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Showing 61 results for Critical Discourse Analysis
Volume 13, Issue 1 (3-2022)
Abstract
Critical discourse analysis is an approach that considers language as a social practice in relation to factors such as power and ideology. According to this approach, the present study has tried to use sociological-semantic components to demonstrate how `Jalal Al-Ahmad expressed his ideology through the representation of the characters of Fall Valley and how he portrayed the social agents of that period after Reza Shah’s fall. In this short story, linguistic constructions are analyzed through the sociological-semantic components. So Van Leeuwen’s modal is appropriate for analyzing the text and discovering the relationship between language and the author’s ideology. The main question of this paper is whether the author has been able to reveal his hidden ideology through the representation of social agents? Research findings exhibit that this has happened and Al-Ahmad has expressed his ideology and views in the story by using the methods of suppression, backgrounding, activation, passivation, personification and impersonalization. Using the general strategy of “exclusion”, he hides the identity of high-ranking officials of Pahlavi government and completely “ignores” them by “backgrounding”. The “government” and the “army” have been activated in the discourse, and the “workers” and the “elites” have been passivated to highlight the oppression that has been inflicted upon them for his audience.
- Introduction
The results of the research related to the theory under study indicate that so far no research has been done on the subject of the present article, namely the sociological-semantic analysis of Al-Ahmad political stories and novels. Therefore, the present study examines this issue in order to compensate for the existing deficit in this field. Obviously, considering this point, the necessity and importance of such research is clear.
2. Literature Review
Regarding the theoretical background of the present study, several works were generally found in the fictional literature that have been criticized according to Van Leeuwen's model. Among these works, we can mention Pooshneh and Babak (2013) who, in their study, have found different ways of representing social activists in the story "Between Yesterday and Tomorrow" by Ebrahim Golestan. The main purpose of this study is to discover the relationship between intellectual-social (ideological) perspectives with discourse-oriented structures in the story.
In their study, Saeidnia et al. (2014) have examined the novels of Suovashun and Sang-e Sabour from the perspective of critical discourse analysis and based on sociological-semantic components. The results of this study indicate that the authors of these novels have represented women as a second sex, weak and with lower social prestige than men.
Junidi and Khaghani (2015) in their article have represented social action in zane ziadi (story collection). Their research findings show that in this set, actions are more inactive and static that are pushed into the background of the audience's mind.
The subject of the research of Armi et al. (2017) is dedicated to the analysis of how gender relations are represented in the novel "Lullaby for a Dead Girl" by Hamid Reza Shahabadi. This research, in the framework of critical discourse analysis and using Van Leeuwen components, has analyzed and explained the role and identity of family members and their interpersonal relationships in the novel.
In their article, Hamidreza Akbari et al. (2019) examine the story of "Ab-e Bid" by Mohammad Bahman Beigi to determine how the author has used the representation of social actors to express his views. He also uses the component of changing time, at the same time as raising the issue of modern Iran, to reveal the faces of the people of a part of Iran who still live in a prehistoric way. The author of the article has thus challenged the policies of the Pahlavi government.
Although the present study is similar to some of these works in terms of methodology, including Junidi and Khaghani (2015), but specifically and in terms of the studied stories, a study that analyzes the political and ideological literature of Al-Ahmad with this method. Has not been found yet.
3. Methodology
The purpose of this research, with a descriptive-analytical approach, is to investigate the representation techniques of social actors using data collected from the story of Al-Ahmad. To achieve this goal, using a qualitative method, first thirty discourse-oriented sentences with political and social themes in the story were selected. These sentences were then analyzed based on Van Leeuwen's model in order to find the components of cognitive-semantic society. Although Van Leeuwon's theory lists 51 ways to represent social actors, the authors focus on only the most frequent components of the story, as not all of them appear in the selected sentences. Their findings show that the author has shown the actions of nomadic teachers to be effective through a mass display strategy.
4. Discussion
Van Leeuwen (2008, p. 52) divides the "exclusion" component in discourse into two types, "suppression" and "backgrounding". In the discourse of Al-Ahmad, we see on several occasions the "suppression" or extremist exclusion of the activists who are the main cause of the deplorable situation of the miners. These activists, who are in fact the rulers of the Pahlavi regime and the owners of the means of production; By substituting unknown faces, they are completely hidden in the author's discourse! It is obvious that the author has deliberately removed from his discourse the indications of the involvement of the Pahlavi authorities in these cases by removing those who are responsible for killing the freedom fighters. This form of "suppression" serves to marginalize the first person of the government, Reza Shah. The extreme omission of Reza Shah's name in the discourse occurs by using the method of "general naming" that is, bringing the title "state" instead of the title of king. In this way, Al-Ahmad has tried to present the image of the "state" as a general nature, hegemonic and totalitarian, in order to remove negative and extremist actions from the realm of the "king" by highlighting it.
The most prominent example of "backgrounding" in the discourse of the story is when describing an actor who is referred to as "Colonel D". Although this officer has little presence in the discourse and his function is limited to his brief meeting with the head of the mine, his actions are recognizable in all incidents, including raids on workers' homes and their arrest and execution. The action of "Colonel D" (exploring the valleys of the mines) initiates a bloody repression, while its action in this story is diminished by the producer of the discourse and marginalized through the background.
It is obvious that the main cause of the repression of the miners and the execution of the protagonist is the Pahlavi government and Reza Shah himself, while as mentioned before, no name of this person is mentioned in the discourse. The question here is whether the removal of Reza Shah's name from the discourse was due to political reasons and the suffocating atmosphere around the text? The definitive answer to this question seems difficult, because the author wrote this story in 1326, six years after the fall of Reza Shah, and therefore could have explicitly named him as the main person responsible for the Zirab mine accidents. But why does he remove Reza Shah's name from his discourse instead? Perhaps the concealment of Reza Shah's name was based on the assumption that the audience already knew the hidden actor.
