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
involved?
 What socially situated identities
and activities do these social
languages enact?
 How does intertextuality work in this
discourse?
 What figured worlds are relevant,
and what insights do they bring to
light?
Don’t worry if
you can’t
remember all the
definitions.
Trying to
remember will
prime you for
learning during
the lecture….
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
Range of meanings for the word “sustainability”
Discourse
Environmentalism
Socially Situated Identity
Environmentalist
Social Language
Liberal rhetoric
Figured World
Expected structure of
Conservationist Commercial
Situated Meaning
Meaning of “sustainability” in the commercial
Imagine an environmentalist
commercial
Conversation
Global Warming
Discourse
StatusQuo
What do we
gain from
looking at
these
elements?
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
involved?
 What socially situated identities
and activities do these social
languages enact?
 How does intertextuality work in this
discourse?
 What figured worlds are relevant,
and what insights do they bring to
light?
Don’t worry if
you can’t
remember all the
definitions.
Trying to
remember will
prime you for
learning during
the lecture….
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
involved?
 What socially situated identities
and activities do these social
languages enact?
 How does intertextuality work in this
discourse?
 What figured worlds are relevant,
and what insights do they bring to
light?
Don’t worry if
you can’t
remember all the
definitions.
Trying to
remember will
prime you for
learning during
the lecture….
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
involved?
 What socially situated identities
and activities do these social
languages enact?
 How does intertextuality work in this
discourse?
 What figured worlds are relevant,
and what insights do they bring to
light?
Don’t worry if
you can’t
remember all the
definitions.
Trying to
remember will
prime you for
learning during
the lecture….
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
involved?
 What socially situated identities
and activities do these social
languages enact?
 How does intertextuality work in this
discourse?
 What figured worlds are relevant,
and what insights do they bring to
light?
Don’t worry if
you can’t
remember all the
definitions.
Trying to
remember will
prime you for
learning during
the lecture….
Assignment 1 (not due til Jan26)

Transcribe a scene from a favorite move, play, or TV show




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



As a shortcut, you can find a script online
Excerpt should be no more than one page of text
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?