An Analysis On Chinese Leaders’ Speeches At The Opening Ceremony Of China-eurasia Expo–A Perspective Of Appraisal Theory

At the opening ceremony of China-Eurasia Expo, Chinese leaders deliver speeches which are full of resources expressing attitude, stance and evaluation, and are used to attain certain communicative goals and to realize interpersonal meaning.The Appraisal Theory, an extension and complement of the analysis of interpersonal meaning within the Systematic Functional Grammar, provides a systematic analytical tool for studying interpersonal meaning. The present study adopts the Appraisal Theory as the theoretical framework and analytical tool to analyze various appraisal resources resided in the speeches delivered by Chinese leaders at the opening ceremony of China-Eurasia Expo.In the present study, altogether twelve pieces of speeches delivered by Chinese leaders at the opening ceremony of China-Eurasia Expo from 2011 to 2014 are chosen as the research data. Both quantitative and qualitative methods are adopted to describe the distribution of different kinds of appraisal resources, to discuss and interpret reasons accounting for certain kind of distribution under social context, and to shed light on how different appraisal resources contribute to the realization of interpersonal meaning by dint of specific examples.The major findings are summarized as follows:(1) Within Attitude system, Appreciation resources are far more than Affect and Judgment ones with the purpose of ensuring objectivity and reducing ambiguity, and most importantly, establishing a good image of Xinjiang and highlighting the significance and necessity of holding China-Eurasia Expo. Besides, positive Attitude resources take up an overwhelming proportion to abridge psychological distance and establish intimate interpersonal relationship with the audiences.(2) With respect to Engagement resources, Dialogic Contraction is a little more than Dialogic Expansion. On the one hand, Chinese leaders exclude other voices to keep authority and make their speeches more convincing and persuasive by means of Dialogic Contraction resources; on the other hand, by virtue of Dialogic Expansion resources, Chinese leaders acknowledge the existence of different voices and open up dialogic space for negotiation, thus aligning more audiences.(3) Concerning Graduation resources, the number of Force-raise and Focus-sharpen is much more than that of Force-lower and Focus-soften, which effectively amplifies the viewpoints of Chinese leaders and makes their standpoints strongly, clearly and convincing. Some words are Focus-soften on the surface, but used to enhance certain characteristics in essence. Besides, Graduation is a resource for negotiation as well.Through the present study, it further validates the practicability of applying the Appraisal Theory to analysis of interpersonal meaning, as well as to Chinese discourse. It also extends the scope of the research data. Practically, this study will help people to grasp the important role of different kinds of appraisal resources to realize certain interpersonal meaning in the interaction with others. Specifically, as for the audiences, it provides them with insights to better understand and identify the attitude and standpoint expressed by the speaker; with regard to the speakers, it is conductive for them to better convey their attitudes tactfully, establish and maintain good interpersonal relations with the audiences resorting to appraisal resources when delivering a speech.