Diachronic Study Of Engagement Resources In American Presidential Inaugural Addresses(1789-2009) From Appraisal Perspective

As the latest theoretical development of systematic functional grammar with respect to the interpersonal metafunction of language in the discourse semantic level, Appraisal theory has only a history of11years, since the publication of its birth symbol-Beyond Exchange: APPRISAL Systems in English. Since its birth, this theory, however, has attracted many scholars’academic interests at home and abroad, and academic articles, books, journals and academic meetings as to the study of Appraisal theory have increased yearly, which shows the profound influences and great charm of this theory in the academic fields. As a developing theory, it still needs further development and perfection. Previous studies on this theory mainly stay at the theoretical and introductory levels, and applied studies on practical texts are comparatively few and insufficient.Given its special status in history, American presidential inaugural address has been the key research target of researchers. And its inherent dual genre feature, a combination of oral and written discourse, leads it to be rich in engagement resource. As its regular distribution in history, there is seemingly no more appropriate study approach than one from a diachronic perspective. Studies on American presidential inaugural address from Appraisal perspective, however, are found insufficient and mainly focus on the analysis of attitudinal meaning of the text. Comprehensive studies of these addresses from diachronic perspective are currently inadequate.Based on the theoretical framework of engagement system in Appraisal theory, this thesis conducts a diachronic quantitative analysis on the proportion and frequency of each engagement resource in56presidential inaugural addresses produced since the foundation of America, with the results illustrated in figures to show the distribution and development trend of each category of engagement resource. Through the analysis of the distribution and observation of development trend of each engagement resource, this thesis makes the presumptions as to the future development of engagement resource in American presidential inaugural address.Besides, this thesis also expands the domains of linguistic realizations of such engagement as entertain, clarify the category of cited resource and addresses alternative viewpoints about the category of deontic modality-must in engagement system.