The Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse, Essay Example

Based on the presented telephone dialogue, it is clear that the intentionality related to this phone call is that the caller is angry. It appears that Ben is late and this has happened repeatedly, causing a sense of annoyance. Furthermore, this individual chooses to act upon this anger by leaving Ben. This annoyance is evident not only by the word choice used, but also by the shortness of the word choice. The reader or listener knows that the speaker is in a rush, which is evidenced by his word choice.

The situationally of this conversation is reflected by the fact that the plane leaves at 7 AM and Ben is late. It is likely that this same annoyance would not have been exhibited if it weren’t so close to takeoff. If Ben was late an hour earlier, it would not be necessary for this same anger or annoyance to be conveyed.

The context of the situation is particularly important as well. Because the speaker is along and was relying in Ben to show up on time, he is annoyed at Ben’s lack of ability to make it to the airport. Based on this situation, the reader is clear that Ben and the speaker have plans to meet up and the speaker is annoyed when this does not happen. If the two did not have plans to meet, there would have been no reason for the speaker to have been annoyed at Ben and it is likely that this relationship would have gone completely unharmed.

Works Cited

Jaworski, A. and Coupland, N. (eds). The Discourse Reader. London: Routledge, 1999.

Johnstone, B. Discourse analysis. Oxford: Blackwell, 2002.

Keller, R. The Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse (SKAD). In: Human Studies 34.1(2011): 43-65.

Keller, R. Doing Discourse Research. An Introduction for Social Scientists. London: Sage, 2013.