In the process of "expression", the presence of actors in discourse is represented in the forms of "activation", "passivation"," Personalization" and "Impersonalization". In Al-Ahmad's discourse, we see the active depiction of gendarmerie officers; For example, Haidar Babakhanlu is mentioned several times in the discourse, and his actions (including the torture of miners in the field court) are prominently represented in all behavioral and speech processes. The linguistic manifestation of this method is the role of the actor as the subject in certain clauses. It seems that Al-Ahmad wanted to portray all the members of that organization in a negative light by actively portraying Babakhanlu as a member of the army. In the discourse under study, the "boss" and the "miners" are actors who are shown to be passive. And they are represented as if they have escaped the attention of the country. It is possible that Al-Ahmad, with this kind of illustration, wanted to show the audience that the working class and the elite of Iranian society will always be ignored by politicians!
5. Conclusion
The authors of the present article sought to answer the question of how to use Van Leeuwen's strategies to analyze the representation of social actors in the story. The authors also sought to answer the question of whether the author was able to reflect his ideology in the text by representing the actors. Analysis of the research data, in addition to explaining the relationship between the discourse-oriented components and the ideology embedded in the text, showed that Al-Ahmad was able to use the representation of social actors in the story to express his ideology. His discourse shows that in representing the actors in the story, the author has used the strategy of expressing non-governmental actors in positive issues and removing them from negative issues, and vice versa, the same strategy in the case of government actors. Thus, statesmen are represented in the discourse as negative actors, and workers and miners as positive actors. In general, the author uses the method of "differentiation" to highlight the contradiction between these two groups, the "state" and the "working class". Using the method of "general naming", which uses the name "government" instead of mentioning the name of the king, the author has removed Reza Khan's name from the discourse of the story. The actors identified by their names in the author's discourse are all male and are portrayed formally, semi-formally, and informally. Al-Ahmad, by passively portraying the head of the mine, puts him in the spotlight to highlight the oppression that has been inflicted on him and the miners. In general, the representation of social actors in Al-Ahmad's discourse has been influenced by his socio-intellectual views and the power relations that govern the society of his time.
Volume 13, Issue 2 (5-2022)
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate the procedures of persuasion of judges by lawyers in the Iranian criminal and legal courts based on the critical discourse analysis approach. The methodological nature of this research is descriptive-analytic and the authors have collected the data by referring to courts, Tehran courts, and lawyers' offices, by studying hundreds of cases and observing dozens of interrogations in 1397, then analyzed 50 excerpts of conversations of participants (10 cases) based on Laclau and Mouffe's approach (1985,2001,2002). The main features of this approach are: signifier and signified, restlessness, antithesis, hegemony and fixation of meaning, power, myth and social imagination and metaphor, subject position and political subjectivity. According to the discourse of lawyers, it can be said that they use from the establishment of the semantic system of discourse including such words as client release, mitigation of punishment, proving the guilt of the accused, and seeking punishment for the accused, each of which establishes its own signifier with specific concepts, as influential cognitive and behavioral factors for persuasion. The main question of the present study is how the concept of persuasion is reflected in the conversations of lawyers in court discourse. The results showed that lawyers express their client's strengths and rival's weaknesses using backgrounding and foregrounding. So, in order to persuade judges to defend their client, lawyers use backgrounding to express rival’s weakness with the negative bias, and also they use foregrounding to provide their clients strengths with the positive bias.
- Introduction
It should be noted that the research on persuasion methods can be fully examined based on the approach of Laclau and Mouffe (1985, 2001, 2002). From this perspective, it is most used in the discourse of lawyers to persuade judges based on the component of opposition (foregrounding and backgrounding) as well as the signifier and signified component that Lacla and Mouffe (1985, 2001, 2002) have dealt with. Therefore, lawyers try to persuade the judge by using their client's discourse factors such as expressing remorse, confession, lack of proper physical condition, participation with the court in the case process.
On the other hand, if we look closely at the environment in which we live, we can easily see persuasive efforts. In fact, persuasion has become an integral part of our lives. Advertisers who use mass media to sell their products usually use this linguistic tool. A political candidate who buys newspaper ads or the health organization that encourages people to quit smoking through a radio station. Also, in general, persuasion is the basic and ultimate goal of all types of communication behaviors. And also, individuals' thoughts, judgments, and memories are strongly formed by their current feelings, by their different behaviors and biases, by their initial perceptions of the main participants (lawyers, defendants, judges), as well as by a set of social factors.
The present study consists of six sections. In the first part, we will discuss the introduction and generalities of the research. In the second part, we will get acquainted with the background of research and related studies. In the third section, we will introduce legal linguistics and the category of persuasion. In the fourth section, we will discuss the research methodology. In the fifth section, we will examine the lawyers' discourse in criminal cases and the category of the investigator’s persuasion, and in the sixth section, we will discuss the findings and results of the research.
2. Literature Review
For decades, we have witnessed a growing methodology and an increasing number of linguists appearing in court as expert witnesses. Nevertheless, not even the name of this new science has been heard in the Iranian judicial system, which makes the need to study and introduce this science in the field of the Iranian judicial system important. Accordingly, the present study is one of those researches that can be used in this field and can be helpful. In the following, the authors intend to introduce some of the research related to the forthcoming research.
Baghinipour (2004) in an article entitled "Persuasion and some of its measures: a discussion in critical discourse" examines the process of persuasion and considers it a phenomenon that can be used to overcome the mind and create the discussion of power. Findings have shown that different speech structures can be effective in shaping and changing mental models and social representations.
Kia and Saeedi (2004) in a study entitled “The principles of communication, propaganda and persuasion” have stated that persuasion is a mutual linguistic factor whose purpose is to respond to the needs of the persuaded person, and generally in persuasion there is a two-way communication.
Motavali (2005) in his research entitled “Public Opinion and Methods of Persuasion” has tried to make us familiar with the issues that deal with public opinion in such a way.
Nami (2009) has also stated that in foreign language teaching academies in Iran, writing English with proper cohesion, coherence and suitable persuasiveness is a major challenge for those language learners who are studying English. This is because, writing is usually considered a secondary skill and is pushed to the margins of language classes due to its time consuming nature.
