A Study Of Appraisal Resources In The Column Profile Of Time

This thesis aims to analyze appraisal resources in the column Profile of Time in light of the theory of Appraisal System. Its purpose is to find out the distribution features of appraisal resources in Profile; how appraisal resources are used to construct the appraisal meaning, and to negotiate writers'and readers'positions; and what the implications are for the teaching of English reading and writing.M.A.K. Halliday's Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) provides a multi-functional theoretical framework for discourse analysis. However, these analyses within SFL have neglected a focus on"the semantics of evaluation—how the interlocutors are feeling, the judgments they make, and the value they place in the various phenomena of their experience."James Martin has proposed Appraisal System in order to improve SFL since 1990s. Appraisal System is composed of Attitude system, Engagement system, and Graduation system. Every system has its own sub-categories. Appraisal System can be used to evaluate language users'position, opinion and attitude through evaluative lexes. The discourse analysis within Appraisal System mainly focuses on the lexical perspective.Appraisal System has been widely applied into the study of media discourse. However, it is difficult to find the application of Appraisal System to the study of English personality profiles. Seven personality profiles in Time have been chosen as the data for this thesis. The study of this thesis mainly belongs to qualitative study in that such an approach interprets the texts deeply and explores the multiple aspects of meanings that are realized dynamically across a web of lexical and grammatical choices. Although qualitative, there are still quantitative aspects to the study in terms of quantifying frequencies of Appraisal resources across the data as a whole.Through data analysis, it can be found that there are rich Attitude and Engagement resources. Among Attitude resources, Affect and Appreciation resources take a higher percentage, while Judgment resources rarely appear in this type of discourse. Heteroglossic Engagement resources play a key role in negotiating the inter-subjective positions. Among them, Attribute and Disclaim resources far outnumber Entertain and Proclaim resources. A small proportion of Graduation resources can be found in Profile. That is to say, the writers construct the appraisal meaning mainly through Attitude and Engagement resources. Graduation resources play a supporting role to amplify Attitude resources. This thesis also provides insights into the teaching of English reading and writing. It is helpful for the learners to understand the deeper connotation of an English profile text and a writer's intention through the appraisal analysis. It provides English profile writers with appropriate lexes to construct appraisal meanings in texts.