Longman Dictionary of

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discourse community
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS; some researchers however use discourse analysis to
refer to the study of spoken discourse and TEXT LINGUISTICS to refer to the
study of written discourse.
In POSTMODERNISM and CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS, discourse is used to
indicate not only any kind of talk but also the meanings and values
embedded in talk. In this sense, a dominant discourse refers to an institutionalized
way of thinking and talking about things.
discourse accent n
(in writing) those characteristics of writing produced by non-native
writers which make it different from the writing of native writers. For
example, non-native patterns of rhetorical organization in an essay or
non-native use of cohesive devices, topics, and paragraph organization
may contribute to a writer’s discourse accent.
see also CONTRASTIVE RHETORIC
discourse analysis n
the study of how sentences in spoken and written language form larger
meaningful units such as paragraphs. conversations, interviews, etc.
(see DISCOURSE).
For example, discourse analysis deals with:
a how the choice of articles, pronouns, and tenses affects the structure of
the discourse (see ADDRESS FORMS, COHESION)
b the relationship between utterances in a discourse (see ADJACENCY PAIRS,
COHERENCE)
c the MOVES made by speakers to introduce a new topic, change the topic,
or assert a higher ROLE RELATIONSHIP to the other participants
Analysis of spoken discourse is sometimes called CONVERSATIONAL
ANALYSIS. Some linguists use the term TEXT LINGUISTICS for the study of
written discourse.
Another focus of discourse analysis is the discourse used in the classroom.
Such analyses can be useful in finding out about the effectiveness of teaching
methods and the types of teacher-student interactions.
see also SPEECH EVENT
discourse community n
a group of people involved in a particular disciplinary or professional
area (e.g. teachers, linguists, doctors, engineers) who have therefore developed
means and conventions for doing so. The type of discourse used by
a discourse community is known as a GENRE. The concept of discourse
community thus seeks to explain how particular rhetorical features of
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