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EJAL
Eurasian Journal of
Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics 3(2) (2017) 349–366 Applied Linguistics

Awareness of Critical Discourse Analysis Underpins

Learners’ Sociolinguistic Competence and Language
Use
Fawzi Al Ghazali a *
aAl Hosn University, P.O. Box38772, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Abstract
As a special approach in discourse analysis, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) aims to study the
discursive conditions and consequences of power abuse practised by dominant groups or institutions (van
Dijk, 1995). It contributes to raising awareness of the discursive strategies employed by elite groups in
order to control the minds of minor ones. It permits them to free themselves from the compulsions and
limitations that deprive them of their right to think critically and have the freedom of choice. In the
discipline of language learning, learners’ awareness of CDA enables them to read critically and produce
language in more logical manner. It is one way to empower them with adequate reading and writing
strategies and to enhance their consciousness of using speech acts in meaningful context. This paper
analyses a text following the framework of text analysis proposed by Fairclough (1992). The authentic
text was selected reflecting one aspect of the British culture that does not have the common agreement of
the ruling parties in the British community. It holds significant debate between representatives of the
Conservative Party and the Labour Party that was taking over at that time. The analysis shows how the
lexical and syntactic connotations reflect the attitudes of each Party and the newspaper publishing this
article as well. The paper provides insights into how CDA can enhance learners’ sociolinguistic
competence and language use.
© 2017 EJAL & the Authors. Published by Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics (EJAL). This is an open-access
article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY-NC-ND)
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Keywords: Linguistic Competence; CDA; Language Use, Language Register; Sociolinguistics

1. Introduction

1.1. Scope of the Topic

Critical discourse analysis (CDA) construes normal discourse as a form of social

practice in produced language that is socially influenced and influential. It aims to
understand the relationship between language register, power, and ideology (Cots,
2006). It is a creative and disciplined enterprise based on a speech act theory that
says that language is used not only to describe things but to do things as well (Brown
and Yule, 1985). It focuses on language as it is used by real people with real
intentions, emotions, and purposes. People are members of the society and their
speech is a reflection of a set of experiential, relational, and expressive values

* Fawzi Al Ghazali.
E-mail address: f.alghazali@alhosnu.ae
http://dx.doi.org/............................................
350 Al Ghazali/ Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics 3(2) (2017) 349–366

(Fairclough, 1992: 110). According to this approach, there is a correlation between

linguistic production and social variables. For Fairclough, CDA is an orientation
towards language which associates linguistic text analysis with a social theory of the
functioning of language in political and ideological processes. Identifying these
processes helps not only to identify the internal blocks of discourse described by Gee
(2001: 92) but also to identify the connotations it implies. Integrating CDA in
language courses permits learners to develop their capacities so as to examine and
judge the world around them and possibly change it through intended discourse.
Learners’ awareness of CDA also allows them to use language in a pragmatic way for
fulfilling different language purposes.
To signify the merits of CDA over normal discourse analysis, Van Dijk (1995: 17)
outlines that CDA goes beyond the direct description of language used in texts.
Rather, it is a problem – oriented approach that studies all forms of social inequality
such as sexism, racism, or colonialism. It focuses on group relations of power,
dominance, and inequality that are reproduced or resisted by social group members
through text and talk. It therefore aims to uncover, reveal, or disclose what is implicit
or what is not explicitly expressed in the discourse of the dominated group (ibid: 18).
It permits oppressed or marginalized groups to formulate, develop, and enact counter-
power and counter-ideologies in practices of challenge and resistance. Expressing the
discursive conditions, components and consequences of power abuse of dominant elite
groups or institutions is not the mere aim of CDA. Another perspective is the
revealing of bias and prejudice in the discourse of certain groups over other groups
affected by some ideologies that drive them to take up an attitude for or against an
institution like the government, for instance.
Like van Dijk, Wodak (2007) clarifies that the term ‘Critical’ means not taking
things for granted by being more reflective and sometimes ‘skeptical’ on verbal and
written discourse. This particularly happens in situations when the writer or
interlocutor maintains less neutral or more prejudiced views on some issues. The
critically analyzed text in this paper reflects the viewpoint of the British Conservative
Party (CP) against the measures taken by the Labour Party (LP) on drug use, dealing,
and trafficking. The text carries claims and counter-claims from both parties and
shows the ideology underlying the production of claims in comparison to the
counterclaims of the other party.

