This dissertation analyzes the discourse of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in his weekly television show Aló Presidente. It focuses on the discursive practices in this genre by Chávez as an essential element in the Bolivarian Revolution; an exercise of power in itself, and a means to establish a direct relationship with the Venezuelan public. The analysis shows that Aló Presidente employs unique discursive strategies to engage in a national dialogue, including: the use of repetition, lists, and fragmentation through the alternation of discursive genres, as well as deictic shift; the establishment of an ideology, the presentation of selected themes and stories; the construction of relationships with established social categories (middle-aged women, high-ranking military personnel, militant youth, etc.) through dialogue with interlocutors during the show; and a strict hierarchy in which Chávez appears as the ultimate leader, through deixis, turn-taking, and the use of targeted speech acts. This study uses the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis, drawing mainly from Fairclough (2003) and van Dijk (1998, 2010). It also draws from theories of: (a) discourse genre, as in Charaudeau (2004) and Smith (2003); (b) deixis, as in Agha (2007); (c) dialogue, defined by Weigand (2009) and Tannen (2007); (d) political discourse, discussed in Chilton (2004); and (e) media discourse, as in Bourdieu (1991). The corpus is drawn from broadcasts ending with the digit 8 randomly selected between 2005 and 2007 (shows 218, 248, 278, 288, 298). The conclusion is that the show serves as the main communication strategy of the Revolution, establishing a direct relationship with viewers, in which several conventional procedures of television discourse are flaunted. The discourse, which is anchored in the category of space, is well established as a new genre in political media discourse. It is directed to Chávez’s followers, divided into specific target groups, in a hierarchical fashion in which he occupies the power position. The strategies adopted allow for a high level of involvement with the audience. The discursive practices developed are a key element in the advancement of the Revolution and are in line with its beliefs and attitudes. / text

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published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Linguistics / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

The Internet is increasingly becoming a key medium through which people establish social contacts and form interpersonal relationships. In particular, online dating websites are gaining popularity and rapidly expanding around the world. This study explores the discourse that constitutes the practices of the deai-kee-saito 'encounter-oriented sites' in Japanese, as observed in three major personal ad websites, namely 1) Ekisaito furenzu 'Excite Friends', 2) Match.com, and 3) Yahoo!Japan paasonaruzu 'Yahoo!Japan Personals'. It focuses on the ways that self-advertisers express their socio-sexual desires and describe their ideal partners and relationships, and analyzes them with respect to the reproduction of social asymmetries.More specifically, it examines the discursive construction of the kinds of personae (personality characteristics) and bodies (physical features) that advertisers aged 20-29 wish in their future partners, as well as the kinds of practices (activities and actions) they wish to engage in with their partners, what they wish to do for their partners, and/or wish the partners to do for them in their envisioned interactions. Out of the 1200 ads collected from these websites, a total of 463 ads are identified as target-gender-explicit and analyzed at lexical, morphosyntactic, phrasal, clausal, sentential and discourse levels. It pays close attention to the linguistic resources utilized in the articulation of socio-sexual desires and desirability, and the textual formation of the addresser(advertiser)-addressee(ad reader) relationships, including adjectives, nouns, verbal phrases, person references, desideratives, conditionals, and the formula yoroshiku/o-negai shimasu 'Thank you in advance'. It also analyzes para-linguistic resources, such as emoticons, symbols, and unique use of hiragana/katakana syllabaries. These discursive processes involve prioritization, or hierarchization, of personal attributes and consequently of the owners of those attributes. It argues that socio-sexual desirability is reflective of the hegemonic ideologies of gender and sexuality in today's Japanese-speaking communities.In addition, it examines explicit and implicit language related to race, class, and similar constructs. It also investigates the functions of style-shift that advertisers use in expressing desire. This study shows that individuals' 'innocuous' expression of socio-sexual desires through personal ads is a locus for the reproduction and contestation of the hegemonic order of gender, sexuality, race and class.

