Discourse and technology

Authors

  • Theo van Leeuwen University of Technology, Sydney

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.v6i3.379

Keywords:

technology, intonation, non-verbal communication, conversation analysis, corpus linguistics, PowerPoint, multimodality

Abstract

The paper discusses three aspects of the relation between discourse and technology. The first is the influence of new communication technologies on the agenda of linguistics and discourse analysis. The beginning of radio broadcasting led to new theories of intonation and the beginning of television created an interest in linguistically inspired approaches to non-verbal communication. The second is the use of technologies as tools for discourse analysis. The move from film to the tape recorder and the subsequent birth of conversation analysis diminished the earlier interest in non-verbal communication, while today corpus linguistics challenges approaches that focus on the analysis of single, whole texts. Finally, contemporary software not only builds in spelling and grammar rules, but also text structure rules (templates), and systematic options for the use of layout, typography, colour, animation and other non-linguistic means of expression, leading to a renewed interest in multimodality. The paper concludes with the view that considerations of technology should be integrated with discourse analysis and cites the work of Ron and Suzie Scollon as an early example of this approach.

Author Biography

  • Theo van Leeuwen, University of Technology, Sydney

    Theo van Leeuwen is Professor of Media and Communication and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Technology, Sydney. He has published widely in the areas of critical discourse analysis, multimodality and visual semiotics. His books include Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design (with Gunther Kress); Speech, Music, Sound; Multimodal Discourse: The Modes and Media of Contemporary Communication (with Gunther Kress); Introducing Social Semiotics and Global Media Discourse (with David Machin). His latest book Discourse and Practice – New Tools in Critical Discourse Analysis was published in 2008. He is a founding editor of the journal Visual Communication.

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Published

2019-10-17

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

van Leeuwen, T. (2019). Discourse and technology. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice, 6(3), 379-392. https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.v6i3.379

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