Title: Using%20corpora%20in%20critical%20discourse%20analysis
1Using corpora in critical discourse analysis
- Corpus Linguistics
- Richard Xiao
- lancsxiaoz_at_googlemail.com
2Aims of this session
- Lecture
- Corpora versus critical discourse analysis
- The state of the art of corpus-based discourse
studies - Case study How is Islam constructed in the UK
and US press before and after 9/11? - Lab session
- Using Wmatrix to exploring political discourse
Michael Howard and Tony Blairs farewell speech
to their party
3Critical discourse analysis (CDA)
- Discourse
- Language use above the sentence level
- Language use in context
- Real language use
- CDA examines language as a form of cultural and
social practice, focusing on the relationship
between power and discourse, and between language
and ideology
4CL vs. CDA
- Both rely heavily on real language
- a cultural divide (Leech 2000 678-680)
- CDA emphasizes the integrity of text while CL
tends to use representative samples - CDA is primarily qualitative while corpus
linguistics is essentially quantitative - CDA focuses on the contents expressed by language
while CL is interested in language (form) per se - The collector, transcriber and analyst are often
the same person(s) in CDA while this is rarely
the case in CL - The data used in CDA is rarely widely available
while corpora are typically made widely available
5A diminishing divide
- Some important points of contact (McEnery and
Wilson 2001 114) - The common computer-aided analytic techniques
- The great potential of standard corpora in CDA as
control data
6Use of corpora in CDA pros and cons
- Cons
- The corpus-based approach tends to obscure the
character of each text as a text and the role
of the text producer and the society of which
they are a part (Hunston 2002 110) - CL focuses on text, not text producer
- Analyzing a lot of text from a corpus
simultaneously would force the analyst to lose
contact with text (Martin 1999 52) - Pros
- Corpora present a real opportunity to discourse
analysis, because the automatic analysis of a
large number of texts at one time can throw into
relief the non-obvious in a single text
(Partington 2003 7)
7Use of corpora in CDA pros and cons
- Pros
- Obviously, the methods for doing a critical
discourse analysis of corpus data are far from
established yet. Even when we have examined a
fairly large set of attestations, we cannot be
certain whether our own interpretations of key
items and collocations are genuinely
representative of the large populations who
produced the data. But we can be fairly confident
of accessing a range of interpretative issues
that is both wider and more precise than we could
access by relying on our own personal usages and
intuitions. Moreover, when we observe our own
ideological position in contest with others, we
are less likely to overlook it or take it for
granted. (de Beaugrande 1999 287)
8CL and CDA interaction and synergy
- Partington (2003 12) proposes a scalar view of
the uses of CL, pointing towards a rationale for
using CL-related methods to carry out CDA - At the simplest level, corpus technology helps
find other examples of a phenomenon one has
already noted. At the other extreme, it reveals
patterns of use previously unthought of. In
between, it can reinforce, refute or revise a
researchers intuition and show them why and how
much their suspicions were grounded. - Partington (2004, 2006) provides a systematic
description of CADS (corpus-assisted discourse
studies)
9CL and CDA interaction and synergy
- Complementary to each other and interaction
benfiting both areas of research - CL can provide a general pattern map of the
data, mainly in terms of frequencies, key
words/clusters and collocations, as well as their
diachronic development (the latter contributing
to the historical perspective in DHA Discourse
Historical Approach represented and pioneered by
Ruth Wodak), which helps pinpoint specific
periods for text selection or sites of interest - The CDA analysis can point towards patterns to be
further explored through the CL lens and also
provide explanations for corpus findings
10CL and CDA interaction and synergy
- CL can also examine frequencies (or at least
provide strong indicators of the frequency) of
specific phenomena recognized in CDA (e.g.,
topoi, topics, metaphors) by examining lexical
patterns - CL can add a quantitative dimension to CDA to
make it more objective - CL in general and concordance analysis in
particular can be positively influenced by
exposure and familiarity with CDA analytical
techniques
11CL and CDA interaction and synergy
- CL needs to be supplemented by the close analysis
of selected texts using CDA theory and
methodology - CDA, in turn, can benefit from incorporating more
objective, quantitative CL approaches, as
quantification can reveal the degree of
generality of, or confidence in, the study
findings and conclusions in CDA
12Possible stages in CADS
Baker et al (2008 295)
13Construction of Islam in UK and US press around
9/11
- How do news stories construct Islam?
- Have there been any changes before and after
9/11? - Are there differences between reporting on Islam
(as a religion) and Muslims (as a people)? - Are there any differences/similarities between
tabloids and broadsheets? - Are there any differences/similarities between
American and British newspapers?
14Why Islam?
- Post WWII demand for unskilled labour results
in migration of Pakistani and Bangladeshi Muslims
to the UK - In April 2001 the former British Foreign
Secretary Robin Cook reported that Britains
national dish is chicken tikka masala - September 2001 terrorist attacks on the US,
believed to be associated with Islamic extremists - July 2005 terrorist attacks on UK
15Data
- UK and US newspapers in 1998-2005 (pre- and
post-9/11) - 87 million words of British news
- Broadsheets (65 M words) The Business, The
Guardian, The Independent Independent on
Sunday, The Observer, The Times Sunday Times,
Daily Telegraph Sunday Telegraph - Tabloids (22 M words) The Daily Express Sunday
Express, The Daily Mail Mail on Sunday, Daily
Mirror Sunday Mirror, The People, Daily Star
Sunday Star, The Sun - 40 million words of American news
- Financial Times, New York Times, Washington Post,
San Francisco Chronicle
16Search terms related to Islam
- Alah OR Allah OR ayatolah OR burka! OR burqa! OR
chador! OR fatwa! OR hejab! OR imam! OR islam! OR
Koran OR Mecca OR Medina OR Mohammedan! OR
Moslem! OR Muslim! OR mosque OR mufti! OR
mujaheddin! OR mujahedin! OR mullah! OR muslim!
OR Prophet Mohammed OR Q'uran OR rupoush OR
rupush OR sharia OR shari'a OR shia! OR shi-ite!
OR Shi'ite! OR sunni! OR the Prophet OR wahabi OR
yashmak! AND NOT Islamabad AND NOT shiatsu AND
NOT sunnily
17Frequencies of articles over time
2011-09
18Method
- Corpora split into 4
- All sub-corpora compared to a reference corpus
(BNC written 90 million words) - 3. UK sub-corpora compared with US sub-corpora
- 4. Keywords extracted and analysed via
concordances with respect to moral panic
categories - 5. UK broadsheets vs. UK tabloids
- 6. Collocational and concordance analysis of
Islam, Islamic, Muslim, Muslims
UK pre 9/11 (27 million) US pre 9/11
UK post 9/11 (60 million) US post 9/11
19Moral panic
- Conceived by Stanley Cohen (1972) in his study of
Mods and Rockers in the UK - Violent clash between the gangs of Mods and
Rockers in 1964 - Two conflicting British subcultures in the mid
1960s - Referring to the intensity of feeling expressed
by a large number of people about a specific
group of people who appear to threaten the social
order at a given time
20Features of moral panic
- Build-up of concern over a social issue
- A scapegoat (social group)
- Solutions proposed moral entrepreneurs
- A person who seeks to influence a social group to
adopt or maintain a norm, e.g. MADD (mothers
against drunk driving), and the anti-tobacco
lobby - Moral panic is often expressed as outrage rather
than fear - Emotive language is used
- Threat is normally exaggerated
21McEnerys (2005) moral panic categories
- 1. object of offence
- that which is identified as problematic
- 2. consequence
- the negative results which it is claimed will
follow if the object of offence is not eliminated
- 3. corrective action
- the actions to be taken to eliminate the object
of offence
22McEnerys (2005) moral panic categories
- 4. desired outcome
- the positive results which will follow from the
elimination of the object of offence - 5. moral entrepreneur
- the person/group campaigning against the object
of offence - 6. scapegoat
- that which is the cause of, or which propagates
the cause of offence - 7. rhetoric
- register marked by a strong reliance on
evaluative lexis that is polar and extreme
(strong language)
23UK keywords pre 9.11
- No evidence of moral panic
- References to Iraq, Israel, Kosovo, Palestine
- Muslims often mentioned in passing rather than
as main subject of article - A wider range of contexts pre 911
- fashion, famous, tourists, music, hotel, cricket,
sex, leisure, dance, ski, museum, divorce, café,
wine, gardens, film, beer, holidays, football,
exotic, fun
24UK - After 9/11
- British Muslims and what they believe
- The vast, vast majority, of Muslims living in
the UK support policing efforts, fear terrorism
and want to work with us," said Sir Ian. (The
Guardian, October 29, 2004). - Focus on belief
- moderate, militants, fanatics, fundamentalist,
extremists - Focus on immigration, political correctness and
scroungerphobia (taxpayers)
25UK moral panic post 9/11?
