Linguistics: Critical Discourse Analysis and Definition of Terms

Linguistics

Part A

Introduction

Significant empirical attention has been devoted to the analysis of the media's role in reporting, articulating, and shaping the financial crisis of 2008. Across multiple genres, the implications of discourse were weighted and varied with respect to the sources, construct, and outcomes associated with the crisis. The following inquiry examines a meaningful written text contextualized at the height of the financial crisis, applying the principles of critical discourse analysis (CDA) in order to demonstrate the core discourse features of the text. Initially, this report outlines CDA principles and highlights the principal objectives of this work before discussing the context and genre of the written text. The inquiry concludes by analyzing the coherence and cohesion features of the text as well as applying description analysis.

Background and Objectives

CDA is a form of analytical research which seeks to examine the ways in which social power mechanisms manifest, are reproduced, and countered with respect to discourse (Tenorio, n.d.). Researchers conducting CDA seek to comprehend, reflect upon, and generally oppose the inequities inherent to contemporary society. CDA applied to written texts is particularly meaningful, as it addresses the link between the social context and relevant scholarship; political forces are acknowledged for their power to shape discourse, with CDA seeking to counter sociopolitical inequities by first evidencing their existence in written text. According to Van Dijk, several, core aspects of CDA exist; these are the notion that discourse constitutes society and culture, that discourse is ideological in nature, that discourse analysis must be both explanatory as well as interpretive, that discourse is centrally a social interaction, and that power in relationships manifests in discourse. Van Dijk highlights further that "language use, discourse, verbal interaction, and communication belong to the microlevel of the social order. Power, dominance, and inequality between social groups are typically terms that belong to a macrolevel of analysis. This means that CDA has to theoretically bridge the well-known "gap" between micro and macro approaches" (p. 255). If written texts represent an amalgamation of microlevel and macrolevel social forces, then CDA aims to address both levels in the identification and dissolution of social inequities.

The objectives of this inquiry are two-fold; primarily, this work details an analysis of a newspaper editorial text applying genre analysis, implicature, and discourse grammatical features of cohesion and reference to an opinion-editorial (op-ed) piece written by famed capitalist Warren Buffet. Additionally, this inquiry will discuss the sociocultural and sociopolitical implications of the text by extending the CDA principles to draw relevant conclusions. In essence, this work will apply CDA to a brief op-ed piece in order to objectively analyze the written text and surmount common criticisms relative to CDA; these include the inability of the researcher to extricate him/herself from the cultural field, thereby merely deducing research conclusions from a predetermined perspective of social inequalities.

Text Background and Genre Analysis

Published in October of 2008, the text serving as the subject of this analysis was written by Warren Buffet, entitled "Buy American. I Am" (Appendix). Specific conventions and schematic patterns exist relative to the news genre, with these typical patterns relevant to analysis of Buffet's piece. Van Dijk (1993) writes that "it is empirically and theoretically warranted to assume that news schemata exist. They can be described as abstract structural properties of discourse, as representations, and as socially shared systems of rules, norms, or strategies.... [N]ews is perhaps the type of written discourse with which they are confronted most frequently, and insight into its structures is therefore an important task of discourse analysis" (p. 155-156). Van Dijk articulates these core patterns relative to the news media as essentially categorized according to narrative news or argumentative news, citing that the latter category embodies the schema of setting, complication, resolution, and several premise categories.

The purpose of the text is very streamlined and concrete. Buffet's article focuses on the implications of the financial crisis for stockholders, with the primary assertion, or core premise according to news schemata, being that equities should be maintained. Additional premises include that the author does not seek to predict how the stock market would perform in the short-term, but, drawing from past financial crises including the Great Depression, he can assert the following:

A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. And most certainly, fear is now widespread, gripping even seasoned investors. To be sure, investors are right to be wary of highly leveraged entities or businesses in weak competitive positions. But fears regarding the long-term prosperity of the nation's many sound companies make no sense. These businesses will indeed suffer earnings hiccups, as they always have. But most major companies will be setting new profit records 5, 10, and 20 years from now. The central conclusion is that buyers should not fear long-term losses even though short-term volatility is likely, with equities being largely trustworthy in the long-term.