Studies show that so far no research has been done on the methods of persuading judges based on the ideas of Laclau and Mouffe (1985, 2001, 2002). Therefore, in this article, we will address the question of what are the linguistic strategies and factors involved in the lawyers' discourse to persuade judges based on the approach of Laclau and Mouffe discourse analysis.
3. Research Methodology
The methodological nature of this research is descriptive-analytic and the authors have collected the data by referring to courts, Tehran courts, and lawyers' offices, by studying hundreds of cases and observing dozens of interrogations in 1397, then analyzed 50 excerpts of conversations of participants (10 cases) based on Laclau and Mouffe's approach (1985,2001,2002).
4. Results
The tool of the lawyer is word, sentence and discourse and s/he uses this tool in the form of speech and writing. Therefore, the lawyer must have cognitive and behavioral components that make his/her speech and writing expressive, effective, logical and effective in order to convince the judges. It is clear that these cognitive and behavioral components must be compatible with the law system in which the lawyer works, as well as with the social, moral, and cultural structure of the lawyer's workplace. Therefore, there are similarities between advocacy, teacher, sermon and some other professions, but in attorneyship, expressing or creating special concepts in the mind of the addressee is not the goal. Rather, it is important to use these characteristics, such as clauses and utterances, to prove the claimant and to prove right or wrong. This is where the presence of linguists in legal and judicial matters can be helpful. In general, the findings indicate that in the analysis of Laclau and Mouffeh's discourse, backgrounding is the expression of one's own weaknesses and strengths of the rival, and foregrounding is also the expression of one's own strengths and weaknesses of the rival. Thus, the results showed that lawyers express their client's strengths and rival's weaknesses using backgrounding and foregrounding. So, in order to persuade judges to defend their client, lawyers use backgrounding to express rival’s weakness with the negative bias, and also they use foregrounding to provide their clients strengths with the positive bias.
Finally, among the fifty lawyers' interviews in the court discourse to convince the judges based on the components of Lacla and Mouffe (1985, 2001, 2002), the authors have stated the most common use of the available components as follows:
| Percentage | Components |
| 48% | Foregrounding |
| 44% | backgrounding |
| 8% | Signifier & Signified |
Volume 13, Issue 6 (3-2022)
Abstract
Cognitive-critical discourse analysis approaches can lead us to figure out how financial problems can be caused verbally. The main purpose of this article is to investigate the recent economic crisis in Iran through Norman Fairclough model (1989). A text produced on february 26, 2012 by Mahoud Bahmani, the governor of the central bank of the 10th administration was analyzed by means of persuasive tools linguistically. Then, a comparison was done between the rate of the dollar before and after his speech. The result indicated that the economic actors in charge of power, by means of persuasion, can target the mind of people and make them excited to exchange their capitals into dollar, bringing inflation expectations to happen. Data in this research was chosen from five initial sentences of a text from “asre Iran” under code no. 195709. This text was analyzed from three dimentions: description, interpretation, and explanation.
1. Introduction
1. Introduction
This article will examine the living conditions of people through investigating a text produced by an economic actor causing inflation expectation. The results of this research will help the country and people in order to make better decisions in society. The main issue of this research is the description of the current economic problems in the society, which can be caused by the weakness of management in the type of discourse in terms of the linguistic constructions of economic actors who may influence people's attitudes from the position of power with the tools of persuasion. We will investigate this issue borrowing Norman Fairclough’s approach (1989). The question is to figure out which category of economic actors can have an effect on people's cognition (mind) and how? Those economic actors who are equipped with the power mechanism can play a significant role in stimulating people's minds with the help of persuasive tools in discourse. The selection of data is based on the beginning of currency fluctuations after the issue of this text.
2. Literature Review
In recent years, many researches have been conducted on the approach of critical discourse analysis and many books and articles have been published. For example, Khadim et al. (2016) extracted the metaphors of 600 political and social articles with a cognitive-critical approach, examining the way of using the metaphors of power, anti-power and their interactions with the process of persuasion. In this article, Khadim et al. showed how people legitimize their own discourse and delegitimize the rival discourse through mental concepts. The similarity of the work in this article with the present article can be in the application of the process of persuasion through cognition. Zairi et al. (2016) have studied the strategies of language usage in court discourse to investigate the types of persuasion methods of lawyers in Iranian criminal courts in order to convince judges. The research data has been collected from twenty public sessions of Shiraz city court, which aims to answer the question of how activists use linguistic knowledge (syntax, semantics, pragmatics, etc.) and meta-linguistics to achieve the goal of persuading each other. In this research, it was discovered that by hiding and removing the active and passive from the sentence, and turning the known sentence into unknown, lawyers try to create a positive or negative attitude in the mind of the judge by downplaying and hiding some facts from the eyes of the judge regarding the crime that occurred, which can lead to the persuasion of the judge. Zairi et al.'s research is similar to the current study in the use of persuasion tools in discourse.
3.Methodology
The method in this research is a qualitative analysis and discourse analysis type, which has been done emphasizing on the content analysis of the economic text to show the role of language along with the tool of persuasion as well as the power mechanism in creating inflation and inflation expectations in society.
4. Results
After analyzing this text from the Governor of the Central Bank, it was achieved that language is not only a tool for processing and transmitting information, but it is a constructional group of meaningful categories to help the audience process the cognitive dimensions of Bahmani's message by comparing what they have in their mind from old experiences about economy, society, expensiveness, cheapness, profit, etc. and start trying new experiences. This article could be the first research in the field of economic discourse order and economic text analysis in the framework of critical-cognitive discourse analysis, which emphasizes the effect of language on the audience's mind. The inflation expectation we see in the economy of today's society can be due to the text produced by the head of the central bank of the 10th government, by enoucraging inflation in the framework of his ideology to keep the rate of dollar fixed with persuasive tools, stimulating people's mind and making them buy dollars and sell at a higher price.
In this research, according to the following model, adapted from Fairclough, we examined the relationship between language and inflation from the perspective of linguistics and interaction, and analyzed the economic text in three dimensions: description, interpretation, and explanation. The effect of language on exchange rate for dollar was investigated in three levels as social, institutional, and situational. In this model, the concept of economic text/language deals with linguistic concepts in the economic text. The concept of economic discourse order deals with economic issues with a discursive approach to create order in the economic text, and finally, the concept of socio-economic behavior which covers the previous two concepts, examines people's understanding of the interpretation of meaning in society in terms of behavior.
Conceptual model
Text explanation through Fairclough model in 3 levels: social, institutional & situational
Conceptual model
Text explanation through Fairclough model in 3 levels: social, institutional & situational
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Socio-economic behavior
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Economic discourse order
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Economic text
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5. Discussion
It is suggested that economic actors persuade people in such a way that both are equal without any of them having a superiority over the other. In this way, an interactive relationship is established between them. Economic actors can use modals in their text and speech such as: “maybe…, it is possible…., perhaps…”, when they are uncertain about an idea.
6. Conclusion
The economic actors equipped with power mechanism should take care of their speech, for they can stimulate people's minds and make them excited by means of persuasive tools, to change their capitals into dollar and sell them at a higher price later. This phenomenon brings inflation expectation to happen which can cause prices to increase.
The result showed that the economic text which could lead to the creation of economic stability or economic crisis, has resulted in inflation expectations.
Volume 13, Issue 49 (12-2020)
Abstract
The concept of determinism has been studied in Hafiz poetry by many scholars. Some considered determinism, like many other concepts, as a means for literary creation, some viewed it as a justification for astute utterances, while others regarded it as the outcome of Hafiz’ own deterministic views. Though the first two accounts seem accurate, the third one seems imprecise. His literary creation style and worldview, indicative of his free will and open-mindedness, which was manifested in his poems, coupled with the inherent paradox between determinism and reformism, makes it hard to presuppose a relation between determinism and Hafiz’ worldview.
By employing an academic and methodological approach, while recognizing different interpretations, one can gain an understanding, which is closely related to Hafiz’ worldview, of deterministic propositions in his poetry. Following this approach, one should refrain from forming arguments on the basis of single verses. Therefore, the current paper has attempted to analyze deterministic propositions in Hafiz poems by applying Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe theory. Moreover, based on CDA’s presuppositions, language plays a major role in forming understandings and its means is not always clear. Hence, the paper was aimed at indicating that Hafiz’ use of deterministic propositions can be interpreted not as an indication of his worldview but as a method and medium to expand the discourse of astuteness and, at the same time, to undermine the hegemony of ascetic discourse, which had dominated the cultural atmosphere of Iran for centuries.
Volume 13, Issue 49 (12-2020)
Abstract
The concept of determinism has been studied in Hafiz poetry by many scholars. Some considered determinism, like many other concepts, as a means for literary creation, some viewed it as a justification for astute utterances, while others regarded it as the outcome of Hafiz’ own deterministic views. Though the first two accounts seem accurate, the third one seems imprecise. His literary creation style and worldview, indicative of his free will and open-mindedness, which was manifested in his poems, coupled with the inherent paradox between determinism and reformism, makes it hard to presuppose a relation between determinism and Hafiz’ worldview.
By employing an academic and methodological approach, while recognizing different interpretations, one can gain an understanding, which is closely related to Hafiz’ worldview, of deterministic propositions in his poetry. Following this approach, one should refrain from forming arguments on the basis of single verses. Therefore, the current paper has attempted to analyze deterministic propositions in Hafiz poems by applying Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe theory. Moreover, based on CDA’s presuppositions, language plays a major role in forming understandings and its means is not always clear. Hence, the paper was aimed at indicating that Hafiz’ use of deterministic propositions can be interpreted not as an indication of his worldview but as a method and medium to expand the discourse of astuteness and, at the same time, to undermine the hegemony of ascetic discourse, which had dominated the cultural atmosphere of Iran for centuries.
Volume 14, Issue 3 (5-2023)
Abstract
Power is understood as a process exercised and negotiated in an English-as-a-foreign-language interaction. This article aims to fill the gaps of literature in researching the relationship between teachers' power and students’ learning behavior in Vietnamese classroom interaction as there was little research on how teachers’ use of power can exert educational effects on students, and which changes the way students acquire or learn in general and particularly language. The data came from an ethnographic approach, including audio-recording, classroom observation, and teacher interviews. By employing the tools of critical discourse analysis, the analyses bring together the view of the subject of the study with classroom power relations to give deep insights into the microlevel classroom discourse and the macrolevel of professional discourse (in this case, it is understood as pedagogical discourse). The findings show how power was negotiated over in different forms of classroom behavior. Besides, the discursive classroom practices reveal the relationship between classroom behavior norms that the teachers attempted to impose and the well-known student-centeredness. Implications have been worked out through a proposal of a classroom interaction structure where a constructivist learning environment or a classroom of happiness is aimed to create, which helps increase the learning potential and capacity of students.
Volume 15, Issue 2 (12-2024)
Abstract
One rich educational trait in Iranian culture is to respect the aged ones and keep their dignity, enjoying their lived experiences. Here, the concept of age is defined as an identity representation with a positive connotation which signifies enriching experience / knowledge. In keeping with, the main objective of the present study was to disclose how ageism as a social-ideological construct not a biological concept has been represented in English language schooling textbooks. Theoretically framed in Laclau and Muffe Critical Discourse Analysis based on Foucauldian reading, the current study was to do a content analysis of English language textbooks in Iranian junior and senior secondary schooling systems (Prospect and Vision series). The researchers extracted the dominant discourses represented in the exercises, images and contents of the textbooks based on frequency and the related categories. Findings spelled out a kind of “otherness” represented a kind of “otherising” discourse in the textbooks. The elders were represented in three aspects of “absentism” “a negative issue” or “token construct”. Indeed, when present, they were also misrepresented as sick or disabled ones or persons with token /socially passive role. They did not enjoy a dominant discourse and the youth were the subject of the discourses. Curriculum developers are thus needed to revisit their readings on ageism construct to provide a positive definition on it, framing educational justice demanded in Fundamental Reform Document and its Islamic-Iranian ethos.
