Discourse Analysis: A Kickstart

Assalamualaikum wa Rahmatullah

Alhamdulillah and all praises are indeed for Allah The Almighty God for the opportunity to wake up to another shining beam of our life. We hope that today The Angel of Raqib will be busier than his counterpart insyaAllah. In this entry, we would like to invite our lovely readers into getting to know one of our major courses as BENL students known as Discourse Analysis.

“Where wise actions are the fruit of life, wise discourse is the pollination.” 
― Bryant McGill

As English majors, have you ever thought of what it takes to be a competent user of English?

source: http://8tracks.com/batracioboy/fuck-yeah

If you all this while believe that by just mastering English grammar would make you one, we must emphasise that your belief will lead you into the wrong direction. Grammatical as well as discourse competence are those magnitudes that English majors must reflect.

Discourse analysis (DA) refers to the analysis of spoken and written texts not only in terms of their grammar, vocabulary and cohesion, but also in terms of critical interpretation of texts. The course involves conversational analysis of various types of written materials from the perspective of the speakers, listeners, writers, readers and students of discourse analysis. The course also includes elements of critical discourse analysis to study relations of power, discrimination and inequality in language use.

(Department of English Language and Literature)

He looks fit and energetic at his age. May Allah grant His immeasurable bounties
to our beloved lecturer.

source: penangmalays.com/2014/01/25/haja-mohideen-mohamed-ali/

The course is regularly taught by none other than the ever thoughtful and down-to-earth Assoc. Prof Dr. Haja Mohideen bin Mohamed Ali. His English aptitude and expertise are the envy of many students in the department. His experience as a lecturer together with holistic approaches in understanding the analysis of discourse are what makes the class engaging. One cannot simply miss the lectures. Yup you hear us right!



To wrap up, learning Discourse Analysis has widened our horizons in many ways as aspiring English majors. We hope that this entry will give you insights pertaining to the course in much more details. Our genuine advice: Don't get too comfortable if you can deceptively speak and sound American or British or whatever your dialect preferences if your competence in discourse does not translate! We will meet again in the next entry. Sayonara

WW

Get to Know Us

Assalamualaykum dear readers,

A good menu in a fine dining restaurant begins with a scrumptious entree. Taking that as an inspiration, we believe, as part of our duty to put forth the best materials and information for your intellectual digest, an introduction of ourselves as writers of Wisdom Waraqah should be primary. In fact, Islamic culture promotes the need for taaruf as a muqadimah in an intellectual discourse for a healthy discussion to take place.

To begin with, Wisdom Waraqah was actually pioneered as a project under the course ENGL 4740 (Computer Applications in Language Studies) to provide an exemplary medium containing the best information pertaining to a particular field in language studies. As much as how we bloggers of Wisdom Waraqah wish to perform excellently in completing this project, we want to benefit our readers with the best of our knowledge. We hope that this project will continue on delivering the best insights to our readers in the future, Insha-Allah.

Now get to know us Wisdom Waraqah writers!

1. Alif Ishak Ayob

Alif Ishak comes all they way from the north state of Kedah. Born in 1992, he is currently majoring in English linguistics. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, singing and watching movies. So what does Alif plan to do next? He sees himself becoming an academician in the future.

2.Nadia Athirah

Nadia lives in Negri Sembilan and she is 22 years old. She is majoring in combination of Linguistics and Literature. She shares the same interests as Alif; she enjoys reading books and watching movies. Apart from that, she loves sight-seeing. Same goes to Nadia, she dreams of becoming an academician if not a writer in the future.

3. Siti Hamidah

Siti Hamidah is a 22 year old from the state of Selangor. She enjoys criticising movies that are adapted from books. Hamidah loves languages and for that, she enjoys writing and reading a great deal. She hopes to become a successful writer in the future. Oh well, we can expect good writings from this blog, eh?

4. Shafiq Azid 

This 22 year old Perakian is currently in his final year doing English linguistics. He enjoys drawing and writing a lot. He enjoys watching and playing tennis during his leisure. He does not have a fixed plan because he looks forward to any possibility that comes in his way (or probably he does not want to think about getting in the workforce just yet).

All four of us hope to bring the best in Wisdom Waraqah. We look forward to your feedback in any form that includes suggestion, commentary and critics.

With regards and salaam,
WW.