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historical studies and more (see, for example, Luke, 1997; Wetherell, 2001; and Threadgold
2003). CDA can be seen as part of a larger trend in qualitative research over the past couple
of decades that has seen a significant rise in cross-disciplinary research, as Denzin and
Lincoln point out:
…a blurring of disciplinary boundaries is taking place. The social and policy
sciences and the humanities are drawing closer together in a mutual focus on an
interpretive, qualitative approach to research and theory. (2005, p. ix)
Specifically referring to CDA, Chouliaraki and Fairclough point out “…the contemporary
field of critical analysis of discourse is quite diverse…some analysis of text…without
drawing on any linguistic theory” (1999, pp. 6-7). Where the methodology used for this
project differs significantly from its application in purely linguistic studies is that it is applied
on a macro level, as an overarching tool for the variety of primary and secondary sources
gathered and analysed, rather than looking at the specific and grammatical functions of
language (Martin & Wodak, 2003; van Dijk, 2001a, 2001b, 1997; Potter & Wetherell, 1994;
and discussed by Threadgold, 2003, p. 20 as a “no theory of grammar” approach). Instead,
language is analysed within its broader education and social context, specifically in the area
of History curriculum. By doing this, the focus of analysis is on the categories and discourses
that emerge through the texts explored. To clarify, although specific words, sentences and
paragraphs are closely analysed, a critique of the minutiae of grammar rules and linguistic
features does not form the approach taken in this project.
This attention to the macro level enables an analysis of discourses related to “…group or
institutional power and dominance, as well as social inequality…” (van Dijk, 2001b, p. 301)
to take place, and acknowledges that “…language is more than a sentence-level
phenomenon” (as cited in Pennycook, 1994, p. 116). This is an important point to outline for,
as Jaworski and Coupland point out, linguistics has traditionally been “…particularly narrow,
focusing on providing good descriptions of the grammar and pronunciation of utterances at
the level of the sentence” (2006, pp. 3-4). The expansion of the uses of this methodology is
explained by van Dijk as, “…discourse analysis has come of age, and is now much like the
other disciplines in the humanities and the social sciences, although a cross-disciplinary
nature guarantees continuous renewal and inspiration at the borders of existing domains of
knowledge” (1997, p. 32). More recently on this topic, van Dijk has discussed the
unnecessary need to analyse the genre structures, writing “…other structures, such as the
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