DA Module 01 Entering the World of Discourse
DA Module 03 How Texts Hold Together

Discourse Analysis Module 2: Modes of Discourse, Audience, and Communicative Purpose

⚡ Module Overview

Speaking, writing, hybrid discourse, and their implications for ELT

Spoken and written discourse are not simply the same language delivered through different channels.

Each mode creates different possibilities and constraints.

Conversation commonly:

• unfolds in real time;
• allows immediate feedback;
• depends strongly on shared context.

Writing is commonly:

• more permanent;
• spatially organized;
• available for revision;
• produced for readers who may not be physically present.

However, these differences are tendencies rather than absolute rules.

Digital communication complicates the distinction:

• a text message is written but may behave like conversation;
• a scripted lecture is spoken but may be highly planned;
• a podcast may be spontaneous, scripted, edited, or all three.

This module develops a flexible framework for comparing discourse through:

• mode;
• spontaneity;
• planning;
• permanence;
• interactivity;
• lexical density;
• deixis;
• paralinguistic features;
• genre;
• communicative purpose;
• audience;
• hybrid discourse.

You will apply these dimensions to authentic samples and consider how discourse awareness can inform ELT materials, teaching, and assessment.

---

🎯 Essential Understandings

• How do mode, purpose, audience, and context shape the organization of spoken and written discourse?
• How can teachers compare speech and writing without turning general tendencies into rigid rules?

❓ Guiding Questions

• Which linguistic and interactional features tend to distinguish spontaneous speech from planned writing?
• How do hybrid digital genres challenge a simple spoken-versus-written binary?
• What evidence supports the classification of a text by communicative purpose?
• How can discourse awareness improve materials, instruction, and assessment in ELT?

✅ Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module, you should be able to:

1. Compare authentic spoken and written samples using:
   • mode;
   • planning;
   • permanence;
   • interaction;
   • density;
   • purpose;
   • audience.
2. Classify texts by delivery mode and communicative purpose while acknowledging hybrid cases.
3. Explain how selected discourse theories can inform specific ELT practices.
4. Produce independently reasoned analytical conclusions supported by textual and contextual evidence.
5. Complete the Unit I assignment, AI planning appendix, and foundational Unit I assessment.

---

🧠 Key Concepts and Vocabulary

Mode

The form or channel through which communication is produced and received.

Examples:

• spoken language
• written language
• video
• digital messaging

Spontaneity

The degree to which language is produced immediately with little or no advance preparation.

Spontaneous discourse may contain:

• pauses;
• fillers;
• repetition;
• self-correction.

Planning

The degree to which a speaker or writer:

• prepares;
• organizes;
• rehearses;
• edits;
• revises

a message before producing it.

Permanence

The extent to which discourse remains available after production and can be:

• reviewed;
• reread;
• replayed;
• referred to later.

Interactivity

The degree to which participants can respond to one another and jointly influence how discourse develops.

Lexical Density

The amount of information carried by content words such as:

• nouns;
• main verbs;
• adjectives;
• adverbs

in relation to the total amount of language used.

Deixis

Words whose meaning depends on the communicative situation or context.

Examples:

• I
• you
• here
• there
• now
• tomorrow

Paralinguistic Features

Vocal and nonverbal features that contribute meaning beyond the words themselves.

Examples:

• intonation;
• stress;
• volume;
• pauses;
• facial expressions;
• gestures;
• gaze;
• body movement.

Genre

A recognizable type of communication with a typical:

• purpose;
• audience;
• structure;
• style;
• set of conventions.

Examples include:

• job applications;
• news reports;
• lectures;
• text messages.

Communicative Purpose

What a speaker or writer is trying to accomplish through a text.

Examples:

• informing;
• persuading;
• requesting;
• explaining;
• entertaining;
• warning;
• maintaining a social relationship.

Audience

The person or group for whom a message is intended.

Audience can influence:

• vocabulary;
• formality;
• explanation;
• tone;
• other language choices.

Hybrid Discourse

Communication combining characteristics of more than one mode, medium, or traditional discourse type.

Examples:

• a written group chat that behaves like conversation;
• a scripted video combining written planning with spoken delivery.

---

1️⃣ Moving Beyond a Strict Spoken–Written Binary

Introductory descriptions sometimes characterize:

Speech as

• informal;
• temporary;
• interactive;
• context-dependent.

