Spanish 6395 - University of Houston

University of Houston
Department of Hispanic Studies
Spring 2013
Spanish 6395- Introduction to Discourse Analysis
General Information
Instructor: Dr. Flavia Belpoliti
Sessions: TTh 4-5:30pm
Room: AH 205
Office hours: TTh 1-4pm
Email: [email protected]
Course Description and Outcomes
This course is an introductory presentation to the main theories of Discourse Analysis (DA) and its relationships
with other linguistics and social disciplines. Emphasis is given to those aspects and analytical tools that directly
apply to the analysis of Spanish narrative, descriptive and argumentative discourse production. To provide for
the practical application of the course instruction, each participant is expected to conduct a research project on
a particular topic in DA, using elicited or natural data collected during the semester .
At the end of the course, students will be able to understand disciplinary key concepts, be familiar with several
DA analytical tools, and be able to design and carry out a research project based on discourse corpora.
Materials
1. Tuson Valls & Casalmiglia, 2007. Las cosas del Decir. Manual de Análisis del Discurso. Barcelona:Ariel, 2nd ed.
2. Article collection: see Blackboard course for more information
Course workload
1. Attendance to all sessions and active participation in class discussions, as this course will follow a
Seminar format. Readings are to be completed before each meeting (See Tentative Calendar for more
information)
2. Portfolio consisting of six mini-projects integrating DA concepts and techniques in data analysis.
Students will utilize written and oral corpora from several sources (literary works, mass-media,
sociolinguistic interviews, advertising, etc.) to complete these five short assignments. This activity will
allow students to become familiar with the analytical tools used in DA in preparation for their final
project.
3. Individual presentation of one of the listed articles, which deal with particular topics in DA. Each
presentation will include a handout for all participants and several examples of the presented
phenomena. Presentations will last 15 minutes with 5 minutes for group discussion.
4. Final research project: students will select a concrete discourse phenomenon to be analyzed in a written
or oral corpus; design and justification of corpus will follow the protocols discussed in class. Students
will present a short overview of their project and an annotated bibliography of 4 or more related
sources in a project abstract. This abstract will be discussed with the instructor before the project is
carried out. The final version of the project will be a research paper of at least 12 pages + bibliography,
to be turned in at the end of the semester, via Turnitin software (see Tentative Calendar for more
information)
Grade distribution
1.
2.
3.
4.
Mini-projects (6 x 5%)
Class presentation
Project Abstract
Final paper
Final grade
30%
20%
10%
40%
100%
University of Houston Grading Scale:
A
AB+
93 - 100
90 - 92
87 - 89C
B
B+
83 - 86
80 - 82
77 - 79
C
CD+
73 - 76D
70 - 72D67 - 69F
63 - 66
60 - 62
below 60
References
Charadeau, Patrick. 2004. La problemática de los géneros. De la situación a la construcción textual. Revista
Signos – Online. V 37 (N 56), 23-39
De Pedro, Covadonga. 1992. “La heterogeneidad enunciativa”. E.L.U.A., N.8, 9-24
Ducrot, Oswald. 1995. “Oyente y alocutario”. En Parret, H y Ducrot, O. Teorías lingüísticas y enunciación. Buenos
Aires:Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras
Fiorin, José. 1996. As astúcias da enunciação. San Paulo:Ática
Mederos Martín, Humberto. 1988. Los procedimientos de cohesión en el español actual. Tenerife: Aula de
Cultura de Tenerife
Tuson Valls y Casalmigli Blancafort, 2007. Las cosas del Decir. Manual de Análisis del Discurso. Barcelona:Ariel,
2nd ed
Van Dijk, Teun. 2007. “Contextual knowledge in discourse production. A CDA perspective”. In Van Dijk, (Ed)
Discourse Studies. Sage, Sage- Benchmarks Discourse Studies, pg 71-100.
Vilalorno, Antonio, 1990. “Coherencia textual: ¿coherencia interna o externa?”. E.L.U.A, N 6, 229-239
Tentative Calendar
Date
Jan 15
Jan 17
Jan 22
Jan 24
Jan 29
Jan 31
Feb 5
Feb 7
Topic
Readings & Assignments
Course presentation
Introduction: defining ‘discourse’
Introduction: discourse and text; analysis units.
Introduction: discourse and the social disciplines.
Oral discourse and written discourse
Oral discourse and written discourse
Designing and building corpora
Discourse and context
LCD*
LCD
LCD
LCD
LCD
HW 1
LCD
*Van Dijk: “Contextual Knowledge”
LCD
Feb 12
Discourse and context. Subject, time and space in
discourse production
Subject, time and space in discourse production
Feb 14
Subject, time and space in discourse production
Feb 19
Subject, time and space in discourse production
HW 2
LCD
*Fiorin, J. “Do espaço”
Feb 21
Feb 26
Feb 28
Other voices: Inter-textuality and polyphony
Other voices: Inter-textuality and polyphony
Other voices: Inter-textuality and polyphony
Mar 5
Other subjects: Modality and courtesy
Mar 7
March 11-16
Other subjects: Modality and courtesy
LCD
LCD
LCD
*De Pedro, C: “La heterogeneidad
enunciativa”
HW 3
LCD
LCD
Mar 19
Discourse and text: coherence and cohesion
LCD
*Ducrot, O.: “Oyente y alocutario”
LCD
Spring Break
LCD
Mar 21
Mar 26
Discourse and text: coherence and cohesion
Discourse and text: coherence and cohesion
Mar 28
April 2
The problem of discourse genres
The problem of discourse genres
April 4
Narrative texts: organization and features.
*Vilalorno, A.: “Coherencia textual”
HW 4
LCD
*Mederos Martín: “Procedimientos de
cohesión”.
HW 5
LCD
*Charadeau, P. “La problemática de los
géneros”
LCD
April 9
April 11
Analysis: J. L. Borges “There are more things”
Descriptive texts: organization and features.
LCD
LCD
April 16
Analysis: I. Calvino, “Las ciudades invisibles”
April 18
April 23
Argumentative texts: organization and features
Analysis: H. Capriles Radonski: “Ganó el futuro, ganó la
esperanza, ganó el progreso” [Discurso de aceptación
de la candidatura a presidente]
Final paper discussion
Final paper is due (Turnitin)
LCD
Final paper draft and bibliography.
LCD
HW 6
April 25
May 8
*LCD: Las cosas del decir