Discourse
Discourse is the study of different segments in a language that communicate a complex meaning or idea. It examines the components of language that can be larger or smaller than a single thought but in combination always means more than any one word, sentence or even an entire book or speech. It analyzes the overall significance and purpose of communicating within language.
It applies to both spoken and written language and can not be confined to sentential boundaries, in other words the order of connected words or sentences. The links between thoughts and ideas that are connected in a discourse are as important as the links between the clauses in a sentence and go beyond the limits of any individual phrase or utterance.
Method of Teaching
A middle school computer science teacher begins a lesson about artificial intelligence by asking students what they believe the advantages and disadvantages are for developing new technologies that are programmed to think for us. Students work together by pairing up with a partner and creating a list of advantages and disadvantages, then they share their lists with the rest of the class.
Next, the students watch a short video about all the different ways that artificial intelligence is being developed today and the ways it could potentially be used in the future. After that, the teacher conducts a class discussion about if artificial intelligence is a 'good' or 'bad' thing. Finally, students participate by expressing whether they believe it is harmful or helpful to human beings and each student must defend one side or the other in the discussion.
