ELEMENTS OF DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Abstract

The article deals with the essentials of discourse analysis, including the on-going communication situation, participants involved, means of communication and linguistic means such as argumentativeness and rhetorical figures. The paper also analyzes different researchers’ opinions on discourse analysis within and beyond Vietnam, such as Do Huu Chau, Dinh Trong Lac, David Nunan, Catherine Kerbrat-Orecchioni, John Searle, etc. The paper shows that based on purpose and situation, the focus of analysis can be placed on a certain number of discourse features with importance attached to others at various levels in the process of communication.