On Positive Discourse Analysis Of Obama’s Weekly Video Addresses From The Appraisal System Perspective

The Appraisal System is J.R. Martin’s reinterpretation for interpersonal function based on Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar. The explanatory power of the Appraisal System has been proven in many fields, including narrative discourses, media discourses, and academic reviews. The Appraisal System is categorized into three sub-systems: attitude, engagement and graduation. Researchers explore the distribution of appraisal resources and their connoted evaluative meanings by recognizing and analyzing the attitude, engagement and graduation resources in different genres. So far, most researches adopting the Appraisal System focus on critical discourse analysis. In fact, the positive discourse analysis, as a complementary system of critical discourse analysis, also lays emphasis on social problems, but is not widely noted by linguists. It advocates to reform positively and solve problems peacefully, aiming to build a tolerant and friendly human community. Since the positive discourse analysis avoids radical viewpoints, it will be a new attempt to apply positive discourse analysis of the study on political discourses.The author makes the Appraisal System as the theoretical framework, and carries out a positive discourse analysis on Obama’s weekly video addresses. There are in total fifty-one target texts which range from November6,2012to November9,2013. This study analyzes Obama’s weekly video addresses from the following aspects: Firstly, the representing forms and evaluative meanings of attitude resources in three subsystems of affect, judgment, and appreciation are analyzed from both positive and negative angles. Besides, the engagement resources, which make the textual voice and interlocutory voice subjective, are analyzed from expansion and contraction; the differences in the occurrence and frequency of various engagement resources are analyzed and the reasons behind these differences are explored. Additionally, the graduation resources are analyzed in the discourse; the way which Obama employs them to express the intensity and quantity of evaluative meanings is also discussed. Finally, the inner correlations between the highlighted frequency resources and its subject matter are explored. This part is considered as the biggest innovation point of this thesis.The study shows that plenty of appraisal resources are involved in these discourses. In attitude, judgment resources account for the largest proportion. It is found out that the speaker formulates normative principles to examine audience’s ethnical behavior, so as to build a harmonious human community. In engagement, the speaker tends to adopt heterogloss to create objective dialogues. Among them, there is little difference between the occurrences of expansion and contraction resources, which shows that the speaker makes it possible to allow different voices and negotiate with other viewpoints through employing balanced engagement resources so as to better convey his standpoints. In graduation, there are far more force resources than focus resources, and it helps to evoke the attitudinal meaning. In the correlative study, the speaker makes adjustment to his wordings in order to express his attitude and stance, and to drive audience’s enthusiasm and initiative.This thesis analyzes evaluative resources to reveal how Obama presents his viewpoints and stances, to reflect his individual values, to build a harmonious relationship with the majority groups, and to establish and maintain the audience’s confidence towards the president and the government in accord with the persuasive utterances.