An attitudinal study on 2020 US presidential debates

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

QUY NHON UNIVERSITY

LÊ THỊ MỸ HUỆ

AN ATTITUDINAL STUDY ON 2020 US

PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES

Field: English Linguistics

Code: 8220201

Supervisor: VÕ DUY ĐỨC, Ph.D.

BINH DINH, 2021

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN

LÊ THỊ MỸ HUỆ

NGUYÊN CỨU YẾU TỐ THÁI ĐỘ TRONG

TRANH LUẬN TỔNG THỐNG HOA KỲ NĂM 2020

Chuyên ngành: Ngôn Ngữ Anh

Mã số: 8220201

Người hướng dẫn: TS. VÕ DUY ĐỨC

BÌNH ĐỊNH, 2021

i

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereby declare that I am the sole author of the thesis “An Attitudinal

study on 2020 US Presidential Debates”.

I have not used any sources other than those listed in the bibliography

and identified as references.

I further declare that this thesis has not been submitted for the award of

any other degree or diploma in any university or other institution.

Quy Nhơn, September 2021

Lê Thị Mỹ Huệ

ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Without the help and support of many people, I would not have been

able to complete this research. I would like to express my sincere gratitude

and respect to all of them.

First and foremost, I want to express my thanks to the most significant

person in my life, Dr Vo Duy Duc, my supervisor, for his professional

guidance and consistent encouragement. I am grateful for his willingness to

be my supervisor in his field of expertise, Appraisal Theory. Thanks to his

materials, his hearted guidance from the very first day of my journey to the

last chapter of this thesis, his detailed feedbacks on every piece of my paper,

my thesis was finally successfully accomplished.

My special thanks also go to all the lecturers who have given me

knowledge during the last two years of my study.

Finally, my heartfelt appreciation goes to my close friends and my

family who are always beside me and give me spiritual support in studying.

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ABSTRACT

The study attempts to investigate the use of Attitudinal resources,

including Affect, Judgement and Appreciation in the first US presidential

debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden with the employment of the

Appraisal Theory by Martin and White (2005). It was carried out through

mixed approaches - quantitative and qualitative. Attitudinal studies based on

Appraisal theory has gained much attention from many researchers at home

and abroad; however, it has been found that there is no related research on the

field of debate. The examination shows that both Donald Trump and Joe

Biden employed Attitudinal resources in debate. It was found that the

candidates tend to use more Affect resources in their debate than the other

two Attitudinal categories, Appreciation and Judgement. Although the two

candidates have a similar tendency in Attitudinal resources, they are different

in the distribution of Attitude sub-types. The study gives implications for

teaching and learning English and constitutes a base for further exploration of

evaluative language in the field of debates.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP .................................................................. i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................ii

ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................iii

TABLE CONTENT ........................................................................................ iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................ vii

LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................viii

LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................... ix

LIST OF CHARTS ........................................................................................... x

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................... 1

1.1.RATIONALE.............................................................................................. 1

1.2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ................................................................... 3

1.2.1. Aims.............................................................................................. 3

1.2.2. Objectives ..................................................................................... 3

1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS.................................................................... 3

1.4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY...................................................................... 3

1.5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY....................................................... 4

1.6. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY.................................................... 4

1.7. SUMMARY........................................................................................... 5

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................... 6

2.1. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND....................................................... 6

2.1.1. Appraisal theory............................................................................ 6

2.1.2 Attitude .......................................................................................... 8

2.1.3. Engagement ................................................................................ 23

2.1.4. Graduation .................................................................................. 25

2.2. LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................... 27

v

2.3. SUMMARY......................................................................................... 29

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES .................... 30

3.1. RESEARCH METHODS ................................................................... 30

3.2. DATA COLLECTION ........................................................................ 30

3.3. DATA ANALYSIS.............................................................................. 31

3.4. RESEARCH PROCEDURES.............................................................. 31

3.5. Reliability and Validity in the research ............................................... 32

3.6. SUMMARY......................................................................................... 32

CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ........................................... 32

4.1. GENERAL FEATURES OF THE FIST DEBATE OF DONALD

TRUMP AND JOE BIDEN ........................................................................ 33

4.2. Affect.................................................................................................... 35

4.2.1. Dis/Inclination ............................................................................ 36

4.2.2. Un/Happiness.............................................................................. 40

4.2.3. Dis/Satisfaction........................................................................... 42

4.2.4. In/Security................................................................................... 43

4.3. JUDGEMENT...................................................................................... 45

4.3.1 Social Esteem............................................................................... 47

4.3.2. Social Sanction ........................................................................... 50

4.3.3. Explicit and Implicit Judgement in the first debate.................... 53

4.4. APPRECIATION................................................................................. 56

4.4.1. Reaction ...................................................................................... 57

4.4.2. Composition................................................................................ 60

4.4.3. Valuation..................................................................................... 61

4.4.4. Positive and Negative Appreciation in Donald Trump and Joe

Biden..................................................................................................... 63

4.5. SUMMARY......................................................................................... 66

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS ............................... 67

vi

5.1. CONCLUSIONS.................................................................................. 67

5.2. IMPLICATIONS ................................................................................. 68

5.3. LIMITATIONS.................................................................................... 69

5.4. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH ................................ 69

REFERENCES................................................................................................ 70

APPENDIX