Discourse Analysis in Educational Research

Abstract

Discourse analysis as a method of inquiry has improved our collective understanding of teaching and learning processes for at least four decades. This chapter provides some historical context for understanding the emergence of discourse analysis within educational research, describes some of the different ways that discourse analysis continues to be used and useful in educational research, and synthesizes scholarship that has influenced how discourse analysis has enhanced educational research. It explores key contributions in the study of discourse, including how underlying social systems shape (and are shaped by) interaction, how identities are constructed in and through talk, the relationship between interaction and learning in both formal and informal educational contexts, and how embodiment, multimodality, and virtual spaces offer new sites of analysis, which raises important questions about what new modes of communication imply for discursive methods of research and representation. It also covers four major approaches to discourse analysis in education – anthropological, narrative, classroom-based, and critical – and shows that the study of language and discourse in education has blossomed into a dynamic and interdisciplinary endeavor. Although educational researchers using discourse analysis as a method/tool of inquiry continue to wrestle with questions of context, definitions of “text,” and notions of discourse, this approach to inquiry remains extremely useful and influential. After describing recent advances in the study of discourse within educational research and the problems and challenges that remain, the chapter concludes with a discussion of future directions and suggests recommended additional reading. KeywordsDiscourse