Doing Critical Discourse Analysis at the Nexus of Education, Equity, and Language, Literacy, and Teaching

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Critical discourse analysis (cda) is well-suited for uncovering the role discourse, or language-in-use, plays in reproducing and maintaining unequal power relations in educational contexts. The purpose of this symposium is to showcase the usefulness of critical discourse theory and analytic methods for investigating issues at the nexus of education; equity; and language, literacy, and teaching. The symposium will open with brief remarks about critical approaches to discourse analysis followed by three presentations featuring extended examples of doing a critical discourse analysis. Presenters will describe how theoretical and methodological tools were selected and used as well as what insights came from their analyses. At the conclusion of the symposium, presenters will facilitate a small group co-analysis activity.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Language and Social Processes

Chair

• Denise Ives, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

Papers

• Ideological Becoming and the Development of Cultural Competence, Antiracist Schooling Practices, and Critical Empathy - Maria McSorley, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

• Emergent Biliteracy and Social Power: A Critical Discourse Analysis of a Bilingual Kindergartner's Written Texts - Ysaaca Axelrod, University of Massachusetts - Amherst; Denise Ives, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

• Young Adult Literature, Mode of Address, and Ideologies of Bullying, Harassment, Female Sexuality, and Power - Cara Crandall