Resources for discourse analysis in composition studies

This review essay first describes new resources for discourse analysis from the field of linguistics and then considers resources for discourse analysis within the field of composition studies. The essay focuses upon three areas in composition studies: applied linguistics and the study of academic discourse, discourse analysis and the study of texts in a variety of contexts, and discourse analysis in an interdisciplinary relationship with English studies. The essay argues for an increased role for discourse analysis in the field of composition studies, based upon its methodological potential to answer questions about the production, interpretation, and acquisition of written language.