THE MAIN DIRECTIONS OF DISCOURSE RESEARCH IN LINGUISTICS OF THE END OF THE 20TH – THE BEGINNING OF THE 21ST CENTURY

Abstract

The article updates the issue of the main directions of discourse research in linguistics of the late 20th – early 21st centuries and their characteristics. Various approaches to discourse research are considered, including critical discourse analysis, sociolinguistics of discourse, discursive grammar, multimodal discourse, discursive psycholinguistics. The scientific work states that discourse research has become relevant in connection with the growing interest in language as a social phenomenon, and the interest of linguists in the study of discourse is associated with a change in the priority of the subject of research in the second half of the 20th century, with the transition from the study of the structure of language to its functioning. In addition, the article examines the concept of discourse as a social phenomenon in detail, noting that discourse reflects a broad context that forms its meaning, and also outlines the relationship between linguistics and other sciences, such as psychology, sociology, and others. The views of linguists on the directions of discourse research are considered and systematized, and the sources of these views are also identified. It was determined that, depending on the methodological orientation, scientists distinguish such directions of discourse research as formal, functional and activity. It has been proven that the directions of discourse research are interconnected. Each direction differs in that attention is focused on one specific aspect of discourse. Each of the abovementioned areas of research undoubtedly contributes to a comprehensive analysis, description and understanding of the sociolinguistic phenomenon of discourse, which increasingly acquires an interdisciplinary status and becomes the object of the latest theoretical trends and scientific disciplines – theories of discourse, discourse analysis, discursive linguistics. It was determined that approaches to the study of discourse allow us to consider speech not only as a means of communication, but also in a certain way as a phenomenon that affects cultural phenomena, social reality, and human feelings and emotions. Thus, the research directions of the concept of discourse in linguistics at the end of the 20th century remain relevant and form the basis for the further development of this area of research.