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An Introduction to Discourse Analysis: Theory and Method
This bestselling textbook provides a comprehensive guide to conducting discourse analysis. The book outlines Gee’s approach, which involves examining how language is used in context to construct meaning, identities, relationships, and social practices.
The theoretical framework is built around seven "building tasks" that language significance, practices, identities, relationships, politics, connections, and sign systems and knowledge. Gee introduces six "tools of inquiry" for analyzing these situated meanings, social languages, figured worlds, intertextuality, Discourses, and Conversations.
Methodologically, Gee emphasizes the importance of context and the reciprocal relationship between language and context. He discusses transcription, outlines the components of an "ideal" discourse analysis, and addresses issues of validity.
The book provides practical guidance on analyzing various aspects of language, such as intonation units, stanzas, and the overall organization of oral and written texts. Gee uses interview data to demonstrate how identities and socially situated meanings are constructed through language.
This new edition is updated throughout with new examples and a new chapter on multimodal discourse analysis, demonstrating how Gee’s approach can be applied to texts that combine language with other modes of communication, like images or video. Overall, the book equips readers with a robust toolkit for systematically analyzing discourse.
An Introduction to Discourse Analysis can be used as a stand-alone textbook or ideally used in conjunction with the practical companion title How to do Discourse A Toolkit. Together they provide the complete resource for students studying discourse analysis.
The theoretical framework is built around seven "building tasks" that language significance, practices, identities, relationships, politics, connections, and sign systems and knowledge. Gee introduces six "tools of inquiry" for analyzing these situated meanings, social languages, figured worlds, intertextuality, Discourses, and Conversations.
Methodologically, Gee emphasizes the importance of context and the reciprocal relationship between language and context. He discusses transcription, outlines the components of an "ideal" discourse analysis, and addresses issues of validity.
The book provides practical guidance on analyzing various aspects of language, such as intonation units, stanzas, and the overall organization of oral and written texts. Gee uses interview data to demonstrate how identities and socially situated meanings are constructed through language.
This new edition is updated throughout with new examples and a new chapter on multimodal discourse analysis, demonstrating how Gee’s approach can be applied to texts that combine language with other modes of communication, like images or video. Overall, the book equips readers with a robust toolkit for systematically analyzing discourse.
An Introduction to Discourse Analysis can be used as a stand-alone textbook or ideally used in conjunction with the practical companion title How to do Discourse A Toolkit. Together they provide the complete resource for students studying discourse analysis.
289 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 24, 1999
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431 people want to read
About the author
James Paul Gee
64 books58 followersJames Gee is a researcher who has worked in psycholinguistics, discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, bilingual education, and literacy. Gee is currently the Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies at Arizona State University. Gee is a faculty affiliate of the Games, Learning, and Society group at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and is a member of the National Academy of Education.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
April 3, 2018
Like Gee's Toolkit for discourse analysis, this book is an excellent introduction to this approach to qualitative research. The book succinctly delves into the key elements and theory of the subject, and does so in a way that is very engaging for readers.
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September 18, 2016If you are interested in "reading in between the lines" or "out of the box" thinking, then this book is very informative as far as intro's are concerned. Helps me when conceptualizing automation /engineering/robotic projects in a world where technology has started to become out of the range in human cognizance. Albeit a book of psychology and the analysis of Discourse, the author has written it well and the book is very helpful in learning to understand the rift between human and machine and the gap that will always appear to exists ( the user interface). The between the lines is very helpful white in a design for "systems" made for the human's ability to have an intuitive interface of the tech world about him. So many times engineers fail to visualize the background "noise" in human thought and expression.Complex reading, and very good. This book would be very helpful with Physicians also.
January 7, 2012
At points, the author seems to beat concepts into the ground, and his failure to use pronouns where appropriate meant I found myself reading the same long terms over and over agin without much profit from the repetition. On the whole, however, the book is an excellent introduction to the concept.
November 19, 2017
Probably the easiest book to read about discourse analysis!
February 17, 2017
Read some of this to understand how to analyze discourse. It was helpful!
February 21, 2016
No one writes about discourse analysis as expertly and engagingly as Gee. His approach is complicated (it has to be, as language use itself is complicated), but his explications and examples are, though sometimes redundant, always appropriate and accessible.
Two minor gripes: Gee recycles data and its accompanying analysis from his other books and articles frequently. While it means you may have already been exposed to these analyses elsewhere, your ability to apply particular tools for particular situations is enhanced, as the sociological significance of a particular data narrative takes a back seat to the practice of CDA application. Lastly, for a book that focuses so specifically on careful attention to language construction, and this being a fourth edition, where the hell was the editor? Dropped pronouns, articles, even some dropped nouns abound. Routledge, one of the most distinguished academic publishers, should be ashamed.
