Critical Discourse Analysis in Applied Linguistics_A Methodological Review

214ANGELLIN

requiresthatweceasetooperatewithmodesofintellectualinquirythatareasocial,apoliticalorahistorical.(pp.25–26)

The eldhassincewitnessedincreasingstudiesdrawingonavarietyofana-lyticalframeworksandapproaches,manyofwhichcomeundertheumbrellatermofcriticaldiscourseanalysis(CDA).AsCDAisinterestedinuncoveringwaysinwhichsocialstructuresofinequalityareproducedinandthroughlan-guageanddiscourse,itcontributestothecriticalturninappliedlinguisticsbyofferingtheoreticalandmethodologicalresourcesforcriticalinquiry.Inthefollowingsections,Ishall rstoutlinethetheoreticalassumptionsandmajormethodologicalapproachesofCDA.Then,theappliedlinguisticsareasinwhichresearchershaveconductedtheirstudieswithCDAapproachesarereviewed.ThestrengthsaswellasthelimitationsoftheseapproachesarediscussedandthelatestdevelopmentsofCDAmethodologyareoutlinedwithanemphasisondirectionsforfuturemethodologicalexplorationsthatcanofferthegreatestpotentialinovercomingsomeofthecurrentmethodologicalandtheoreticallimitations.

CDA:THEORETICALASSUMPTIONSANDMETHODOLOGICAL

APPROACHES

CDAhasahistoryofonlyaboutthreedecades,withthreekeyresearcherswhohavemadeseminalcontributions:TeunvanDijk,RuthWodak,andNormanFair-clough.Eachhasusedsomewhatdifferentanalyticalframeworksandfocusedonanalysisofdiscourseinslightlydifferentdomains.CDAisthusbestunderstoodnotasaunitarydisciplinebutasaclusterofinterdisciplinaryapproaches(e.g.,vanDijkprefersthetermcriticaldiscoursestudiestoemphasizeitsdiversity)thatare,however,unitedbysomecommontheoreticalassumptionsandcom-mitments.CDA’scommitmentsaresummarizedinthefollowinglist(basedonvanDijk,2009;Reisigl&Wodak,2009)andlaterusedascriteriainreviewingrecentCDAstudiesinappliedlinguistics.

1.

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5.CDAissociallycommittedresearch:Itiscommittedtocontributingtotheunderstandingandtacklingofsocialproblems,especiallythosethatarecausedorexacerbatedbypublictextandtalk,suchasvariousformsofsocialpowerabuse(e.g.,racism,sexism,classism,homophobia)andtheirresultingsocialconsequences.CDAisthusproblem-orientedratherthantheoryordiscipline-drivenandemphasizespresentingitspracticalimplicationsandapplicationsinac-cessiblelanguagetothepublicorrelevantparties.CDAisinterdisciplinaryandcallsfor exibilityanddiversityinitsap-proachesandmethodstotacklecomplexissuesandproblems.CDAtakesintoaccounttheinterests,expertise,andresistanceofthosegroupsthataresubjectedtodiscursiveinjustice.CDAstressesresearcherre exivity—theneedtomaketheobjectun-

derinvestigationandtheanalyst’sownpositiontransparentandjustify