Discourse Analysis: The Questions Discourse Analysts Ask and How They Answer Them

Now fully revised, Discourse Analysis: The Questions Discourse Analysts Ask and How They Answer Them, remains the only introductory text organized around the fundamental questions that drive discourse analysis research. This approach cultivates a principled understanding of this interdisciplinary field by examining how analysts of different empirical persuasions systematically address core issues:

• How is discourse structured?
• How are social actions accomplished in discourse?
• How are identities constructed in discourse?
• How are ideologies navigated in discourse?

The answer to each question is illustrated with transcripts and analyses of actual discourse drawn from key studies in the field. Important concepts appear as boxed definitions throughout each chapter, while probing questions and analytical tasks guide readers through practical applications of discourse analysis methods.

This second edition features reconceptualized, reorganized, and expanded content, with significant updates addressing analyses of multimodal texts in digital environments. A new final chapter offers practical guidance for using the book and showcases exemplary student work.

With its unique question-based framework and range of helpful features, this comprehensive guide to the complex world of discourse is an ideal resource for undergraduate and graduate students encountering discourse analysis for the first time.

Hansun Zhang Waring is Professor of Applied Linguistics and TESOL at Teachers College, Columbia University (USA) and founder of The Language and Social Interaction Working Group (LANSI). She is the co-author of Storytelling in Multilingual Interaction (Routledge 2021) and Conversation and Analysis and Second Language Pedagogy (Routledge 2020), as well as being the author of Theorizing Pedagogical Interactions: Insights from Conversation Analysis (Routledge 2017).