Why a Multi-Perspectived Approach to Discourse?

Abstract

Candlin’s multi-perspectived approach foreshadows the integration of research traditions associated with the study of language, interaction, the perceptions of participants and analysts, and the ‘broader and local organisational conditions’ (Cicourel, 1992, p. 294), which together make up the complex construct that Cicourel’s challenge requires. However, integrating these analytical perspectives raises the more general problem of how to explain the relationship between language and context. The problem is that the context in which language is used is always potentially vast and undifferentiated. The danger is that once context is included in the analysis of language, the analysis will become unaccountable.