Category Positive Keywords in that Category
Consequence anger, angry, bad, bombing, bombings, conflict, crime, dead, death, destruction, died, evil, fear, fears, injured, kill, killed, killing, murder, terror, threat, victims, violence, wounded, wrong
Corrective action arrested, fight, fighting, invasion, jail, justice, moderate, occupation, police, revenge, troops
Desired outcome best, better, freedom, good, peace, support
Moral entrepreneur America, American, Britain, British
Object of offence atrocities, attack, attacks, bomb, bombs, criminal, extremism, failed, hatred, illegal, jihad, radical, regime, terrible, terrorism, weapons
Scapegoat Arab, (suicide) bombers, enemy, extremists, immigrants, Iran, Iraq, Iraqi, Islam, mosque, Muslim, Muslims, Pakistan, Palestinian, religious, suicide, terrorists
Rhetoric question, need, must, why
26US before 9/11
- Keywords are mainly proper nouns relating to
Israel/Palestine, Bosnia, Kosovo, Indonesia. - Peace is a keyword focus on contexts where
Muslims are aggressed against - Muslims (occasionally cast as internal to the US)
27US keywords post 9/11
Consequence attacks, Sept
Corrective action American, Americans, forces, intelligence, marine, marines, military, officials, (war on) terror, war (on terror)
Desired outcome NONE
Moral entrepreneur Bush, pentagon, United States, US
Object of offence Terrorism
Scapegoat (al) Qaeda, afghan, Afghanistan, al (Qaeda), bin (laden), (Saddam) Hussein, Husseins, insurgents, Iraq, Iraqs, Iraqi, Iraqis, (bin) Laden, Saddam (Hussein), Shiite, Shiites, Sunni, Taliban, terrorist, terrorists,
Rhetoric NONE
28Tabloids vs. Broadsheets
- Style and spelling
- Tabloids (chatty, interactive style)
- Pronouns I, my, me, myself, we, he, she
- Emphatic adjectives stunning, fantastic,
terrible, wonderful - Broadsheets (logical, formal, nouny style)
- Conjunctions/determiners the, that, which
however, thus, than - Formal terms of address Mr, Ms
29Moslem key in the tabloids
- 7,282 tabloid uses
- 4,834 in the Daily Mail
- 2,208 Daily Express
30Bin Laden in tabloid newspapers
- powerful (mastermind, terrorist godfather,
millionaire, Al Qaeda leader) - warrior leader (chief, warlord)
- outcast (dissident, exile, fugitive)
- insane (maniac, twisted)
- evil (gloating menace, evil, terrorist,
murderous) - fanatical (extremist, fanatic, fanatical)
31Tabloid villains
- Direct references to terrorist attacks
- terror, terrorists, Taliban, Osama, Bin, Laden,
bomb, bombs, bomber, bombers, plane, suicide,
killers, attack, crash, hijack, September, twin
and towers - Emotive/evaluative reaction emotionally charged
lexis - atrocity, atrocities, tragedy, carnage, horror,
terrible, evil
32Other tabloid categories
- Brainwashing
- lure, rant, rants, spew, rouser, brainwashed
- Children are being brainwashed into becoming
Islamic extremists at 300 "Taliban schools" in
Britain, it was reported last night. Youngsters
are being indoctrinated with radical Islamic
ideals by militant groups across the country,
said leading British Muslim Dr Zaki Badawi.
