Open discourse
'Open Discourse' is a technical term employed in discourse analysis and Sociolinguistics which is contrasted with 'Closed Discourse'. The concept of open and closed discourse is associated with the overlay of open and closed discourse communities and open and closed communication events. Key to open and closed discourse is access to information, equity of access, open access, quality of discourse and mechanisms and modalities of discourse control: overt, covert, implicit and incidental. As a conceptual filter and cultural construct, ideology is a function and mechanism of discourse control. Channel of communication event and register of communication control discourse and therefore, determine degree of social inclusion and social exclusion. Open and closed discourse operate on a continuum where absolute closure and complete openness are theoretically untenable due to noise in the channel.
Van Dijk (c.2003: p.357) holds that:
"Although most discourse control is contextual or global, even local details of meaning, form, or style may be controlled, e.g. the details of an answer in class or court, or choice of lexical items or jargen in courtrooms, classrooms or newsrooms (Martin Rojo 1994).[1]
Internet, weblogging and social media
Internet as cultural artifact with emergent properties of open discourse such as weblogs and social media:
"The Web is the most important and valuable human artifact ever created. And, it is not owned by any single group, government, company, or person. It is not patented, no one is in charge, and we have no idea whatsoever as to how much we have invested in it, or even how much it costs us to keep it running.... The Web – and in particular the rise of the so-called blogosphere – has led to a resurgence of open public discourse that is unparalleled since the emergence of independent newspapers and pamphleteers at the outset of the Industrial revolution. The Web has grown from a handful of websites to millions of individuals and organizations publishing on every conceivable topic from every imaginable perspective."</ref>Source: [5] (accessed: Monday April 12, 2010)</ref>
Medicine, Medical publishing and pharmacology
Dayton (2006) frames the transition from open access to open discourse in the Internet discourse community in regards to the parameters of scientific publishing thus:
"The [I]nternet is expanding the realm of scientific publishing to include free and open public debate of published papers. Journals are beginning to support web posting of comments on their published articles and independent organizations are providing centralized web sites for posting comments about any published article. The trend promises to give one and all access to read and contribute to cutting edge scientific criticism and debate." NB: proper noun of 'Internet' repaired from the error 'internet'.[2]
Urban planning and public discourse
Ter Borg and Dijking (1995) explore discourse control in relation to urban planning, urban development, public participation and stakeholder engagement in their analysis of two case studies.[3]
Pedagogical discourse
Dawson & Taylor (1998) have documented experiential learnings of the logistics of open and critical discourse in the discourse community of the science classroom.[4]
In framing the relationship between the discourse community of a classroom and therefore pedagogical discourse throughout all media and associating open discourse to a democratic ideology Celce-Murcia & Olshtain (2000: p.11) hold that:
"...it is important that teachers understand what critical discourse analysis is and that they are at the very least sensitized to the potentially discriminatory and demeaning discourse tat may arise int he classroom and in teaching materials and be prepared to deal with it constructively (i.e., to use such instances of discourse as opportunities for discussions and activities that can make the language classroom a more democratic and open discourse community)."[5]
Notes
- ^ Van Dijk, Teun A. (c2003). "Critical Discourse Analysis." Cited in: Schiffrin, Deborah; Tannen, Deborah; Hamilton, Heidi Ehernberger (2003). The handbook of discourse analysis. Volume 18 of Blackwell handbooks in linguistics. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 0631205969, 9780631205968. Source: [1] (accessed: Monday April 12, 2010), p.357
- ^ Dayton, Andrew (2006). "Beyond open access: open discourse, the next great equalizer." Retrovirology. Source: [2] (accessed: Monday April 12, 2010)
- ^ Elisabeth ter Borg & Gertjan Dijkink (1995). "Naturalising Choices and Neutralising Voices? Discourse on Urban Development in Two Cities." Urban Studies, Vol. 32, No. 1, pp.49-67.
- ^ Dawson, Vaille M. & Taylor, Peter C. (1998). "Establishing open and critical discourses in the science classroom: Reflecting on initial difficulties." Research in Science Education. Netherlands: Springer. ISSN 0157-244X (Print) 1573-1898 (Online). Volume 28, Number 3 / September, 1998. Source: [3] (accessed: Monday April 12, 2010)
- ^ Celce-Murcia, Marianne & Olshtain, Elite (2000). Discourse and context in language teaching: a guide for language teachers. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521640555, 9780521640558. Source: [4] (accessed: Monday April 12, 2010), p.11