Writing as

• formal;
• permanent;
• monologic;
• explicit.

These tendencies can be useful, but they are not definitions.

Consider:

• A legal judgment may be read aloud but retain the density and planning associated with formal writing.

• A group chat is written but may include rapid turns, ellipsis, emojis, repair, and immediate feedback.

• A podcast may be spontaneous, scripted, edited, or all three.

Analytical Principle

Compare discourse according to dimensions, not absolute categories.

Ask:

• How is it produced?
• How much planning occurred?
• Can participants interact?
• Can the discourse be revisited?
• How dependent is interpretation on the immediate situation?
• What linguistic patterns appear?
• What social purpose is being performed?

---

🔍 Dimensions for Comparing Discourse

Mode

How is the discourse materially produced and received?

Planning

How much preparation, editing, or revision is available?

Interaction

Can participants respond and shape the discourse as it unfolds?

Permanence

Can the language be revisited?

Context dependence

How much does interpretation rely on the immediate situation?

Lexical and grammatical patterning

Consider:

• lexical density;
• clause structure;
• repetition;
• reference;
• explicitness.

Purpose and genre

What social activity is being performed?

---

2️⃣ Why Spontaneous Speech Looks Different

Spontaneous conversation commonly contains:

• false starts;
• fillers;
• vague reference;
• repetition.

These should not automatically be treated as examples of poor language.

They can help speakers:

• hold the floor;
• plan while speaking;
• monitor understanding;
• maintain interpersonal connection.

By contrast, academic writing may package more information into dense noun phrases and use explicit connectors because readers cannot normally interrupt the writer and ask for clarification.

Key Principle

The difference is functional.

Spoken and written modes distribute the work of meaning-making differently.

---

3️⃣ Features of Spoken Discourse

Spoken interaction is organized through time.

Participants produce and interpret language moment by moment.

Meaning may be supported by:

• intonation;
• rhythm;
• stress;
• volume;
• gesture;
• gaze;
• the visible environment.

Speakers may:

• check understanding;
• rephrase;
• repair problems;
• adapt to listener reactions.

Turn-taking allows discourse to be collaboratively constructed rather than completely planned by a single producer.

Common Linguistic Features

Spoken discourse may include:

• contractions;
• pronouns;
• deictic expressions;
• discourse markers;
• ellipsis;
• coordination;
• repetition;
• relatively short information units.

Discourse Markers

Expressions such as:

• well
• so
• you know
• I mean

may signal:

• topic movement;
• hesitation;
• reformulation;
• interpersonal alignment.

Backchannels

Listeners may produce:

• mm-hm
• right
• okay

These can signal attention without necessarily claiming the speaking turn.

Interpret Features in Context

Repetition might:

• emphasize a point;
• provide planning time;
• create cohesion;
• establish shared wording.

An incomplete clause may be completely understandable when participants share the relevant context.

A direct imperative may be appropriate in an emergency but inappropriate in another interpersonal context.

Therefore, analyze what participants are doing together, not simply which sentence forms appear.

---

4️⃣ Features of Written Discourse

Writing is spatially organized and is commonly separated from the immediate production context.

Readers can:

• move backward;
• move forward;
• reread.

Writers can:

• draft;
• revise;
• reorganize;
• use visual structure.

Visual resources include:

• paragraphs;
• headings;
• lists;
• punctuation;
• typography.

Because immediate feedback may be unavailable, writers may make relationships explicit through:

• cohesive devices;

• metadiscourse;

• definitions;

• examples;

• carefully managed reference.

Written Discourse Is Highly Variable

Compare:

• a research article;
• a personal note;
• an online comment;
• an instructional handout;
• a novel.

These differ substantially in:

• purpose;
• audience;
• stance;
• degree of planning.

Lexical Density

Written discourse may display greater lexical density and syntactic embedding.

However, this tendency is especially associated with formal expository writing, not all written language.

Writing Can Also Be Interactive

Writers can construct interaction through:

• questions;
• directives;
• evaluation;
• hedging;
• references to the reader.

Written language should therefore not automatically be treated as socially isolated or purely monologic.

---

🧱 Visual Organization as Meaning

The visual organization of writing contributes to discourse meaning.

