MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY TRAN THI THU THUY INTERPERSONAL MEANINGS IN AMERICAN PRESIDENTS DONALD TRUMP’S AND JOE BIDEN’S SPEECHES ABOUT THE COVID‑19 PANDEMIC: A COMPARATIVE STUDY. Field: The English Language Code: 8220201 Supervisor: Assoc. Nguyen Thi Thu Hien BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN TRẦN THỊ THU THÚY NGHÊN CỨU SO SÁNH CÁC NÉT NGHĨA LIÊN NHÂN TRONG DIỄN NGÔN CỦA TỔNG THỐNG MỸ DONALD TRUMP VÀ JOE BIDEN VỀ ĐẠI DỊCH COVID-19 Chuyên ngành: Ngôn Ngữ Anh Mã Số: 8220201 Người hướng dẫn: PGS. Nguyễn Thị Thu Hiền i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby declare that the thesis entitled “Interpersonal meanings in American presidents Donald Trump’s and Joe Biden’s speeches about the covid‑19 pandemic: a comparative study” is entirely my own original work.
In addition, I emphasize that the thesis has not been accepted for any degree and is not simultaneously submitted to any candidature for any degree or diploma. Any works of other authors consulted in this thesis are listed in the reference. Quy Nhon, 2023 Signature TRAN THI THU THUY ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of this graduation thesis is the result of not only my own efforts but also the assistance of organizations and individuals to whom I would like to express my sincerest appreciation. First and foremost, I am profoundly thankful to my supervisor, Assoc.
Nguyen Thi Thu Hien, for the thoughtful guidance, critical comments, and precious advice that she provided me. Without her endless patience and constant encouragement during the process of conducting this study, the work would never have been completed. Secondly, I am deeply grateful to all the lecturers not only from Quy Nhon University, but also from other universities for their whole-hearted contribution to sharpening my academic knowledge during the previous semesters. Thirdly, I would like to sincerely thank the Department of Postgraduate Training and the Department of Foreign Languages of Quy Nhon University for their cooperation and support.
Last but not least, I would like to thank my beloved family and friends, who have always believed in me and given me the strength to overcome all the troubles I encountered during the fulfillment of this research. Quy Nhon, 2023 iii ABSTRACT This study aims to explore the interpersonal meanings in the speeches of Joe Biden and Donald Trump on the topic of COVID-19 using the frameworks of Systemic Functional Grammar and Appraisal Theory. Specifically, this study examines the Mood system and Attitudinal resources as a means of revealing the interpersonal meanings in the speeches. The study utilizes both qualitative and quantitative approaches to ensure the most robust results possible.
A data set of 10 speeches by Joe Biden and 10 speeches by Donald Trump, each with an average length of 800 words, is analyzed to identify notable trends and patterns. The findings suggest that both politicians use declarative and imperative moods effectively, while minimizing the use of interrogative mood. Trump frequently used modal auxiliary verbs and modal adjuncts to convey his opinions and level of confidence, while Biden used them to emphasize the urgency of taking action and instill hope for the future. Additionally, Trump relied more heavily on Affect resources, while Biden used more instances of Judgment and Appreciation.
The study suggests that the use of Attitudinal resources in language can provide insight into a politician's communication style and their strategies for appealing to different audiences. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF ABBREVIATONS.
vi LIST OF TABLES. vii LIST OF FIRGURES. Aims and Objectives of the Study. Scopes of the Study.
Significance of the Study. Organization of the Study. Systemic Functional Grammar. The Ideational Metafunction.
The Textual Metafunction. The Interpersonal Metafunction. A review of previous studies related to the topic. Reliability and Validity of the Study.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. Interpersonal meaning expressed by Mood system. Interpersonal meaning expressed by Modality system .Interpersonal meaning expressed by Modal Auxiliary.Interpersonal meaning expressed by Modal Adjuncts. Interpersonal meaning expressed by Attitudinal resources.
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS. Limitations for further research. Recommendations for Future Research. 101 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATONS SFG Systemic Functional Grammar SFL Systemic Functional Linguistics DTSs Donald Trump’s speeches JBSs Joe Biden’s speeches vii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.
Typical functions of group and phrase classes (Halliday 1994 :109). The speech roles and the speech functions (Halliday, 1994). Finite Verbal Operators (Halliday and Matthiessen, 2014). Modalization and Modulation (Halliday, 1994:91).
The monoglossic and the heteroglossic (Martin and White,2005). Judgment – Social Esteem (Martin and White, 2005). Judgment – social sanction (Martin and White, 2005). Sub-types of Appreciation (Martin and White, 2005).
Mood Types in Joe Biden’s speeches and Donald Trump’s speeches. Frequency of modal verbs in Donald Trump’s speeches. Attitudinal resources in DTSs and JBSs. Distribution of parts of speeches of Affec resources in Donald Trump’s and Joe Biden’s speeches.
Distribution of parts of speeches of Judgment resources in Donald Trump’s and Joe Biden’s speeches. 82 viii LIST OF FIRGURES Figure 2. An overview of Appraisal resources (Martin and White, 2005). The engagement-contract: disclaim (Martin and White, 2005:122).
Error! Bookmark not defined. Force: intensification – quality and process. Appreciation values in Donald Trump’s and Joe Biden’s speeches. Rationale The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020.
