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Australian Journal of Linguistics

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How to Do Critical Discourse Analysis: A

Multimodal Introduction
a
Cunxin Han
a
Jimei University
Published online: 24 Apr 2015.

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To cite this article: Cunxin Han (2015): How to Do Critical Discourse Analysis: A Multimodal
Introduction, Australian Journal of Linguistics, DOI: 10.1080/07268602.2015.1033673

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 Australian Journal of Linguistics, 2015
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07268602.2015.1033673

Book Review

How to Do Critical Discourse Analysis: A Multimodal Introduction

DAVID MACHIN AND ANDREA MAYR
London: SAGE Publications, 2012, 236 pp.
Reviewed by CUNXIN HAN, Jimei University
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There is little doubt that language is the most important, but never the only, means
by which we communicate and create meaning; other resources for representing
meaning include images and architecture. O’Halloran (2004: 1) states, ‘To date, the
majority of research endeavours in linguistics have tended to concentrate solely on
language while ignoring, or at least downplaying, the contributions of other meaning-
making resources’. Because of this, Machin and Mayr’s book is a timely contribution.
In fact, David Machin had already written an introductory book on multimodal
analysis (2007); the book under review is simply more ‘critical’ than that one. There
are many books dedicated to the study of Multimodal Discourse (MD) or Critical
Discourse Analysis (CDA), but very few on the integration of them, i.e. Multimodal
Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA). This book therefore deserves attention from
those who have an interest in MD and/or CDA.
Apart from the introduction and conclusion, the book consists of eight chapters. In
the introduction, Machin and Mayr state that their goal is twofold. On the one hand,
they intend to ‘present a set of tools often used by critical discourse analysts and show
how these can be used to analyse a range of media texts’ (p. 1). Also, they will
introduce ‘a set of methods for more precisely analysing visual communication’
(p. 1). In addition to stating the goals of the book, the authors concisely review the
history of Critical Linguistics, CDA and MCDA. At the end of the introduction, they
present the layout of the book.
Chapter 1 introduces some major concepts and principles on which the authors’
approach is based. They acknowledge that their MCDA analysis is indebted to the
work of Halliday (1978, 1985). First, they explain what a ‘Social Semiotic view of
language’ (p. 15) is. They assert that such a view ‘emphasises the way that we should
see all communication, whether through language, images, or sounds, as accomp-
lished through a set of semiotic resources, options and choices’ (p. 15). Then, they
move on to examine how semiotic choices can be used to signify covert and
unspecified broader sets of associations. Finally, they explain how everyday identity
interplays with discourse, semiotic choices and signification.

© 2015 The Australian Linguistic Society

 2 Book Review
Chapter 2 presents the ‘toolkit for analysing the way that people make semiotic
choices in language and visual communication in order to achieve their communicative
aims’ (p. 30). In this chapter a wide range of texts, including mission statements
and news texts, are analyzed from the perspectives of connotations of words,
‘overlexicalisation’ (p. 37), ‘lexical absence’ (p. 38), ‘structural oppositions’ (p. 39),
‘lexical choices’ (p. 42) and ‘genre of communication’ (p. 42). With respect to ‘visual
semiotic choices’ (p. 36), the images on two homepages, the Heart of England Health
Trust homepage and the North Glamorgan Health Trust homepage, are analyzed in
terms of iconography, attributes, settings and salience. The authors conclude that

basic choice in words and iconography can be used to create a field of meaning.
This can serve to both foreground and background, or even suppress, some
meanings or to connote and symbolise others. This mapping proves an ideological
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interpretation of events and social practices, which imply identities and actions
even if not overtly stated. (p. 56)

Chapter 3 focuses on ‘semiotic resources available for representing the attitudes of

