Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Positioning Theory and Discourse Analysis

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Positioning Theory in Applied Linguistics

  • 1739 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter begins with a definition of discourse, elaborates on the link between positioning and discourse, and situates positioning theory within discourse analysis as an analytic approach. It describes how positioning theory uses the principles of various approaches to discourse analysis. In particular, the chapter explains how positioning analysis is different from or similar to conversation analysis, critical discourse analysis (CDA), and ethnography of communication.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 49.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 64.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Whenever I refer to positioning theory as a theoretical framework in this book, I use “positioning theory.” When I talk about its use as an analytic tool or method, I use “positioning analysis.” Since my focus in this chapter is the analytic aspect of positioning theory, I will use “positioning analysis” more often than “positioning theory,” as the former better reflects the analytic aspect.

  2. 2.

    For an extensive overview of CA studies in applied linguistics research, see Kasper and Wagner (2014).

References

  • Benwell, B., & Stokoe, E. (2006). Discourse and identity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Cameron, D. (2001). Working with spoken discourse. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Costa, P. I. (2011). Using language ideology and positioning to broaden the SLA learner beliefs landscape: The case of an ESL learner from China. System,39(3), 347–358.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deppermann, A. (2013). How to get a grip on identities-in-interaction: (What) does ‘positioning’ offer more than ‘membership categorization’? Evidence from a mock story. Narrative Inquiry,23(1), 62–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deppermann, A. (2015). Positioning. In A. De Fina & A. Georgakopoulou (Eds.), The handbook of narrative analysis (pp. 369–387). Malden, MA: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erickson, F. (1992). Ethnographic microanalysis of interaction. In M. D. LeCompte, W. L. Millroy, & J. Preissle (Eds.), The handbook of qualitative research in education (pp. 201–225). New York, NY: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairclough, N. (2001). Language and power (2nd ed.). Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gee, J. (2004). Discourse analysis: What makes it critical? In R. Rogers (Ed.), An introduction to critical discourse analysis in education (pp. 19–49). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gee, G. P. (2008). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses (3rd ed.). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goffman, E. (1961). Encounters: Two studies in the sociology of interaction. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goffman, E. (1981). Forms of talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gumperz, J. J. (1982). Discourse strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gumperz, J. J., & Hymes, D. (1964). The ethnography of communication. Special issue. American Anthropologist, 66(6), 137–154.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hymes, D. H. (1972). On communicative competence. In J. B. Pride & J. Holmes (Eds.), Sociolinguistics: Selected readings (pp. 269–293). Harmondsworth: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hymes, D. (1974). Foundations in sociolinguistics: An ethnographic approach. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kasper, G., & Wagner, J. (2014). Conversation analysis in applied linguistics. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics,34, 171–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Korobov, N. (2001). Reconciling theory with method: From conversation analysis and critical discourse analysis to positioning analysis. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 2(3). Retrieved from http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs-texte/3-01/3-01korobov-e.htm.

  • Martin-Beltrán, M. (2010). Positioning proficiency: How students and teachers (de)construct language proficiency at school. Linguistics and Education,21(4), 257–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menard-Warwick, J. (2008). ‘Because she made beds. Every day’: Social positioning, classroom discourse, and language learning. Applied Linguistics,29(2), 267–289.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rex, L. A., & Schiller, L. (2009). Using discourse analysis to improve classroom interaction. New York: Taylor & Francis and Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rymes, B. (2016). Classroom discourse analysis: A tool for critical reflection (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schegloff, E. A. (1997). Whose text? Whose context? Discourse & Society, 8, 165–187.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schegloff, E. A. (1999). Schegloff’s texts’ as Billig’s data: A critical reply. Discourse and Society, 10(4), 558–572.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schiffrin, D. (1994). Approaches to discourse. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seedhouse, P. (2004). The interactional architecture of the language classroom: A conversation analysis perspective. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slocum-Bradley, N. (2009). The positioning diamond: A trans-disciplinary framework for discourse analysis. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour,40(1), 79–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trent, J. (2012). The discursive positioning of teachers: Native-speaking English teachers and educational discourse in Hong Kong. TESOL Quarterly, 46(1), 104–126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warren, Z., & Moghaddam, F. M. (2018). Positioning theory and social justice. In P. L. Hammack Jr. (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of social psychology and social justice (pp. 319–331). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wetherell, M. (1998). Positioning and interpretive repertoires: Conversation analysis and post-structuralism in dialogue. Discourse & Society, 9, 387–412.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson, S., & Kitzinger, C. (2003). Constructing identities: A feminist conversation analytic approach to positioning in action. In R. Harré & F. Moghaddam (Eds.), The self and others: Positioning individuals and groups in personal, political and cultural contexts (pp. 157–180). Westport, CT and London: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, L. A., & Kroger, R. O. (2000). Doing discourse analysis: Method for studying action in talk and text. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of English, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Hayriye Kayı-Aydar

Authors
  1. Hayriye Kayı-Aydar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hayriye Kayı-Aydar .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Kayı-Aydar, H. (2019). Positioning Theory and Discourse Analysis. In: Positioning Theory in Applied Linguistics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97337-1_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97337-1_2

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-97336-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-97337-1

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation