VOICING DYSLEXIA: A COGNITIVE DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE PROCESSING IN INDIAN MOVIE TAARE ZAMEEN PAR (2007)

Abstract

Dyslexia is a learning disability related to neurodevelopment involving ongoing challenges in reading, spelling, and language processing, frequently misunderstood within schooling contexts as motivational or behavioral problems. This qualitative psycholinguistic investigation utilizes Cognitive Discourse Analysis (CODA) to analyze dyslexia through Ishaan Awasthi, the central character in the Indian film Taare Zameen Par (2007), using language, behavior, and learning episodes. In contrast to traditional clinical tests, this qualitative approach highlights how language identifies beneath-the-surface cognitive strategies, phonological constraints, and affective processes. Selected scenes and conversations are examined in this study using CODA's framework, documenting orthographic confusion, phonological misperception, decreased capacity for working memory, lexical retrieval slowness, and metacognitive coping behaviors. Through this analysis, Ishaan's language behavior reveals itself to be a rich site for a glimpse into dyslexic processing mechanisms. The results indicate, however, that his mistakes are not random ones but reflect a systematic cognitive profile characterized by compensatory verbal behaviour and affective withdrawal. The study also demonstrates how misaligned pedagogic response widens his problems, emphasizing the need for diagnostic sensitivity and inclusive educational discourse. By combining psycholinguistics, media studies of narrative, and special education research, this thesis not only expands our knowledge about dyslexia beyond standardized tests but also consolidates film studies as a medium for cognitive-linguistic inquiry. The findings call for more linguistically grounded, sympathetic, and context-sensitive educational intervention.