Discourse and Language : a social perspective

Abstract

This work is a review of the literature of the concepts of discourse and language, under a social perspective which goes beyond the linguistic issue. The concepts are discussed critically: the notion of discourse, under the light of socio-construcionism, in which social interactions are constructed within and emerge from discourse, and, lined up with this view, the systemic-functional theory, according to which language is the product of the interaction among text, its interlocutors and the social environment in which all are inserted.

Keywords: discourse, language, socio-construcionism, systemic-functional linguistics