Bhatia

1. Define generic integrity

The most important aspect of a genre is that is recognizable and sufficiently
standardized. That is, most successful constructions of professional genres have
recognizable generic integrity. Generic integrity can be defined as a socially constructed
typical constellation of form-function correlations representing specific professional,
academic or institutional communicative construct realizing a specific communicative
purpose of the genre in question. Generic integrity is flexible, negotiable or sometimes
contested. It is possible to characterize it in terms of text internal or text external factors.
Text internal factors are related to the construction and interpretation of the text in
question. Text external factors are related to the wider context of the disciplinary
community and culture in which the text is used and interpreted. [cuadro]

[2. Explain the newspaper as a complex genre]

3. Explain the indicators of generic integrity

Generic integrity can be characterized in terms of text internal and text external factors.
Text-internal factors are related to the construction and interpretations of the text in
question. Text-external factors are related to the wider context of the disciplinary
community and culture in which the text is used and interpreted. On the one hand, text-
internal factors can be textual, which is also subclassified into lexical factors, rhetorical-
grammatical factors and discoursal factors, contextual and intertextual. Contextual
factors are related to the immediate and general context in which the text is placed, and
intertextual factors are the relationship the text has with other texts. On the other hand,
text-external factors are subdivided into discursive procedures, disciplinary culture and
discursive practices. Discursive procedures answers the questions of who contributes
what, who has the authority, and at what stage it is done, and it also has to do with
interdiscursivity. Disciplinary culture consists of the generic norms and conventions, the
professional goals and the professional identity. And last, the discourse practices are the
choice of genres and the communicative modes.

4. What’s discursive competence?

Discursive competence is a broad term that includes different kinds of competence a
person must have to successfully operate within professional as well as other more
general socio-cultural contexts. It includes textual competence, generic competence and
social competence. Textual competence includes the ability to master linguistic as well as
textual, contextual and pragmatic knowledge to construct and interpret appropriate texts.
Generic competence is the ability to respond to recurrent and novel rhetorical situations
by constructing, interpreting, using and exploiting generic conventions to achieve
professional ends. Finally, social competence is the ability to use language more widely
to participate effectively in a variety of social and institutional context to give expression
to one’s own social identity. When someone has discursive competence, disciplinary
knowledge and professional practice, she/he is said to have professional expertise.

5. Explain the development of the analysis of written discourse

The author outlines three different phases in the development of Discourse Analysis:
Textualization of lexico-grammar, Organization of discourse and Contextualization of
discourse. The first phase took place in the 1960s and early 1970s and it was influenced by
formal linguistics. Its main focus was on surface-level features of language. Many linguists
focused on statistically significant features of lexico-grammar used in a particular subset of
texts associated with particular discipline (for example, law or medicine). Text linguistics
belongs to this phase and attempted to focus on authentic texts seen as instances of
language use in real context. However, Bhatia finds problems with this approach: he states
that there was a lack of attention to functional variation, and that it was applicable to
discourse in general rather than to specific genres.
The second phase focuses on patterns of organization of discourse. Here, the authors Hoey
(problem-solution structures), Widdowson (rhetorical structure) and van Dijk (schematic
structures) were central. There was an emphasis on the regularities of organization in
discourse. It was in this phase that Genre Theory emerged: schools from the US, Australia
and Britain started studying how people construct, interpret and use these genres to achieve
their community goals.
Lastly, the third phase is the contextualization of discourse. It was during this phase that
Critical Discourse Analysis emerged and started studying discourse as an instrument of
social control. They had three main concerns: to look at genres in more detail, to see how
discourse is used as an instrument of social control and to analyze mediated discourse as
social interaction.

Eggins and Martin

1. Eggins and Martin define R&G Theory as a “theory of functional variation”.
Discuss the authors’ statement, its scope and implications. In the light of the
model account for the way in which the texts are different and the contextual
motivations for such differences.
R&G theory is a theory of functional variation because it seeks to explain how texts
change or vary according to the purpose it serves in a social context. So, far from the
view of texts as isolated products, R&G theory states that texts carry influences from the
context in which they were produced. There are three different contextual dimensions
that influence texts: field, tenor and mode. Field is the action in the text, what happens to
whom. Tenor is the roles of the participants. Mode is how the text is organized, how it is
realized. These three contextual dimensions carry three different meanings: ideational
meaning, interpersonal meaning and textual meaning, respectively. A text, then, is a
weaving together of several different strands of these meanings. In order for the three
meanings to be coherent there must be cohesive resources, such as pronouns and
conjunctions, and a generic structure. R&G theory uses the concepts of “register” and
“genre” to explain the meaning and function of variation between texts. First, register is a
concept used to describe how we use language differently in different situations. That is,
key dimensions of the social context (for example, the social distance between the
participants, whether the text is written or spoken, etc) will make certain meanings more
likely to be made. For example, in a job interview, it is more likely that the speakers will
use a degree of formality appropriate for that situation, instead of using slang, for
instance. Another key concept to this theory is the concept of genre. Speech genres are
relatively stable types of interactive utterances. Genres are described in terms of their
 social purpose; different genres are different ways of using language to achieve different
culturally established tasks.

