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Evaluative Languagesources: Partington A., 2006, Persuasion in
Politics, Milano, Ed. LED
Martin, J.R. & White, 2005, The Language of Evaluation:
Appraisal in English, Palgrave Macmillan, London & NY
Language which expresses the opinion, attitude and point of view
of a speaker or writer is sometimes called evaluative language.
Evaluation is intended, in simple terms, as the indication that
something is good or bad (Hunston 2004).
Not necessarily good or bad in a strictly moral sense, but also
as favorable or unfavorable in an almost infinite number of wider
senses: good can be intended as profitable, enjoyable, sensible and
so on, bad as the opposite of all these.
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Evaluation and Persuasion Evaluation is clearly the very basis
of
persuasion, in politics as in life. The persuader uses
evaluative language to
convince their audience that their own opinions are good,
alternative ones are not good, that their proposals are worthy and
logical (good!), those of their opponents illogical or dangerous
(bad!), that they themselves are honest and trustworthy (good!) and
maybe that others who disagree with them are not (bad!).
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Language in Politics
How many political actions or events involving the use of
language can you think of?
Can you think of any political actions or events which do NOT
involve using language at same stage?
Politics is not just conducted through language, but much of
politics is language.
(Fairclough 1989)
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Btw a political joke (Partington 2006) George W. Bush, Tony
Blair and Silvio Berlusconi
were having a meeting on the Air Force One airplane when it
crashes. They ascend to heaven, and Gods sitting on the great white
throne. God addresses George first: So, Mr. Bush, what do you
believe in?
Well, I believe that might is right, in the power of the dollar
and, of course, I believe in you, Lord.
God thinks for a second and says: Ok, I can live with that. Come
and sit at my left.
God then addresses Tony: Now, Mr. Blair, what do you believe
in?
I believe in everything my friend George believes in, only more
so.
God thinks for a second and says: Ok, that sounds good. Come and
sit at my right.
God then addresses Silvio: Well, Mr. Berlusconi, what do you
believe in?
I believe youre sitting in my chair.
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Useful links
www.bbc.co.uk One of the richest sites for political information
on the web
www.americanrhetoric.com Contains a number of important speeches
and other documents
regarding US political history
www.whitehouse.gov Contains an ongoing record of current news as
presented by the
White House and press briefings
www.number-10.gov.uk Provides a similar service for the UK
government
www.satirewire.com Contains a number of satirical works on
current issues
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Implicit or explicit Evaluation
Evaluation can be expressed overtly or covertly
Covert or implicit evaluation is so called because the speaker
or writer provides no obvious linguistic clues, but exploits the
audiences ability to recognize a good or bad thing when they see
it.
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Overt or explicit Evaluation
It can be achieved as follows:
Grammatical evaluation
Textual evaluation
Lexical evaluation
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Grammatical evaluation Comparatives
better/worse than, richer/poorer than, etc. Transitivity: who
does what to whom (and how)
It enables the language user to place the participants and
events in a particular order, and allows him/her to express
responsibility, hence evaluation
Consider the differences between: John argued with Mary Mary
argued with John John and Mary argued
John and Mary got a divorce John divorced Mary Mary was divorced
by John John got a divorce
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Textual evaluation It expresses evaluation through the
particular
position or order of blocks of language in a text: The final
paragraphs of newspaper editorials, for instance,
tend to indicate favored solutions to problems proposed in the
previous part of the text;
If a politician presents two alternative policies to his/her
audience, one of which he/she agrees with and wishes to persuade
the audience to adopt, and one of which he/she does not, he/she
will generally talk of the one he/she does not approve of first and
the one he/she wants to promote second.This is called the straw man
technique.
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Lexical evaluation The most obvious signs of evaluation are
contained in
the lexis, that is, the words a speaker or writer uses.This is
true both for
Grammar (or function) words Determiners (the, a, some) Linkers
(and, because, since) Prepositions (in, at, from, by,) Wh-clauses
(What you need is, Where he lived was the
Bronx) and
Content words Nouns Verbs Adjectives Adverbs
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Task: Read the following extract from the US presidential
election debates held in late 2004. Highlight the language you
think is evaluative in function (favorable and unfavorable)
Mr Lehrer: new question, Mr President. Two minutes. Do you
believe the election of Senator Kerry on Nov. 2 would increase the
chances of the US being hit by another 9/11-type terrorist
attack?
1) Mr Bush: I dont believe its going to happen. I believe Im
going to win because the American people know I know how to lead.
Ive shown the American people I know how to lead. I have I
understand everybody in this country doesnt agree with the
decisions that Ive had made. And Ive made some tough decisions. But
people know where I stand. People out there listening know what I
believe. And thats how best it is to keep peace.
2) This nation of ours has got a solemn duty to defeat this
ideology of hate. And thats what they are, this is a group of
killers who will not only kill here but kill children in Russia.
That will attack unmercifully in Iraq hoping to shake our will. We
have duty to defeat this enemy. We have duty to protect our
children and grandchildren.
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3) The best way to defeat them is to never waver, to be
strong, to use every asset at our disposal. Its to constantly
stay on the offensive. And at the same time spread liberty. And
thats what people are seeing now happening in Afghanistan. Ten
million citizens have registered to vote. Its a phenomenal
statistic. That if given a chance to be free they will show up at
the polls. Forty-one percent of those 10 million are women.