Paragraph boundaries

→ propose units of thought.

Headings

→ forecast macrostructure.

Citation practices

→ position the writer in relation to a disciplinary community.

Punctuation and formatting

→ can signal emphasis or hierarchy.

An analysis of written discourse should therefore consider the whole communicative design, including multimodal elements when relevant.

---

5️⃣ Purpose, Audience, and Genre

The same topic can be realized through very different genres.

A teacher might explain the same grammar point through:

• a lecture;
• a textbook page;
• a feedback comment;
• a video caption;
• a private message.

The language changes because:

• the purpose changes;
• the audience relationship changes;
• time constraints change;
• expectations change.

Genre therefore provides a bridge between textual form and social context.

---

⚠️ Do Not Classify Purpose from Content Alone

Classification should be evidence-based.

A text containing information is not automatically primarily informative.

For example:

An advertisement

may provide considerable information while primarily attempting to persuade.

A conversation may shift from:

interactional small talk

to:

transactional problem-solving.

A classroom explanation may simultaneously:

• transmit content;

• establish teacher authority;

• encourage participation;

• manage time.

Multiple Purposes Can Coexist

A discourse event may serve several purposes at once.

However, one purpose may become dominant at a particular moment.

---

6️⃣ Audience Design

Producers make assumptions about what recipients:

• know;
• value;
• need.

These assumptions influence:

• pronoun choice;
• explanation;
• terminology;
• politeness;
• explicitness.

When assumptions about the audience are inaccurate, communication may fail.

ELT Application

Instead of having learners memorize decontextualized lists of “formal” and “informal” expressions, compare how similar content is adapted for different audiences.

---

7️⃣ From Discourse Analysis to ELT Practice

A discourse-informed teacher can use authentic samples to help learners notice patterns without turning those patterns into simplistic rules.

Listening

Ask learners to identify how speakers:

• signal topic changes;
• repair misunderstandings;
• check understanding.

Writing

Compare how two different genres introduce the same topic.

Speaking

Practice ways to:

• enter a conversation;
• clarify meaning;
• close an exchange.

Assessment

Assessment criteria can include:

• coherence;
• audience awareness;
• pragmatic appropriateness;
• genre fulfillment;
• grammatical accuracy.

---

📚 Evaluate Teaching Materials Critically

Textbook dialogues may be unnaturally complete.

For example:

• every turn may be grammatically polished;
• nobody overlaps;
• every answer directly responds to the previous question;
• hesitation and repair may be absent.

These dialogues can support controlled practice.

However, they should not automatically be presented as neutral examples of natural conversation.

Similarly, model essays may represent one culturally or institutionally valued organizational pattern without acknowledging possible alternatives.

---

🔬 Analytical Procedure

When comparing discourse samples:

Step 1 — Observe

Describe what is actually present.

Do not interpret immediately.

Step 2 — Identify Relevant Dimensions

Consider:

• mode;
• spontaneity;
• planning;
• permanence;
• interaction;
• lexical density;
• deixis;
• paralinguistic features;
• genre;
• purpose;
• audience;
• hybridity.

Step 3 — Cite Evidence

Support each claim with specific textual or contextual evidence.

Step 4 — Interpret

Explain what the features contribute to the communicative event.

Step 5 — Identify Exceptions

Do not assume that one sample represents all speech or all writing.

Step 6 — Connect to ELT

Ask:

What might a language learner need to notice, practice, or understand?

---

📋 The 12-Feature Analytical Framework

1. Mode

How is the message produced and received?

Example:

Spoken:
“Hey, are you coming to class today?”

Written:
“Dear Professor, I am writing to confirm whether class will meet today.”

2. Spontaneity

How immediately is the language produced?

Example:

“Well, um, I think… maybe we should meet tomorrow? Or actually, Friday might be better.”

3. Planning

How much preparation is evident?

Example:

“Today I will discuss three factors affecting second-language learning: motivation, exposure, and interaction.”

4. Permanence

Can the discourse be revisited?

Compare:

• a printed university policy;
• a casual unrecorded conversation.

5. Interactivity

Can participants respond and influence the discourse?

A: Did you finish the assignment?
B: Almost. What about you?
A: Not yet.

6. Lexical Density

Compare:

More lexically dense

“Globalization has significantly transformed patterns of international communication and intercultural interaction.”

