Discourse Analysis in the Classroom 1 Running head: DISCOURSE ANALYSIS IN THE CLASSROOM Discourse Analysis and Functional Grammar in the Classroom: The Summary of a Mini-Reading Course Samuel Otten Michigan State UniversityDiscourse Analysis in the Classroom 2 Discourse Analysis and Functional Grammar in the Classroom: The Summary of a Mini-Reading Course This paper is a brief collection of thoughts based on a series of readings I did during the fall of 2008. In advance of my research practicum, in which I plan to investigate the classroom discourse of the conclusions to rich mathematical tasks, I decided to take the opportunity to expand and strengthen my background in the general framework of discourse analysis. Thus, I designed a mini-reading sequence that moved from the general to the specific. In the first section below, I summarize pertinent chapters from James Gee’s An Introduction to Discourse Analysis: Theory and Method (1999) which serve as a general overview for what is to follow. Since discourse analysis has many instantiations, I use the second section to focus on a particular type of discourse analysis—functional grammar (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2003)—and some of its key aspects that I anticipate will be integral in my practicum work. Finally, in the third section, I look specifically at the work of Frances Christie (2002) who used the functional grammar framework in education research. A General Introduction to Discourse Analysis The word discourse refers to more than just talk—it encompasses any meaningful use of language as well as communicative gestures (Gee, 1999a). By looking closely at discourse, we can gain information regarding two of the primary functions of language: “to support the performance of social activities and social identities and to support human affiliation within cultures, social groups, and institutions” (p. 1). In other words,Discourse Analysis in the Classroom 3 discourse is inextricably linked to the enactment of social activities (e.g., classroom lessons), the formation and maintenance of social identities (e.g., students as capable learners), the interactions of social groups (e.g., classroom communities), and the establishment of social institutions (e.g., schools). Discourse analysis, therefore, is able to meet two calls in the field of education research: first, the call for sociocultural and contextual considerations, and second, the call for a more scientific basis for claims. Discourse analysis, by definition, gives a lot of attention to the contexts of learning, and it rests upon observable behavior such as speech, written text, and gestures, requiring less appeal to invisible structures and states.1 Discourse analysis as a research method also has the possibility of bridging the divide between theory and practice, or basic and applied research. This possibility arises from the “magical property” of language as described by Gee (1999b): language reflects the situations in which we are communicating, as we modify our speech and use appropriate language for the circumstances, and simultaneously constructs that very situation (p. 10). Correspondingly, discourse analysis can provide insight about the way things are in a given situation, a sort of basic research, and can also provide insight into the way in which that situation came to be, opening the door to applied research. In mathematics education, for instance, discourse analysis could provide information about students’ conceptions of what it is to do mathematics by looking at how they talk and write about it (reflecting the situation) and could also provide guidance to teachers by !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!Some!discourse!analysts! maintain!that!these!ob servable!behaviors!are!the!be‐all‐end‐all!of!the!analysis.!Others!assu me!that!discourse!can!be!a!“pointer”!to!invis ible!cognitive!structure s!or!beliefs.!It!is!beyon d!the!scope!of!this!paper!to!address!this!important!philosophical!debate,!but!for!the!present!I!will!adopt !t he!latter!stance.!Discourse Analysis in the Classroom 4 exposing the ways in which their language use characterizes mathematics (constructing the situation). Language Constructions and Tools of Inquiry According to Gee (1999b), every act of speech or writing constructs in some way and to some degree the following seven areas of “reality.” Language marks things as significant or insignificant to varying degrees. Language enacts activities and allows others to recognize that those activities are taking place. Language is used to build identities or roles. Language signals what sorts of relationships exist (or are desired) between those involved in communication. Language conveys perspectives on politics and the distribution of social goods such as blame, responsibility, and value. Language connects certain things to others and deems relationships between things as relevant or not. Finally, language constructs sign systems and knowledge and is used to bestow privilege upon particular sign systems or knowledge claims over others. These seven areas that are constructed by the use of language can be a basis for meaningful and appropriate research questions to be investigated via discourse analysis. For example, a research question could be asked about what activity a piece of language from a science lesson is being used to enact (e.g., see Lemke, 1990) or a research question could be asked about what knowledge claims about mathematics are being privileged by a particular classroom interaction. To investigate such questions, Gee (1999c) pointed to four possible tools of inquiry. I survey them briefly below. By investigating the use of different social languages (e.g., colloquial versus scientific) and how they are mixed together, aspects of many of the languageDiscourse Analysis in the Classroom 5 constructions of reality (particularly significance, activities, relationships, and sign systems) can be exposed and analyzed (e.g., see Chapman, 2003, for the case of colloquial language moving toward more formal mathematical language). A researcher could also pay attention to the different discourses—in this case referring to the different ways in which “language, actions, interactions, ways of thinking, believing, valuing, and using various symbols, tools, and objects” are used to enact a particular recognizable social identity (Gee, 1999c, p. 21)—as a means