2. How according to R&G Theory, do different meanings come or blend together

in the text?
According to R&G theory, there are three contextual dimensions that influence the
linguistic choices of a text. These dimensions are field, tenor and mode. Field is what
the text is about, who the participants are, and what the action is. Tenor consists of
the roles of the participants. Mode has to do with the textual organization of the text.
These three dimensions carry three meanings: ideational meaning, interpersonal
meaning and textual meaning, respectively. The coming together of these strands of
meaning is achieved through cohesive resources, such as conjunctions, connectors,
pronouns, and the generic structure of a text. A genre is a relatively stable type of
communicative event. Different genres are different ways of using language to
achieve different culturally established tasks.

3. What are field, tenor and mode? How are these concepts realised? What are
metafunctions?

4. Concept of genre
For Eggins and Martin, genre is how things get done, when language is used to
accomplish them

5. Relate their theory with news values

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Channel
1. Where does the study of vague language fall within discourse studies? How
does the concept of vagueness differ from that of ambiguity? Discuss the
issue and give examples.

Vague expressions are particularly relevant to both pragmatics and semantics. Even
though they seem to be more inherently ‘pragmatic’ in nature than many others, it is clear
that those expressions cannot be handed except by looking at both semantics and
pragmatics. However, there is no yet a major study of linguistic vagueness and no
generally agreed approach to it and the ones existing tend to be more descriptive than
theoretical.
It has been important to develop some tests for distinguishing between vagueness and
ambiguity. The general approach to distinguish vagueness from ambiguity may be
summarised as follows: in both cases hearers do not know exactly what they should
understand. Ambiguity has traditionally been identified where a sentence has two or
more competing but distinct meanings attached to it, whereas vagueness is seen where
distinct meanings cannot be identified. For example in the sentence where the word ‘eat’
is used vaguely it may mean ‘eat bread or eat soup’ whereas the word ‘file’ is ambiguous
since it may be referring to the tool or the paper file.
 2. Following Channell, give a detailed account of the use of vague language.
Exemplify.
Vague language has been very important in the study of language. In the past, it has
been characterized as “bad” or “wrong” language. However, many linguists have come to
focus on vague language as a necessary feature of language and as a part of one’s own
linguistic competence. The use of vague language is key to mastering a language.
According to Channell, the uses of vague language are the following:
● Giving the right amount of information: this use of vague language has to do with the
fact that in many contexts the exact information is not what matters, so vagueness is
required. In this case, the speaker does not want to flout the Quantity maxim, so they
convey the information using vague approximates. An example of this would be the
use of “in the 1950s” instead of the exact year.
● Withholding information deliberately: this use of vague language is related to
statements to which speakers do not want to commit. For example, if someone asks
me when a translation will be ready, I am likely to say “Well, it may take about two
weeks, maybe more, depending on the length of the text”, thus avoiding to commit
myself on the exact date in case it takes longer than two weeks.
● Using language persuasively: sometimes, especially in economics, vague
expressions of quantity are used to present statistical data to support the author’s
viewpoint. For example, “this project could have a profit of over two million dollars”.
● Lexical gaps: vagueness is also used when speakers either do not remember a
specific word or expression, or do not know it. This can be supplied by using vague
lexical items such as “whatitsname” or “thingummy”, by using expressions like “like”
“something like that”, “I mean”, etc.
● Lacking specific information: this use of vague language has to do with preserving
the Quality Maxim. Sometimes we do not know the exact information of something
and we do not want to lie, so we use vague expressions. For example, “I think it was
about 1965, but I’m not quite sure”.
● Displacement: this is the use of vague language when speakers talk about the future
or the past. An example for the past would be “the news story said that about 20
people died in an accident”. An example for the future is “the reconstruction of the
building would cost the State about 100,000 Euros”
● Self-protection: a speaker can use vague language as a safeguard against being
proved wrong later. For example, “there are approximately four houses in the street”.
● Power and politeness: speakers in asymmetrical relationships may use vagueness
as a way to adhering to the politeness norms of a culture and not threatening face.
For example, in teacher/student relationship, students may use vagueness to
mitigate a request: “Could you maybe correct our essays and maybe sort of meet or
something”
● Informality and atmosphere: vague language is associated with informal
conversational settings. The presence of vagueness in this case is related to the
Quantity and Quality maxims, since in this type of context it’s not necessary to be
very specific, and speakers may not remember the exact information, so they’ll use
vague language to avoid lying. For example, “how much did it cost? I think it cost
about 300 euros”