1.2. Significance of the Topic

This study investigates the fact that the composition of spoken and written
discourse is driven by certain philosophies, ideologies, and doctrines. Knowledge of
CDA allows for understanding the sociolinguistic implications of discourse and for
enhancing language use accordingly. From a sociolinguistic perspective, it raises the
awareness of language users of the many discursive strategies employed by writers to
impose a certain idea or to get audience satisfied with a certain doctrine or ideology.
The selection of lexical expressions along with the way phrases and sentences are
 Al Ghazali/ Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics 3(2) (2017) 349–366 351

structured all consolidate the viewpoint of the writer. From a pedagogic perspective,
learners’ awareness of CDA enables them to read critically and produce language in
more logical manner. It empowers them with adequate reading and writing strategies
and to enhance their consciousness of using speech acts in meaningful context.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Definition of CDA

According to Tenorio (2011), CDA is naturally embedded within critical theory that
was originated to critique and change society and help actors to emancipate
themselves from domination and authority of other dominated groups. It reveals
structures of power and ideologies behind discourse by making visible causes that are
hidden. It sometimes questions the status quo by resisting power abuse as
transmitted in private and public discourses. He (2003: 428), in addition, argues that
the word ‘discourse’ involves a big ‘D’ and a small ‘d’. The big ‘D’ relates to the general
ways of viewing the world and general ways of behaving (including speaking);
whereas the small ‘d’ concerns actual language use. CDA accordingly is used to clarify
how sociocultural knowledge is related to the performance and use of speech acts. It is
given without saying that various approaches have been developed for applying CDA.
They aim to investigate the production, interpretation, and explanation of everyday
action through conversation. Unlike CDA, discourse analysis is non-critical, for it is
concerned with the description of discursive practices and forms of oral and written
interaction (2003). Halliday (1978), taking his inspiration from the work of Firth,
adopts another approach in which he proposes that language is a social semiotic and
that linguistic form is affected systematically by social circumstances. He points out
that every cultural group has its home-based discourse which marks its identity.
Hence, people may have different identities due to their different discursive practices.
Gee (1990: 81) and Sampson (1980: 62) argue that CDA is the process in which
various discourse types are encoded and interpreted particularly in the context of
their formations and social semiotics. Van Dijk (1996: 86) claims that discourse types
are influenced by social power exercised by a dominant group over the actions and
minds of another group. Such power limits their freedom and influences their
knowledge, attitudes, ideologies and speech. Fowler (1996: 4) argues that the goals of
discourse analysts should be defamiliarisation and consciousness-raising. They should
provide a ‘critique’ rather than a ‘criticism’ in order to help the reader understand the
social background and motives influencing the composition of discourse. For example,
Coulthard (2001: 5) argues that femininity is misrepresented in sex narratives which
hinge on paradoxes and social asymmetries, such as a women’s magazine.
Fairclough (1992) asserts the relationship between language and power. He claims
that discourse is a social practice. His framework is critical in that it depends not only
on the description of discursive practices but also on the interpretation and
explanation of how discourse is shaped by relations of power and ideologies. According
352 Al Ghazali/ Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics 3(2) (2017) 349–366

to this view, critical discourse analysis demonstrates the constructive effects discourse
has upon social identities, social relations and systems of knowledge and belief, none
of which is normally apparent to discourse participants.