The pandemic has had a significant impact on the world, especially in the United States, where political leaders have been scrutinized for their handling of the crisis. Donald Trump and Joe Biden are two of the most prominent political figures in the United States and have had differing approaches to handling the pandemic. As country leaders, their speeches have a significant impact on strengthening the relationship with the community in order to influence people’s behavior and attitudes toward this problem. In the realm of social communication, the language used reflects an individual's social identity, relationships, and cultural norms, as noted by Tannen (1990).
Effective organization of speech is essential for establishing an interpersonal connection between the speaker and listener. The theory of interpersonal meaning provides a framework for analyzing social interactions between speakers and their audience. Numerous perspectives with varying frameworks have been employed in researching interpersonal meaning, with Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) gaining increased attention in recent years. Scholars have extensively researched language from the perspectives of metafunctions, which include the ideational, interpersonal, and textual dimensions.
Among these dimensions, the interpersonal meaning has received significant attention and contributions from researchers across academic genres, including news reporting, commentary, editorials, and advertising. 2 Huang and Lin (2019) conducted research to investigate the use of interpersonal meaning in news reports about political events. Their analysis of the language used in news reports about the 2018 US midterm elections revealed that the use of evaluative language and personal pronouns was associated with a higher degree of subjectivity and bias in reporting. Similarly, Abolfazli and Azizifar (2019) used Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) to investigate the use of interpersonal metafunction markers in the presidential debates between Trump and Clinton.
Their study revealed that the candidates employed various types of markers to establish their identity and authority. In addition, Chen and Baker (2020) conducted a study that investigated the use of modality in political speeches about climate change. They found that politicians strategically used modality to appeal to different audiences and to present themselves as knowledgeable and trustworthy. Appraisal Theory, which is derived from Systemic Functional Linguistics, aims to investigate how individuals describe interpersonal meanings in texts (Martin & White, 2005).
This theory focuses on how speakers intensify emotions and utilize multiple voices in their discourses. It provides systematic techniques for analyzing evaluation and stance in texts, with a primary focus on the social function of these resources rather than the ways in which writers or speakers convey their emotions and positions. The Appraisal framework comprises the following three subsystems: Attitude, Graduation, and Engagement. Attitude involves analyzing how writers or speakers express their emotions and opinions towards entities, situations, or people.
Graduation encompasses the extent to which evaluative meanings are intensified or downplayed in a text. Engagement refers to the way in which writers or speakers align themselves with their audience or context, including the level of directness, inclusiveness, and rapport-building strategies they utilize. 3 A study conducted by Liu and Wang (2019) used Appraisal Theory to analyze the interpersonal meaning in the speeches of former UK Prime Minister Theresa May. The study found that May used a combination of positive and negative Appraisals to construct her identity and establish rapport with her audiences, while also signaling her authority and power as a political leader.
Additionally, Opstaele (2008) found that both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama used a variety of Appraisal resources in their speeches to manage their own identities and those of their opponents. However, Clinton used more resources for Affect, whereas Obama used more resources for Appreciation and Engagement. The study also found that Clinton focused more on the past, while Obama focused more on the future. These studies demonstrate the value of using Appraisal Theory and SFL to examine the interpersonal meaning in political discourse and highlight the different ways in which politicians use language to construct their identity, authority, and relationships with their audiences.
Several Vietnamese linguists have employed Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) as an analytical tool to investigate the various meanings of discourse. For instance, Nguyen Hoa (1999) explored the ideational and interpersonal meanings in Vietnamese poems through a systemic approach. Nguyen Hoa argued that the interpersonal meanings in poetry were closely related to cultural values and the poet's intentions in creating the poem. Nguyen Thi Thu Hien (2009) analyzed the interpersonal meanings in Vietnamese tourist brochures employing SFL.
The study found that the tourist brochures used various linguistic devices to create a positive image of Vietnam and to establish a rapport with the target audience. Ton Nu My Nhat (2004) applied SFL to analyze the interpersonal meanings in Vietnamese advertising language. The study found that advertising language used various strategies to appeal to the reader's emotions and to establish credibility and trust. The research conducted 4 by these scholars suggests that SFL can be a useful tool to investigate the interpersonal meanings in various types of discourse in the Vietnamese language.
Moreover, scholars have utilized the Appraisal Theory to analyze various types of discourse, highlighting its significance in discourse analysis. These investigations have included research on examining interpersonal meaning through the simultaneous application of Systemic Functional Grammar and the Appraisal framework, as demonstrated by Nguyen Thi Thu Hien (2016), Montemayor-Borsinger (2008), and Pascual (2010). Recent works by Nguyen Thi Thu Hien (2017) have further emphasized the diverse applicability of the evaluative theory in investigating the interpersonal meanings of discourse across genres, such as academic research, news, and spoken discourse. Despite previous research that has employed SFL as analytical frameworks to explore different types of discourse, a literature gap exists regarding an approach that integrates both frameworks as its principal foundation for analyzing political spoken discourse.
Therefore, this study aims to bridge this gap by performing a comprehensive analysis of the interpersonal meanings conveyed through political speeches regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, delivered by Donald Trump and Joe Biden using a mixed approach. By examining the interpersonal meanings in the speeches of both candidates, this study can provide insight into their leadership styles, perspectives on the pandemic, and ability to connect with their audience. The comparative examination of the interpersonal meanings in their speeches may reveal differences and similarities in their language use, contributing to a deeper understanding of their communication strategies. Aims and Objectives of the Study 1.