An Introduction to Critical Discourse Analysis in Education

This landmark text is the first introduction to concepts and issues in critical discourse analysis for educational researchers. The central premise is that critical discourse analysis must be conducted "systematically," which means conducting inquiry into the ways in which language form and function correlate with social practices. Bringing together the work of New Literacy Studies, situated literacy, critical discourse theory and analysis with theories of learning, the text is distinctive in providing not just useful analytic accounts of discourse in classroom and other settings, but going on to identify ways in which these forms of language are connected to theories of learning.


Contributions from two pioneers in the field--James Gee and Norman Fairclough--are combined with empirically grounded chapters that illustrate variations of their approaches to critical discourse analysis. Each chapter presents examples of systematical critical discourse analysis and its relevance in education settings, and provides detailed information on analytic procedures.

An Introduction to Critical Discourse Analysis in Education:

*introduces key concepts in critical discourse analysis and answers some of the frequently asked questions;

*situates critical discourse analysis within educational research; and

*provides detailed analytic procedures, to demystify the process, allow researchers to have a conversation about issues of trustworthiness of interpretations and value to educational contexts, and enable replication of studies.


The new synthesis of theoretical and empirical studies in critical discourse analysis and education the book presents will interest newcomers to critical discourse analysis, as well as researchers and educators interested in discourse, identity, and learning. The descriptive, critical ethnographic and interpretive approaches to critical discourse analysis developed in each chapter make the book accessible yet theoretically rich. Pedagogical features make critical discourse analysis accessible to students. The text is cross-disciplinary, intended for courses in qualitative methodology, discourse analysis, critical discourse studies, and literacy education. It will appeal not only to education researchers but to a wide readership within literacy studies, linguistics, sociology, and other social sciences concerned with contemporary approaches to describing and explaining the role of language in learning and education.