Two minor gripes: Gee recycles data and its accompanying analysis from his other books and articles frequently. While it means you may have already been exposed to these analyses elsewhere, your ability to apply particular tools for particular situations is enhanced, as the sociological significance of a particular data narrative takes a back seat to the practice of CDA application. Lastly, for a book that focuses so specifically on careful attention to language construction, and this being a fourth edition, where the hell was the editor? Dropped pronouns, articles, even some dropped nouns abound. Routledge, one of the most distinguished academic publishers, should be ashamed.
April 23, 2013
A great little guide for scholars working in discourse analysis. If you're looking for how to figure out what people are *really* saying by doing intensive, word-by-word analysis of their speech patterns, this is the book for you.
January 31, 2008
A simple text that examines all the subtext of our sentences and the quirks of comprehension. Where does the power in words lie? View of language as a social phenomenon
July 5, 2025
One of the most infuriating textbooks I have ever tried to use. J. Gee, while a trusted voice in discourse analysis and a genuine specialist, writes with all the false grace and effectiveness of a TED talk. The book is replete with dramatic reveals (paraphrase: 'Right, that makes sense. But what if I told you...'), which is maddening. It constantly feels like he's wasting the reader's time and treating them like a child.
He even provides excuses as to why he doesn't cite anything in his text, pretending that people 'will actually read' the relevant literature if he just lists it at the end of each chapter, completely decontextualised. I don't think it's much of a stretch for anyone to see how this is almost certainly the opposite of reality. And it doesn't help matters when you see that much of what he cites for his most outlandish claims is his own previous research. That's not a crime, or altogether uncommon, but it makes his choice not to cite in-text rather suspicious. Everything feels like listening to someone speculate on how people probably feel and what they probably mean when they speak. Social media provides quite enough of that, thank you very much.
There is something obnoxious (and, it must be said, unacademic) about a writer making out like he's revealing the secrets of the universe to an adoring crowd rather than getting on with the process of elucidating the science of his particular field, especially when those secrets are as groundbreaking as the fact that gender, race and politics have an effect on the way people interact. That this is a book on discourse is just wildly ironic.
He even provides excuses as to why he doesn't cite anything in his text, pretending that people 'will actually read' the relevant literature if he just lists it at the end of each chapter, completely decontextualised. I don't think it's much of a stretch for anyone to see how this is almost certainly the opposite of reality. And it doesn't help matters when you see that much of what he cites for his most outlandish claims is his own previous research. That's not a crime, or altogether uncommon, but it makes his choice not to cite in-text rather suspicious. Everything feels like listening to someone speculate on how people probably feel and what they probably mean when they speak. Social media provides quite enough of that, thank you very much.
There is something obnoxious (and, it must be said, unacademic) about a writer making out like he's revealing the secrets of the universe to an adoring crowd rather than getting on with the process of elucidating the science of his particular field, especially when those secrets are as groundbreaking as the fact that gender, race and politics have an effect on the way people interact. That this is a book on discourse is just wildly ironic.
February 16, 2019
An accessible intro, as promised, moving from a theory of social language to concrete tools for understanding social language(s) in context. Have returned to this book several times for various projects.
June 16, 2017
Boring... Van Dijk's and Fairclough's account is much more engaging!
February 23, 2018
Dissertation reading
December 31, 2018
Another good introductory to the Approach.
January 11, 2022
It was a nice book with full information about Langauge and langauge in use.
I like it💙
I like it💙
June 26, 2022
Clear and concise with examples throughout.
July 13, 2007
This is a good introduction to discourse analysis, though I'm not sure I should bother listing such books here -- nobody who isn't interested in discourse analysis will care about this, and anyone who is interested should already know about Gee.
February 11, 2015
I love Gee's work on discourse analysis. For qualitative researchers looking at interview data, conversations, classroom interactions this book provides guidance and insight into the process of reading the lines, between the lines and beyond the lines. A great book.
March 22, 2009
Too many scare quotes! "Seriously."
To be honest I am still not sure I know what discourse analysis is or how to do it after finishing this book.
To be honest I am still not sure I know what discourse analysis is or how to do it after finishing this book.
Currently reading
January 21, 2014ghj
August 20, 2010
very useful. helps provide tools and questions for when looking at language and language usage
September 12, 2016
It was difficult. Or could it have been written any simpler?
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews