4 - Discourse Analysis of Spoken Interaction

Summary

This chapter discusses the analysis of language attitudes as they are expressed in spoken interaction. Although the approach might be considered to have some limitations because it is generally confined to smaller samples of data, it offers valuable insights by providing greater contextualisation of attitudes as they are communicated, whilst also accounting for their fluid and shifting nature as they emerge in discourse. Key points of departure are ideas from discursive psychology and the application of discourse analysis to studying attitudes. The chapter proceeds to outline fundamental developments in this line of enquiry, ranging from work on discourse strategies to more recent research which has placed increasing focus on the elicitation and investigation of language attitudes in the context of interaction between the study participants. The chapter provides information on practical issues of planning and research design for such studies, followed by potential strategies for the analysis and interpretation of the resultant data. The main points arising from the discussion are illustrated by a case study undertaken in the post-industrial urban Ruhr region in Germany, where attitudes towards the local variety – Ruhrdeutsch – were investigated.