3. What’s the difference between vague language and ambiguity?

It has been important to develop some tests for distinguishing between vagueness and
ambiguity. The general approach to distinguishing vagueness from ambiguity may be
 summarised as follows: in both cases hearers do not know exactly what they should
understand. Ambiguity has traditionally been identified where a sentence has two or
more competing but distinct meanings attached to it, whereas vagueness is seen where
distinct meanings cannot be identified. For example in the sentence where the word ‘eat’
is used vaguely it may mean ‘eat bread or eat soup’ whereas the word ‘file’ is ambiguous
since it may be referring to the tool or the paper file.

4. What relationship/s can you establish between vague language and news
discourse?
Vague language is part of one’s own linguistic competence. This means that it can be used
in different contexts to achieve different goals, that is, it can be used pragmatically. Such as
speakers may use vague language in different ways, the media can do that too. Media can
use vague language in cases in which there is displacement, that is, when they are talking
about past events or future events. This may be due to the fact that journalists cannot be
certain about a fact that happened or that is going to happen and want to avoid flouting the
Quality Maxim. So in this case, for example, instead of saying “the construction will cost 2,6
million dollars”, they are more likely to say “the construction would cost around 2 million
dollars”. Doing this, they also use vague language for self-protection, since they use it as a
safeguard against being later shown to be wrong. Another use of vague language the media
are likely to make is withholding information deliberately. This use of vague language is
related to statements to which speakers do not want to commit.

Swales
1. Define content schemata and formal schemata. What is their role in genre
recognition and text production?
Schemata are mental models that allow us to recognize and interpret texts in the light of
previous texts. There are two types of schemata: content schemata and formal
schemata. Content schemata constitute the background knowledge we have that allows
us to recognize facts and judge their truth. These schemata form thanks to our prior
knowledge, that is, our accumulation of facts and concepts. Formal schemata are the
background knowledge we have of the rhetorical structures of different types of texts.
These schemata allow us to recognize structures of texts and are based on our prior
knowledge about interactive procedures or routines, which derive from nonverbal and
verbal kinds of experience. We bring these schemata when we want to recognize genres
and produce text. For example, in order to write a news story we should have a topic we
want to write about, for example, a natural disaster. This is where our content schemata
plays a part. On the other hand, thanks to our formal schemata we know a news story
needs to have a headline and a lead, and to be written in a certain way, following certain
conventions, etc.

2. Explain the editorial as a staged, goal-oriented social process

3. Explain the different disciplines that studied genre (Folklore, literary tradition,
linguistics, rhetoric)
The study of genre was focus for different disciplines. For folklore studies, genre is a
classificatory category; they are ideal types such as stories, myths, legends, tales, etc.
From this perspective, genre is seen as a form; its structure does not change. What
actually changes is function. One of the main contributors to genre is Malinovsky. He
recognized the sociocultural value of genre, since they serve social needs. From the
literary studies perspective, what matters is someone changing genres. According to
Todorov, a new genres is always a transformation of old or several old genres. He rejects
the definition of genre as a class of text, and instead he proposes that genres are
codifications of discursive features that become institutionalized. Another author,
Hepburn, states that how a reader approaches a work of art depends upon the genre
she sees it as exemplifying. Thus, genre provides an interpretive frame for a work of art
which includes textual and contextual features. Furthermore, in the linguistics fields, the
approach to genre was mainly made by ethnographic or systemic orientation. For
instance, the ethnographer Hymes stated that genres often coincide with speech events
but must be treated differently, since genres may occur in different events. Another
author, Savillle-Troike, takes genre to refer to the type of communicative event and gives
as an example jokes, stories, lectures, etc. The concept of genre has also been
approached by Hallidayean linguists where it is related to the concept of register.
However, this relation is not very clear. Martin makes a three-way distinction: genres are
realized through registers, and registers in turn are realized through language. Genres
are how things get done, when language is used to accomplish them. The linguist says
that genres constrain the ways in which register variables of field, tenor and mode can
be combined in a particular society. Another author, Couture, states that registers
impose constraints at the linguistic levels of vocabulary and syntax, whereas genre
constraints operate at the level of discourse structure. Genres are completable
structured texts, while registers present more generalizable stylistic choices.

