A Study On The Persuasive Function Of Metadiscourse In Speeches Of UN Women On Gender Equality

Metadiscourse is a widely used term in the field of discourse analysis and language teaching over the past 40 years.According to Hyland(2005),metadiscourse is the language resource the author employed to express the stance and facilitate the interpersonal relationships between the author and reader.As a rhetorical strategy,metadiscourse can strengthen the persuasive effect of the discourse by realizing rational,credible,and affective appeals(Aristotle,1981)and therefore realize the persuasive function.Currently,there are a few researches into metadiscourse investigated its rhetorical function.In addition,compared with the written discourse,metadisourse in oral discourse,especially in public speech,remains largely unexplored.Therefore,it is necessary to study the persuasive function of metadiscourse in public speech.In this study,Hyland's(2005)interpersonal model of metadiscourse is adopted to identify the metadiscourse items and Aristotle's(1981)three means of persuasion is employed as analytical framework to explore subcategories of metadiscourse in UN Women speeches on gender equality.In particular,this thesis investigates distributions of metadiscourse items which realize rational appeal,credible appeal and affective appeal in UN Women speeches on gender equality,and analyzes how metadiscourse realizes the persuasive function.It is found that in UN Women speeches on gender equality,speakers use interactive metadiscourse and evidentials to sort out the logical relationship between arguments and ensure their truthfulness.Therefore,speakers make the content more comprehensible to the audience,and lead them to accept the logical reasoning to achieve rational appeal.Speakers use evidentials and subcategories of interactional metadiscourse to shape the professional,upright and authoritative image to realize the credible appeal.Metadiscourse enables speakers to project themselves as professional and authoritative activists in UN Women speeches on gender equality.In terms of affective appeal,self-mention,attitude markers,and engagement markers help speakers to appeal to the audience's feelings,to arouse their concern about the subject,and to obtain the audience's approval of the content and change their awareness and behaviors.As a result,metadiscourse achieves an important persuasive function in the UN Women speeches on gender equality.This thesis explores the persuasive function of metadiscourse in UN Women speeches on gender equality based on the Aristotle's(1981)rhetorical appeals,and seeks to provide some insights into the speaker's persuasion.