Less lexically dense

“People around the world talk to each other much more now.”

7. Deixis

Example:

“I’ll meet you here tomorrow after she arrives.”

8. Paralinguistic Features

Example:

“That was really helpful.”

The meaning changes when delivered:

• enthusiastically with a smile;
• sarcastically with an eye roll.

9. Genre

Example:

“Dear Hiring Committee, I am writing to apply for the position of English instructor…”

Genre: job application letter

10. Communicative Purpose

Example:

“Please submit your research proposal by Friday at 5:00 p.m.”

Dominant purpose: requesting/instructing

11. Audience

To a friend

“Hey! Wanna grab lunch?”

To a dean

“Would you be available to meet for lunch next week?”

12. Hybrid Discourse

Example:

“Hi everyone! 👋 Just a reminder that the assignment is due tonight. Let me know if you have questions!”

The Teams message is written but displays conversational and interactive characteristics.

---

📄 Text 1 — Teams Video Meeting

Professor in a Teams video meeting:

“Okay, so, um, before we finish today, just remember that your first draft is due Friday. I’ve put the instructions in Teams, so check them there. If anything isn’t clear, just send me a message, okay? And, uh, Maria, could you stay for a minute after everyone leaves?”

Analyze

Consider:

• mode;
• spontaneity;
• planning;
• deixis;
• discourse markers;
• interactivity;
• audience;
• communicative purpose.

What evidence makes this discourse appear relatively conversational despite occurring in an instructional context?

---

📄 Text 2 — Classroom Interaction

Professor:
“Okay, before we move on, can someone explain what we mean by audience in discourse analysis?”

Student 1:
“Um… is it basically the person who receives the message?”

Professor:
“Yes, that’s part of it. But think about this example.” [points to slide] “If I send my department head an email and then send the same information to a close friend, would I write them the same way?”

Student 2:
“Probably not.”

Professor:
“Why not?”

Student 2:
“Because… well, the relationship is different. The email to your boss would probably be more formal.”

Professor:
“Exactly. [nods] So audience isn’t just who receives the message. It also involves what we assume about that person, our relationship with them, and what kind of language we think is appropriate. Okay? Let’s look at the next example.”

Analyze

Identify evidence of:

• turn-taking;
• backchanneling or response;
• hesitation;
• repair or elaboration;
• deixis;
• paralinguistic meaning;
• audience awareness;
• collaborative construction of meaning.

---

📄 Text 3 — Assignment Reminder Email

Subject: Reminder: Discourse Analysis Assignment Due Friday

Dear students,

This is a reminder that your comparative discourse analysis is due this Friday at 8:00 p.m.

Please upload one PDF file to the assignment area in Microsoft Teams. Your analysis should compare two texts in relation to the concepts discussed in class.

Before submitting, please review the assessment criteria posted in the Unit I folder. Your analysis should be supported by specific evidence from both texts rather than general statements about language use.

If you have questions about the assignment, you may post them in the class discussion area so that everyone can benefit from the response.

Best regards,
Professor Stewart

Analyze

Examine:

• written mode;
• planning;
• permanence;
• explicitness;
• audience;
• directives;
• genre;
• communicative purpose.

How does the absence of immediate interaction influence the way information is presented?

---

📄 Text 4 — Student Group Chat

9:14 a.m. — Daniela:
Hey everyone 👋 are we supposed to bring the article today or just have it on our phones?

9:15 — Marco:
I think digital is fine. He said “bring the text” yesterday but I don’t remember him saying printed.

9:15 — Daniela:
okay good 😅 because mine is like 14 pages

9:16 — Luis:
Same lol

9:17 — Ana:
Wait, which article are you talking about? The Paltridge reading?

9:17 — Marco:
Yeah, the one for today.

9:18 — Ana:
Ohhh okay. I thought you meant the assignment 😂

9:18 — Daniela:
Nope! We haven’t even started that yet 😭

9:19 — Luis:
Speak for yourself 😂

9:20 — Daniela:
wow okay overachiever

9:21 — Marco:
Anyway see you all in class in 10 min.

Analyze

This is a useful example of hybrid discourse.

Look for:

• written mode;
• rapid turn-taking;
• conversational spelling;
• emojis;
• ellipsis;
• repair;
• shared contextual knowledge;
• deixis;
• immediate interaction.

