Towards an explanatory critique of social reality: how critical realism can frame the application of critical discourse analysis in educational research

Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is known for its capacity to reveal ideology reproduced through discourse, but when applied to educational research, its focus on mere language constrains its utility for understanding and improving social reality. In this paper, through the example of a textbook st...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCambridge journal of education Vol. 54; no. 2; pp. 183 - 198
Main Authors Huang, Pingping, Pu, Shi
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge Routledge 03.03.2024
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Critical discourse analysis
Critical realism
Discourse analysis
Education
Educational research
Epistemology
Human agency
Ontology
Positivism
Reality
Reflexivity
Research design
research methodology
textbook
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Summary:Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is known for its capacity to reveal ideology reproduced through discourse, but when applied to educational research, its focus on mere language constrains its utility for understanding and improving social reality. In this paper, through the example of a textbook study, we explore how CDA can be strengthened by critical realism. As a theory of ontology and epistemology, critical realism seeks to explain how causal mechanisms in society constrain and enable the emergence of human agency. As a practical framework, it can offer a research design for the textbook study, featured by a stratified ontology, a dialectic epistemology and a methodological requirement for self-reflexivity. Such a design can overcome the limitations of positivism and interpretivism. It can enable CDA to demonstrate both criticalness and a higher level of explanatory power, with the potential to identify real (rather than Utopian) possibilities for human emancipation.
ISSN:0305-764X
1469-3577
DOI:10.1080/0305764X.2024.2335165