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How to use critical discourse analysis in your research
Booking now open! We are running an in-person workshop for PhD students and early career researchers working in any discipline and who are using CDA. Sheffield, UK 15th & 16th January 2026 . Professor Tom Bartlett, University of Glasgow Dr Michael Farrelly, Discourse Academy Dr Michael Kranert, University of Southampton Dr Jane Mulderrig, University of Sheffield We’ve got a fantastic venue in Sheffield: The Chimney House , close to Sheffield city centre and in the wonderful

Michael Farrelly
Nov 31 min read


What is a social actor?
Screen shot of analysis of the representation of social actors from recent Language and Power Podcast episode This question—what is a social actor—is an important one that we, as people doing text and discourse analysis, should take seriously. It is a question that we should address before getting into the details and procedures on how and why we analyse the ‘representation’ of social actors in text and discourse. This is because understanding what we mean by ‘social actor’ w

Michael Farrelly
Oct 213 min read


What is The Discourse Academy?
The ambition is to build a resource for developing, discussing, teaching, and learning methods of critical discourse analysis.

Michael Farrelly
Jun 191 min read


Analysing the Representation of Social Actors in Text and Discourse
Screen shot of analysis of the representation of social actors from recent Language and Power Podcast episode I’ve been analysing the representation of social actors in text and discourse for many years now. I first used Theo van Leeuwen’s system for analysing the representation of social acts for my PhD, which I completed in 2006. I found this system incredibly useful at the time and have continued to do so in many discourse analytical projects since. If anything, I find ana

Michael Farrelly
Jun 182 min read
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