Discourse analysis and more specifically critical discourse analysis is the analytic framework I used in my doctoral research and is also the topic of a number of my peer-reviewed research articles. So, if you are looking for reliable recommendations to help you understand the concept of discourse analysis, you are in the right place. Below is a collection of seminal works I would highly recommend for anyone interested in learning about discourse analysis and the dynamics of language in use.
1- How to Do Discourse Analysis, by James Paul Gee
‘Using a practical how-to approach, Gee provides the tools necessary to work with discourse analysis, with engaging step-by-step tasks featured throughout the book. Each tool is clearly explained, along with guidance on how to use it, and authentic data is provided for readers to practice using the tools. Readers from all fields will gain both a practical and theoretical background in how to do discourse analysis and knowledge of discourse analysis as a distinctive research methodology.’
2- An Introduction to Discourse Analysis: Theory and Method 4th Edition, by James Paul Gee
‘Discourse analysis considers how language, both spoken and written, enacts social and cultural perspectives and identities. Assuming no prior knowledge of linguistics, An Introduction to Discourse Analysis examines the field and presents James Paul Gee’s unique integrated approach which incorporates both a theory of language-in-use and a method of research.’
3- Discourse Analysis 2nd Edition, by Barbara Johnstone
‘Fully revised and updated throughout, the new edition of Discourse Analysis is a user-friendly textbook for students taking their first course in linguistic approaches to discourse.’
4- The Routledge Handbook of Discourse Analysis, by James Paul Gee (Editor), Michael Handford (Editor)
‘The Routledge Handbook of Discourse Analysis covers the major approaches to Discourse Analysis from Critical Discourse Analysis to Multimodal Discourse Analysis and their applications in key educational and institutional settings. The handbook is divided into six sections: Approaches to Discourse Analysis, Register and Genre, Developments in Spoken Discourse, Educational Applications, Institutional Applications and Identity, Culture and Discourse.’
5- Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language 2nd Edition, by Norman Fairclough
‘Bringing together papers written by Norman Fairclough over a 25 year period, Critical Discourse Analysis represents a comprehensive and important contribution to the development of this popular field.’
6- Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research, by Norman Fairclough
‘Drawing on a range of social theorists from Bourdieu to Habermas, as well as his own research, Norman Fairclough's book presents a form of language analysis with a consistently social perspective. His approach is illustrated by and investigated through a range of real texts, from written texts, to a TV debate about the monarchy and a radio broadcast about the Lockerbie bombing. The student-friendly book also offers accessible summaries, an appendix of example texts, and a glossary of terms and key theorists.’
7- Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis (Introducing Qualitative Methods series), by Ruth Wodak (Editor), Michael Meyer (Editor)
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‘This book provides a concise, comprehensible, and thoroughly up-to-date introduction to CDA, appropriate for both novice and experienced researchers. This new edition has been updated throughout, with a new introduction contextualizing the development of the CDA approach, and two entirely new chapters on the 'social actor approach' to CDA and the use of quantitative corpus linguistic methods.’
8- An Introduction to Critical Discourse Analysis in Education 2nd Edition, by Rebecca Rogers (Editor)
‘Accessible yet theoretically rich, this landmark text introduces key concepts and issues in critical discourse analysis and situates these within the field of educational research. The book invites readers to consider the theories and methods of three major traditions in critical discourse studies – discourse analysis, critical discourse analysis, and multimodal discourse analysis -- through the empirical work of leading scholars in the field.’