Progressing into the 21st century young pregnancy and parenthood in the United Kingdom is a focus of political, media and public attention. The country is described as experiencing an epidemic, with the highest rates of young pregnancy and parenthood recorded in Western Europe. Statistics demonstrate that in 2000 38,690 under 18 year-olds in England became pregnant, of which 44.8% ended in legal termination. In light of this data, and within their remit to address the issue of Social Exclusion, New Labour commissioned a report into young pregnancy resulting in the development and implementation of the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy. The Strategy has two main aims; namely reducing the rates of young conceptions and providing better support and education for young parents. This thesis argues from a conceptual framework that questions the contested assumption that young pregnancy and parenthood is a problem. A literature review demonstrates a lack of representation of the voices and experiences of young mothers. This directs the research question to ask what is the experience of young mothers in their own words and placed within context? Critical Discourse Analysis is used to examine three examples of context shaping data that includes government policy, a newspaper article and a radio talk show programme. The analysis reveals discourses that suggest there is a right time and framework for motherhood. These discourses form a dialectical relationship with voices and experiences of young mothers that are analysed using Discourse Analysis. This analysis elicits two key central discourses permeating the experiences of young mothers that are the Good- Bad mother binary that informs and exacerbates experiences of maternal ambivalence. Moreover, these discourses inform the practice of discrimination against young mothers. The thesis concludes with a call to listen to the experiences of young mothers in order that their needs might be more fully understood. It suggests that discrimination against young mothers be incorporated into Equal Opportunity and Anti- Discrimination policy.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 235-250). / Microfiche. / xx, 250 leaves, bound 29 cm

Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, School of English, Linguistics and Media, 1999. / Bibliography: p. 299-305. / Introduction -- Theoretical background -- The structure of popular scientific writing on 'climate change' -- Findings of analysis of texts on population growth and deforestation -- Interaction between verbal and visuals representations -- Conclusion. / The topics of climate change, population growth, and deforestation, as discussed in publications such as New Scientist, Discover, Time, and Our Planet, exemplify contemporary writing on science for the general community. As such, it is assumed that they are presented in an objective, scientific, informative way. Furthermore, these topics illustrate what it means to write complex issues in a popular manner. Consequently, they provide an opportunity for examining at least one area of popular science as a generic phenomenon.-- Through an investigation of thirty texts (ten on each of the three topics mentioned), the consistencies and distinctive features of writing on these environmental issues are investigated, in particular using discourse tools drawn from Systemic Functional linguistics. The foremost tools are the proposals concerning GSP (Generic Structure Potential) put forward by Hasan, which provide an outline of the syntagmatic unfolding of a text ("logogenetic perspective") and the four stratal perspective that is illustrated in the work by Halliday and Hasan, in particular as such work relates wording to culture. By assessing the degree to which the thirty texts constitute a genre, and the degree to which they exhibit their own internal variations, it is also possible to clarify Halliday's notion of the 'cline of instantiation' between, at one end, the 'potential/system' and, at the other end, the instance of 'text as process'.-- The investigation reveals that the assumption of an informative, objective style in popular science journal articles actually obscures a deeper underlying activism about the future, but an activism strongly based on only Western perceptions of environmental crisis. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / ix, 305, 217 p. ill. (some col.)