1. Introduction
This article employs a Foucauldian lens to critically analyze the discourse of English language teaching materials in junior and senior high school, particularly the Prospect and Vision series. These materials are developed within the framework of the fundamental reform document in education, with a specific focus on transforming English language instruction in schools. The cornerstone of this analysis lies in fostering equity-based relationships and dialogues among social subjects, defined as an educational mission in educational reform. Specifically, the promotion of social inclusivity are highlighted as fundamental goals of the educational transformation system.
The integration of language learning and social inclusivity, rooted in the recognition of various social identities, underscores the significance of this approach. Within this context, the delicate situation of the elderly accentuates the imperative need to pay heightened attention to this demographic identity. This approach holds profound significance from two perspectives. Firstly, it underscores the importance of examining how the content of these books can encourage greater inclusivity among the elderly and promote their participation in public spaces, consequently transforming them into active agents in power dynamics. Secondly, it explores how the themes within these books contribute to enhancing the public perception of elderly identity among various social strata, especially the target audience of these instructional materials, and how they shape a knowledgeable discourse.
Research Question(s)
The main research question of this study can be formulated as follows:
1. Introduction
This article employs a Foucauldian lens to critically analyze the discourse of English language teaching materials in junior and senior high school, particularly the Prospect and Vision series. These materials are developed within the framework of the fundamental reform document in education, with a specific focus on transforming English language instruction in schools. The cornerstone of this analysis lies in fostering equity-based relationships and dialogues among social subjects, defined as an educational mission in educational reform. Specifically, the promotion of social inclusivity are highlighted as fundamental goals of the educational transformation system.
The integration of language learning and social inclusivity, rooted in the recognition of various social identities, underscores the significance of this approach. Within this context, the delicate situation of the elderly accentuates the imperative need to pay heightened attention to this demographic identity. This approach holds profound significance from two perspectives. Firstly, it underscores the importance of examining how the content of these books can encourage greater inclusivity among the elderly and promote their participation in public spaces, consequently transforming them into active agents in power dynamics. Secondly, it explores how the themes within these books contribute to enhancing the public perception of elderly identity among various social strata, especially the target audience of these instructional materials, and how they shape a knowledgeable discourse.
Research Question(s)
The main research question of this study can be formulated as follows:
- To what extent does the discourse on age in these textbooks align with the Iranian conceptualization of this term?
- Have these educational materials succeeded in deepening identity formation and societal inclusivity for their target audience, or have they merely remained superficially focused on cognitive linguistics?
2. Literature Review
In the realm of literature on educational studies, discussions on discrimination have predominantly focused on issues of race (Nelson 2002) and gender (Táboas-Pais & Rey-Cao 2012)., overshadowing the equally important matter of age-based discrimination. While racial and gender inequalities intensify disparities among skin colors, ethnicities, and genders, age-based discrimination brings forth a distinct polarity between the marginalized and the central, emphasizing the dichotomy of old and young. Existing theoretical and empirical observations in educational studies, particularly in the analysis of textbook content, have predominantly delved into racial discrimination and gender inequality.
3. Methodology
This study adopts a focauldian critical discourse analysis approach, aiming to liberate the discourse surrounding the aging body from the shackles of stereotypical power dynamics and negative connotations. By transforming "natural necessities" into "socially constructed possibilities," this approach seeks to redefine the concept of "age." The authors employ the critical discourse analysis method as an effective tool in scrutinizing English language teaching materials. Indeed, this study is framed in Laclau and Mouffe’s theory who have endeavored to make Foucault's discourse approach more practical and have applied it in analyzing social concepts such as historical constructs. The underlying theoretical idea of the discourse theory is that social phenomena are never entirely fixed. Meanings are never permanently stabilized, opening the door for perpetual social struggles over definitions of society and identity. The analyst's task is to reveal the flow of these struggles over the stability of meaning at all social levels. In conclusion, this critical discourse analysis aims to shed light on the discourse surrounding age in English language teaching materials. By challenging the naturalization of societal constructs and redefining the meaning of age, this approach seeks to contribute to a broader understanding of identity and foster societal inclusivity. It questions the extent to which these educational materials have succeeded in transcending linguistic cognitive aspects to promote a deeper sense of identity and societal integration for their intended audience.
4. Results
The results in this article have demonstrated that a form of discursive polarization between the elderly and the youth has taken place in most sections of the textbooks, in a way that everything related to the world of the youth is perceived as positive, and the associations of the elderly world are relatively negative. In the mentioned textbooks, the element of experience as a motivating force for the elderly has often been ignored, and they have been represented in a passive imagery, akin to a child, as if "experience" is no longer a guiding light for the future.
Furthermore, in this article, it is evident that the elderly have been represented in some aspects like "absence/negative matter," "childishness,". In most daily routine activities, the elderly are absent. Even when present, they are portrayed in a negative and ailing manner or have a performative/passive function. In this sense, the access of the elderly to the dominant discourse of textbooks has been severed, and adolescents and middle-aged individuals have occupied a central position as the subject of discourse. It is essential for curriculum planners to clearly define the discursive concept of age, directing it towards societal acceptance and human dignity.
In conclusion, this study reveals that despite the linguistic success at the cognitive level, the mentioned textbooks have shortcomings in the societal and identity-forming stage for the audience and have failed to align with the prospects of national curriculum planning and the Fundamental Reform Document in education . A discursive approach to the concept of curriculum planning will thus assist the authors of textbooks in achieving the goal of educational justice and formulating an egalitarian discursive framework (as emphasized in the Fundamental Reform Document).
In the realm of literature on educational studies, discussions on discrimination have predominantly focused on issues of race (Nelson 2002) and gender (Táboas-Pais & Rey-Cao 2012)., overshadowing the equally important matter of age-based discrimination. While racial and gender inequalities intensify disparities among skin colors, ethnicities, and genders, age-based discrimination brings forth a distinct polarity between the marginalized and the central, emphasizing the dichotomy of old and young. Existing theoretical and empirical observations in educational studies, particularly in the analysis of textbook content, have predominantly delved into racial discrimination and gender inequality.
