Discourse Analysis Methodology

(Instructions to follow while analyzing a discourse -language form)

Prof. Abdeslam Badre, Ph.D

1- Put the text on the context in the introduction by providing the source of the
text/article, place and date of publication/production of the article.
2- Look at the surface of the text / article and try to determine its structure (number of
paragraphs, the title, type of the text etc…)
3- Summarize the main points of the article
4- State the purpose of the article (to inform? to examine? To describe? To persuade? To
explain? To entertain? To endocrine?
5- Explain the choice of the purpose and justify.
6- What are the tone / attitude of the author? With or against?
7- Identify the techniques used such as comparison, story, allegory……
8- Identify the vocabulary /diction used to convey the message (political? religious?
social? Emotional? …….)
9- Look at the value. Are there social, political values…….?
10- Look at the situated representation of the text (figurative styles…).
11- Are there any social actors used to support and give authority to the argument?
12- Is there other multiplayer of discourse?

*N.B:
In doing such analyses of written and spoken language, you will try to make
arguments for particular interpretations of the language you analyze using the
appropriate terminology and methods to allow the data to support your argument.
 - Here is an example of an article analyzed according to the general framework cited
above by Mr. Mustapha, Mr. Omar and Mr. Ayour:

The article is posted in a Moroccan English website named

www.moroccoworldnews.ma on (date of posting). The article subtitled x is divided into x
paragraphs and x words. It is about the celebration of the Mimouna Moroccan Jewish
community in Toronto Canada that has taken action from April 3rd to April 11th. At this
occasion, many personalities attended the festival from different spheres of activities such as
the Moroccan ambassador, representative of Canadian government, and representatives of
Moroccan Jewish community in Canada. The author, through this article, aims to inform
about the originate celebration of Mimouna and highlight the identity of the Moroccan Jewish
community around the world. More deeply, the author main message is to show the key role
of the Moroccan Jewish community in the international relations in general And between
Canada and morocco in particular. It is clearly obvious that the author maintains a favorable
attitude towards the Moroccan Jewish community celebration by using some words of
intimacy and sympathy like “Muslims and Jewish are all sons of Abraham” while describing
the festival activity. In addition, the author relies on description of the celebrity using the
religious, cultural, and political diction. for instance , in the religious diction we find Muslims,
Jewish, and sons of Abrahams; in the political diction we find relationship between morocco
and Canada , the king Mohamed vi , ambassador , prime minister , and parliament; in the
cultural dictionary there is the terms community and festivities. Thus, the article aims to
promote political, cultural, and social values of morocco in general and Moroccan Jewish
community in particular. In order to validate and give the authority to the message conveyed,
the author tends to mention the special attention of the king Mohamed vi to the Moroccan
Jewish community living abroad. The author also used two pictures in which we notice
Moroccan musical instruments of “El Gharnatti” and musicians with traditional Moroccan
clothes “Djellaba” in an attempt to the projection of Moroccan Jewish identity and culture.