Performance management discourse and the shift to an administrative logic of operation: a multimodal critical discourse analytical approach

2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Per Ledin ◽  
David Machin
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Performance Management ◽  
Analytical Approach ◽  
Web Of Science ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Value For Money ◽  
Subject Areas ◽  
A Chain ◽  
The One

AbstractThis paper, using multimodal critical discourse analysis, explores a chain of performance management documents in a university which aim to meet the goal of increasing output and excellence. A system of performance management developed by Kaplan and Norton in the 1990s, which enables both tangible and also “intangible assets” such as “quality” and “excellence” to be monitored and measured, is now used fairly universally to structure the running of public institutions. Looking in detail at one case, we show that the result is an abstraction and de-contextualization of processes and agents, through a series of interlocking texts, lists and tables that follows an administrative, rather than task led, logic of operation. We show how the discourse is legitimized on the one hand by the very impenetrable nature of the resulting interlocking documents and by the Web of Science database on the other. We give reasons why the database itself is highly problematic and also show the abstract ways in which it is communicated and how it leads to research in all subject areas being codified and standardized in a “one-size-fits-all” way. This, we argue, serves the purposes of naturalizing and justifying notions of “quality,” “excellence” and “value for money” that have been promoted in service of neoliberal politics.

THE USE OF CRITICAL THINKING AGAINST FAKE NEWS

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra-Niculina Babii
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Informal Logic ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Digital Era ◽  
The Social ◽  
Legal Sanctions ◽  
The One

The digital era has determined a very easy creation and propagation of fake news. As a consequence, it has become harder for people to fight this malicious phenomenon. However, the only weapon that can have results in this informational war is critical thinking. But who should use it? The creators of fake news that do this for different reasons? The social platforms that allow the circulation of fake news with ease? Mass media which does not always verify with much attention and rigour the information they spread? The Governments that should apply legal sanctions? Or the consumer that receives all the fake news, him being the final target? Even if critical thinking would be useful for every actor on fake news’ stage, the one who needs it the most is the consumer. This comes together with the big responsibility placed on his shoulders. Even if others are creating and spreading disinformation, the consumer must be aware and be careful with the information he encounters on a daily basis. He should use his reasoning and he should not believe everything just because it is on the Internet. How can he do that? Critical thinking seems to be a quite difficult tool to use, especially for non-specialized individuals. This paper’s aim is to propose a simplified model of critical thinking that can contribute to detecting fake news with the help of people’s self judgement. The model is based on theories from Informal Logic considering the structure of arguments and on Critical Discourse Analysis theories concerning the patterns found in the content of the information.

scholarly journals Examining the Discourse of Perfume Advertisements: An Analysis of the Verbal and the Visual

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 117-131
Author(s):  
Vandana Lunyal
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Consumer Products ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Problem Solution ◽  
Common People ◽  
Cultural Stereotypes ◽  
Visual Elements ◽  
The One ◽  
Effective Use

In the world that promotes consumerism, companies are in a competition to produce a variety of commodities and to convert people into consumers of their products whether they need them or not. The abundance of consumer products is promoted through advertisements. These advertisements persuade the common people to become consumers for which they use a variety of strategies, the most common being the use of problem-solution format in language and an effective use of the verbal and the non-verbal. This paper focuses on investigating the verbal and the non-verbal aspects of the text to examine how ideological constructs function in the discourse of advertisingthrough the use of hegemony. A perfume advertisement has been selected for a detailed analysis of the verbal and the visual elements to illustrate how advertisers commonly attempt to transmit some underlying, yet unasserted, meanings to unsuspecting readers who may understand the intentions of the advertisers i.e. to promote consumption but may not understand that the aim is achieved by generally promoting cultural stereotypes which work towards the disadvantage of one social group vis-à-vis the other especially the one that the advertisement is addressed to. The tool for the analysis of the advertisement is Fairclough’s model of critical discourse analysis (CDA) that uses the analysis of the verbal and the visual to reveal ideological underpinnings. CDA also has pedagogical implications for instance the language used for describing products, if analysed critically by language learners, helps them to unfold the hidden meanings as is illustrated through the analysis. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/nelta.v19i1-2.12085 Journal of NELTA, Vol 19 No. 1-2, December 2014: 117-131

The discursive representation of Islam and Muslims in the British tabloid press

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noureddine Miladi
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Negative Stereotypes ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Media ◽  
Political Speeches ◽  
The One ◽  
Tabloid Press ◽  
And Diffusion