3. Methodology
This study adopts a focauldian critical discourse analysis approach, aiming to liberate the discourse surrounding the aging body from the shackles of stereotypical power dynamics and negative connotations. By transforming "natural necessities" into "socially constructed possibilities," this approach seeks to redefine the concept of "age." The authors employ the critical discourse analysis method as an effective tool in scrutinizing English language teaching materials. Indeed, this study is framed in Laclau and Mouffe’s theory who have endeavored to make Foucault's discourse approach more practical and have applied it in analyzing social concepts such as historical constructs. The underlying theoretical idea of the discourse theory is that social phenomena are never entirely fixed. Meanings are never permanently stabilized, opening the door for perpetual social struggles over definitions of society and identity. The analyst's task is to reveal the flow of these struggles over the stability of meaning at all social levels. In conclusion, this critical discourse analysis aims to shed light on the discourse surrounding age in English language teaching materials. By challenging the naturalization of societal constructs and redefining the meaning of age, this approach seeks to contribute to a broader understanding of identity and foster societal inclusivity. It questions the extent to which these educational materials have succeeded in transcending linguistic cognitive aspects to promote a deeper sense of identity and societal integration for their intended audience.
4. Results
The results in this article have demonstrated that a form of discursive polarization between the elderly and the youth has taken place in most sections of the textbooks, in a way that everything related to the world of the youth is perceived as positive, and the associations of the elderly world are relatively negative. In the mentioned textbooks, the element of experience as a motivating force for the elderly has often been ignored, and they have been represented in a passive imagery, akin to a child, as if "experience" is no longer a guiding light for the future.
Furthermore, in this article, it is evident that the elderly have been represented in some aspects like "absence/negative matter," "childishness,". In most daily routine activities, the elderly are absent. Even when present, they are portrayed in a negative and ailing manner or have a performative/passive function. In this sense, the access of the elderly to the dominant discourse of textbooks has been severed, and adolescents and middle-aged individuals have occupied a central position as the subject of discourse. It is essential for curriculum planners to clearly define the discursive concept of age, directing it towards societal acceptance and human dignity.
In conclusion, this study reveals that despite the linguistic success at the cognitive level, the mentioned textbooks have shortcomings in the societal and identity-forming stage for the audience and have failed to align with the prospects of national curriculum planning and the Fundamental Reform Document in education . A discursive approach to the concept of curriculum planning will thus assist the authors of textbooks in achieving the goal of educational justice and formulating an egalitarian discursive framework (as emphasized in the Fundamental Reform Document).
Volume 15, Issue 5 (6-2024)
Abstract
This study takes a critical look at the purposive manipulation of discourse and rhetoric by the former Iranian President — Hassan Rouhani — when announcing the lockdown of holy sites during the COVID-19 crisis. A discourse analysis with a qualitative design was applied to study the political dimension of the discourse. This study is framed within the domain of systemic functional linguistics mood systems and the classical Aristotelian rhetoric trio — logos, ethos, and pathos. The results revealed that Rouhani mainly used the declarative mood in his speeches which performed three main functions: statements of opinion, statements of fact, and indirect directives. From a rhetorical perspective, Rouhani applied ethos considerably more than pathos and logos as a way to increase the credibility of his words while persuading the audience. Moreover, the researchers noticed that the former president employed multiple strategies to build pathos and ethos with the audience. These findings can suggest and encourage novel future research directions.
Volume 16, Issue 64 (9-2019)
Abstract
The subject of this research was focused on the Critical Discourse Analysis of two satirical works of “Book of poems of Lari Rooster ” by Abolghasem Halat and “The collection of works by Mohammad Ali Afrashteh”, compiled by Nosratollah Noohian, based on Van Leeuwen's model(1996). This research aimed to examine the influence of ruling powers and the ideological processes of the second Pahlavi era on the explicitness (frankness) and obscurity (inexplicitness) of the word in the two works mentioned. In this article, the actors involved and participating in these satirical lyrics were evaluated based on Van Leeuwen's model components such as exclusion, impersonalization, determination, indetermination, nomination, categorization, association, differentiation, genericization and specification. We chose these works since the views of their satirist authors in the Pahlavi II era emanated from common social and political origins, while at the same time, they had different ideologies and tendencies. Therefore, such various commonalities and differences provide a basis to make comparisons between them. The study results suggested that although both satires are more eager to speak and write in obscurity and vague and classification and depersonalization are highly frequent in their poems, but unlike Abolghasem Halat, Mohammad Ali Afrashteh has enhanced the explicitness and frankness of his words by stating the names of the actors who were in power as well as criticizing the main pillars of power such as the king, royal court, clerics, and the security forces. Due to socialist tendencies, Mohammad Ali Afrashteh has also further used the referential type component to represent masses and people. Abolghasem Halat, with more use of the depersonalization component, namely, pronouns and obscure attributes, has made his word more obscure.
Ferdows Aghagolzadeh, Hiwa Asadpour,
Volume 18, Issue 1 (2-2011)
Volume 18, Issue 1 (2-2011)
Abstract
This study aims at ascertaining a framework that would account for the Persian data. We scrutinize all data occurring in the selected corpus, and describe how they usually work on the basis of the two following variables: power and intimacy. According to our investigation, the use of terms of address in Persian is affected by age, sex, occupation, ideology, political and social position of the interlocutors. These variables can be stated as a result of the investigation of older material – such as qualitative analysis of observations followed by unobtrusive note taking of contemporary use, a corpus of several plays, travel accounts, interviews, TV, radio and careful observation terms used to address today. The above-mentioned variables indicate a strong relationship between social structures and address terms in Persian.
