What is Functionalist approaches

This chapter presents and illustrates the theoretical and methodological frameworks of a discourse-oriented approach to the study of self-construction in computer-mediated discourse (CMD). It is argued that this approach is suitable for the study of CMD, when the major traces of self are imprinted in discourse – language used in a specific context. Espousing functionalist approaches to discourse analysis which view language resources as the building blocks of human communication the approach foregrounds the process of discursive positioning – a central theoretical construct and a methodological principle. It also shows how micro- and macro-levels of analysis can be integrated in the exploration of self-construction in CMD.