Systemic Functional-multimodal Discourse Analysis: Constructing Interactive Meaning Of Public Service Advertising

Multimodal discourse refers to the new forms of text in which words, image, sound, music and other semiotic resources are woven together to make meaning. The traditional boundaries between the use of language and other social semiotics tend to become increasingly blurred as they combine to interact. In recent years, the research of multimodality and multimodal discourse has been put in a very salient position at home and abroad. Set within the theoretical framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics, specifically the APPRAISAL theory, and systemic functional semiotic approach to visual image, the present study aims to interpret how linguistic and visual semiotic resources are employed in combination to construe interpersonal meaning in multimodal public service advertising discourse. This dissertation is also concerned with the verbiage-image relation in encoding evaluative meaning.The main findings of this dissertation are summarized as follows: It is discovered that PSA of sympathetic appeal usually expresses positive ATTITUDE through inscribed attitudinal lexis in the verbal text or through facial expressions in the visual resources as well as invoked realizations in the verbal text and image. In this kind of advertisements, the capability of the target audience is often judged positively. PSA of fear appeal expresses negative ATTITUDE through inscribed attitudinal lexis or selected ideational tokens in the verbal text. This kind of PSA is created to express negative ATTITUDE towards the improper behaviors in order to create anxiety in the target audience on the basis of fear, warn them the serious consequences and thus persuade them to stay away from those behaviors like smoking, AIDS, drunk driving, obesity, dropping out of school. As for the intersemiotic relation, i.e. complementarity and co-instantiation, is explored in the construal of attitudinal meaning.To sum up, language and image play significant roles in realizing interactive meaning in public service advertising. The application of multimodality to public service advertising discourse has some implications and significances on studying of interpersonal meaning of language as well as social semiotic approach to visual image.