Mod5 Notes: Widdowson's criticism of CDA

I'm CDAing the listening texts from an IELTS coursebook, (O'Connell, 2002).

Wodak (2001: 17) paraphrases Widdowson (1995: 169), CDA "selects for analysis such texts as will support the preferred interpretation." [no access to Athens this morning to get hold of the original Widdowson; the link is to the abstract].

Actually, I chose the IELTS text simply because it was the one I was using last term when I had to select the subject of my paper. The choice was reinforced by this statement on the IELTS website:

Routine analysis of test data is conducted on test materials and test takers’ performance to ensure that IELTS remains fair and unbiased regardless of nationality, background, gender or lifestyle, and that IELTS encourages, reflects and respects international diversity. (IELTS, 2008).

Which is a rather courageous statement.





IELTS, 2008. Teachers and Researchers. [Online][html incompatibility means cannot give full ref.]
[accessed 5 January 2009]

Widdowson, H. G. (1995a) Discourse analysis: a critical view. Language and Literature, 4, 3: 157-72.

Wodak, R. and Meyer, M [eds](2001). Methods of critical discourse analysis. London; SAGE (ISBN: 0761961542).

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