. John Benjamins.
Ong, W. 198? Orality and Literacy: The Technologising of the Word. Methuen, London.
Swales, J., M. Long & J. Richards (eds) 1990 Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Toolan, M (ed.) 2002 Critical discourse analysis: Critical Concepts in Linguistics. Vols 1-4, Routledge, London.
Ungerer, F. 2000 English Media Texts - Past and Present: Language and Textual Structure. John Benjamins.