4. Explain the relationship between schematic structure, purpose and rationale.

Swales states that genres are communicative events, since language is essential in
them. However, what makes a communicative event into a genre is its communicative
purpose, since genres are communicative vehicles for the achievement of goals. Some
genres have an easily identifiable communicative purpose. This is the case of recipes,
which would appear to be instructional texts used for the preparation of a meal.
Nevertheless, other genres have more than one purpose or no identifiable purpose
whatsoever. For example, news broadcasts are designed to keep people up to date, but
they can also have purposes of entertaining or moulding public opinion. The recognition
of the purposes of a genre provides what Swales names the rationale, and this rationale,
in turn, gives rise to constraining conventions. The author exemplifies this with the “good
news” letters and “bad news” letters. He says that, since the rationale of “good news”
letters is that communication will continue, the schematic structure of the letter
emphasizes the good news and the rest of the letter is not given as much importance.
On the contrary, in “bad news” letters, the structure changes so as to mitigate the bad
news and to place the responsibility of the decision on someone else. In conclusion, a
genre has to have a recognizable communicative purpose to be considered as such. The
recognition of this purpose constitutes the rationale, which, in turn, constrains both the
schematic structure and the content of a genre.

5. Why is newspaper a complex genre?

Because it has more than one purpose? Because it includes narratives?
 6. How is genre characterized according to John Swales? Outline and explain
the set of criteria involved in his working definition of genre.
According to Swales, there are five criteria that characterize genres. The first criterion is
that genres are communicative events. This means that language is essential in genres.
The second criterion is that for a communicative event to turn into a genre it must have a
set of shared purposes. That is, what makes a communicative purpose a genre is its
purpose or set of purpose, since genres are communicative vehicles to achieve social
goals. According to Swales, this is the privileged property of genres. Some genres have
a straightforward purpose, such as instructing readers as to how to make a meal in the
case of recipes. However, some other genres have more than one purpose or no
recognizable purpose whatsoever. For example, news broadcasts are designed to keep
people up to date but they can also have the purpose of entertaining or moulding public
opinion. A third criterion is the prototypicality of a genre. Subjects recognize some
elements as being more prototypical than other. For example, we identify cats or dogs as
being the more prototypical than snakes as house pets. The same happens with genre: a
genre can be more or less prototypical, according to the structure and their form. A fourth
criterion is the rationale of a genre. The recognition of purposes of a genre provides the
rationale, and, in turn, the rationale sets constraints on conventions. An example that the
author gives to exemplify this is that of the “good news” and “bad news” letters. He says
that in “good news” letters the rationale is that communication will continue, so the good
news are conveyed early in the letter and the rest of the letter is not given as much
importance. On the contrary, in the “bad news” letters, the bad news are mitigated with
different strategies and there is generally an attempt to place the responsibility in
someone else. This way, the rationale puts constraints both on the schematic structure
and the content of a genre. Finally, the fifth criterion is the nomenclature of genres.
Swales argues that the name of genres is arbitrary and it generally does not represent
what the genre consists of. These names are inherited and sometimes can be used
wrongly.

Hartley
1. What are news values? What purpose do they serve? Enumerate and explain
them.
Events do not get into the news just by happening, but they must fit in what is already
there. In order to do this, they must fulfill a number of criteria so that they are considered
newsworthy. These criteria are what Hartley call news values. He outlines eight general
news values and four extra news values which are particularly relevant to western
media.
1) Frequency: the time-span taken by an event. In general, fast events like murders are
seen as more newsworthy.
2) Threshold: the size of an event. There is a threshold below which an event will not be
reported at all.
3) Unambiguity: an event has to be clear.
4) Meaningfulness: a) cultural proximity: events that accord with the cultural background
of the newspaper will be seen as more meaningful than others; b) relevance: events
 in far-off countries will become newsworthy if they influence in some way the
newspaper’s home culture.
5) Consonance: the predictability of an event (rock stars die young → john
lennon’s death)
6) Unexpectedness: the unpredictability or rarity of an event
7) Continuity: if an event is covered, it will continue to be covered for some time
8) Composition: the mixture of different kinds of event
9) Reference to elite nations: wars elections and disasters of elite nations are seen as
more newsworthy.
10) Reference to elite persons: it is assumed their actions are more consequential than
the daily activities of ordinary people
11) Personalization: news stories are personalized (The government→ mrs
Tatcher)
12) Negativity: bad news is good news.