(The Sun, December 28, 2001) - Also, scrougerphobia and political correctness
33Types of belief in tabloid vs. broadsheet
- In the tabloids, Muslims are fanatics and
extremists - In the broadsheets, Muslims are radicals,
fundamentalists, separatists but also moderates
and progressives
34Broadsheet keywords
- More focus on Islam
- The media book, novel, television, film, poetry
- Other religions Hindu, Christian, Buddhist,
Judaism - World events Iran, Iraq, Iraqi, Arab, Israeli,
Israel, Palestinian, Baghdad, Jerusalem, Lebanon,
Syria - War and conflict military, conflict, army,
resistance, violence, occupied, ceasefire,
genocide, peace, invasion
35Muslim(s) vs. Islam(ic)
- Tabloids more focus on Muslims (the people)
- Muslims as terrorists evil preachers, Muslims as
British and desiring peace, women as victims
(honor killings, arranged marriage, hijab), men
as potential terrorists or victims of racism - Broadsheets more focus on Islam (as a religion)
- Stories on terrorism restricted to the word
Islamic
36Political discourse Howard vs. Blair
- Use Wmatrix to tag the following two texts
- Tips Its a good practice to create one folder
for each file - Michael Howards farewell speech to his party
(2005) - Leader of Conservative Party in 2003-2007
- Tony Blairs farewell speech to his party (2006)
- Leader of Labour Party in 1997-2007
37A quick how to!
- Enter new workarea name (Blair / Howard)
- Click the browse button to select the right file
- Click the upload now button
- A new screen will provide you with an update
report e.g. -
part of speech tagging semantic tagging
frequency lists
38You will then be taken to your work areaMy
folders
39What youll see in the Simple VIEW of folder
Click on Frequency to see the most frequent
words what are they?
You can also do concordance searches of
words/phrases
Scroll down to see Tag clouds - key concepts
--- and investigate Word clouds ( the most key
words)
40The word cloud of Howards farewell speech
(compared with Blair)
41We use a similar method to investigate keywords
(as with WordSmith)
with text B
i.e. we compare text A
and not only the frequent items
so that we can discover the most significant
items within text A
42Exploring keywords (as word clouds) in simple view
- and any keywords with LL15 will appear
Under 3. Word clouds, scroll down the pop-up
menuto choose Blair Then click on Go
43Advanced View of Howard Folder
Click on Frequency to see the most frequent words
(as before)
--- and investigate key parts of speech (POS)
and key concepts / domains
How might we discover the most frequent POS?
Jot them down
and the most frequent semantic fields? Make a
note of them
We can also see all of the keywords using this
VIEW
44Frequency of words in Howard and Blair (using
advanced view)
Make a note of the similarities and differences
45Exploring keywords using advanced view
- Find the key words compared to drop-down
menu, and click Go
You will be taken to a web-page, which shows ALL
keywords
46Keywords for Howard (when compared with Blair)
- IMPORTANT
- anything above LL 15 99.99 confidence of
significance - anything above LL 6.63 99 confidence of
significance - How many keywords from the Howard text have LL
values of 15? What are they? - How many keywords have LL values of 7? What are
they? - Do you notice anything interesting about these
keywords? - Do any of the keywords share the same semantic
fields?
47Same procedure for key POS and key domains
- Find the key POS compared to drop-down menu,
and click Go
Find the key concepts compared to drop-down
menu, and click Go
48Exploring key domains (Howard, in comparison to
Blair)
- What do you notice about the key domains?
- Do we capture more words by undertaking a key
domain analysis than we do by undertaking a
keyword analysis? And, if so, why do you think
this is the case? - Undertake a keyword analysis of Blair (using
Howard as the reference corpus) to determine the
differences between the two speeches