2.2. Discourse Analysis and Language Teaching

Before considering discourse analysis as a core branch of linguistics, language

teaching has been concerned with grammatical rather than communicative
competence. The situations created for language delivery are more pedagogic,
adapted, and less authentic bearing little resemblance of natural, automatic language
use. Following on from the work of Canale (1982), communicative competence has
been largely regarded as a quadrilateral figure composed of four areas of knowledge
and skill. The first of them is grammatical competence which is concerned with the
learner’s ability to express the literal meaning of utterances. The second is the
sociolinguistic competence which is concerned with the ability of the learner to select
the appropriate form and appropriate meaning to convey a message or express an idea
using the most appropriate speech acts. The third component is the discourse
competence which keeps the coherence and cohesion in the structure of a text and
allows the learner to identify the appropriate organization of ideas in a text. Lastly, it
is the strategic competence which is concerned with the employment of verbal and
non-verbal strategies when expressing an idea.
It is then evident that knowledge of discourse analysis goes beyond the skill of
guessing the implicit ideas or identifying the tone, attitude, and bias of a writer. It
has more constructive function in permitting the leaner to identify the optimal
organization of ideas in a speech or a report. A leaner can resort to the claim-
counterclaim textual organization when reflecting on two different viewpoints of the
same topic. The problem-solution textual organization can be also applied in case the
topic has a cause-effect nature. Learning a foreign language moves from just being a
medium of reporting and describing things to a medium of classifying the functions
utterances can perform in different situations with different audience. In classical
classroom language instruction, language use normally takes the form of citation
(repeating or combining sentences), simulation (role playing), or replication (creating
similar situations to use certain speech acts, for instance).
Furthermore, raising learners’ consciousness and awareness of discourse analysis
allows them to use anaphoric and cataphoric references more effectively and reduces
unnecessary repetition and redundancies in a text. It also enables them to use
substitution is situation when there is no need to literally repeat the same nominal,
verbal or clausal items. Ellipsis is another skill foreign language learners can acquire
through knowledge of discourse analysis. In spoken and written forms, some
utterances can be deleted in situations when they are easily guessed or figured out
through the overall context. The use of cohesive devices like coordinating conjunctions
or (FAN BOYS), conjunctive adverbs (however, therefore, nevertheless, etc.), and
subordinators (while, although, because, etc.) is also indicative of appropriate
 Al Ghazali/ Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics 3(2) (2017) 349–366 353

communicative competence. Lastly, lexical ties are other devices used to eliminate
monotony in spoken and written discourse. Having a good wealth of vocabulary is not
enough unless the speaker or writer knows how to manipulate them in discourse.
Using synonyms, near synonyms, antonyms, or metonymy are different forms of
lexical devices. Knowledge of how a text is composed, how ideas are organized, and
which lexical items are appropriate indirectly underpins learners’ skill of using
language in more pragmatic manner. Using Fairclough’s framework for CDA, I
provided a practical critical discourse analysis of a text to show how the choice of
lexical items and grammar formations is influential.

2.3. Framework for CDA

According to Fairclough (1992: 110-12), the critical discourse analysis of a text

should pass through the three stages of description, interpretation of the relationship
between text and interaction, and explanation of the relationship between interaction
and social context. In this approach, he distinguishes between three types of value
that formal features of a text may have. The first is the experiential value in which
the text producer’s experience of the natural and social world is represented through
the content in the form of personal knowledge and beliefs. The second is the relational
value in which the social relationships are enacted via the text in the discourse, and
the third is the expressive value in which the producer of a text evaluates an aspect of
reality or social identities. Fairclough points out that the choice of vocabulary,
grammar and textual structures to make up the formal features of a text is
determined by these values. Though Fairclough is not the only writer to assert the
social nature of language, his key insights are that discourse is shaped primarily by
power relations in society, and that discourse shapes social relations, as well as being
shaped by them. He argues that language serves to construct particular political
positions which entail unequal relations of power.
Hence, the CDA framework applied in this paper goes beyond investigating the
lexical and grammatical relations of a text. Rather, it acts as a possible agent of
understanding the attitudinal and social interactions underlying the composition of a
certain discourse and as a means of social change, especially in its use in the
classroom. Gee, (2001: 92-94) and Halliday (1978), on the other hand, have dissimilar
approaches to CDA in that they give equal focus to the internal building of a text
where lexical and grammatical cohesion is also scrutinized.

3. Text Analysis

The text (appendix 1) is a news story from (The Daily Telegraph) newspaper and is
434 words long. It demonstrates the current statistics of drug use, particularly
cocaine, among the urban middle classes. The figures show that cocaine use has shot
up within the past ten years. The text lays much blame on the government on the
grounds that the rigidity it maintains in reclassifying drugs participates in increasing
354 Al Ghazali/ Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics 3(2) (2017) 349–366

the number of illegal drug users and traffickers. This text, however, involves different
points of view which are discussed in the sections below.

