Critical Discourse–Ethnographic Approaches to Language Policy

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Wodak ◽  
Kristof Savski
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Ethnographic Approach ◽  
Key Concepts

This chapter focuses on the synergy that researchers in language policy have developed by integrating two other subfields of sociolinguistics: critical discourse analysis and critical ethnography. The chapter begins by discussing the meanings of the three key concepts used in these approaches, albeit sometimes in significantly different ways: critique, ethnography, and discourse. It then examines how these concepts are relevant to contemporary analyses of language policy, focusing particularly on their potential to open new and innovative avenues of research. To demonstrate how an integrated critical discourse and ethnographic approach can be applied in concrete empirical research, the chapter presents an analysis of language policy and practice in the European Union before providing an overview of other relevant studies in the area.

‘A long, narrow and uphill road’: The representation of Turkey–EEC/EU relations in the Turkish newspapers Cumhuriyet and Hürriyet (1959–2019)

2021 ◽  
pp. 026732312199951
Author(s):  
Ayça Demet Atay
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Negotiation Process ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Front Page ◽  
The European Union ◽  
News Discourse

Turkey’s membership process to the European Union has been a ‘long, narrow and uphill road’, as former Turkish Prime Minister, and later President, Turgut Özal once stated. This study analyses the representation of the European Union–Turkey negotiation process in the Turkish newspapers Cumhuriyet and Hürriyet from 1959 to 2019 with the aim of understanding the changing meaning of ‘Europe’ and the ‘European Union’ in Turkish news discourse. There is comprehensive literature on the representation of Turkey’s membership process in the European press. This article aims to contribute to the field by assessing the representation of the same process from a different angle. For this purpose, Cumhuriyet and Hürriyet newspapers’ front page coverage of selected 10 key dates in the European Union–Turkey relations is analysed through critical discourse analysis.

scholarly journals Romaphobia in Romanian press: The lifting of work restrictions for Romanian migrants in the European Union

2020 ◽  
pp. 175048132098215
Author(s):  
Petre Breazu ◽  
Göran Eriksson
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Discursive Practices ◽  
Political Climate ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Eu

The lifting of work restrictions for Romanian and Bulgarian citizens in the EU, in January 2014, encountered much resistance both in European political discourse and the media, as these migrants became demonised and presented as social and economic threats. In this article, we show how the Romanian press dealt with such discriminatory discourses against the Romanian migrants. We conduct a thorough Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) of news items published in Romanian press, prior to the lifting of work restrictions, and we argue that the Roma emerged as the perfect scapegoats that could explain the deviant and unruly behaviours ascribed by some western media to ‘Romanians’. We also show how racism toward the Roma, referred here as Romaphobia, invokes non-racial practices and instead builds on a reverse victimhood narrative. Such discourses relate in a broader sense to well-established discursive practices in Romanian context but also to the political climate across Europe which is marked by increased intolerance toward the Roma. It is the mixture of stereotypical discourses and populist rhetoric that makes racism towards the Roma appear naturalised and increasingly more difficult to challenge.

scholarly journals European Union tourism policy: an institutional theory critical discourse analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Estol ◽  
Mark Anthony Camilleri ◽  
Xavier Font
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Institutional Theory ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Tourism Policy

Purpose This research uses the institutional theory perspective to better understand the social dynamics of the European Union (EU) tourism policy and its directions. The purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate the processes, content and outcomes of EU tourism policy. Design/methodology/approach A thorough literature review involving a critical discourse analysis on the regulative, normative and cultural elements of institutionalisation improves our understanding of the EU policy, in terms of its processes, content and outcomes. Therefore, this paper explores how the European institutions have incrementally legitimised tourism policy among Member States. Findings Over the years, the EU’s policies were intended to enhance the European single market whilst supporting the growth of the industrial competitiveness, sustainable innovation and entrepreneurship. This has inevitably led to the development of new policies in the realms of tourism. Originality/value This contribution has identified a gap in academic research, as it reports about the evolution of EU tourism policy and on the conditions of how it has been planned, organised and implemented. It also exposes the challenges of institutionalising tourism policy in intergovernmental institutions.

The European Union in Cyberspace

2006 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Wodak ◽  
Scott Wright
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Relative Value ◽  
The Eu

This article analyses the European Union’s Futurum discussion forum. The EU hoped that Futurum would help close the acknowledged gap between institutions and citizens by facilitating a virtual, multilingual, transnational public sphere. Futurum was both an interesting example of how the EU’s language policies shape the structure of deliberative experiments and of a public debate about their relative value. We combine various quantitative measures of the discussions with a critical discourse analysis of a thread which focused on language policies. We found that although the debates were predominantly in English, where a thread started in a language other than English, linguistic diversity was more prominent. The discourse analysis showed that multilingual interaction was fostered, and that the debate about language policies is politically and ideologically charged.

