An Appraisal Analysis of Affect in Vietnamese Journalistic Commentary: A Case Study of Tuoi Tre and Nhan Dan Newspapers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1610.34Keywords:
appraisal theory, affect, attitude, commentary discourse, Vietnamese journalisticAbstract
Appraisal theory, developed by Martin and White (2005) based on Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics, has increasingly demonstrated its potential in discourse analysis studies. This study applies the Appraisal theory to identify and interpret realizations of Affect in 40 commentaries in Tuoi Tre and Nhan Dan newspapers during the COVID-19 pandemic on the following issues: healthcare, education, economics, and tourism. Rather than treating the two newspapers as isolated objects of comparison, the study approaches them as case studies representing different institutional journalistic voices, aiming to elucidate patterns of evaluative language use in Vietnamese journalistic commentary discourse. Findings show that Affect is mobilized as a strategic discursive resource to construct stance, organize interpersonal relations, and enact persuasive strategies directed at the public.
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