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Topic · Literature and Literary Theory

Discourse Analysis in Language Studies

Discourse Analysis in Language Studies is a research topic within Literature and Literary Theory. Science Explorer counts 33k research works in it since 1950. 10.1% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on discourse analysis in academic writing, with a particular emphasis on critical discourse, corpus linguistics, metadiscourse, genre pedagogy, and multimodality. It explores the language and social interactions within academic and media discourses, including the use of lexical bundles and rhetorical structures to convey specific meanings and ideologies.

  • Discourse Analysis
  • Academic Writing
  • Critical Discourse
  • Corpus Linguistics
  • Metadiscourse
  • Genre Pedagogy
  • Multimodality
  • Lexical Bundles
  • Social Interaction
  • Rhetorical Structure
Research works
33k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
3.4k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.1%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+3%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
25% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Discourse Analysis in Language Studies

Which countries lead Discourse Analysis in Language Studies research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (1.1k and 1.1k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 1.1k works
  2. 2 China 1.1k works
  3. 3 Indonesia 598 works
  4. 4 Brazil 371 works
  5. 5 United Kingdom 351 works
  6. 6 Spain 222 works
  7. 7 Pakistan 213 works
  8. 8 Iraq 193 works
  9. 9 Russia 176 works
  10. 10 Nigeria 167 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 24.6%China: 23.9%Indonesia: 13.4%Brazil: 8.3%6 others listed: 29.8%25%largest
United States1,092 · 24.6%China1,061 · 23.9%Indonesia598 · 13.4%Brazil371 · 8.3%6 others listed1,323 · 29.8%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Discourse Analysis in Language Studies research?

By volume in 2022-now, Hong Kong Polytechnic University publishes the most Discourse Analysis in Language Studies research, followed by Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and Xi'an International Studies University.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityChina 46 works
  2. 2 Guangdong University of Foreign StudiesChina 28 works
  3. 3 Xi'an International Studies UniversityChina 28 works
  4. 4 Indonesia University of EducationIndonesia 25 works
  5. 5 Lancaster UniversityUnited Kingdom 24 works
  6. 6 Center for Applied LinguisticsUnited States 23 works
  7. 7 Universidade Federal de Minas GeraisBrazil 23 works
  8. 8 University of BaghdadIraq 22 works
  9. 9 University of HelsinkiFinland 22 works
  10. 10 Universiti Teknologi MARAMalaysia 22 works

Who are the leading researchers in Discourse Analysis in Language Studies?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Discourse Analysis in Language Studies include Michel Foucault and Erving Goffman.

  1. 1 Michel Foucault France 208k citations
  2. 2 Erving Goffman United States 133k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Discourse Analysis in Language Studies?

The most cited paper in Discourse Analysis in Language Studies is "Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language" (Norman L. Fairclough, 1995), with 6,769 citations. Next come "Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis" (5,049) and "Action and embodiment within situated human interaction" (3,047).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language Norman L. Fairclough 1995 6,769
2 Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis Teun A. van Dijk · Discourse & Society Apr 1993 5,049
3 Action and embodiment within situated human interaction Charles Goodwin · Journal of Pragmatics Sep 2000 3,047
4 A classification of illocutionary acts John Rogers Searle · Language in Society Apr 1976 3,041
5 Genre as social action Carolyn R. Miller · Quarterly Journal of Speech May 1984 2,878
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Discourse Analysis in Language Studies research done?

The largest centres of Discourse Analysis in Language Studies research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Guangzhou (China), Shanghai (China) and Hong Kong (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Lancaster.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 152 works
  2. 2 GuangzhouChina 86 works
  3. 3 ShanghaiChina 82 works
  4. 4 Hong KongChina 79 works
  5. 5 MoscowRussia 76 works
  6. 6 BandungIndonesia 64 works
  7. 7 MedanIndonesia 61 works
  8. 8 LondonUnited Kingdom 60 works
  9. 9 YogyakartaIndonesia 53 works
  10. 10 Xi'anChina 51 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. LancasterGB · 24.1 works12×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Discourse Analysis in Language Studies than the world average.

See Discourse Analysis in Language Studies on the map

Where is the best place to study Discourse Analysis in Language Studies?

Among universities, judged by research, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, University of Macau and Lancaster University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 28.33%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →University of AucklandUniversity of MacauHong Kong Polytechni…Lancaster University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityChina 82.727.1%8.0×46 +26.7%
2University of MacauChina 69.429.7%7.5×16 +35.2%
3Lancaster UniversityUnited Kingdom 66.524.6%13.6×24 +0.7%
4University of AucklandNew Zealand 61.436.7%3.6×13 -4.8%
5Jilin UniversityChina 61.245.3%1.5×11 +121.2%
6University of JordanJordan 56.327.9%7.0×13 +50.0%
7Education University of Hong KongChina 55.629.5%10.3×10 +129.5%
8University of International Business and EconomicsChina 55.325.7%20.6×13 +144.8%
9Shanghai International Studies UniversityChina 55.221.6%29.6×19 +223.9%
10Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz UniversitySaudi Arabia 54.015.2%9.4×16 +108.5%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Discourse Analysis in Language Studies, country by country

Is Discourse Analysis in Language Studies research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 3% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Discourse Analysis in Language Studies.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Discourse Analysis in Language Studies as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.030% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%Discourse Analysis in Language Studies0.032% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Discourse Analysis in Language Studies over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Discourse Analysis in Language Studies10.6% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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