3.1. Text Headline and Underlying Ideology

The text headline (Home Office resists reform of drug law as cocaine use doubles)
implies a critical point of view. No wonder that the Daily Telegraph draws an
unpleasant picture of the precautionary measures taken by Labour government in its
war on drugs since the newspaper represents the right-wing (Conservative) viewpoint
which expectedly challenges the Labour government. The headline reflects the
ideological background of the writer and the newspaper as well. It appears as an
‘active’ sentence to give prominence to the Home Office as the agent resisting reform
and the main factor behind the multiplication of cocaine use accordingly. Passivizing
the headline (Reform of drug law is resisted by the Home Office) could hardly convey
the same message. The use of ‘doubles’ indicates the failure of the government in
dealing with the problem. If the same story were published in ‘The Guardian’ or ‘The
Independent’ newspapers, for example, the headline might be less prejudiced such as
(Home Office considers reform of drug law) showing that the government is willing to
reconsider the current drug system. This headline is a clear example of the relation
between language and power claimed by Fairclough (1992) since it reflects the
relational and attitudinal values of text producer.

3.2. Analyzing Contexts

In investigating the context of culture, the text reflects a side of British culture
which views the use of drugs, particularly alcoholic drinks, as part of people’s social
life. It tries to increase pressure on the government for the reclassification of drugs, as
suggested in 1971, in terms of what should be assigned for personal use and what
should attract higher penalties. According to the text, the current classification
system is viewed by concerned organizations in the UK as out-of-date, both in terms of
new patterns of drug use and new information about their effects. The government
alleges that the present system of classifying drugs has proved effective, and is
unwilling to review the drug classification system as a whole; however, it has agreed
to make some specific changes – such as adding crystal meth to the class A (most
dangerous) list. It seems that the government is willing to make changes that move
towards more strictness but not changes that would lead to more leniency.
The writer has enriched the text with claims and counterclaims that help create a
context of situation implying that drugs are the most dangerous threat to community
cohesion and that the Labour government is always wrong. The statements made by
representatives both of the government (Vernon Coaker) and of a drugs-related
charitable organization (Martin Barnes) reflect a certain ideological and attitudinal
background. Coaker views that the current system works effectively and the
government has achieved remarkable progress in its war on drugs; whereas Barnes’
point of view is that the government’s unjustified inflexibility to reform the drug
 Al Ghazali/ Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics 3(2) (2017) 349–366 355

classification system doubled the number of drug users in the past eight years. The
writer’s social power is expressed through the careful selection of vocabulary and
statement formation whereas enhancing the text with many claims in comparison
with the few counterclaims provided only by Coaker reflects a certain satisfaction.
Examples of this are analyzed in the following sections.

3.3. Ideational Meaning and Transitivity: Process Types

A particularly marked transitivity feature of the text is the high proportion of

show/report relational processes. Since the text is mainly argumentative involving
claims and counterclaims, enhanced by the statistics revealed by the British Crime
Survey, it is full of reporting relational processes which make up about 50% of all verb
groups like show, indicate, reporting, estimated, confirmed, etc. Below are some
examples from the text:

The latest official figures show …

The British Crime Survey indicates …
The government … claimed yesterday that …

The awesome use of ‘copula’ verbs is another example of relational processes found
in the text.

Cocaine use is on the rise among …

Drug treatment providers … are under financial pressure …
I believe that the existing classification system does this effectively …

Mental processes are signaled in the text in very few examples like:

Overall drug use … appears to have declined …

The door seems to have been left open to …
I believe the existing classification system …

The text, however, incorporates no examples of physical or material processes

because the issue is of an abstract and expositional nature more than a concrete one.

