VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES ********************* NGUYỄN KIỀU LƢƠNG A PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS OF PERSON DEIXIS IN JOHN KERRY’S REMARKS ON CLIMATE CHANGE Một phân tích ngữ dụng về chỉ xuất về ngôi trong bài phát biểu của John Kerry về biến đổi khí hậu M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code:60220201 HANOI - 2016 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES ********************* NGUYỄN KIỀU LƢƠNG A PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS OF PERSON DEIXIS IN JOHN KERRY’S REMARKS ON CLIMATE CHANGE Một phân tích ngữ dụng về chỉ xuất về ngôi trong bài phát biểu của John Kerry về biến đổi khí hậu M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code:60220201 Supervisor: Assoc. Ngô Hữu Hoàng HANOI - 2016 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com DECLARATION I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “A pragmatic analysis of person deixis in John Kerry’s remarks on climate” is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at the University of Languages and International Studies, Viet Nam National University, and that this thesis has not been submitted for any other degrees.
Hanoi, March 2016 Nguyễn Kiề u Lƣơng i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express the deepest appreciation to my supervisor, Associate Professor Dr. Ngô Hữu Hoàng for helping me complete this study. This paper would not have been accomplished without his expert, constant and valuable guidance and encouragement. His patience and helpful criticism helped me confidently express my ideas into this paper.
I also wish to express my sincere thanks to all my lecturers at the Faculty of Graduate and Postgraduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies for their valuable lectures which have helped me a great deal in gaining a lot of theoretical as well as practical knowledge. My special thanks also go to my colleagues at Bill Gates International Secondary and High Schools for their enthusiastic help and support with my teaching schedule at school which gave me precious time to deal with my thesis. Finally, I would also like to express my deep gratitude and love to my devoted parents and my sister who gave me time and encouraged me to overcome all obstacles during the accomplishment of this study. ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ABSTRACT This study is conducted to identify the person deixis used in John Kerry‟s Remarks on Climate Change and the purposes of its usage seen from political angle.
Qualitative research methodology is applied to analyze the data. From the point of view of several theoretical concepts in the field of pragmatics namely person deixis, referents, the role of context, person deixis in the speech is investigated according to its subdivisions. The results reveal that “I” and “we” are dominantly employed by the speaker. “We” functions to involve himself as participant while “I” functions as self positioning.
Following the evaluation of the results, a discussion of the person deixis usage and its role on political goals is presented which shows that “we” is employed to preserve friendship between John Kerry and the audience. The last pages of this study are devoted for the implications for teaching and learning pragmatics as well as suggestions for further research. iii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration ……………………………………………………………………….iii PART 1 INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale for the study.
Aim and scope of the study. Aim of the study…………………………………………………………………. Scope of the study………………………………………………………………………. Design of the study.
2 PART 2 DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I A BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY. The Role of Person deixis in Political Communication………………………………. The Role of Context in Using Deixis. The Situational Context/ Exophoric Reference.
The Background Knowledge Context. Co-textual Context……. Political Discourse Propaganda. 15 CHAPTER II METHODOLOGY.
Research methods and instruments. Data of the study. 17 CHAPTER III FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Kinds of Person deixis used in John Kerry‟s Remarks on Climate Change.
Referents and Political Purposes of Person deixis used in John Kerry‟s Remarks on Climate Change. 19 iv TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. First Person deixis. First Person Singular.
First Person Plural. Second Person Deixis. Second Person Singular. Second Person Plural.
Third Person deixis. Third Person Singular. Third Person Plural. Implications of the study.
Implication for teaching pragmatics…………………………………………. Implication on learning pragmatics……………………………………………………. Limitations of the study. Suggestions for further research .I v TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 1.
US : United States 2. L2 : Second Language vi TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF FIGURES Figures Page Figure 1: Subdivision of singular person deixis 7 Figure 2: Subdivision of plural person deixis 7 Figure 3: References of context 13 Figure 4: Kinds of person deixis used in John Kerry‟s Remarks on Climate 18-19 Change Figure 5: Occurrence of first person singular 20 Figure 6: Occurrence of first person plural 23 Figure 7: Occurrence of second person deixis 31 Figure 8: Occurrence of third person singular 33 Figure 9: Occurrence of third person plural 36 vii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com PART 1 INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale for the study There is a close relationship between language and politics. According to Adetunji (2006:1), the former is the medium which the society used for the purposes of communication and cohabitation while the latter is considered the ideas and activities used for gaining and exercising power in society.
In addition, Wodak and de Cillia (2006:709) claim that there is no clear-cut distinction between language and politics, and they are two overlapping subjects. As a result, when investigating one of these subjects, the other also needs to be concerned. Wind et al. (1989:26) highlights that deixis is a universal element of languages.