The setting of the text, specifically the New York Times newspaper and the historical background of the financial crisis within which the nation was entrenched at the time the article was written, is significantly relevant to any meaningful CDA of the text. The New York Times has won more Pulitzer Prizes than any other news organization and has emerged as a trustworthy news source since its inception in 1851. The newspaper devoted considerable attention to the 2008 crisis, which was catalyzed largely by poor lending policies and unscrupulous behavior on the part of mortgage brokers and large banking organizations. Widely deemed the Great Recession, the financial crisis quickly spread globally, weakening the economies of many fully developed, wealthy nations. The crisis generated a wide spectrum of poor economic transitions, including high levels of unemployment and plummeting stocks, with the American people affected significantly by trepidation regarding their financial future.

Warren Buffet, the article's author represents a largely trusted capitalist with an international audience. The relationship between the audience and writer of the text is then significant, as Buffet is not merely an unknown op-ed writer; he is a wealthy and successful investor who presumably is cognizant of necessary investment behaviors during a financial crisis. New York Times readers are generally liberal and progressive, hailing from a socioeconomically fortunate background; they are thus precisely who Buffet seeks to reach, as they are the investors who were making difficult choices in 2008. Buffet wrote the text to charge investors to keep investing and maintain a long-term perspective.

Application of Other CDA Principles

In applying the principles of backgrounding, foregrounding, topicalization, cohesion, connotations, description analysis, and intertextuality, theme, and rheme, CDA of Buffet's article reveals that key social issues and power disparities are inherent in the text. With respect to backgrounding, Buffet assumes that his readers are cognizant of multiple financial terms, including cash equivalents and equities: "Today people who hold cash equivalents feel comfortable; they shouldn't. They have opted for a terrible long-term asset, one that pays virtually nothing and is certain to depreciate in value. Indeed, the policies that government will follow in its efforts to alleviate the current crisis will probably prove inflationary and therefore accelerate declines in the real value of cash accounts." The author excludes definitions of many terms integral to his central thesis; this is done in order to isolate the audience. Emphasized in the text through foregrounding are parallels between the 2008 crisis and the Great Depression, particularly with respect to fear, and the relationship between the short-term market fluctuations which Buffet highlights he cannot predict and long-term stability of equities: "I don't like to opine on the stock market, and again I emphasize that I have no idea what the market will do in the short-term..." The agent-patient relations of the text relate largely to the agency of investors, with buying options serving as the patient; this emphasizes the autonomy of people over money, which highlights and aligns with Buffet's central thesis.

Conclusions

The text is connoted with sophisticated financial terms as they relate to the emotion of fear, which the author suggests is ultimately unfounded. Buffet suggests that the climate of investment is one marked by fear, with the tone of the author largely patronizing and dismissive. The theme of Buffet's work is financial investments, with the rheme grounded in the need to continue investing despite the current crisis. CDA of the text reveals the irrefutably powerful position of the author, as he is well-known and inordinately financially successful, and the exclusion of those to whom the behavior of the stock market was largely irrelevant. Buffet is positioned above his audience from a class perspective, though the audience is generally upper to middle class, and the text highlights a dismissal of the audience's prevalent fears; in doing so, it maintains a power imbalance between the very wealthy and moderately wealthy whilst entirely marginalizing those who conform to neither category.

Part B

1. What is an achievement test? Its purpose?

The purpose of achievement tests is markedly distinct from that of diagnostic tests with respect to language. According to Brown, "achievement tests analyze the extent to which students have acquired language skills which have already been taught" (p. 47); it is distinct from a diagnostic text in that in that it may not highlight areas which students need to address in the future, or, more specifically gaps in existing knowledge structures. Achievement tests are generally summative in nature, seeking to highlight whether students have acquired predetermined language features or met goals associated with the given lesson or subject matter.

