Analyzing Interpersonal Meanings Of Engagement Resources In News Comments In Light Of Appraisal Theory

Interpersonal function is a fundamental metafunction of language; even the most subjective language is also abounded with interpersonal meanings, which reflect the interaction or negotiation of various values or positions in the discourse. Evaluation plays an important role in the interpersonal meanings. This dynamic view on language intrigues an enthusiastic study on the interaction between writers and readers in the fields of rhetorical studies, functional grammar, etc. Halliday's grammar-founded model of exchanges elides the semantics of evaluation—emotions, judgments, and values, around which negotiation might take place to enact interpersonal meanings.The development of Appraisal theory (Martin 2000) has opened up areas of research on interpersonal meanings that were largely neglected within SFL. Appraisal framework has been applied to the analysis of media discourse, including hard news, news stories and news comments (Rick Iedema, Susan Feez and Peter White 1994; Peter White 2000, 2001; J.R. Martin & David Rose 2003). As for news comments, large part of the attention has been paid to the attitudinal analysis. Therefore, Engagement resources in news comments are worth studying.This study aimed to find out firstly, the distribution of engagement resources in news comments; secondly, how the commentators properly open up a negotiation space with the other voices through these engagement resources, that is how the interpersonal meanings are realized through these engagement resources; thirdly, what kind of functions these resources perform in news comments.Through data analysis, it revealed that various Heteroglossic engagement resources were prevailing in news comments. On the whole, extra-vocalization and dialogic expansion resources showed lower frequency than the intra-vocalization as well as the dialogic contraction resources throughout the four parts of the news comments. The engagement resources of the expansion and extra-vocalization are used as the rhetorical strategy the commentator employs to express the objectivity and solidarity, which is to negotiate with other voices. The contraction and the intra- vocalization are used as another rhetorical strategy to fulfil the interpersonal function of the news comments, which is to get aligned with the readers.