Critical Discourse Studies: Applications (Follow-up post)

[David Pask-Hughes]

Dear all,
I recently posted a message to a number of lists regarding (critical) discourse studies; a call for examples of how such studies have been applied or how researchers have intervened in the environments under study.
There were only a few responses, although a number of people also expressed interest in any examples that were provided, hence why I'm posting this. I think I should have been more explicit in the original message about what I was intending to get out of this.
Clearly, CDA practitioners (if we want to use that term) have applied their research in a variety of ways, but these applications are rarely "talked about" (at least in journal articles, monographs, conference papers and classes that introduce CDA). Following the sort of critiques made by Luke, Martin, Pennycook and others, we might argue that CDA has to be more explicit about how it intends to "raise awareness" or "make a difference".
Furthermore, I think there are various differences in the way that scholars have approached the application of their research. There is a difference, for example, between the aim of writing in an accessible manner to a wide audience (e.g. Fairclough's New Labour, New Language?), organising workshops and issuing guidelines for those with the power to make changes (e.g. seminars for news editors, guidelines for doctor's communication) or acting alongside social activists (e.g. producing materials for activist websites, organising seminars for activists). At the very least, these different applications have different underlying assumptions about the role of the researcher, the nature of the wider public, and, I think, different understandings about "critical", "discourse" and "analysis".
What I was attempting to find out was the underlying assumptions of these various "applications" or "interventions" - and it is probably also worth mentioning the relevance of this in the context of discussions surrounding "impact" in UK Higher Education. Is our aim awareness-raising and, if so, should we still be publishing in paywalled journals? Does awareness-raising presuppose an uncritical public (a public that needs to be educated about its own "delusion")? Do we need to do more to account for the various "vernacular" public critiques (or perhaps "positive" discourses, in Martin's terms)? Should we be working from the "inside" with policy makers or the "outside" with social movements and grassroots organisations? Of course, these issues relate to all kinds of academic research, not just CDA, but it seems to me that there is little discussion of this "within" CDA (whatever I might mean by that) despite it's commitment to social action.
My underlying assumption was that examples sorts of "applications" or "interventions" of CDA practitioners would shed light upon some of these questions.

Alexander David Pask-Hughes

Department of Linguistics and English LanguageLancaster University

a.pask-hughes at lancaster.ac.ukadpaskhughes@hotmail.co.uk

Twitter: @adpaskhughes
 		 	   		  
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