This article employs Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) on a sample from British tabloid newspapers to unearth the representation of Islam and Muslims. It attempts to unpack the evolving discursive language and its impact on the reinvention and diffusion of negative stereotypes such as the ‘terrorism’ frame. With a specific focus the study considers the media’s systematic distortion of Islamic conceptions/religious terminologies such as ‘Islamist’, ‘Fatwa’, ‘Sharia’, ‘Jihad’, ‘Hijab’ and ‘Islamic State’, which are founded on what Edward Said calls the ‘ideology of difference’. Findings from this study show that such conceptions have not only lost their original significance as established in the mainstream Islamic literature, but have become on the one hand associated with the War on Terror and its ramifications and on the other have become exclusively signifying specific pejorative connotations. Fear and threat have become the meanings and frames firmly embedded in these Islamic terminologies. In the minds of the public this association is now taken for granted due to the prevailing values being recurrently circulated through the media, political speeches, ‘thinktanks’ literature and policy-making documents.

Critical Discourse Analysis

1990 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 84-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunther Kress
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
International Communication ◽  
The Other ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Editorial Statement ◽  
The Media ◽  
The One

The label Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is used by a significant number of scholars with a diverse set of concerns in a number of disciplines. It is well-exemplified by the editorial statement of the journal Discourse and Society, which defines its envisaged domain of enquiry as follows: “the reproduction of sexism and racism through discourse; the legitimation of power; the manufacture of consent; the role of politics, education and the media; the discursive reproduction of dominance relation between groups; the imbalances in international communication and information.” While some practitioners of Critical Discourse Analysis might want to amend this list here or there, the set of concerns sketched here well describes the field of CDA. The only comment I would make, a comment crucial for many practitioners of CDA, is to insist that these phenomena are to be found in the most unremarkable and everyday of texts—and not only in texts which declare their special status in some way. This scope, and the overtly political agenda, serves to set CDA off on the one hand from other kinds of discourse analysis, and from textlinguistics (as well as from pragmatics and sociolinguistics) on the other.

scholarly journals Discourse and Power Relations: A Critical Discourse Analysis of a Pakistani Talk Show

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-40
Author(s):  
Nayab Iqbal ◽  
Kaukab Abid Azhar ◽  
Zubair Ahmed Shah
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Talk Shows ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Talk Show ◽  
Turn Taking ◽  
Distribution Of Power ◽  
The One

The paper aims at studying the ways power and inequality are enacted in a Pakistani talk show aired on Capital TV on 14th August 2019. The research primarily focused on analyzing turn-taking patterns of the discussion held between the host of the program and three guests. The analysis revealed the unequal distribution of turns implying the unequal distribution of power between the host and guests as well as between the guests. The host of the program through her discourse asserted power as she was the one to control the topic of discussion throughout the program. Her power can be attributed to the power of media. Besides, one of the guest speakers, Jawwad asserted his power through his knowledge. The female speaker did not have enough representation and was not given enough chance to share her views, therefore, it can be concluded that gender was another element that played an important part in forming the power relations in the discussion that was observed.Keywords: Critical Discourse Analysis, Discourse Power Relations, Media Discourse and Talk Shows, Turn-taking

scholarly journals In search of identity: Adult education in Bosnia and Herzegovina between the socialist legacy and neoliberal tendencies

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 37-52
Author(s):  
Amina Isanović Hadziomerović
Keyword(s):  
Adult Education ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Private Institutions ◽  
The European Union ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One ◽  
Historical Accounts ◽  
History Of Adult Education

The paper presents an analysis of the key processes in the field of adult education in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) referring to its socialist past and current tendencies dominantly motivated by the country’s aspiration towards accession to the European Union (EU). Any effort to offer a systematic overview of the history of adult education in BiH faces ambiguity and a lack of systematic data. Unlike other parts of the education system where historical accounts are to a certain extent preserved and subject to scholarly studies and investigations, adult education in BiH seems to be a field without a documented past. Based on critical discourse analysis, the paper intends to unravel the intricate socio-political texture that has shaped the key themes in adult education both in the country’s socialist past and its democratic present. The results of the analysis indicate several quite clear patterns: (a) the ambiguous treatment of the socialist past, from romanticising to annihilating its achievements and arrangements; (b) the rise of private institutions in adult education in the post-socialist period and the diversification of the education on offer; and (c) tensions between aspirations towards global and European trends on the one hand and insistence on localisation in terms of shaping adult education policy on the other.  

scholarly journals Where are the children? Deconstructing the Ontario Autism Program

