Productive turn in Discourse Analysis—— From Critical Discourse Analysis to Positive Discourse Analysis

The development in discourse analysis from Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to Positive Discourse Analysis (PDA) bears a great significance in its turn from being deconstructive to being productive. However, this significance has not been fully recognized in the linguistic circle because PDA is at its initial stage and needs to be further developed. This paper is intended to briefly review the features of CDA theory and practice, and to compare CDA and PDA introduced by Martin in terms of their advantages and disadvantages. Finally, the appraisal model by Habermas in the theory of communication action is drawn on to supplement the appraisal standards in PDA in an attempt to explore a more active approach in discourse analysis.