Volume 21, Issue 85 (4-2024)
Abstract
In this article, a famous sonnet by Hafez is briefly analyzed based on Van Dijk's (professor of discourse analysis) ideological square & Based on some discursive factors, it is analyzed and interpreted in terms of form and content and it is analyzed how Hafez highlighted the positive characteristics of "we" (Hafez, mystics) while writing a lyric. And he has distinguished the negative characteristics of "others" (the kings). And he has shown the negative qualities of "self" and the positive qualities of "others" and he shows that they are less important. These four cases are the basic cases of Van Dijk's theory in the analysis of texts and speeches. The main goal of this research is to know more about the moral and social views of Hafez and his time through the poems that From the point of view of the theory of critical discourse analysis, it has been evaluated.
The method of this research is descriptive-analytical (qualitative) and its data was collected using the library method. Among the results of the current research is this that by introducing the linguistic and rhetorical methods of Hafez & in expressing moral and critical issues, his great human and social concerns should be introduced. In this way, Hafez has expressed his critical discourse by using direct and indirect expression, and by using appropriate vocabulary and syntax and rhetorical ironics. He criticizes us by highlighting our positive qualities such as avoiding bad language and prejudice and avoiding wrongdoing, and he has talked about the negative characteristics of others such as saying bad things and hearing bad things, thinking bad things and slandering.
Volume 21, Issue 85 (4-2024)
Abstract
Nader Ebrahimi has published 49 works for children and young adults, the impact of political-social discourses on which has not yet been examined in any research using a discourse analysis approach. This article draws on two discourse analysis theories—those of James Paul Gee and Norman Fairclough—to demonstrate the impact of political-social discourses on Ebrahimi’s children’s and young adults’ works. Research findings show that “love of Iran” was always a central concern in Ebrahimi’s works, except that, under the influence of political and social developments, elements are added to or subtracted from this nationalist discourse: (1) in the years before the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Ebrahimi’s fiction tends to fall under endogenous national discourses, underscoring national endeavor to build Iran; (2) during the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the element of “politics” clearly finds its way into his fiction, subsuming his works under a revolutionary discourse centered on combating tyranny and honoring the revolution and the campaigns by revolutionaries; (3) after the Iran-Iraq war, his fiction can be formulated under the “construction discourse,” in which love of Iran is still pivotal, and more than anything else, it emphasizes Iran’s potential for industry and economic development. His literature in this period remains political, and the “anti-Western” element is more evident in his works relative to his previous works.
Volume 21, Issue 86 (8-2024)
Abstract
Nader Ebrahimi published 49 works for children and adolescents that have not been studied in any research work by analyzing discourse on the impact of socio-political discourses on them. In this article, we try to show the effect of socio-political discourses on the works of children and adolescents by relying on two theories of discourse analysis of James Paul Gee and Norman Fairclough. The results of the research show that "Iran-friendliness" has always been in the center of Ebrahimi's attention, with the difference that under the influence of socio-political developments, elements are added or reduced to this nationalist discourse: 1. In the years before the revolution, Ebrahimi's stories were largely subordinated to endogenous national discourses that emphasized national efforts to build Iran; 2. Simultaneously with the revolution, the element of "politics" is clearly found in his stories, and in this respect his works can be placed under the revolutionary discourse with a focus on anti-tyranny, commemoration of the revolution and the struggles of the revolutionaries; 3. At the end of the war, his stories are formulated under a "constructive discourse" in which Iran-friendliness continues to be in the spotlight, emphasizing above all Iran's potential for industry and economic development in general. His stories in this period is still political and the element of "anti-Westernism" is seen more in his works than in previous periods.
Masoud Asadi, Arsalan Golfam, Ferdows Aghagolzadeh,
Volume 22, Issue 1 (1-2015)
Volume 22, Issue 1 (1-2015)
Abstract
Through uncovering the underlying elements of language, this research aims to reveal the hidden layers of meaning in press texts in the framework of a critical discourse analysis. Having used socio-semantic features of Van Leeuwen's model (1996), this paper has studied, qualitatively, 40 issues of four Iranian Persian publications for a period of two months, from July 22 to September 21, 2011. These publications were 'E'temad', 'Sharq', Resalat' and Keyhan. The analyses included recognizing discursive structures in the texts, determining the linguistic realizations of structures, and explaining along with uncovering the hidden layers of meaning and the ideology behind the texts. The research results out of the data analysis indicate that the ideology dominating the minds of writers and groups is reflected in the texts using discursive features as exclusion, activation, passivation, personalization and impersonalization. Exclusion has been the most frequently used feature in 'E'temad and 'Sharq', whereas activation has had the highest frequency of occurrences in 'Resalat' and 'Keyhan'. The discursive structures take place using linguistic instruments like pre-modifiers, active vs. passive structures, coordination and circumstantials, in the texts. Besides, the relationship between discursive structures and ideology is dialectal, which can be determined by studying these structures in the texts and social institutions.
Masoomeh Arjmandi, Ferdows Agha Aghagolzade,
Volume 23, Issue 1 (2-2016)
Volume 23, Issue 1 (2-2016)
Abstract
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The present study focuses on the evaluation and critical reviewing of equivalence translation process and output. The choices of equivalents were examined by Fairclough’s model (2011) of critical discourse analysis. According to this model, interpretation and explanation of socio – cultural, socio – historical and situational context as macrostructures which examine everything about texts are complementary pairs for descriptive analysis which examine everything in texts as microstructures. To clarify the discussion, translated texts (Meta texts) are analyzed and compared with their source texts (Proto text). The results indicated that in order to find a framework for equivalence; there is a significant need for discursive features which are partly critical and partly descriptive (semantic) as units for translation criticism. These discursive components in translation process have been coined in this study as “CRISEME”.
