Discourse Analysis and Foreign Language Teaching

Abstract

This paper aims to expand the horizons of teaching foreign languages by going beyond the syntax of sentences to include the field of discourse analysis, through exploring a variety of discourses and examining their semantic structure. It also discusses the important role played by discourse analysis in modern sciences, particularly teaching foreign languages. The paper does not discuss the details of teaching a foreign language system and all its sub branches but rather addresses some general aspects of discourse analysis, which may be employed by foreign language instructors. The most important chapter of this paper is the one that draws different relations between discourse analysis and the various elements of the educational process, including the instructor, the student, the curriculum and the different methods of teaching foreign languages.