In linguistics, discourse is natural spoken or written language in context, especially when complete texts are being considered discourse refers to a unit of language

Conversation analysis (CA) is a type of discourse analysis that looks at the structure and content of conversation. It looks at the way language is used to convey meaning, to establish relationships, and to make sense of the world. CA is often used to study how language is used in everyday life, such as in conversations between friends, family members, and colleagues.
Interactional sociolinguistics (IS) is a type of discourse analysis that looks at the way language is used in social interactions. It looks at how language is used to construct identities, to negotiate relationships, and to make sense of the world. IS is often used to study how language is used in social contexts, such as in online forums, chat rooms, and social media posts.
Narrative analysis (NA) is a type of discourse analysis that looks at the way language is used to tell stories. It looks at how language is used to construct and convey meaning, to establish relationships, and to make sense of the world. NA is often used to study how language is used in literary texts, such as novels, poems, and plays.
Approach #1: Language-in-use


Language-in-use approaches focus on the finer details of language used within discourse, such as sentence structures (grammar) and phonology (sounds). This approach is very descriptive and is seldom seen outside of studies focusing on literature and/or linguistics.
Approach #2: Socio-political
Socio-political approaches to discourse analysis look beyond the technicalities of language and instead focus on the influence that language has in social context, and vice versa. One of the main socio-political approaches is Critical Discourse Analysis, which focuses on power structures (for example, the power dynamic between a teacher and a student) and how discourse is influenced by society and culture.
To Persuade: This purpose of discourse analysis involves examining texts or communication to understand how they are designed to influence or convince an audience. Researchers analyze the rhetorical strategies, language choices, and persuasive techniques used in speeches, advertisements, political campaigns, and other persuasive contexts.
To Inform: In this context, discourse analysis is used to study how language is employed to convey information and facts to an audience. Researchers examine the clarity, accuracy, and organization of information in texts, news articles, educational materials, and other forms of communication with the primary goal of providing information.