Discourse analysis text

[Paul Peranteau]

Re:  the discourse textbook question
John Benjamins has a textbook by Jan Renkema. It's described on the website
like this:

Discourse Studies
An introductory textbook
Jan Renkema
University of Tilburg
1993. x, 224 pp.

This book familiarizes the student with the key concepts and the major
issues in the field of discourse studies. It provides a scientific
'toolkit' for future courses on discourse studies and serves as a stepping
stone to the independent study of the professional literature.
The book consists of four parts. In Part I the focus is on four essential
concepts in discourse studies as it is defined in this book: the
investigation of the relationship between form and function in verbal
communication. Part II is an introduction to basic phenomena: the building
blocks of discourse and the links between them. Two age-old problems are
also addressed: What are the differences between types of discourse? What
is style?
In Part III specific types of discourse are dealt with: interaction,
narration and argumentation. Part IV deals with the production and the
perception of discourse, for example, 'staging' in the presentation of
information and 'inferences' in the derivation of information. Special
attention is given to models of the writing and the reading process.
The material, organized in seventeen short chapters, is based on more than
fifteen years of experience gained in teaching introductory courses. The
book contains advice on further study, and background information about the
origins of the central concepts (philosophy, psychology sociology, etc.). A
number of classic studies are referred to from both the Anglo-American and
the European tradition. Each chapter ends with questions and assignments to
stimulate discussion about seemingly unproblematic distinctions.


"Renkema's textbook is a good survey of most aspects of the discourse
analysis field, which will be useful in a range of courses. It introduces
the German-Dutch tradition more fully than other widely available texts do."
Patrick McConvell in Linguist List Vol. 5

You can contact me to request an exam copy
Paul





Paul Peranteau (paul at benjamins.com)
P O Box 27519                   Ph: 215 836-1200
Philadelphia PA 19118-0519      Fax: 215 836-1204
John Benjamins Publishing Co. website: http://www.benjamins.com