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.

Exploring Higher Education Students’ Technological Identities using Critical Discourse Analysis

2013 ◽  
pp. 181-198
Author(s):  
Cheryl Brown ◽  
Mike Hart
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
South African ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
Analytical Device

This chapter applies a critical theory lens to understanding how South African university students construct meaning about the role of ICTs in their lives. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) has been used as a theoretical and analytical device drawing on theorists Fairclough and Gee to examine the key concepts of meaning, identity, context, and power. The specific concepts that inform this study are Fairclough’s three-level framework that enables the situating of texts within the socio-historical conditions and context that govern their process, and Gee’s notion of D(d)iscourses and conceptualization of grand societal “Big C” Conversations. This approach provides insights into students’ educational and social identities and the position of globalisation and the information society in both facilitating and constraining students’ participation and future opportunities. The research confirms that the majority of students regard ICTs as necessary, important, and valuable to life. However, it reveals that some students perceive themselves as not being able to participate in the opportunities technology could offer them. In contrast to government rhetoric, ICTs are not the answer but should be viewed as part of the problem. Drawing on Foucault’s understanding of power as a choice under constraint, this methodological approach also enables examination of how students are empowered or disempowered through their Discourses about ICTs.

scholarly journals La construcción mediática de la migración en el Mediterráneo: ¿nociudadanía en la prensa española?

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rocío Fajardo Fernández ◽  
Rosa M. Soriano Miras
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Migration Policy ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Active Subject ◽  
The Media ◽  
Spanish Press ◽  
European Migration

Resumen: El objetivo del presente artículo es desvelar el relato de la prensa española sobre los migrantes que intentan cruzar la frontera de la Unión Europea pero se ven estancados en la misma a causa de la estrecha vigilancia. Para ello, se ha llevado a cabo el análisis de contenido y el análisis crítico del discurso de una muestra de noticias de varios periódicos nacionales, de aquellas que informan sobre la migración irregular en el Mediterráneo. No se han encontrado grandes diferencias en el tratamiento de las noticias publicadas por los periódicos seleccionados. La construcción del discurso sigue la lógica de las políticas migratorias de la Unión Europea, que consisten en la externalización de las fronteras (la gestión de las mismas fuera de la UE) y la producción estatal y mediática del estatuto de irregularidad de la migración. En el discurso mediático los migrantes son retratados en la mayoría de los casos como agentes pasivos, como víctimas de las mafias o como objeto de atención asistencial por parte de diferentes entidades. En algunas noticias aparecen como actores que hacen uso de la violencia para alcanzar su propósito, mientras que son pocos los casos en los que aparecen como sujeto activo no asociado a conflictos. En suma, el relato dominante “desciudadaniza” a estas personas en los distintos discursos analizados. Abstract: The main purpose of the present article is to uncover the account of the Spanish press about migrants who try to cross the European Union border but find themselves at a standstill caused by the strong surveillance. In order to that, we use both content analysis and critical discourse analysis of a news sample of several national newspapers, specifically of those news which inform about irregular migration in the Mediterranean Sea. We haven’t found huge differences in the news treatment offered by selected newspapers. The way that the discourse concerning migration is elaborated follows the logic of European migration policy, which is based on the externalization of borders (the management of EU borders abroad) and the state and media production of the statute of irregularity of migrants. According to the discourse of the media, migrants are reflected in most cases as passive agents, mafia victims or assisted by different entities. Sometimes they appear as actors using violence to reach their purpose while the image of them as an active subject which is not linked to conflicts is limited. To sum up, the prevailing discourse “takes citizenship away” from these people, as we have seen in the analyses of the different media outlets.

scholarly journals Gendered Attributions of Blame and Failure to Protect in Child Welfare Responses to Sexual Abuse: A Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 107780122110242
Author(s):  
Corry Azzopardi
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Child Welfare ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Failure To Protect ◽  
Attributions Of Blame

Gender-based relations of power and attributions of blame for child sexual abuse have been longstanding in child welfare policy and practice. Nonoffending mothers continue to be ascribed responsibility through the ideologically and institutionally entrenched doctrine of failure to protect. Feminist critical discourse analysis was used to (a) expose and disrupt dominant discourses of gender, motherhood, and risk that operate to construct and reinforce notions of blame and failure to protect, as enacted by way of child welfare text in context; and (b) build a credible case for social and organizational change grounded in an alternative discourse with greater explanatory power. Progressive avenues for resistance, negotiation, and transformation are proposed.

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