3.4. Ideational Meaning and Transitivity: Participants and Nominalization

The writer manages to assure his absence in the text. His retreat into individual
invisibility is probably in order to make his authority more impersonal, and thus more
difficult to question. His views are implicitly expressed, but his political orientation
could be noticed in sentence 7 where he gives a negative evaluation of the government
policy. In sentence 8, the use of decided and or shows that the government is too rigid
to accept making necessary reformations and that its decision is non-negotiable
regardless of the bad consequences this strictness may create. The counterviews
356 Al Ghazali/ Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics 3(2) (2017) 349–366

conversely show that the government is really working, yet according to a different
plan.

(7) But figures also show little progress on Class A substances, such as cocaine.
(8) The Home Office has decided not to reform the drugs classification system or to
introduce new thresholds for possession of illicit substances.

The writer’s exposition is foregrounded by human participants like Vernon Coaker

and Martin Barnes, in addition to the survey carried out by the BBC to give
credibility to the source. The text also involves non-human active participants such as
cocaine use, drug classification system, and illicit substances. The nominalization of
cocaine as getting the highest percentage putting it at the top of other drugs indicates
how this substance has become popular; whereas the nominalization of cannabis and
Methylamphetamine or Crystal meth raises the alarm about the bad effects of these
substances on community cohesion. Moreover, there are two other prominent
nominalizations in sentences 1 and 3:

(1) Cocaine use is on the rise among the urban middle classes
(3) …cocaine has shot up since Labour took office …

The nominalization of the urban middle classes as cocaine users could have some
implications as:

a. cocaine is popular among urban classes and probably not the rural ones;
b. cocaine is popular among urban classes because they can afford it;
c. the rural classes, if they are drug users, use other inferior substances;
d. the poorer classes, whether urban or rural, do not use cocaine because it is costly.

The nominalization of the Labour Party could also have more implications as:

a. the government failed to reduce the percentage of drug use within the past eight years;
b. drugs reclassification is a necessity because the current system is not working;
c. the government is always inflexible in the face of any threat or alleged danger.

3.5. Interpersonal Meaning and Modality

The interpersonal meaning of language maintains social relationships between

people and includes forms of address, speech function and modality. It is one of the
three functions Halliday (1978:35) considers as available in any language namely ‘the
ideational function’ and ‘the textual function’. Modality, on the other hand, includes
any unit of language that expresses the speaker/writer’s affinity with propositional
and evaluative structures. It has different types and degrees because modal verbs
imply different degrees of affinity. The clearness of the issue gives predominance of
unmodalized polar statements and forces the writer to obviate the extensive use of
 Al Ghazali/ Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics 3(2) (2017) 349–366 357

other markers of modality. In the text, there are few examples that can be said to
reflect the writer’s own attitude. His use of illicit indicates that he views all illegal
drugs with an equal degree of disapproval, regardless of the amount of damage they
may or may not cause. In addition, describing the 500 joints considered for personal
use as being the most liberal is given as an example of a liberal proposal that would
horrify the average Telegraph reader. Other modality types are found relating to
Coaker and Barnes reflecting their appreciation of the problem.

(11) There is a coherent system in place to categorize … (Coaker)

(13) We are extremely disappointed that the government has reversed… (Barnes)

The above sentences reflect Coaker’s contention that the current drug system is
effective and strict penalties are determined for drugs’ manufactures, possession and
supply; whereas Barnes’ argument is that the increase in drug use and in drug-
related problems within the past few years is due to the ineffective current system
which was produced 35 years ago, and this explains his disappointment. This text is
rich in attitudinal epithets and adverbs that are considered necessary for the
enhancement of either point of view such as:

(12) I believe that the existing classification system does this effectively.
(14) … we have significant increase in levels of drug use and drug-related harms.

3.6. Interdiscursivity

The writer draws upon a variety of discourse types in the composition of the text.
Though the whole text is designed in a form that maintains a semi-formal style which
is expected in this genre, he switches freely between informal spoken style and
language that might be considered academic. The use of spliffs, for example, in
sentence (9) to refer to young drug users is informal the same like the use of crystal
meth in sentence (15) instead of methylamphetamine which is academic. The writer’s
neutral language keeps him out of interrogation and also offers a release from
expectations of rigour and precision that a more formal style may evoke in the
readership, thus giving the topic more popularity.