2. Define, relate and discuss the concepts of news selection, news

representation, newsworthiness, common sense, power and ideology. (Hartley,
Fairclough, Van Dijk)

Van Dijk
1. Define and characterise the schematic and thematic (Principle of Relevance)
structures of news discourse and apply the concepts to the analysis of the
news story. Explain the macrostructure and superstructure according to Van
Dijk´s model.

2. Examine and discuss the typical features associated with news discourse and
exemplify them appropriately (form-syntax, meaning-semantics, speech acts-
pragmatics). Refer to: stylistic constraints, news syntax, lexical style, news
rhetoric (persuasive content).
Van Dijk characterizes news in terms of its syntax, its semantics and its pragmatics. He
says that news discourse style has constraints because of its communicative context.
Among these constraints, there is the need for new discourse to meet the general
constraints of monological, written or printed text, also there should be no “I” and no
“you” in its discourse, since readers are addressed only indirectly (there are no reader-
addressed speech acts).Furthermore, news discourse is public discourse so it
presupposes a considerable amount of generally shared knowledge, beliefs, norms and
values. In relation with syntax, he states that sentences are complex, with several
embedded clauses and nominalizations which express several propositions. In relation to
semantics, there is a choice of specific words that may signal the degree of formality,
and the attitudes and ideologies of the speaker. For example, some newspaper may
choose to use “fire fighter” instead of “terrorist”. Other lexical choices have to do with
professional registers used to denote specific event characteristics. In relation to news
rhetoric, there is a zero level for persuasiveness in news discourse. This means that
news discourse tries to persuade readers to that they accept assertion as truths. In order
for this to happen, the beliefs and ideologies assumed by the assertions must have
coherence with the beliefs and ideologies of the reader. Some of the strategies to
promote the persuasive process for assertions are using evidence from eyewitnesses,
using evidence from reliable sources, introducing opinions of different backgrounds and
ideologies, etc.

3. News discourse: Characterize the structure of news discourse following Van

Dijk’s model. Refer to textual, semantic, pragmatic and socio-cognitive
processes.

4. Explain the 3 main elements of ideology. Which aspect of ideology each

dimension addresses?
According to van Dijk, ideology has three elements: social functions, cognitive structures,
and discursive expression and production. Social functions are the functions of
ideologies for groups or institutions within societal structure, that is, the reasons why
people develop and use ideologies. Cognitive structures consist of the mental nature and
the internal components and structures of ideologies, as well as their relation to other
cognitive structures of social representations and personal and contextual models. This
dimension answers the question of what ideologies look like and how they monitor social
experiences. Discursive expression and reproduction is the way ideologies are
expressed in, and acquired and reproduced by the structures of socially situated text and
talk.

5. Criteria that constitute group identity and interests. Illustrate in relation to

Poynton. (Membership, activities, goals, values, position, resources)

