The organisation of knowledge in British university tutorial discourse: Issues, pedagogic discourse strategies and disciplinary identity

Citation

Benwell B (1999) The organisation of knowledge in British university tutorial discourse: Issues, pedagogic discourse strategies and disciplinary identity. Pragmatics, 9 (4), pp. 535-565. http://elanguage.net/journals/pragmatics/article/view/533/458

Abstract
First paragraph: This paper represents an attempt to describe the development and structuring of information and knowledge in two university tutorials. Research into topíc or information structuring in texts has to date tended to be confined to wriffen texts. In this paper I argue that spoken tutorial discourse can be described in terms of topic or information hierarchies which are linked via a finite series of rhetorical relations; these I have termed "Pedagogic Discourse Strategies". Such strategies appear to be a function of both the subject matter of the tutorial and the pedagogic methods employed. The preliminary analysis of a small sample of tutorial data suggests that it is possible to identify the macro structuring of information in spoken discourse, but that the dynamic and extempore nature of tutorials makes this a more complex issue than information structure analysis of written or prepared texts. Tutorial discourse will, however, lend itself more easily to a macro-structural analysis compared to casual conversation by virtue of its "agenda-ed" nature. In addition, the paper considers whether there is a specific link between the epistemology and methodology of a subject and the patterns of discourse strategies found in tutorials in the subject area.

Journal
Pragmatics: Volume 9, Issue 4

People

Dr Bethan Benwell

Senior Lecturer, English Studies