Ardeshir Danesh, Ferdos Aghagolzadeh, Parviz Maftoon,
Volume 23, Issue 4 (10-2016)
Volume 23, Issue 4 (10-2016)
Abstract
This research is to analyze the effects of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) on reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. After providing a useful synopsis, this research is to contextualize CDA in two ranges of learning situations and classifies how CDA can shed new perceptions on learning. Detailed systematic measures are included to clarify the procedure of conducting CDA. The participants were 61 male and female M.A. English students of Boroujerd Islamic Azad University, selected on a non- random basis by applying a TOEFL test among over 91 EFL M.A. students considered to be at the same level. Those whose scores on the test were from 224 to 316 with the mean of 273.736 were considered as the participants of this study. They had received instructions on English language for 16 sessions at Boroujerd Islamic Azad University. The participants were native speakers of Farsi. Any word, phrase, or structure can have different possible meanings, which is known as the meaning range. Focusing on the implied meaning of the text, the learners of the second language reach a better understanding of the text and consequently of the second language. The present research shows how seven elements offered by Fairclough's model in critical discourse analysis can affect reading ability of Iranian EFL learners. Also,besides scrutinizing the effect of CDA in EFL learners, the researcher introduces the seven elements of Fairclough's model as well.
Shirin Gohari, Ferdows Aghagolzadeh, Hayat Ameri,
Volume 24, Issue 4 (12-2017)
Volume 24, Issue 4 (12-2017)
Abstract
In this article, a contrastive analysis of reformists and fundamentalists’ press texts, related to nuclear talks has been performed in specific periods of time, before and after the last round of nuclear talks between Islamic Republic of Iran and the 5+1 group, especially the United States’ related texts in Iran’s Persian newspapers as representatives of the two opposite discourses, from the perspective of the Critical Discourse Analysis approach by using socio-semantic features of Van Leeuwen’s model (2008). This study goes beyond the structural description of the discourse practices and examines the ways through which a system and structure make possible a special type of action. To do so, discursive texts of the two Iranian Persian publications belonging to two rival groups: E’temad as the representative of reformists and Keyhan, the fundamentalists’ representative, have been analyzed, both qualitatively and quantitatively. In response to the research questions (How is the linguistic realization of the discursive structures performed in the given texts? And are Socio-Semantic features determined by power relations?)The result shows that the opposite ideologies dominating the minds of journalists of the two political groups are reflected in the texts and statistical analysis of the corpus also states that the Socio-Semantic features are determined by different ideologies, related to power relations. In other words, language and discourse at underlying levels are laden with ideology, power relations and dominance, and at surface levels, with discursive features and structures.
Hamideh Amoori, Hashem Aghajari, Mohammad Fazlhashemi, Emin Poljarevic, Hatam Ghaderi,
Volume 28, Issue 2 (4-2021)
Volume 28, Issue 2 (4-2021)
Abstract
Almost all Islamic classical movements believe that the main task of women is motherhood and housekeeping. However, from the perspective of new Salafist groups, there have been transformations in women’s rights and duties. Studying the political and social role of women from the new Salafist point of views and comparing them with the views of old Salafists was because the issue was unexplored. This paper investigates differences between the perspective of the new and old Salafists regarding the role of women, through examining primary resources such as the works of old and new Salafist ideologues, as well as secondary sources susch as magazines, manifesto, tweets, and websites. Based on the critical discourse analysis, this paper concludes that both the new and old Salafist groups shared the same theological sources and references, but the old ones have a literal (and not a contextual or interpretative) reading of the holy book (the Qur’an) and the Sunna as their fundamental resource and reference. In the new Salafist discourse, women have the right to participate in all social and military activities. Therefore, the big shift created in terms of social and political participation of women through new Salafists is based on new circumstances, ambitions as well as their different understanding and interpretation of theology concerning the role and duty of women.
Volume 29, Issue 1 (3-2022)
Abstract
About two years after the Iraq-Iran war, and at a time when Iraqi-Iranian relations were neither war nor peace, Saddam Hussein as Iraq's top political leader, wrote letters to high-ranking Iranian officials. In the correspondences, he sought to portray himself as a pacifist seeking a peaceful solution to the Iraq-Iran crisis. Iranian officials replied obsessively to all the letters. The role of these letters was very important because they were written after the war that incurred heavy human and material losses between the two countries. At that time, officials of both countries were very careful and cautious in what to say and how to say it. Probably, it could be said that the war between the two countries had gone from a physical battle to an attempt at verbal persuasion. Therefore, it is important and necessary to examine and analyze these messages through critical discourse analysis. After reviewing the correspondences, it became clear that there was a dialectical connection between their ideology, power, and texts. The more socially and politically powerful the actor is, the more opportunity he has for linguistics, and in turn, has an effect on his display of power. Officials of both countries – even perhaps unknowingly - used the discourse components to strengthen and direct their discourse; components such as: polarization, reference, lexical options, participant characteristics, implicit signification, distance, and fallacy.
Zahra Ojagh, Mohammad Jalal Abbasi-Shavazi,
Volume 29, Issue 2 (3-2022)
Volume 29, Issue 2 (3-2022)
Abstract
Abstract: Demographic discourses in the media or public inform lay people and may impact population planning and policies. Understanding the situation and characteristics of public demographic discourses in Iran helps the government and policy makers to identify experts’ advice to use in effective policymaking and to discern public perceptions and understanding of population policies and promote changes in fertility behavior. The aim of this paper is to examine public demographic discourses which are produced and reproduced in the Iranian media to affect fertility policy and decision making after the announcement of General Population Policies by the Supreme Leader in 2014. This paper uses the critical discourse analysis for analyzing demographic discourses in websites of two influential Iranian newspapers, i.e., Keyhan and Iran, and demographers’ ideas and opinions available online during 21 March 2010 and 21 May 2016. The critical discourse analysis illustrates that the main discourse for public demography is “Conceptual”. Analyzing texts indicates that demographers have tried to reduce the gap between science – policy by disseminating simple and understandable demographic discussions in the media. They argue that demographic issues are specialized topics and require scientific and rigorous research. Therefore, the first step for policymaking and planning is the recognition and understanding of population situation. Public demography intends to facilitate the formulation of an evidence-based policymaking to achieve General Population Policy objectives. Policymakers are recommended to provide favorable social and economic contexts supporting family formation and childbearing towards sustainable population growth outlined in the General Population Policies. Public demography has a vital role in providing a deeper understanding of future population trends and policies.