Dr. David Ayers

Associate Professor in Higher Education

Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language by Norman Fairclough

My career project has focused on how social institutions mediate the tensions between cultures of political economy on one hand and individual freedoms on the other. Critical Discourse Analysis has provided an analytical framework for pursuing this research agenda. In fact, Norman Fairclough's dialectical-relational approach to critical discourse analysis, which is detailed in this foundational text, inspired my first major publication, "Neoliberal Ideology in Community College Mission Statements". Although theories and methods of discourse analysis have advanced considerably since this book’s publication in 1995, I constantly re-read it, cite it, and refer it to students. Every time I open the book, I achieve a deeper level of understanding. Critical Discourse Analysis has special meaning for me indeed, and it is an honor to have my name printed in this bookplate.