Representation of Critical Discourse Analysis Models in Research Questions and Objectives of Pakistani Discourse Research Articles: A Qualitative Analysis

Abstract

Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is a discipline that examines written and spoken texts in order to uncover the discursive sources of power, inequality, and ideological bias, and to investigate how such discursive materials are preserved and reproduced in different social, political, and historical settings (van Dijk, 1998). The present study aims to examine, firstly, whether the CDA models proposed by Norman Fairclough and Teun van Dijk are appropriately reflected in the research questions of Pakistani discourse research articles, and secondly, whether the research questions of the selected Pakistani discourse research articles adequately fulfil the methodological requirements of their respective stated objectives. For the purposes of data collection, sixteen Pakistani research articles on critical discourse analysis, published between 2013 and 2021, were selected through a purposive random sampling procedure. A checklist was developed as an analytical instrument, drawing upon the key theoretical features of the CDA frameworks proposed by Fairclough (2001, 2003) and van Dijk (1998, 2003). The findings indicate that only a limited number of features from the selected CDA models are appropriately reflected in the research questions of the sampled Pakistani discourse articles. Furthermore, it is observed that all the checklist features identified in the research questions of the selected articles have correspondingly been found within their stated research objectives. The study is likely to be of considerable value to researchers engaged in CDA-related scholarship, as it delineates the existing gap between established CDA theoretical models and the research questions and objectives formulated in Pakistani academic discourse research.