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study aims at exploring speech acts. Actions via utterances are generally called speech acts. They are commonly given specific labels such as apology, compliment, - request, promise or warning etc. The usefulness of speech acts illustrates kinds of things we can do with words and identifying some of the conventional utterance forms we use to perform specific actions. This study examines speech act of complaints in a domestic context. According to Trosborg (1995) there are two different types of complaints. The direct complaint is when complainer diretly accuse the complainee of having committed the offence. The indirect complaint is when the complainer ask the hearer a question about the situation that she/he is in someway connected with the offence. This study illustrates how Xhosa people complain in a domestic context. Quationaires were distributed to the people of Kayamandi Township in Stellenbosch, Emgwali Location in Stutterheim and Kwalini Location in King William's Town. The focus was on Mothers and Fathers, Daughters and Sons, Brothers and Sisters. The family members complain to each other on different levels and according to their status. Trosborg (1995) has identified eight complaint strategies. The hint, annoyance, ill consequences, direct accusation, indirect accusation, modified blame, explicit condemnation of the accused's action and explicit condemnation of the accused as a person. The mother complains to the daughter more than when she is complaining to the son and the father. The father complains to the son more than when he complains to the daughter. The son and the daughter complain almost equaly to their parents. The daughter complains equaly as her sister. These members have some ways of responding to the complaints. Boxer (1991) has identified six types of responses to the indirect complaints. The question, the joke, contradiction, commisseration, lecture and advice. The father has used more strategies when responding to the mother. The mother has responded to the daughter more than when responding to the father and the son. the son and the daughter has responded almost equaly to their parents. The brother and the sister responded equaly to their parents. The examination of speech acts will help us understand how actions are carried out and interpreted wthin speech events and how more get communicated than is said. It has been established that speech acts of complaint in Xhosa playa crucial sociocultural role in our communities. This is being proved by the manner in which females and male have used the strategies in this data. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie het as doelstelling die ondersoek van spraakhandelinge in Xhosa. Handelinge wat uitgevoer word via uitings word spraakhandelinge genoem. Hierdie spraakhandelinge word oor die algemeen bepaalde benaminge gegee, soos verskoning, komplimentering, versoek, belofte, waarskuwing, ens. Die gebruik van spraakhandelinge illustreer die soort dinge wat mense met woorde kan doen, en identifiseer sommige van die konvensionele uiting vorme wat mense gebruik om spesifieke spraakhandelinge uit te voer. Hierdie studie ondersoek die spraakhandeling van klagte in huishoudelike konteks. Volgens Trosborg (1995) is daar twee verskillende tipes klagtes. Die direkte klagte behels dat die klaer die klagte-hoorder direk beskuldig van 'n oortreding. Die indirekte klagte behels dat die klaer _'n vraag vra aan die klagte-hoorder oor die situasie waarmee laasgenoemde op 'n manier verbind is met die oortreding. Hierdie studie ondersoek hoe Xhosa-sprekende persone kla in huishoudelike konteks. Vraelyste is gegee aan inwoners van die Kayamandi wooongebied in Stellenbosch, Emgwali woongebied in Stutterheim en Kwalini woongebied in King William's Town. Die fokus was op vaders en moeders, dogters en seuns, en broers en susters. Die familielede kla teenoor mekaar op verskillende vlakke en dienooreenkomstig hulle status. Trosborg (1995) identifiseer agt klagte strategieë, naamlik die skimp, verviesing, slegte gevolge, direkte beskuldiging, indirekte beskuldiging, gewysigde blaam, eksplisiete veroordeling van die beskuldigde se aksies, en die eksplisiete beoordeling van die beskuldigde as persoon. Die moeder kla meer teenoor die dogter as wat sy kla teenoor die vader of die seun. Die vader kla meer teenoor die seun as teenoor die dogter. Die seun en dogter kla ongeveer in 'n gelyke mate teenoor hulle ouers. Die dogter kla eweveel as haar suster. Boxer (1991) identifiseer ses tipes response op indirekte klagtes, naamlik die vraag, die grap, die weerspreking, die lesing, en advies. Die vader het meer strategieë gebruik in response teenoor die moeder. Die moeder het meer response gehad teenoor die dogter as wat sy gehad het teenoor die vader en die seun. Die seun en dogter het ongeveer in 'n gelyke mate response teenoor hulle ouers gehad. Die broer en suster het ongeveer dieselfde mate van response teenoor mekaar gehad. Die ondersoek na spraakhandelinge lewer 'n bydrae daartoe om te verstaan hoe handelinge uitgevoer word en geïnterpreteer word binne spraakhandelinge, en hoe meer gekommunikeer word as wat gesê word. Daar is vasgestel dat spraakhandelinge van klagte in Xhosa 'n wesenlike sosio-kulturele rol speel in gemeenskappe. Hierdie feit word bevestig deur onder andere die wyse waarop mans en vroue die strategieë gebruik het in hierdie studie

Healthy eating has become an important subject in society, particularly in the media. Food has always been a complex area but in recent years it has become even more distinct. Based on a critical discourse analysis, the purpose of this study is to examine and disclose what discourses that appear in articles regarding dietary counselling in three swedish health magazines, ToppHälsa, MåBra and Womens Health & Wellness. Analyzing three articles in each magazine we identified several discourses. The most prominent is the discourse about wellbeing. The majority of the articles reproduce this discourse by associating healthy eating with wellbeing. As the research field is limited, this study contributes with findings in a area that still needs further research.