6. How can the press reflect ideology?

The media persuades through assertions. They assume these assertions as the truth
(ideological). These assertions have to be coherent with the mental models of
people. There are strategies for promoting the persuasiveness of assertions.
● Volume: we may say more or less about a topic, according to our ideological
squares.
● Importance: what information is important can be manipulated in discourse meaning
though macrostructural organization of models.
● Relevance: this is the utilitarian importance of information for language users,
controlled by context models.
● Implicitness/explicitness: the presence or absence of model information may be
semantically construed as explicitness or implicitness.
● Attribution: acts may be variously attributed to actors, and explained in terms of their
properties or the situation. Agency, responsibility and blame may also be attributed
as a function of ideological orientation (rape).
● Perspective: events are described and evaluated from the positions, point of view or
perspective of the speaker
7. Ideological square relate it with gender.
Van Dijk argues that there is a strategy of polarization that is usually used by the media.
Polarization means that one gives positive ingroup descriptions and negative out group
description. This gives rise to the ideological square, where ingroup good properties and
actions are emphasized and outgroup good properties and actions are mitigated; hence,
ingroup bad properties and actions are mitigated and outgroup bad properties and
actions are emphasized. This can be related to gender, if we think that the ingroup is
male and the outgroup is female. Poynton states that in media women are either
invisible or portrayed in terms of motherhood, beauty or their relation to men. She states
that this issue of representation of women is linked to power: being powerful matters, but
women are not supposed to be powerful, so, by making reference to them as female,
that power and prestige is diminished. Thus, women as agents, especially in creative
activity, tend to be deleted, while men are represented as doers. Sometimes, men as
agents may also be deleted, when they may be held responsible for political issues.
Furthermore, according to Crawford, meaning are man-made: men control meanings and
women’s realities remain unarticulated. Verbal and nonverbal communication expresses
and maintains male dominance, representing the good actions and properties of male
and emphasizing women’s bad actions and properties. Taking a specific example, textual
analysis analyzes how the sentence structure of newspaper reports perpetuates the idea
that rape is a crime that a man commits against another man. They do this by obscuring
the guilt of the rapist, for example, by means of the use of passive voice, attributing the
responsibility for the rapist’s actions to someone else, and excusing the rapist, placing
the blame on the woman, because “she must have done something to provoke him”.

8. Presupposition and entailment: what’s their relationship with common sense?

When people interpret texts, they have to work out how the parts of the text fit in together
and how the text fits in with their previous experience of the world. In order to achieve
coherence, then, they have to draw upon their assumptions and expectations about
the world. There are implicit assumptions that help people chain together successive
parts of texts by supplying missing links between the explicit propositions, which they
supply automatically or through a process of inferencing. When certain assumptions
of the world become naturalized, that is, when people accept those assumptions as
something natural, eternal and unchangeable, we can say we are in the presence of
common sense. Common sense, then, consists of the assumptions and beliefs that
became naturalized, and so people take those assumptions for granted. Thus, when
someone reads a news story, they bring about their assumptions and beliefs to
interpret the text. The media, in turn, presents certain propositions as
presuppositions, that is, they imply certain facts or events as being known or
presupposed. Sometimes, these presuppositions embody opinions. For example, by
using “terrorist crimes”, “extremists” to name Arab people, the news broadcaster is
expressing an opinion in a way that is presupposed. If the person’s assumptions and
beliefs match these presupposition, they will see this as common sense.

9. News rhetoric, news style and news syntax. Relate them with news values.

He says that news discourse style has constraints because of its communicative context.
Among these constraints, there is the need for new discourse to meet the general
constraints of monological, written or printed text, also there should be no “I” and no
“you” in its discourse, since readers are addressed only indirectly (there are no reader-
addressed speech acts).Furthermore, news discourse is public discourse so it
presupposes a considerable amount of generally shared knowledge, beliefs, norms and
values. In relation with syntax, he states that sentences are complex, with several
embedded clauses and nominalizations which express several propositions. In relation to
semantics, there is a choice of specific words that may signal the degree of formality,
and the attitudes and ideologies of the speaker. For example, some newspaper may
choose to use “fire fighter” instead of “terrorist”. Other lexical choices have to do with
professional registers used to denote specific event characteristics. In relation to news
rhetoric, there is a zero level for persuasiveness in news discourse. This means that
news discourse tries to persuade readers to that they accept assertion as truths. In order
for this to happen, the beliefs and ideologies assumed by the assertions must have
coherence with the beliefs and ideologies of the reader. Some of the strategies to
promote the persuasive process for assertions are using evidence from eyewitnesses,
using evidence from reliable sources, introducing opinions of different backgrounds and
ideologies, etc.
News values: frequency → compact style, long sentences
Unambiguity → syntax has to be clear
Unexpectedness →

