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Critical Discourse Analysis of Press Conference Language

Author: WangXiuFang
Tutor: LiRenZhi；LuoQianJun
School: Shantou University
Course: English Language and Literature
Keywords: Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) language in press conference Systemic Functional Grammar Speech Act Theory
CLC: H019
Type: Master's thesis
Year: 2010
Downloads: 271
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Abstract

The present thesis conducts a critical analysis of language used in the U.S.president Barack Obama’s first press conference, with a final aim to explore how thenewly-elected president constructs his language in line with his complex identity, andto unveil the ideology and power relation underlying the discourse.Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) has been an effective method for disclosingrelationships among language, ideology and power. This thesis borrows ideas aboutCDA of those great critical linguists like Fowler, Van Dijk, Fairclough and Wodak,who lay great stress upon social context of the discourse. When it comes to adedicated case analysis, the author investigates language used by Obama in theconference drawing upon mood, personal pronouns, modality and polarity inHalliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar. Furthermore, Searle’s five types of speechacts are introduced as the analytical instruments, which is a tentative study.After a quantitative analysis, the author finds that in terms of mood, Obama isinclined to using declarative clauses. Besides, he employs a lot of imperative clauses.In respect of personal pronouns, he chooses a large number of the first person. Talkingof modality, Obama uses many modal verbs of median or low value. Referring topolarity, he expresses more positive meaning than negative meaning. As toillocutionary acts, Obama chiefly adopts representatives, then expressives. Some ofthe findings are matched with what the study presumes in advance, but some arebeyond expectation. The thesis consequently performs discussion about the reasonsbehind.The result manifests that despite of presidential news conference’s uniqueness inoutward form, it is similar to stump speeches in essence, for in which thespokespersons respond to questions similarly with a special purpose. Apparently, whatthey say serves what they want to do and they want others to do. Besides, what theysay should be identical with their special identities and status. Obama’s answersreflect either the authority of president of a powerful country or the cautious choice of language by a newly-elected president in front of the public, which further indicatesthat the choice of words is in line with different ideologies and power distance.Introducing some new approaches to the critical analysis, the current thesisattempts to set a new model for critical investigation on news conference language.

Critical Discourse Analysis of Press Conference Language

Abstract

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