This study yields insights into the symbolic and metaphorical value of advertisements produced by the private English programmes in Hong Kong. Exploring the domain of advertising as a medium, the author examines the semiotics of metaphor as a tool to unravel the symbolic and metaphorical representations embedded in the visual images of advertisements produced for private English programmes for the local market. From deciphering the symbolic signs and metaphors, this study moves to a broader context for further researching into the transfer of symbolic meaning from the advertisement to the advertised product and then to the prospective student. The identification of symbolic interactionism helps to understand the dynamics of the private English education market in Hong Kong. Three types of metaphor identified by Lakoff &Johnson (2003), namely: orientational metaphor, ontological metaphor and structural metaphor, form the theoretical framework of analysis. By examining the mapping of domains from the concrete source (source domain - the featured object) to the abstract target (target domain – the advertised course), this study discovers the metaphorical connections between different domains, and hence understands what features and characteristics of the advertised products are made the core messages and selling propositions to the target market. The commodification of ideology and the consumer behavioural change from material consumption to sign consumption are also discussed. Findings from this study provide significant insights for colleges or education institutions which are interested in employing advertising strategies in their marketing plans. / published_or_final_version / English Studies / Master / Master of Arts

Although Hong Kong ranked 15th globally in the United Nations Gender–related Development Index 2013 (UNDP, 2014), a discrepancy was identified between female images portrayed in print media and the actual gender equality progresses achieved (Equal Opportunities Commission, 2009). Media portrayals of female, particularly body beauty advertisements, disseminate female stereotypes and unequal gender ideologies. According to Wolf (1992, p.12), evaluating females with reference to a “culturally imposed physical standard” is the “last, best belief system that keeps male dominance intact”. The research investigated the current female identities textually and visually constructed in beauty culture magazine advertisements from an issue of the popular local female magazine, the (More) Oriental Sunday. It also explored how local consumers are approached with the female portrayals visually. It differs from the existing studies on local female portrayals in the media in terms of its approach and focus. As opposed to adopting content analysis, survey or focus group discussion, the research is based on a systematic linguistic analysis of beauty culture advertisements. It adopted a Dialectical-Relational Approach to Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 2009) and utilized Systemic Functional Linguistics (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004), Visual Social Semiotics (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006) as well as Goffman‘s gender display categories (1987). The findings show that discourses of objectification and self-objectification were concurrently represented in the female identities constructed textually and visually. The study implies that, in general, beauty culture magazine advertisements perpetuate the ideologies of beauty myth, emphasized femininity and patriarchy to enforce the social dominance of male and maximize profit simultaneously. / published_or_final_version / Applied English Studies / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

An idiom is a set phrase which is relatively syntactically and semantically fixed, and which produces striking stylistic and rhetorical effects. Advertising is a discourse type which is particularly rich in idioms: around half of all the German advertisements examined from Stern magazine and the RTL television channel contain at least one idiom. The idioms tend to occur in prominent, emphatic textual positions, and approximately half of the idioms which appear are modified in some way. The modifications typically produce deliberately creative effects, suggesting that idioms are not as invariable as has previously been thought. The most common type of idiom incorporated into German advertisements are idioms with not only the definitive figurative interpretation, but also a lexically, syntactically, and semantically feasible literal interpretation. These idioms are consequently referred to in this dissertation as "idioms with a viable literal interpretation" (abbreviated to "VLI idioms" in the text). Their literal sense tends to evoke strong mental imagery, which makes them a useful device for the visually restricted print medium in particular: approximately 42% of all the idioms in the magazine advertisements examined (as opposed to around 16% of all the idioms in the television advertisements) are VLI idioms. It is the uniformity of the mental imagery evoked by VLI idioms which highlights the fact that, contrary to traditional thinking, idioms are conceptual rather than linguistic in nature. Indeed, an idiom may be defined as the linguistic expression of general conceptual metaphors. The viable literal meaning of VLI idioms also makes them ideally suited to modification: around 70% of the VLI idioms in the magazine advertisements, and just over 88% of the VLI idioms in the television advertisements, are modified in some way. Nearly all of these modifications involve punning on the idiom's literal sense by means of the idiom's co-text and/or the advertisement's visual element. In short, linguists have hitherto underestimated the ubiquity and significance of idioms, especially with regard to the frequency with which they are modified. VLI idioms in particular are an important - but thus far overlooked - feature of German magazine and television advertisements.

