Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is an approach to analysing the discourses that operate in social contexts, such as classrooms in schools, and their material effects on people, such as teachers and learners. CDA offers a range of ways of engaging with the relationship between texts in context and the power they exercise. In this article, I…

Communicative alignment refers to adaptation to one's communication partner. Temporal aspects of such alignment have been little explored. This article examines temporal aspects of lexical and syntactic alignment (i.e., tendencies to use the interlocutor's lexical items and syntactic structures) in task-oriented discourse. In particular, we…

This paper involves a study on Aphra Ben's "Oroonoko" (1688) which is considered by many as the first black narrative of English literature, an abolitionist text, while observed by some others as extremely colonialist. The objective of this study is to examine why the novella accommodates such contradictory readings. It assumes that it…

Major African writers have never stopped exploring the themes of corruption, radical struggles and political instability in their respective domains. One of these writers and his monumental classic, Chinua Achebe; "Anthills of the Savanna", discusses these themes expertly and with utmost dexterity. The major task of this paper is not to…

The article aims at the analysis of the TV commercials of three carbonated cold drinks from Pakistani media. The analysis will be carried out using the three dimensional framework presented by Fairclough. Through the analysis, the ideological framing of the commercials will be brought to light. To achieve this purpose different techniques used by…

The introduction of new accountabilities and techniques of government for the purposes of educational reform have created new complexities and tensions for school leadership. Policies such as the publishing of league tables in the UK, high stakes testing in the US and the introduction of the "My School" website in Australia are…

This paper starts by exploring the relevance of Bernstein's work on vertical and horizontal discourses and the constitution of professional knowledge for conceptualisation of the knowledge needed for teaching practice. Building on arguments for the differentiated nature of knowledge, and drawing on the work of Winch, Young and Muller on expertise,…

In spite of the crucial importance of textbooks, their increasing development day by day, and their significant effects on saving time, energy, and budgets, only few studies have been done on textbooks evaluation from a critical discourse analysis perspective. This study aimed to analyze and compare the gender representation in "Top…

In this paper, we address the phenomenon of clients who present their concerns in the medicalised discourse of the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition" ("DSM-5"). We contextualise this phenomenon, highlighting how a "diagnose-and-treat" logic increasingly pervades everyday…

Over two studies, we examined the nature of gendered language in interactive discourse. In the first study, we analyzed gendered language from a chat corpus to see whether tokens of gendered language proposed in the gender-as-culture hypothesis (Maltz and Borker in "Language and social identity." Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp…

Academisation of the English secondary school system has been extremely rapid and represents significant changes to the governance of the English school system. However, there has been a relative scarcity of attention to the rationales, rhetorics and discourses underpinning the academies programme. Seeking to address this gap, a poststructuralist…

This article outlines the need of infusing critical discourse analysis into the preparation and support of prospective school leaders. It argues that in the process of school transformation, the school leader must possess the ability to self-reflect on his/her language and understand the potential power of language as a means that may support or…

Forming the first of two articles, this dialogue begins from the dilemma posed in the writings of David Kirk that physical education is in crisis because the dominant practice of physical education as "sport-techniques" is resistant to change. In order to make sense of crisis discourse, the discussion explores the potential for change in…

As the prevalence and negative effects of bullying become widely known, people around the world seem desperate to solve the bullying "problem". A sizeable body of research about many aspects of bullying and a plethora of anti-bullying programmes and policies now exist. This critical policy analysis asks: how does Ontario, Canada's…

In this interview, Vijay Bhatia freely reflects on his personal experiences, perceptions, and views about the development of Genre Analysis in the early eighties towards Critical Genre Analysis today. He offers his impressions about how professionals construct, interpret, use and often exploit generic resources in their everyday practice to meet…