3.7. Reiteration

According to Winter (2001: 46), reiteration is the repetition of certain lexical items
used either for the confirmation of the discussed idea or because they relate to the
same lexical set of the discussed topic. It can be carried out explicitly using the
identical item in many sentences or implicitly using synonymy, near-synonymy or
antonym of the original items. Fairclough lays much interest on the ideologically
significant meaning relations in a text. In this text, there are several examples of
reiteration. The writer resorts to ‘over-wording’ to give prominence to the issue and to
358 Al Ghazali/ Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics 3(2) (2017) 349–366

indicate that it is a focus of ideological struggle; whereas synonyms and antonyms are
other means of implicit ‘rewording’. This clearly appears in the table below.
Table 1: Implicit reiteration in the text

No Reiteration Type No Reiteration Type

1 show, indicate synonymy 8 illegal, illicit synonymy
2 appear, seem synonymy 9 strategy , plan synonymy
3 rise, increase synonymy 10 categorize, classify synonymy
4 figures, numbers synonymy 11 rejected, reversed near- synonymy
5 previous, earlier synonymy 12 doubled, shot up near-synonymy
6 supply, provide synonymy 13 report, claim, said near- synonymy
7 existing, current synonymy 14 shot up # declined antonym

The text has three examples of explicit reiteration where some items are used as
verbs and in other sentences as nouns, but it has no examples of echoic emphatic
items.
(1) The latest official figures show (7) Figures also show little progress on Class A
(9) A significant tightening where (14) We have seen a significant increase in
(13) … review the system of drug (17) Others are under review (N) and beds are …

3.8. Other Constructive Features in the Text

Fairclough (1992: 120) concentrates on the relation between the choice of language
and the social power underlying it. In the text, the writer’s choice of words and tenses
reflects a certain ideology and a social background. Here are other relevant points:
Most of the sentences are active and the agents are clear. The nominalization of
cocaine use, use of cocaine, overall drug use sets these up as processes with no clear
human agent – though linked by implication with Government mismanagement by
tying the figures to the period since Labour took office. The absence of non-human
agents probably arises from the writer’s contention that not only is the government
the responsible agent behind the complication of the drug problem, but that people
are also true participants in creating it.
The text contains both positive and negative sentences. The positive sentences refer
to the latest figures besides the government’s advocacy of the current system; whereas
the negative ones display the counterviews. Negation in the text is expressed
explicitly through the negative article ‘not’, and implicitly through items that imply
negative meaning such as disappointed, rejected, reversed, and refused. In addition,
words of contrast (but, however, etc.) are the most common clause relations to cope
with the claims and counterclaims.
The writer used two main tenses in composing the text that may help convey his
message. He used the ‘present simple’ to express a permanent fact – the increasing
number of drug users – and the ‘present perfect’ to indicate recent events which could
 Al Ghazali/ Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics 3(2) (2017) 349–366 359

have some effect on the situation as a whole, e.g. the government’s refusal to
undertake an overall reclassification exercise.
The issue of drug use is an area of ideological contest (Fairclough, 1992: 117)
especially when it is linked to young people indicating the possible corruption of the
young, and a future vision of British society as one in which drug use would be
acceptable.
Excessive evaluative words are used only in Barnes’ counterclaims, and are
attributed to him, not to the writer. In the text, no titles or addresses are used before
Vernon Coaker or Martin Barnes. I think this is just in keeping with current usage in
British journalism.
The text is not a florid piece of writing because the seriousness of the topic does not
give much space for obvious rhetorical and metaphorical strategies but the
overwhelming use of figures gives the writer’s argument clarity and credibility.
Finally, the main information is placed at the beginning of the text. The first three
sentences show the horrifying figures of cocaine use among the urban middle classes
with reference to the British Crime Survey to enhance these figures and to give
authority and prominence to the issue. The writer attributes this catastrophe to the
Labour government in sentence (3).