speakers’ (p. 11). Machin and Mayr have incorporated Caldas-Coulthard’s (1994)
framework into their discussion of the ‘meaning potentials of quoting verbs’ (p. 59).
They illustrate through three case studies that ‘Whole events, kinds of assertions and
issues can be shaped in texts simply by the attribution of certain kinds of quoting
verbs’ (p. 12). Next, they examine how such ‘visual semiotic resources’ (p. 77) as gaze
and poses can be utilized to represent speakers’ attitudes. They argue that every
choice carries significant meaning potential. For example, ‘Where a person does not
look out at the viewer there is a different kind of effect. There is no demand made on
the viewer. No response is expected’ (p. 71).
Chapter 4 is concerned with linguistic as well as visual semiotic resources for
‘[r]epresenting [p]eople’ (p. 77). It first illustrates ‘representational strategies’ (p. 77)
in language through three case studies. It then goes on to introduce representational
strategies in visual communication, including ‘[p]ositioning the viewer in relation to
people inside the image’ (p. 96), as well as individualization and collectivization.
Chapter 5 is ‘Representing action: transitivity and verb processes’. Machin and
Mayr acknowledge that ‘Analysis in this chapter is based in the first place around
Halliday’s six categories of verb process (Halliday 1985)’ (p. 12). Besides transitivity,
they also deal with ‘the grammatical positioning of actions’ (p. 12) and ‘actions …
represented in abstraction’ (p. 12). Finally, they discuss the ‘visual representation of
transitivity’ (p. 131). They conclude this chapter with the statement that ‘there could
be differences in linguistic and visual representations. Visually, a soldier might be
represented as being thoughtful and watchful while a text represents them behaving
aggressively’ (p. 136).
Chapter 6 draws our attention to ‘two linguistic strategies of concealment’ (p. 137);
these are nominalization and presupposition. The chapter begins by illustrating
several ‘effects of nominalisation’ (p. 13). It then moves on to the theme of ‘how to
make nominalised sentences’ (p. 144). Presupposition involves meanings which ‘are
 Book Review 3
assumed as given in a text’ (p. 153). The authors hold that ‘all language use is filled
with presupposition’ (p. 153). Presuppositions are often ‘deeply ideological’ (p. 153).
The authors illustrate this point with many examples, some in a political context.
Chapter 7 is entitled ‘Persuading through abstraction: rhetoric and metaphor’.
Machin and Mayr agree with the view ‘that metaphor is fundamental to human
thought and that metaphorical thinking underlies all of our statements about the world’
(p. 163), contrary to the ‘widely shared assumption that metaphor is about flowery
language, that it is something associated with poetry and creative writing’ (p. 163).
Chapter 8 treats modality, ‘a characteristic of language that tells us about people’s
commitment to what they say’ (p. 186). It deals with both ‘linguistic modality’ and
‘visual modality’ (p. 186). Hedging is also discussed in this chapter.
The conclusion first reviews some points on which CDA and MCDA have been
criticized, for example, lack of concern with the ‘processes of the production of texts’
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(p. 10). Then, some counter-criticisms by van Dijk, Fairclough and Wodak are
presented. Finally, some possible solutions in response to the criticisms are discussed,
including employing ‘ethnographic methods in CDA’ (p. 216).
This book is a genuine contribution to studies on CDA/MCDA. However, it does
have some limitations. First, it is no surprise to see it contributes little to theory, as its
emphasis is put on an introduction to the methods and tools of CDA/MCDA; it
borrows from the theoretical frameworks of Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar
and the visual grammar proposed by Kress and van Leeuwen. Second, an analysis of
visual representation is not found in Chapters 6 and 7. This will undoubtedly reduce
the coherence and reference value of the book. Third, it is impossible to gauge how
general the linguistic findings reported on in the book may be, since the studies
involved are all based on relatively small quantities of language data.
Despite these problems, the book excels in the following ways. First and foremost,
it has developed a critical approach to analyzing visual communication, which seemed
inaccessible before. In the second place, it is particularly useful for CDA/MCDA
practitioners in that it provides a large number of case studies along with various texts
and images for reference. It may help learners acquire the ‘set of tools’ for CDA/MCDA
quickly and subsequently conduct their own studies. Next, Machin and Mayr cite not
only linguists, but also some authors who wrote about visual representations, e.g.
Roland Barthes, which adds much credibility to their interpretation of images.
Finally, the authors are right to say that ‘what can be most difficult in carrying out
Critical Discourse Analysis is the critical analysis of texts that we agree with, which
are in accord with our own ideological viewpoint’ (p. 47). With this in mind, they
managed to avoid their own biases in analysis by checking constantly whether their
ideological stances would affect the interpretation of texts or images.
To sum up, this book is a very practical introduction to CDA/MCDA; it will be
useful not only for students and scholars of media and cultural studies (the groups
targeted by the authors), but also for those who are interested in textual linguistics. It
has certainly achieved the goals which were set out in its introduction.
 4 Book Review
References
Caldas-Coulthard C 1994 ‘On reporting reporting: the representation of speech in factual and
factional narratives’ in M Coulthard (ed.) Advances in Written Text Analysis London:
Routledge. pp. 295–308.
Halliday MAK 1978 Language as Social Semiotic London: Edward Arnold.
Halliday MAK 1985 Introduction to Functional Grammar London: Edward Arnold.
Machin D 2007 Introduction to Multimodal Analysis London: Hodder Arnold.
O’Halloran KL 2004 ‘Introduction’ in KL O’Halloran (ed.) Multimodal Discourse Analysis: systemic
functional perspectives London: Continuum. pp. 1–7.
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