10. Relation between macrostructure and superstructure

Discourses have both macrostructures and superstructures. On the one hand, a
discourse has one or more topics or themes that are realized in terms of propositions.
Each proposition expresses an idea, which is, in turn, realized through one or more
sentences. Longer discourses have more than one topic, and therefore, have more than
one proposition. These propositions are organized in macrostructures by means of
macrorules. Macrorules serve to reduce information and can operate in three different
ways: deletion, generalization and construction. Through these macrorules propositions
are hierarchically organized in macrostructures, which, in turn, constitute the topics of the
text. On the other hand, a discourse needs an overall syntax, which defines the possible
forms in which topics or themes can be inserted and ordered in the actual text. This
structure is what van Dijk calls a superstructure, that is, a global structure of discourse
defined by specific categories and rules. Such a schema consists of a series of
hierarchically ordered categories, which may be specific for different discourse types and
conventionalized and hence different in various societies and cultures. Thus, the
structural category “Summary”, for instance, has a specific function which is to provide a
summary of the text. This category then, must contain the macrostructure of a story. In
order to assign a global form or schema to a text, we have to relate it to a global
meaning that can fill this form or schema. Thus, each superstructure category is
associated with a macroproposition from the semantic macrostructure. This means that
the schema determines how the topics of a text could or should be ordered and, hence,
how sequences and sentences should appear in the text.
 11. Moves that translate overall ideological strategies into semantic structure
(volume, importance, implicitness/explicitness, relevance, attribution,
perspective)
● Volume: we may say more or less about a topic, according to our ideological
squares.
● Importance: what information is important can be manipulated in discourse meaning
though macrostructural organization of models.
● Relevance: this is the utilitarian importance of information for language users,
controlled by context models.
● Implicitness/explicitness: the presence or absence of model information may be
semantically construed as explicitness or implicitness.
● Attribution: acts may be variously attributed to actors, and explained in terms of their
properties or the situation. Agency, responsibility and blame may also be attributed
as a function of ideological orientation (rape).
● Perspective: events are described and evaluated from the positions, point of view or
perspective of the speaker

12. How does a news story develop?

News stories are organized so that the important information is located in a prominent
position. This means that, in general, the events in a news story are not organized in
chronological order. News stories have themes and topics, which operate at the
macrolevel. Different propositions get organized in what van Dijk names a
macrostructure. They are abstraction at which we arrive by means of macrorules.
Macrorules reduce information and can operate in three different ways: 1) deletion:
by means of which we delete all the information that is no longer relevant in the text;
2) generalization: we replace a sequence of proposition by one generalization; 3)
construction: we replace a sequence of propositions that denote the usual conditions
of an act by one macropropositions that denote the act or event as a whole. In formal
terms, the realization of topics in news discourse takes place by the application of
inverse macrorules, which the author calls specification rules. Specification takes
place in cycles in news discourse: high-level specifics are given first, followed by
lower-level details, so that readers get the important information first.

Gender (Poynton, Cameron, Crawford)

1. What are gendered meanings? What effects do speakers seek through their
style choices? By reference to Cameron (page 444) and Poynton.
Gender is not a natural characteristic of people, but a social construction. This means
that we act as we do because of what we have learnt since we were babies and how
society treats us. According to Cameron, we construct the differentiation of gender
through discourse, that is, we display gender. Gender has to be constantly reaffirmed
and publicly displayed by repeatedly performing acts which are culturally considered
as “feminine” or “masculine”. Cameron puts as an example, the conversation of an
all-male group about their gay classmates. In her analysis she finds that the people
this group calls “gay” are not really homosexual, but gender-deviant. So, what this
group is doing is defining their own masculinity in relation to people that fail to
measure up to the standards of masculinity or feminity. Thus, by expressing their
disgust towards “gay” people, they display their own gender.
 2. Consider the following:
a) Language is one of the means by which attitudes towards people can be
constructed, maintained or challenged. (Fairclough)
b) People do perform gender differently in different contexts and do
sometimes behave in ways we would normally associate with the “other”
(Cameron, pages 445)
c) How are women presented by the written press?
No women agents, especially in creative activities. Men are doers, except when they
screw up (passive voice). They are always defined in terms of their age,
motherhood or in relation to other men.
d) Classification of gender ideology (Poynton)

Analyze and discuss the different theoretical ideological implications of the preceding
quotations. Comment on the approaches referred to and exemplify.

Fairclough
1. Ideology, power and news representation according to Van Dijk, Fairclough
and Hartley.
van Dijk: ideological square. Presuppositions. Semantic moves (disclaimers) Discursive
strategies: volume, importance, relevance, implicit/explicitness, attribution,
perspective
Hartley: consent and dissent
Fairclough: ideology, commonsense. Hidden power.

