norman fairclough born 1941 is an emeritus professor of linguistics at lancaster university in england he is one of the founders of critical discourse analysis cda as applied to sociolinguistics cda is concerned with how power is exercised through language critical discourse analysis is an interdisciplinary approach to the study of discourse that views language as a form of social practice norman fairclough assumes that any case of language is a communicative event he has developed a model for critical discourse analysis the model consists of three categories in this model called dimensions the three dimensions may be summarized as follows the first dimension is called text text can be speech writing images or a mixture of all three forms of communication we call this an analysis at word level the second dimension is called discursive practice discursive practice involves production of texts or constitution of texts here the analysis takes place at the text level the third and last dimension is called social practice social practice is about standards of society or the organization in effect social structures here it is an analysis of what we call the norm level fairclough's analytical approach assumes that language helps create change and can be used to change behavior language becomes a power tool this is what is meant by discourse analysis now let us look at some examples of the three dimensions the first dimension is called text discourse is the collection of words and characters we choose when we write or speak by choosing certain words we show our attitude to the subject let us look at some explanations for example my neighbor was an old witch or my neighbor was an old woman or my neighbor was an old lady in the choice of which woman or lady i express an attitude towards the neighbor when we choose our words we express an attitude whether a person is a terrorist or a freedom fighter depends on our view of the action that has taken place discourse is about language as a community the words we choose make us feel that we are part of a community a person who is from a different point of origin may for one group be a stranger for another group a foreigner and for a third group a refugee discourse analysis is about text analysis and that any text contains interpretations dimension two by critical discourse analysis we understand that language can be a bearer of change the words we use and the way we compose our sentences are of importance the way we talk about a subject can change our view of the subject text is almost always subject to interpretation language is not neutral and innocent it often contains values attitudes and assessments that the sender will convey to the recipient dimension 3 language creates opinions and characterizes our attitudes it creates social relationships and practices languages are associated with power languages are part of our communication communication is a social event and the language and the choice of words forms the context of our social community languages and communication are also closely linked to the society in which we are located in this connection society can be an organization where there are certain norms and traditions dimension 3 may apply to the entire organization for certain subjects while it is at departmental level for other subjects in certain special cases dimension 3 applies to transnational companies it requires a very strong company culture emirates airlines ikea and mcdonald's could be examples let's look at a case about a fire and rescue company with stations in every major city in the country the country in which the stations are placed has a low context culture the company is more than 100 years old and there are lots of traditions in the company one of these is an annual new year speech for the employees the speech is read by the local leader at the new year's parade at all stations at exactly the same hour the speech is also subsequently included in the staff magazine and posted online on the company's website afterwards this particular new year's speech in question was written and held at a time when there was a structural reform from the government that would affect the company severely and the speech became a means of communicating change it was a reform to the framework for the delivery of public and private services where the company in future would compete with other companies for their services where they had previously had a monopoly if we look at the speech through the fair class critical discourse analysis we have an analysis as follows the ceo has chosen to develop a speech that is unifying encouraging paternal and which also includes attitudes towards how the company should be regarded by the employees the ceo is the sender of the speech and the speech is an expression of how management views this structural change here we will look at a few word choices in the speech the word level that shows something about the intent of management and its translation we proceed with dimension one of the model word level talking to employees can give a picture of a solemn and old-fashioned ritual in the company with words like tradition believe and the past year we have a stable and old business in front of us later in the speech words such as deep thanks to the employees the ceo appears to be humble it gives both a recognizable tone and is partly family-oriented and educative we get a picture of a very traditional company with a management that sets the agenda with sentences like we are not here for our own sake and because there are some people in society who need us and later in the speech but we must also be aware that others do better and help cheaper so our entitlement is no longer applicable here we have management's view that the firefighters and the paramedics of the company work out of idealism and as heroes as in the first sentence we are not here for our own sake and the next sentence we must also be aware that there are changes on the way and it is no longer enough to be an idealistic rescuer the words and the way the speech is written is what we seek to understand by analyzing the text and thus dimension 1 in fairclough's model dimension 2 the discursive practice in the new year's speech is the way it is produced the form thus speaking and not writing also the author of the speech draws on other discourses in the text this is to say whether the author may have borrowed passages from other speeches for example the queen's new year speech as when the queen says a society like ours would not be able to function if there was no one who stayed at their post to ensure peace of mind for all of us on new year's eve we wish them all a happy new year and thank them for their efforts here we have threads that lead back to we are not here for our own sake but because there is someone in society who needs us dimension three social practice social practice is about the norms and traditions of the fire and rescue company the language really works in a company which has a patriarchal and organizational structure with authoritarian leadership at the top a kind of family structure where the father is speaking to his children in a young dynamic i.t company this kind of solemn speech which was subsequently included in a staff magazine would not work social practice is thus different from one industry to another and also within the industry there are major differences in social practice let us now take a look at a criticism of the model fairclough's critical discourse analysis model is difficult to understand and use and much literature has been written about it in this video we have solely discussed the principles of the model to form an understanding framework for it and its use for the analysis of change it works differently from culture to culture especially be careful with transfers between low and high context culture sometimes it's about what's not being said or written fair cuffs critical discourse analysis is very useful when you need to figure out what the sender wants to convey to the recipients and what behavior does the sender want from the recipients you