Discourse Specificity in Perspective of Linguistic Research

Abstract

The objective of the article is to provide a brief overview of the development of discourse theory in modern linguistics. The author analyzes the existing interpretations of the term discourse, its features and functions from the angle of a certain scientific approach (formal, functional, activity-oriented, cognitive and systemic functional). Main differences of discourse from text and from sentence are given, which makes objective grounds for the transition from text linguistics to discourse one. Furthermore, the specifics of discourse analysis, its object and goals are described. The presented research confirms the relevance of studying discourse as a complex system, the formation of which is influenced by many factors, for example, by the nature of language/speech, the character of interaction between communication partners, the system of their social knowledge and relations, etc. The emergence of discourse theory is of great importance in linguistics as it redirected the focus of research from language analysis exclusively within the framework of an isolated sentence to studying the meaning, form, and functioning of statements in context.