77762 - Analysis of Political Language

Learning outcomes

The course, which is taught in English, deals with quantitative and qualitative methods for the analysis of political and institutional language. At the end of the course, the student: - is able to identify various genres of political and institutional discourse with particular reference to Great Britain, the US, as well as institutions of international relations; - can analyze the contextual features which determine the lexical and grammatical characteristics of different varieties of political and institutional language; - is able to make a semantic and lexical analysis of political discourse and of a corpus of political and institutional discourse; - has an English language competence not inferior to B2 (CEFR).

Course contents

The course introduces students to both quantitative and qualitative methods of (critical) discourse analysis, focusing on political and institutional language—particularly in the contexts of particularly in the contexts of the US, UK, EU, and International organizations. It examines a wide range of text types and genres to provide a comprehensive understanding of the field.

Key topics covered include:

• Definitions of political language and political discourse

• The relationship between language, text, and context

• The concept of register

• Fundamental lexico-grammatical categories for functional text analysis

• Political lexis and the linguistic and rhetorical features of political language

• The creation and use of specialized corpora of political language

• Quantitative and qualitative tools for corpus-assisted analysis, such as concordances, collocations, keywords, and clusters

Through this framework, students will develop the skills needed to critically analyze political texts using a variety of linguistic and computational approaches.

 

Readings/Bibliography

Core Readings

• Bayley P. 2005. "Analysing Language and Politics", MediAzioni, 1.
  
• Chilton, Paul A. and C. Shaffner 2002. Introduction: Themes and principles in the analysis of political discourse. In Chilton & Schaffner (eds.) Politics as Text and Talk: Analytical Approaches to Political Discourse, p.1-44
  
• Fairclough N. and Fairclough I. 2012, Political Discourse Analysis: A Method for Advanced Students. London and New York: Routledge
• van Dijk, T. 1998 "What is Political Discourse Analysis?", Political Linguistics, J. Blommaert J and C. Bulcaen, C. (eds), pp. 11–52.
• Wilson, J., 2001. “Political Discourse.” In Deborah Shiffrin, Deborah Tannen and Heidi Hamilton (eds.), Handbook of Discourse Analysis. Oxford: Blackwell, pp.398-415
• Wodak, R. 2009. Language and Politics, English Language, pp.576-593
  

• Wodak, R. and de Cillia, R., 2006. “Politics and Language: An Overview.” In K. Brown (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Language and Linguistics. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

• Additional Readings

• Wodak, R. & B. Forchtner (eds) 2018. The Routledge Handbook of Language and Politics. London: Routledge (Selected Chapters: Ch.9, Ch.21, Ch.22, Ch.24, Ch.26, Ch. 32, Ch.34, Ch. 44)
  
• Charteris-Black, J. 2011. Politicians and Rhetoric: The Persuasive Power of Metaphor. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Cap, P (ed.) 2023. Handbook of Political Discourse, Edward Elgar Publishing (Selected Chapters: Ch.1, Ch.9, Ch.10, Ch.12, Ch.16, Ch.21, Ch. 22)

Other resources

• Simpson, P. Mayr A. and Statham S. 2019, Language and Power. A Resource Book for Students. London and New York: Routledge
• Bartlett, T. 2014, Analysing Language and Power. A Practical Guide. London and New York: Routledge.
  
• Heywood A. 2015, Key Concepts in Politics and International Relations, Bloomsbury Academic

Selected chapters and other readings will be chosen based on the areas of application of corpus-assisted discourse studies focused upon political and institutional discourse language.

Teaching methods

Attendance is not mandatory but strongly encouraged due to the practical, skills-based nature of the course.

Both lecture-style, seminar-style, and workshop-style sessions take place in a computer lab equipped with PCs and a data projector, allowing for easy switching between the different teaching methods. The workshop sessions aim to provide opportunities for hands-on practice and in-depth discussions, using specialized corpora and software for corpus analysis.

Students are expected to carefully read the assigned material before each session. For the workshops and seminars, active participation—including presentations and case studies—is also required.

A collection of specialized corpora of political language will be made available to students throughout the course.

Students with specific learning difficulties (SpLD) or with disabilities that can affect their ability to attend courses are invited to contact the University service for students with disabilities and SLD [https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students%20.] at the earliest opportunity -- ideally before the start of the course: The University service will suggest possible adjustments to the course work and/or exam, which must then be submitted to the course leader so they can assess their feasibility, in line with the learning objectives of the course. Please note that adjustments to the exam must be requested at least two weeks in advance.

Assessment methods

All the students are required to submit a short paper (3,000–3,500 words), excluding references, and take an oral exam.

Attending students are encouraged to prepare a PowerPoint presentation outlining their project- covering the main topic, objectives, and any preliminary data/findings- to share with the class. Presentations will be scheduled during the final sessions of the course.

Paper submission

The paper must be submitted via email at least one week before the exam date and must include a minimum of three references. The topic of the paper should be agreed upon with the instructor. It may consist of either a quantitative and qualitative analysis of a specialized corpus or an in-depth analysis of a single text. 

Attending students
The oral exam will consist of a discussion of the submitted paper and will assess the student’s understanding of key course concepts, critical thinking skills, and ability to effectively structure and present an argument.

Non-attending students
The oral exam will include a discussion of the submitted paper and will assess the student’s understanding of key course concepts, critical thinking skills, and ability to effectively structure and present an argument. In addition, students will discuss two articles from the Core readings and one chapter from the Additional Readings.

Assessment Breakdown

• Class presentation:10%
• Final paper: 60%
• Oral exam: 30%

Assessment criteria - Grading Scale

• 30L / 30 Excellent with distinction
• 28–29 Very good to excellent
• 26–27 Good
• 24–25 Satisfactory
• 21–23 Sufficient
• 18–20 Barely sufficient
• ≤ 17 Fail

Teaching tools

PC, internet, online and offline softwares

Slides used during lectures and workshops are made available to students on Virtuale in PDF format.

As concerns the teaching methods of this course unit, all students must attend the [https://www.unibo.it/en/services-and-opportunities/health-and-assistance/health-and-safety/online-course-on-health-and-safety-in-study-and-internship-areas.

Office hours

See the website of Cinzia Bevitori