4) In Iraq, no doubt about it, its tough. Its hard work.
Incredibly hard. You know why? Because an enemy realizes the
stakes. The enemy understands a free Iraq will be a major defeat in
their ideology of hatred. Thats why theyre fighting so
vociferously.
5) They showed up in Afghanistan when they were there because
they tried to beat us and they didnt. And theyre showing up in Iraq
for the same reason. Theyre trying to defeat us and if we lose our
will we lose. But if we remain strong and resolute we will defeat
this enemy.
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The Appraisal framework: an overview
The Appraisal framework (Martin & White 1995) is a
particular approach to exploring, describing and explaining the way
language is used to evaluate, to adopt stances, to construct
textual personas and to manage interpersonal positioning and
relationships.
The term Appraisal is used as a cover-all term to encompass all
evaluative uses of language, including those by which
speakers/writers adopt particular value positions or stances and by
which they negotiate these stances with either actual or potential
respondents.
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A few examples of what the Appraisal framework enables us to
investigates:
how the different uses of evaluative language by
speakers/writers act to construct different authorial voices and
textual personas;
how different genres and text types may
conventionally employ different evaluative and otherwise
rhetorical strategies;
the communicative strategies by which some discourses (for
example those of the media) construct supposedly objective' or
impersonal modes of textuality.
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Appraisal - the evaluative use of language - is seen to perform
the following functions:
1. Attitudinal positioning writers/speakers indicate either a
positive (praising) or
negative (blaming) assessment of people, places, things,
happenings and states of affairs.
1. Dialogistic positioningnegotiation of interpersonal
relationships between writer/speaker and reader/hearer (many
utterances contain elements which play a responsive or an
anticipatory role)
1. Intertextual positioning
uses of language by which writers/speakers adopt evaluative
positions towards what they represent as the views and statements
of other speakers and writers
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1. Attitudinal positioning
It [the E-type Jaguar] is a masterpiece of styling whose
proportions are dramatic yet perfectly judged and well-mannered;
its crisp details are in complete harmony with the broader outlines
of the gorgeous general arrangement, and, symbolically, it evokes
with exquisite eloquence all the ideas of speed, glamour and
romance associated with travel. You can just feel air and bodies
rushing and swooning all over that lascivious shape. Never, ever,
has that creaking old trope about form and function had a better
character witness.
(The Independent, Weekend Review: p.1 27/01/2001)
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2. Dialogistic positioning
Here is a very obvious and overt example of what we might term
`dialogic anticipation' by the 2nd Century Greek historian Polybius
(or at least by his translator).
Some of my readers, I know, will be wondering why I have
postponed until the moment my study of the Roman constitution and
thus interrupted the flow of the narrative.
(cited in Crismore 1989)
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2. Intertextual positioning (a)
a. Endorsement The endorsed utterance is one which the
writer
either directly or indirectly indicates support for, or
agreement with. The endorsed utterance is represented as true or
reliable or convincing through the use of quoting verbs such as
show, demonstrate or adverbs such as convincingly
Ex. The author shows that the mafia began in the 19th century.
He also demonstrates how the mafia has forged links with Italys
ruling Christian Democrat party since the war
Ex. The author espoused the thesis, convincingly propounded also
by other Marxists, that Marx evolved from his Eurocentric
perspective towards a stance of anticolonialism
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2. Intertextual positioning (b)
b. Disendorsement Writers/speakers distance themselves from
the
utterance, indicating that they take no responsibility for its
reliability. This is commonly done by the use of a quoting verb
such as claim and allege, adverbs such as reportedly (rumors are
going round) or surprisingly , expression such as is sheer
nonsense
Ex. The author examines the religious believes he claims are
inherent in terrorists fight.
Ex. Even in jail there are many rumors circulating about Tyson.
He reportedly said, We are keeping the date of the wedding
secret.
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2. Intertextual positioning (c)
c. Non-endorsement (neutrality)Writers/speakers attitude towards
what they are writing/saying is unobtrusive (neutral). This is
commonly done by the use of neutral verbs such as say, report, also
in their passive forms it is said that, it has been reported
that
Ex. The government says that people need to trust in law.
Ex. The research team reported that women are more intelligent
than men.
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Remember: The use of a word or expression or a certain type of
language tells us as much about the person speaking/writing as
about the topic of the discourse itself.
Denotation = the literal meaning of a word (its definition in a
dictionary)
Connotation = the associations evoked by a word in the mind of
the speaker/hearer/reader
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Task 1: Using a dictionary and the WEB, find the general
evaluative connotations of the following items used to describe
forms of government. In Notes, note down any other observations you
might have, e.g. the associations of the item, where in the world
it is applied, and so on.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/results.asp?dict=CALD
Word Good/Bad/Neutral Notes
regime
junta
democracy
dictatorship
one-man rule
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Task 2: Using a dictionary and the WEB, find the general
evaluative connotations of the following items used to describe
opponents of those in power.
Word Good/Bad/Neutral Notes
revolutionary
fundamentalist
dissident
separatist
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Task 3: Using a dictionary and the WEB, find the general
evaluative connotations of the following items used to describe
various political positions.
Word Good/Bad/Neutral Notes
activisthawk
extremistradical
moderate
liberal
maverick
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