4. Patterning in the Text

According to Francis (2001: 83) and Hoey (2001: 26), textual patterning is the
ability gained by the writer to organize the text into meaningful paragraphs and
cohesive clauses. Structuring a text using one pattern; however, does not preclude
other forms of patterning. It is perfectly possible to find a general-specific structure
embedded in a problem-solution pattern, or following on from it in the same text. This
text represents an example of a multiple-pattern text. It is organized according to the
claim-counterclaim textual patterning which is very common in political journalism
and in letters-to-the-editor pages, and the stock-in-trade of many ‘Compare and
Contrast’ academic essays. It can also be noticed as signaling a problem-solution
pattern because the issue is so controversial. In the next section, I try to schematize
these two patterns in the text to show how the textual structure asserted by
Fairclough reflects the writer’s ideational background.

4.1. The Claim – Counterclaim Pattern

According to McCarthy (1991: 81), the claim-counterclaim pattern is used to show

two contrasting points of view. Uncovering the figures and statistics that show the
rise in drug use in the UK within the past eight years with implicit reference to
Labour government has paved the way for a set of claims and counterclaims.
Moreover, the huge number of claims signaled by the writer in comparison with the
counterclaims expressed by the current government members not only reflect his
ideational background but also aims to satisfy ‘The Daily Telegraph’ readership.
360 Al Ghazali/ Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics 3(2) (2017) 349–366

Below is a diagrammatic representation of the text from a claim-counterclaim point of

view.

Figure 1: The claim-counterclaim textual patterning of the text

 Al Ghazali/ Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics 3(2) (2017) 349–366 361

4.2. The Problem – Solution Pattern

According to Hoey (1996: 150), the problem-solution structure consists of four

categories: situation, problem, solution, and evaluation. The increasing number of
drug users is a serious problem which gives space for these four categories to be found
in clear text organization.

Figure 2: The problem-solution textual patterning of the text

362 Al Ghazali/ Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics 3(2) (2017) 349–366

5. The Implications of CDA in ELT Classrooms

Analysis of the above text is indicative that language use has a functional aspect,
and knowledge of it facilitates and enhances spontaneous, fluent communication.
Knowing a list of glossaries is not enough unless accompanied by skill of how to use
the appropriate vocabulary in certain situations. Awareness of using the same
language expression in different discourses with different connotations and meanings
is a merit maintained by skilled and competent learners. Erton (2000, p. 206) lists a
number of examples of the functional analysis of conversation. He shows how the tag
question, for instance, can be used to reflect different meanings. In the mini-dialogue
“Gary: It’s cold, isn’t it?” and “Brian: Yes, it is not very warm”, the tag “isn’t it” is not
really a request for confirmation but an invitation to the hearer to continue the
conversation. In the second mini-dialogue, “Sue: He is Tom, is he?” and “Ellen: Yes, he
is”, the tag “is he” not only asks the hearer to agree that the statement is true, but
also suggests that the speaker has just learnt, realized or remembered the
information. In the third mini-dialogue “Colonel: Sit down, will you?” and “Lieutenant
Gary: No, I won’t.”, the tag “will you” is not an expectation from the Colonel that
Lieutenant Gary confirms or denies the information; it is rather an order, and that
something bad may happen if Lieutenant Gary rejected it.
The tenet hereby is not rejection of teaching grammar, yet how grammar can be
taught functionally by allowing learners to understand that a certain form can be
used in different situations in different meanings. The deductive approach to teaching
grammar does not offer opportunities for using the language forms functionally.
Instead, teaching grammar forms inductively allows learners to see the situations in
which these forms carry their different meanings. Whether through citation,
simulation, or replication (Canale, 1983), those learners can understand the discourse
in which these expressions are used with this exact meaning. The extensive studies in
discourse analysis (text, context, conversation analysis, function) and pragmatics
(speech acts, psychopragmatics, sociopragmatics, and pragmalinguistics) paved the
way for such a change in the approach of teaching a foreign language. This movement
encouraged approaches that combine teaching forms with functions to provide
accuracy and fluency in the target language. Knowledge of vocabulary and grammar
and being able to speak, read, and write sentences is not evidence of communicative
competence unless accompanied with knowledge of why to use a certain expression
and why to use it in this particular way. Analysis of discourse then can be a tool
through which language teachers help learners to understand the different functions
of language.
It is only through discourse analysis that learners can understand why they should
say “fast car” but not “quick car”, “fast food” but not “quick food”, “quick glance” but
not “fast glance”, “quick meal” but not “fast meal” although “meal” and “food” have the
same connotation, and “blonde hair” but not “blonde car” even if the car has the same
blonde color. It is also through discourse analysis that language learners can
understand the different textual organizations and the appropriate templates for each
 Al Ghazali/ Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics 3(2) (2017) 349–366 363

