Interpersonal Meaning Of Public Service Advertising Texts

Since the study on public service advertising texts has long been neglected in discourse analysis by many scholars, the present paper sets out to investigate the interpersonal meaning of public service advertising texts based on systemic functional grammar. 40 authentic public service advertising texts are randomly selected from three influential American magazines: Newsweek, time and Fortune. Guided by Thompson's model, four major components of the interpersonal meaning, namely speech roles, person system, modality and modal assessment, are respectively examined in detail to uncover how the interpersonal meaning is realized through various lexical-grammatical patterns.The study reveals that various lexical-grammatical patterns have been skillfully used by the advertiser to manipulate the interaction and negotiation with the reader in public service advertising texts. It is found that the grammatical patterns of mood choice enable the interaction between the advertiser and the reader;the careful choice of personal pronouns creates intimacy and facilitates the negotiation between them;modal expressions serving as politeness strategy enhance the relationship between the advertiser and the reader;by means of modal assessment resources, the advertiser constructs solidarity with the reader and manipulates him to see things in particular ways.It is hoped that this study may enrich studies on advertising discourse and benefit copywriters or students in China in enabling them to create better public service advertisements.