2. Why test reading?

Reading is an integral literacy skill that warrants testing for several reasons. Brown posits that an educator, particularly a second-language educator, cannot automatically assume that readers are forging the necessary connections between letters, words, and phrases, comprehending these disparate structures as meaningful, cohesive bits of information. Reading tests allow for literacy skills to be tested and, if necessary, addressed in order to ensure that comprehension is sufficient and strategic pathways are being formed. In essence, reading is a complex endeavor that represents a multidimensional skill. Testing reading successfully evaluates the level to which reading skills both exist and can be meaningfully applied across multiple settings.

3. Why is genre important in testing reading? What are common genres for academic reading?

Genre is a critical feature of reading tests; this is true because each type of written text is structured, and therefore read, according to specific and unique conventions (Brown). Common genres include academic, job-related, and personal reading. Under these categorical umbrellas fall sub-genres, with academic reading including articles of general interest, technical reports, textbooks, essays, test or homework directions, and opinion-based writing. Contrasting with academic reading, job-related reading might include that of memos, emails, or transcribed phone messages. Brown highlights that "a reader must be able to anticipate those conventions in order to process meaning efficiently. With an extraordinary number of genres present in any literate culture, the reader's ability to process texts must be very sophisticated" (p. 186). By extension, literacy is inextricably bound to being able to read across multiple genre lines.

4. Discuss the first five implications of testing.

Alderson (n.d.) lists several implications of reading testing; these include that reading tests must be content-focused, that students must tested for a range of skills and strategies rather than narrow or single concepts, that students must read longer texts rather than short passages which might preclude accurate assessment of comprehension, and that background knowledge must be viewed as influential of comprehension with attempts made during the testing process to allow background knowledge to support reading performance. Finally, Alderson (n.d.) notes that "tests should be open to the possibility multiple interpretations. Test designers should be as open as possible in the range different interpretations and understandings they accept."

5. Describe Popham's test specification format.

Test specification represents a key consideration during the evaluation of test validity. Popham's test specification format consists of five components; these are general description, or a statement of the behavior being tested, prompt attitudes, or the description of what is likely to be encountered by the student, response attributes, or the way in which the student will provide a response, sample item, and specification supplement. The response attributes can be framed as what will represent a failure or success. The sample item is the illustrative item that reflects the specification, while the specification supplement is the explanation of additional information required for the construction of any given specification.

6. Define Validity.

Validity is the extent to which an assessment measures what it aims to measure; this then translates to the worthiness of an examination. Fulcher writes that "the codes and guidelines all place the concept of validity at the centre of the testing enterprise. It is the concept of validity that guides our work in testing and assessment" (p. 36). A range of considerations apply to the validity of a test, with these considerations concurrently and inextricably bound to those relevant to reliability.

7. Define reliability. Why use descriptive statistics or standard error to calculate reliability?

Reliability relates to the dependability and predictability of test-scoring in the absence of intervention. Specifically, a highly reliable test will yield the same results without much fluctuation, with a student who receives a score on the test one day likely to receive the same score if the test were taken the following day, in the absence of any intervention. Descriptive statistics and standard error can be used to calculate reliability in order to ground reliability-related conclusions in quantitative evidence. Fulcher describes standard error as follows: "One of the most important tools in the armoury of standardised testing is the standard error of measurement. If we assume that a test taker has a 'true score' on the test, which genuinely reflects their ability on the construct of interest, their observed score might be different because of error.... This statistic is therefore much more informative for interpreting the practical implication of reliability" (p. 46). Ideally, a reading assessment is both valid and reliable.

References

Alderson (n.d.). Publication Information Unknown.

Brown, D. Language Assessment: Principles and Classroom Practices. Pearson Education.

Coffin, B. Buffet: The Making of an American Capitalist. Risk Management, 55(7), 22.

Fulcher, G. Practical Language Testing. Hodder Education.

Schechter, D. Is the Financial Crisis Also a Crime Story? What Happens When Reporters Pursue the Wrong Narrative in Covering Financial News? It Is a Personal Story with Deeper Implications. Nieman Reports, 65(3), 66-78.

Tenorio, E.H. (n.d.). Critical Discourse Analysis. Publication Information Unknown.

Van Dijk, T. Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis. Discourse and Society 4(2), 246 269.

Wallison, P. J. The True Story of the Financial Crisis. The American Spectator, 44(4), 12-19.