Amendments pasted on front end paper. / Bibliography: leaves 333-355. / viii, 355 leaves : ill., maps ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Studies the changes in the language of commercial press advertising found before 1979 (the year of the Islamic Revolution in Iran) and after 1990. Investigating their varying effects on sociolinguistic norms, and to relate the changes to external factors in the ideology and social history of Iran. Also addresses the wider issue of the relation between language and ideology in different kinds of societies, in particular islamic societies. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of European Studies, 1998?

Amendments pasted on front end paper. / Bibliography: leaves 333-355. / viii, 355 leaves : ill., maps ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Studies the changes in the language of commercial press advertising found before 1979 (the year of the Islamic Revolution in Iran) and after 1990. Investigating their varying effects on sociolinguistic norms, and to relate the changes to external factors in the ideology and social history of Iran. Also addresses the wider issue of the relation between language and ideology in different kinds of societies, in particular islamic societies. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of European Studies, 1998?

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Technology in Language Practice,Durban University of Technology, 2017. / TVET colleges have to overcome the negative views of the prospective students that their marketing strategies are meant to attract. This research offers an approach which focusses specifically on the language used in TVET marketing and the impact which this is likely to have on the prospective students. The investigation targeted 40 first year students from 2 different TVETs in order to ascertain their responses to the language of the TVET advertisements. The researcher used questionnaires to collect data. . All of the respondents were randomly selected. The findings of this study show that the targeted audience were not consulted or surveyed; language style did not suit the age and background of the average students it is meant to address; and the marketing strategies did not reach societies such as those in deep rural areas. The study concludes that TVET marketing strategies are inadequate. TVET management has not interrogated the effectiveness of its marketing strategies. The US model that they adopted does not meet the expectations of the target population. / M

Submitted in compliance with the requirements for the Masters of Arts Degree in Language Practice, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016. / This study investigates how language is used to communicate meaning in bank advertisements. It also examines stylistics in advertising with specific focus on selected bank advertisements in South African and Nigerian newspapers and magazines. Stylistics is a branch of linguistics which studies the principles, and effect of choice and usage of different language elements in rendering thought and emotion under different conditions of communication. Advertising is a form of communication used to help sell products and services. Adverts are not only designed to fascinate, but also to achieve their persuasive goal. This study shows how language is used in bank advertisements to convey messages to the public. The stylistic elements employed in the analysis of bank adverts included graphology, phonology, lexis, syntax and cohesion. The use of capitalization and repetition for emphasis, phonemes and Gothic writing to attract the attention of readers and images to stimulate customers’ aspirations were some of the findings of the study. Given that studies on language use are still of high interest to linguists, this study critically interrogates the effectiveness of language choice in bank advertisements. The conclusion is that stylistic devices are important in advertising as they attract customers to the services and products being advertised. / M

M.A. (Linguistics) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Published Article / The article focuses on the interplay between print advertisements and literary genres such as poetry, drama, folklore, etc. This interplay may be used to develop an advertisement's point of interest to attract attention from a specific target audience. Based on previous research we hypothesise that literary genres are exploited as a means to engage audiences. The study aims to give a description of the typical genre characteristics of modern literary genres in SA print advertising. It also endeavours to do a pragmatic analysis of these advertisements against the background of the specific literary genre category and the genre qualities of advertisements to identify the implied marketing message.

"It is the purpose of this study to determine the type of appeal, the size and cost, the plan of insertions, and the extent superlatives are used in The Dallas Morning News used car advertisements of twenty automobile dealers during the month of April. Fourteen advertising appeals were used by the twenty automobile dealers advertising in The Dallas Morning News in the month of April. The fourteen appeals used were: efficiency, friendliness, style, curiosity, safety, convenience-comfort, economy reliability-reputation, durability-dependability, social distinction, fear-caution, ambition, pleasure, and family affection. The economy was the one most used appeal by the dealer. As shown in Table 12, the number of advertising appeals used corresponds or exceeds very little the total number of advertising insertions. Excepting one case, the dealers place the largest advertisements in the Sunday paper. The general procedure was that of placing large advertisements in the Sunday paper and smaller ones throughout the week. The total cost for the twenty automobile dealers was $6,452.08. The total advertising cost per dealer ranged from $38.20 to $1613.81. Only nine of the twenty dealers used superlatives in advertising during the month of April. The nine dealers used nine different superlatives for a total of 281 times."--leaves 1 and 35.