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abneet Kaur Atwal
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Medical Model ◽  
Children's Rights ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Children’S Rights ◽  
Autistic Children ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The One

The Ontario Autism Program (OAP) provides behavioural supports and services to autistic children and youth, and their families. This study applied a critical discourse analysis (CDA) to examine the OAP policy documents using a children’s rights framework. The purpose of the study was to examine how autistic children’s rights are respected in the OAP policy documents. A CDA of the documents led to three key findings: the difference in roles of different social groups, quantifying and classifying autistic children, and the one size fits all approach in the program. The three themes present in the OAP policy documents are power and dominance, ideologies of childhood, and the medical model. The ways in which children are presented suggests that children’s rights are being neglected. The paper concludes with recommendations for how clinicians can facilitate children’s participation when implementing the program and changes required in the policy documents to incorporate a children’s rights framework. Keywords: autism, children’s rights, development, medical model, policy, power

scholarly journals Interpersonal functions in Greta Thunberg’s “civil society for rEUnaissance” speech

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 294-305
Author(s):  
Stefanny Lauwren ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Functional Grammar ◽  
Systemic Functional Grammar ◽  
The One ◽  
Speech Transcription ◽  
Climate Crisis

Greta Thunberg delivered a speech entitled “You’re Acting Like Spoiled, Irresponsible Children” to influential figures in Europe through the “Civil Society for renaissance” event, in which she was personally invited by the president of the organizer, Luca Jahier. Through her speech, she managed to convince the European Union to pledge to spend billions of euros to combat the climate crisis. This study aims to discover how interpersonal metafunction is used in the speech and what functions are revealed through Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis and Hallidayan Systemic Functional Grammar. The data, consisting of seventy-one independent clauses, were taken from Thunberg’s book which consists of her speech transcription, titled “No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference”. The research discovers that through the use of mood, modality, and pronouns, Thunberg conveys her view on her relationship with the audience as victim and perpetrator, and the one who holds responsibility and takes the blame.

scholarly journals A Critical Discourse Analysis of Radi’s Dramas From behind the Windows and Hamlet with Season Salad Based on Van Leeuwen’s Framework "Representing Social Actions"

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 103-119
Author(s):  
Alireza Khormaee ◽  
Rayeheh Sattarinezhad
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
The Other ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Political Discourses ◽  
Social Actions ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One

Different representations of social actions create distinct types of discourses. Applying van Leeuwen’s 'Social Actions' framework (2008), the present study critically analyzes the power relations between the main characters of Radi’s dramas From behind the Windows and Hamlet with Season Salad. The objective of our study is to account for the differences between the discourse of the dominant and the discourse of the dominated. In order to elucidate such differences we count and analyze the characters’ social (re)actions and, in turn, identify four types of contrasts: cognitive vs. affective and perceptive reactions; material vs. semiotic actions; transactive vs. non-transactive actions; interactive vs. instrumental actions. Two opposing discourses emerge from these contrasts. On the one hand, the dominant characters mostly react cognitively and their actions are often semiotic, transactive, and interactive. On the other hand, the dominated characters’ reactions are often affective and perceptive, while most of their actions are material, non-transactive, and instrumental. As the results show, the author’s linguistic choices underscore the power relations between the dominant and the dominated characters. Building upon the fact that our analysis sheds light on the underlying ideologies and intentions of the author, we tentatively conclude that despite its being predominantly employed in the analysis of political discourses, van Leeuwen’s framework also proves effective in the critical analysis of literary works.

Lexico-grammatical portraits of vulnerable women in war

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicci MacLeod ◽  
Barbara A. Fennell
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Gender Roles ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Analytical Approach ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
Women In War ◽  
Discursive Constructions ◽  
Ideological Construction

The 1641 Depositions are testimonies collected from (mainly Protestant) witnesses documenting their experiences of the Irish uprising that began in October 1641. As news spread across Europe of the events unfolding in Ireland, reports of violence against women became central to the ideological construction of the barbarism of the Catholic rebels. Against a backdrop of women’s subordination and firmly defined gender roles, this article investigates the representation of women in the Depositions, creating what we have termed “lexico-grammatical portraits” of particular categories of woman. In line with other research dealing with discursive constructions in seventeenth-century texts, a corpus-assisted discourse analytical approach is taken. Adopting the assumptions of Critical Discourse Analysis, the discussion is extended to what the findings reveal about representations of the roles of women, both in the reported events and in relation to the dehumanisation of the enemy in atrocity propaganda more generally.

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