Advanced English for Institutional and Media Communication
A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis Approach
Course Description
This course introduces students to Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) as a practical and critical approach to the study of contemporary institutional and media communication.
Institutions and media organisations do not simply transmit information. Through language, images, design and other semiotic resources, they construct representations of people, events, identities and social issues. Universities, governments, corporations, healthcare organisations, NGOs and other institutions use discourse to establish authority, communicate values, legitimise actions and construct relationships with their audiences. Media organisations and digital platforms similarly shape how events and social actors are represented and understood.
The course provides students with a systematic set of tools for analysing these processes. Drawing primarily on Machin and Mayr (2023), How to Do Critical Discourse Analysis: A Multimodal Introduction, together with complementary work on institutional discourse and social representation, students learn how to examine linguistic and visual choices and their relationship to ideology, power and representation.
A further focus of the course is the rapidly changing relationship between AI and discourse. Students explore how generative AI is transforming the production and circulation of institutional and media texts and images, and consider questions of authorship, authenticity, representation, authority, credibility and bias.
The course is strongly practice-oriented. Students analyse authentic examples, participate in workshops, work collaboratively and progressively develop the skills needed to conduct their own MCDA research. The course is assessed through a written final exam.
A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis Approach
Course Description
This course introduces students to Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) as a practical and critical approach to the study of contemporary institutional and media communication.
Institutions and media organisations do not simply transmit information. Through language, images, design and other semiotic resources, they construct representations of people, events, identities and social issues. Universities, governments, corporations, healthcare organisations, NGOs and other institutions use discourse to establish authority, communicate values, legitimise actions and construct relationships with their audiences. Media organisations and digital platforms similarly shape how events and social actors are represented and understood.
The course provides students with a systematic set of tools for analysing these processes. Drawing primarily on Machin and Mayr (2023), How to Do Critical Discourse Analysis: A Multimodal Introduction, together with complementary work on institutional discourse and social representation, students learn how to examine linguistic and visual choices and their relationship to ideology, power and representation.
A further focus of the course is the rapidly changing relationship between AI and discourse. Students explore how generative AI is transforming the production and circulation of institutional and media texts and images, and consider questions of authorship, authenticity, representation, authority, credibility and bias.
The course is strongly practice-oriented. Students analyse authentic examples, participate in workshops, work collaboratively and progressively develop the skills needed to conduct their own MCDA research. The course is assessed through a written final exam.
- Docente: Andrea Mayr
- Docente: Giovanna Boccuzzo
- Docente: Claudia Franceschini
- Docente: Manuela Scioni