2. "Certain groups tend to be disadvantaged within particular societies. People

are defined by their sex, their race, their sexuality, their religion - and these
groups are disliked, feared, discriminated against or actively 'persecuted'.
Language is one of the means by which attitudes towards groups can be
constructed, maintained or challenged." (Fairclough)

Discuss the issue of ideology, news representation and language by reference to

the quotation above.
Include the following aspects:
-the press agenda. (how can press agenda reflect ideology?)
Mass media discourse involves hidden relations of power. It is designed to support these
power relations, in favor of the power-holders. But they do so in a hidden way, that is,
presenting as common sense beliefs and assumptions that belong to the power-
holders, favoring certain interpretations and words of events, while excluding others.
Thus, power relations can be seen as mediated relation between power-holders and
the mass of population. Media achieves this by causality, that is, by deciding who is
represented as causing what to happen, and who is represented as doing what to
whom. So, for example, in a manifestation, the media may represent the protesters
as violent and destructive (although this may not be the case) and the police as the
ones that restore peace. This way, the media gives as natural, something that is
purely ideological. Thus, people naturalize those beliefs and assumptions and accept
them as common sense.
 -power relations in society vs in discourse. (What relations of power can be
exercised and enacted in discourse?)
Interviews, formality

3. The press as a favourite vehicle for ideology. How can ideology be identified
linguistically?
lexical items: “terrorist” “criminal” “freedom fighters”
syntax: passive voice “she was raped”
rhetoric: assertions as truths → presuppositions
disclaimers: “blacks are intelligent but…”

6. b. What role do topic and knowledge play cognitive processing? Define the
concepts of presupposition and semantic implication.
7. What’s ideology according to Fairclough?
Practices which originate in the dominant class and become naturalized. the power to
project one’s practices as universal and common sense

8. How does ideology refer to power and language?

Ideological power, the power to project one’s practices as universal and common sense
is a complement of political and economic power, and it is exercised in discourse.
Those who exercise power through language are constantly involved in struggle with
others to defend their position. Class is mediated by the discourse types of the social
institutions in a society. Education, for example, reproduces class relations and other
social structures. There are two aspects of the power/language relationship: power in
discourse and power behind discourse. Power in discourse is discourse as a place
where relations of power are exercised and enacted. This has to do with powerful
participants controlling and constraining the contributions of non-powerful participants
(constraints on contents, relations and subjects). Power behind discourse is that the
whole social order of discourse is put together as a hidden effect of power.

11. How is ideological variation portrayed in discourse?

Rhetoric
2. Explain the concepts of implied audience, rhetorical persona and exigence.
Among the things a text can create for rhetorical purposes are the rhetorical personal,
and implied audiences. A rhetorical persona is a fictitious authorial persona created in
the literary work different from the actual author. Rhetors may create a rhetorical
persona in order to be accepted by groups and have their voices recognized as
legitimate. The implied audience is different from a real audience. It is also fictitious
because it is created by the text and exists only inside the symbolic world of the text.
Furthermore, a text always have exigence, which consists of the problem or issue to
which the text is addressed. Depending on what the exigence is, the rhetorical
persona and the implied audience may change.

Bolivar
1. Define her concepts
Bolivar bases her model on Sinclair and Coulthard’s model of exchange in classroom
interaction to analyze editorials. She argues that editorials, taken as an instance of
interaction, can be analyzed using a unit of interaction called a triad. The function of a
triad is the transmission of information and its evaluation. Its internal function consists of
a lead, a follow and a valuate. The lead introduces what the triad is about and its
modality. The follow expands on the lead, keeping the same topic and evaluating the
information. The valuate closes the turn evaluating both the lead and the follow. There
are two types of triads: content triads and boundary triads. Content triads refer and
evaluate an event (valuate obligatory). Boundary triads have the function of dealing with
the discourse itself (valuate optional). Triads, in turn, may be of three types: Situation,
Development or Recommendation triads. S triads refer to an event and evaluate it. D
triads occur in medial position and develop in reference to S triads. R triads occupy final
positions and they close the evaluation of the event introduced by the S triad. The triads
may combine with others and form a movement. There are 3 types of movement: type A,
type B and type C. Type A movements refer to the actual world, Type B movements refer
to the world of possibilities and Type C refers to the world that should be. Content triads
can be informing triads or eliciting triads. Informatriads contains a lead turn realized by a
sentence in declarative syntax. Eliciting triads are initiated with a lead in interrogative
form. There are also four types of boundary triads: act of identification, act of analysis or
explanation, act of conclusion or recommendation and reminders. Lastly, valuates can be
of three kinds: concluders, prophecies or directives.

2. What’s her purpose?

To analyze the structure of editorials using a model for the transmission of information
and its evaluation. To analyze editorials as instances of interactions.