Towards a Diagnostic Toolkit for the Language of Agency

Bibliographic Data

ID19003891
AuthorsAbigail W Konopasky, Abigail Konopasky (0000-0002-3033-5552, George Mason University, corresponding author), Kyoko Sheridan (0000-0002-1113-7788, George Mason University)
Year2016
Volume23
Issue2
Pages108-123
Publication date2016-01-14
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMind Culture and Activity (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1074-9039 • E-ISSN: 1532-7884
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10749039.2015.1128952
OpenAlexW2383029132
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited43

Agency—broadly, the capacity to produce effects—is a critical aspect of human activity, yet its multifaceted character makes analysis difficult. Drawing from functional linguistics, we propose a linguistic toolkit for analyzing the degree to which and manner in which speakers represent themselves as acting intentionally and autonomously. After a brief review of relevant agency literature, we propose three sets of grammatical tools, demonstrating their efficacy with a brief case study of 4 adult secondary learners' educational narratives. We find that our toolkit offers insight both across contexts within an individual and across individuals in a single context

Linguistics · Narrative · Social science · Sociology · Systemic functional linguistics · Computer Science · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · History · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Multilingual Education and Policy · Psychology

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