A Contrastive Study Of British Prime Ministers’ Speeches From Meta-functional Perspective

Inaugural and resigning speeches,delivered by the Prime Ministers of Britain,are important types of political discourses with rich textual and interpersonal meaning.In order to find out the common features of political speeches and the factors causing the differences,this thesis mainly studies the speeches made by David Cameron and Theresa May under the background of "Brexit" within the theoretical framework of Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar.From the perspective of Ideational Function,the thesis mainly focuses on the transitivity system of the two speeches.In their speeches,the speakers mainly use the Material Process,the Relational Process and the Mental Process.However,in the same transitivity system,the speakers tend to use different participants to realize their own political purposes.From the interpersonal angle,two speakers mainly applies the declarative mood,the modal words in low and median value and the first personal pronouns,but the sentence structures were more flexible in David Cameron’s speech.Theresa May preferred to use parallel clauses to express her points.Besides,there was a difference in term of their choice of the second personal pronoun.From the view of textual function,there were more unmarked themes than the marked themes and most of the marked theme was closely related to the coherence of the speech.In May’s speech,a lot of marked themes occurred in the form of parallel,while in Cameron’s speech,they were more various.The similarities of two Prime Ministers’ speeches can reflect the common features of the political speeches.Firstly,political speech is mainly used to state the fact to make people accept their political suggestions.Besides,speakers mainly uses the declarative sentences to express their views,modal words in low and median value to show their political authority,which may not be too arrogant,and the first personal pronoun to attract the attention from the addressees,which can shorten their distance.Finally,the speakers can foreground their key points by using the unmarked themes and marked themes alternately,which make their speech more understandable.The differences of David Cameron’s and Theresa May’s speeches are affected by certain variables.Firstly,it is affected by the change of their identities.Because Cameron is going to step down,he needs to make an explanation for his resigning,and at the same time,he could show his personal attitude and emotion.As a new Prime Minister,May is mainly voicing for the new government.Secondly,different political motivation can cause the differences of political speeches.As a Prime Minister who is going to resign,on one hand,David Cameron needs to give an official attitude to the result of referendum;on the other hand,he wishes that his effort and hard working could be remembered.May,as the new leader,puts more emphasis on maintaining the benefit of ordinary people,which could help to shorten their distance and she also thinks highly of the concept of working together and being united.Thirdly,the differences are closely related to the different focus of the speakers.Under the background of "Brexit",Cameron lays more efforts on the current task,while May focuses more on the future actions.The significance of this study is to explore the characteristics of political discourse,and investigate the reasons for the difference which could help deepen the understanding to the meaning of political speech and catch the intentions of the speakers accurately and effectively.Besides,it also plays a significant role in improving reading and writing ability.