type of writing. The organization of a cause-effect essay surly differs from that of
argumentative or persuasive essays. In addition, even within the cause-effect essay,
there could be different internal textual patterning. In the chain organization pattern,
language learners mention of each cause and its effect before moving to another cause
and its effect. However, in the block organization, they write all the causes in one or
two block paragraphs followed by the effects mostly in situations when the causes and
effects are not directly related.
Critical discourse analysis, on the other hand, is an advanced step that necessitates
higher levels of linguistic competence. Teaching it goes beyond raising learners’
awareness of purely linguistic issues. It necessitates highlighting the effect of social
power(s) on text composition accordingly. According to Richards, Platt, and Platt
(1993: 343), CDA helps learners develop an ability to interpret speech acts that goes
beyond understanding the propositional meaning of utterances to the illocutionary
meaning, through the effect a written text may have on them as listeners or readers.
Acquiring the skill of CDA enables learners to answer inferential questions whose
answers are guessed because they often correlate with the writer’s beliefs and
ideologies. Gaining awareness of CDA, moreover, helps learners build a shield against
extreme ideological opinions imposed – intentionally or incidentally – by teachers or
other friends.
A language teacher can take some of these insights for the consciousness-raising of
learners of the relation between language and power along with more general
methods of discourse analysis to achieve a modified approach to CDA for use in ELT.
This gives them strategic guidance for the improvement of discourse production
through identification of discourse patterns, clause relations and genres (Dudley-
Evans, 2001: 220). The acquisition of such a skill promotes the logical organization of
ideas and reinforces communication. However, the level of analysis depends on the
linguistic level of learners. Wallace (1992: 61), for example, points out that CDA can
be used to develop a reading methodology which addresses ideological assumptions as
well as developing general reading comprehension. This definitely includes (i) the
encouragement of reflective critical reading; and (ii) the extension of a ‘pre-reading’ /
‘while-reading’ / ‘post-reading’ procedures. This approach encourages learners to move
away from focusing on form for its own sake to reinforcing the sociolinguistic
competence and the use of language to explore and provide evidence of the text’s
ideological positioning.

6. Conclusion

The introduction of discourse analysis in language teaching is not optional should

we need foreign language learners to use naturally-occurring language forms and
lexical items functionally in an appropriate way that goes above the sentence level.
Teachers, in addition, should encourage learners to study the discourse of language in
a way that form and function should not be separated since they represent the two
dimensions of the language. In many cases, there could be differences between
364 Al Ghazali/ Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics 3(2) (2017) 349–366

functional interpretations of the same form in English. The communicative

competence then goes beyond the normal verbal and written production of English;
rather it covers the sensibility in using language forms and items in expressing a
certain idea in the most effective way. While the appropriate selection of grammar
forms and lexical items represents the elementary knowledge of language use,
knowledge of word combinations or collocation is another merit of fluent, competent
users of language.
An additional benefit of increasing learners’ knowledge of CDA is that it allows
them to understand that the production of discourse is not isolated from the existing
social power, but affects and is affected by it. Competence in CDA deepens their
understanding of the topics they read and promotes an ability to investigate the
maneuvering some writers tend to employ in composing texts. This ability adds to
understanding the mentality of writers whether they are capitalists, socialists, or
religiously-committed persons (Gee, 2001).
My choice of the text from ‘The Daily Telegraph’ is not random. The Telegraph,
which is a right-wing paper, tends to support the Conservative Party in most political
views and is expected to oppose and challenge the Labour government. The writer,
making use of the authority of the newspaper, managed to promote the view that drug
use is bad and the government is to blame regardless of the efforts exerted to
overcome the crisis. I think if the Conservative party were in power, the policy on
drugs might be similar to that of the current Labour administration. The text clearly
reflects the writer’s commitment to the attitude of the newspaper. His exaggeration is
expected to match the psychology of the newspaper’s readership as well as the
Conservative views.

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