JAMES PAUL GEE

JAMES PAUL GEEPresented to Sir Ghulam MujtabaPrepared bySidra Shafi

IntroductionJames Gee is a researcher who has worked inpsycholinguistics, discourse analysis, sociolinguistics,bilingual education, andliteracy. born inSan Jos, California in 1948 and did both his M.A. and Ph.D in linguistics from Stanford Universityworked in syntactic and semantic theory, and taught initially at Stanford University.

ContdMost recently, Gee has lectured and written on the educational models used by video games.focused on the development of an integrated theory of language, literacy, and schooling, socially situated cognition, socio-cultural approaches to language and literacy, language development, discourse studies, critical theory, and applied linguistics.

CDA Critical Discourse AnalysisCritical Discourse Analysis is not a homogenous model, nor a school or a paradigm, but a shared perspective on doing linguistics, semiotic or discourse analysis.Its objective is to perceive language use as social practice. The users of language do not function in isolation, but in a set of cultural, social and psychological frameworks.

CDA accepts this social context and studies the connections between textual structures and takes this social context into account ,explores the links between textual structures and their function in interaction within the society. (VanDijk 1993b)

Fairclough (1993: 135) in his definition perceives

CDA as discourse analysis which aims to systematically explore often obscure relationships of causality and determination between(a) discursive practice, events and texts, (b) wider social and cultural structures, relations and processes;

James Paul Gees Building TasksSeven building tasks are the centre of Gees view on discourse analysis. Gee argues that humans use language to construct reality based on the following seven blocks How we build them ????

Contd

The prominence of each block varies, but one, some, or all of them are present in any form of language use In order to clarify certain choices and to provide theoretical background to the importance and function of the tasks, the tools used to examine them.

Methodology For the purposes of this analysis, certain building tasks have been selected as being more significant than others, namely the tasks relating to building identities, attaching significance, and establishing relationships1. Significance: Language is used to make some things more significant than others. How is this piece of language being used to make certain things significant or not and in what ways? What is deemed important?

SignificanceThings and people made more or less significant through the textLine 1 Good evening. Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who's responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.

12SignificanceThings and people made more or less significant through the textLine 18. So Americans understand the costs of war. Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed. We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies.

Significance

In these lines, the president made a strong claim that Osama bin Laden had been killed in the operation and declared the achievement of his ultimate goal in the form of Osamas death.2. Activities/ PracticesLanguage has a purpose to sell, convince, and express emotions etc .What activity or activities is this piece of language being used to enact?By practice means socially recognizes & institutionally or culturally supported endeavor which involves sequencing 0r combining actions in certain specified ways. Encouraging a student is an action, mentoring the student as his or her advisor in a graduate program is practice. Telling someone something about linguistics is an action, lecturing on linguistics in a course is a practice.

For ExampleBy practice means socially recognized & institutionally or culturally supported endeavor.September 11, 2001, in our time of grief, the American people came together. We offered our neighbors a hand, and we offered the wounded our blood. We reaffirmed our ties to each other. On that day, no matter where we came from, what God we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one American family.

2 .Practices

The practices or activities Obama is enacting in his language. He is using language to tell the history of 9/11 -----(how things happened in the past how he constructed them & what are the future implications)3. Identities Language expresses the (social) identities of the interlocutors (1 who takes part in conversation). What identity or identities is this piece of language being used to enact?Who is talking? And to whom? The purpose of the Identity task is to express the identity, or desired identity, of the sender.The identity-building task is the most salient of the seven. ContdDiscourse Question: What identity or identities is this piece of language attributing to the others & how does this help to the speaker or writer enact his or her own identity?

19For ExamplePresident Obama has implicitly compared the identity of USA with Afghanistan. Afghanistan & Taliban Government has been represented as an inferior identities.USA has been projected as a super power. Line 18. we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed. We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies. For ExampleLine-1: Good evening. Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who's responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.

4. RelationshipsLanguage is used to build change and maintain social relations and relationships. What sort of relationship or relationships is this piece of language seeking to enact with others?Any situation involves relationship as a component, For example: In this speech, president Obama is using the language to build social relationship with his nation.

4. RelationshipWe use language to signal what sort of relationship we have, want to have, or trying to have with other listeners, readers or other people, groups or institutions about whom we are communicating.We use language to build social relationships.Discourse Question: What sort of relationship is this piece of language seeking to enact with others?

The relationship is shown by the word we in the speech of Obama in different lines

5.Politics Language is used to give and express desires of social status and goods.Discourse Question: What perspective on social goods is this piece of language communicating?Line 5 United States and was committed to killing innocents in our country and around the globe. And so we went to war against al Qaeda to protect our citizens, our friends, and our allies. Line 16. They agree that this is a good and historic day for both of our nations.

5.PoliticsThe flow of information, social goods and servicesLine 6: over the last 10 years, thanks to the tireless and heroic work of our military and our counterterrorism professionals, we've made great strides in that effort. We've disrupted terrorist attacks and strengthened our homeland defense. In Afghanistan, we removed the Taliban government, which had given bin Laden and al Qaeda safe haven and support

265.PoliticsIt is clear that the way in which Obama is using the language here is fully caught up with the politics. According to these line, president Obama declared that he has carried out this action for the good of American public.

6.Connections connections and disconnections between things and people e .g what ideas are related, how are things causally connected, what is affecting what?

Language is an interconnecting system of signs and references. Discourse Question:How does this piece of language connect or disconnect things; how does it make one thing relevant or irrelevant to another?The strategy that has been used to make things relevant to each other. How is Obama connecting the incident of 9/11 with the military operation carried for Osamas death. All the incidents & events narrated in the speech are linked in a chain

287. Sign SystemsSign systems and knowledge: Language employs different codes and sign systems for different reasons. Discourse Question:How does this piece of language privilege or disprivelege specific sign systems or different ways of knowing and believing or claims to knowledge and belief? Osama's style is formal, political and direct. Obamas form of address can be perceived as more inclusive, including all nationalities and ethnicities, applying a more citizen-centered attitude. There are biblical references Line21.Yet today's achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people.

29ConclusionThe purpose of this discourse analysis has been to identify the seven building tasks. All these tasks have been found in this address.

Now Questions?

31

ReferencesAnalysing Discourse by Norman Fairclough,London& New YorkAn introduction to Discourse Analysis Theory & Method by James Paul GeeAn Introduction to Discourse Analysis by Malcolm Coulyhard

`THANKS