Which characteristics resemble spoken conversation despite the written channel?

---

📄 Text 5 — Scripted Educational Video

“Welcome back. In today’s short video, we’re going to compare spoken and written discourse. Now, you may have learned that speech is spontaneous and writing is planned—but that distinction isn’t always so simple.

Think about a university lecture. [pauses] It is spoken, but the professor may have prepared slides, notes, and examples in advance. Now think about a text message you sent this morning. It is written, but you may have produced it quickly, without planning or revision.

So rather than simply putting every example into one category, we need to look closely at how communication actually works in different situations.

Keep that idea in mind as you examine the examples that follow.”

Analyze

How does this text combine:

• spoken delivery;
• written planning;
• audience orientation;
• explicit organization;
• educational purpose?

Why is spoken = spontaneous an inadequate classification?

---

📄 Text 6 — Emergency Message Across Modes

Campus Loudspeaker Announcement

“Attention, students and staff. [firm, slow voice] Due to severe weather in the area, all classes scheduled after 3:00 p.m. today are cancelled. Please remain inside university buildings until further notice. If you are currently outside, move to the nearest designated indoor area. Additional information will be provided through the university website and official social media accounts.”

University Social-Media Post

⚠️ WEATHER ALERT — 2:45 P.M.

All classes after 3:00 p.m. today are CANCELLED due to severe weather.

Please remain indoors and avoid unnecessary travel around campus. Updates will be posted here and on the university website.

Share this message with classmates who may not have received the alert.

Compare the Two Versions

Both texts communicate substantially the same event.

Compare them according to:

• mode;
• permanence;
• audience;
• urgency;
• paralinguistic resources;
• visual resources;
• directives;
• communicative purpose.

What changes when the message moves from a spoken loudspeaker announcement to a written social-media post?

---

🧪 Comparative Analysis Task

Select two discourse samples.

Compare them using the 12-feature framework.

You do not need to claim that every feature is equally important.

Focus on the dimensions that best explain the communicative differences between the samples.

For each major claim:

1. Describe the observable evidence.

2. Identify the relevant discourse feature.

3. Explain its communicative effect.

4. Relate it to purpose, audience, or context.

5. Identify one implication for ELT.

---

🧠 Unit I Analytical Principle

Avoid statements such as:

“Speech is informal.”

“Writing is formal.”

“Written texts are planned.”

“Spoken texts are spontaneous.”

Replace them with claims such as:

“This particular interaction shows relatively high spontaneity because…”

or:

“This written genre displays considerable planning and lexical density because…”

Analyze evidence from the specific discourse event, not stereotypes about an entire mode.

---

🤖 AI Planning Appendix

AI may support the planning process, but your:

• classification;
• explanation;
• interpretation;
• pedagogical implications

must be independently reasoned.

Document how AI contributed to your planning.

Consider recording:

• the prompt you used;
• what the AI suggested;
• what you accepted;
• what you modified;
• what you rejected;
• why you made those decisions.

---

🧩 Module Review

Before completing Module 2, check whether you can:

• distinguish mode from planning;
• explain why spoken and written discourse should not be treated as a strict binary;
• identify spontaneous discourse features;
• explain the communicative functions of fillers, repetition, and repair;
• explain how paralinguistic features contribute meaning;
• identify features associated with written discourse;
• explain how visual organization contributes meaning;
• analyze lexical density;
• identify deixis;
• classify genre using evidence;
• distinguish topic from communicative purpose;
• recognize multiple purposes within the same discourse event;
• explain how audience influences linguistic choices;
• identify hybrid discourse;
• compare authentic discourse samples using several analytical dimensions;
• connect discourse analysis to ELT practice.

🧭 Final Takeaway

Speech and writing are not two fixed packages of linguistic features.

Instead, discourse varies along multiple dimensions.

When analyzing a text or interaction, ask:

How is it produced?

How planned is it?

How permanent is it?

How interactive is it?

How much does it rely on shared context?

Who is the audience?

What is the producer trying to accomplish?

What genre expectations shape the language?

Does it combine features of several modes?

The goal is not simply to label discourse as spoken or written.

The goal is to explain how linguistic and contextual choices work together to accomplish a communicative purpose.