It is a linguistic phenomenon attracting much concern from linguists. Deixis is used widely by people from all over the world, regardless of personality, the culture and country they come from. However, the way people employ deictic expressions in their communication differs from one person to another owing to their distinctive characteristics, education level, social class, communicative purposes and so forth. Among the five common types of deixis in languages: person, time, place, discourse and social deixis, person deixisis is perhaps the worthiest considering as it deals with the roles participating in a speech event.
This study is aimed to investigate how person deixis is employed by John Kerry as a speaker with great power and potential influence on the audiences. It is worth mentioning that in politics speaker normally adjust what they say to suit the social-political reaction they anticipate from the audience (Joseph, 2006:43). The forms of adjustment itself vary from metonymy to the use of person deixis (Beard, 2000:24-36). Person deixis, within its simplicity, contains broad interpretation since it is interpreted based on its context, not dictionary meaning.
1 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com The existence of significant meaning of deixis in a political speech leads to the belief that the deictic expressions in John Kerry‟s speech also have significant interpretation beyond their dictionary meanings. That is why this speech is chosen to be analyzed. Aim and scope of the study 2. Aim of the study The aim of this study is to enrich the knowledge of deixis in use, especially to investigate person deixis in political speech.
Consequently, communication can be enhanced. This study is expected to give significant knowledge to the students about political communication; hence, they can be more aware of statements coming from politicians. In terms of English teaching, this study is expected contribute to the understanding of deixis and its use in an English utterance, especially when it is spoken by a native speaker. Research questions To achieve the aim of this research, the following questions are set: What kinds of person deixis are used in John Kerry‟s remarks on climate change? What are the referents of person deixis used in John Kerry‟s remarks on climate change? What are the political communication purpose(s) achieved by using the person deixis in the speech? 2.
Scope of the study This small piece of work is not expected to cover all the aspects relating to deixis. Owing to the time constraint and knowledge of the writer, this study is limited to the use of person deixis in only one speech. Other types of deixis namely spatial, temporal, social, and discourse deixis are beyond the scope of the study. Design of the study The study is presented as follows.
2 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Part 1 – Introduction mentions some suggestions and fundamental ideas to lead in the main part of the thesis. Chapter I includes “the rationale of the study”, “the aim of the study”, “the research questions”, “the method of the study”, “the scope of the study”, and “the design of the study”, respectively. Part 2 – Development contains of three chapters. Chapter I – A background to the study deals with the theoretical background that inspires the thesis and the related literature review of person deixis in political communication.
Chapter II – Methodology presents the methodology and procedure in data collection and analysis applied in this study. The writer describes her research design and the way she collected, classified and analyzed the data. Chapter III - Findings and Discussion analyzes the collected data then withdraws the final conclusions of the thesis. Further discussion on findings will be presented with examples that emerge from the data analysis as well as the personal interpretations and comments from the author.
Part 3 - Conclusion gives the summary of the thesis by providing answers to the research questions presented. Implications for teaching and learning pragmatics derived from the thesis are also revealed in this chapter. Finally, the writer will review the limitations of this study and make suggestions for further research. 3 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com PART 2 DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I A BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 1.
Political discourse Discourse is such a broad term with many definitions, ranging from linguistics through other disciplines. Teun A van Dijk generally considered discourse as text in context (Horváth, 2009: 45). From this, it can be concluded that the term “discourse” is wider than “text” as “discourse” refers to the whole process of social interaction of which a text is just a part” (Fairclough, 1989: 24). According to Schaffner (1996), political discourse, as a sub-category of discourse in general, can be based on two criteria: functional and thematic.
Political discourse is a result of politics and it is historically and culturally determined. It fulfills different functions due to different political activities. It is thematic because its topics are primarily related to politics such as political activities, political ideas and political relations. Van Dijk (2009: 1) emphasized that a discourse cannot be fully understood without understanding its context.
Therefore, in order to achieve a comprehensive analysis, the context of the John Kerry‟s remarks on climate change was explained. The writer focused on information about the speaker, John Kerry and the situation when the text was delivered. On February 1, 2013, John Forbes Kerry was sworn in as the 68th Secretary of State of the United States, becoming the first sitting Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman to become Secretary in over a century. Secretary Kerry joined the State Department after 28 years in the United States Senate, the last four as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
As Secretary of State, all his speeches received much attention from the public. Among those speeches, the writer chose his Remarks on Climate Change as the data for analysis. John Kerry‟s remarks on climate change were 4 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com delivered to a group of students and government officials at on February 16, 2014 at an American cultural center in Jakarta, Indonesia. The speech was delivered a day after the U.