luận văn thạc sĩ a critical discourse analysis of president trump speeches in the united nation general assembly

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
QUY NHON UNIVERSITY

TRAN NGOC ANH TRAM

A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
OF PRESIDENT TRUMP’S SPEECHES
IN THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Field:

English Linguistics

Code:

8.22.02.01

Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyén Van Long


BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN

TRAN NGOC ANH TRAM

PHAN TICH DIEN NGON PHE PHAN
TRONG CAC BAI PHAT BIEU
CUA TONG THONG TRUMP
TAI DAI HOI DONG LIEN HIEP QUOC

Chuyên ngành:

Maso:

Ngôn ngữ Anh

8.22.02.01

Người hướng dẫn: PGS. TS. Nguyễn Văn Long


STATEMENT

OF AUTHORSHIP

Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis
contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from
a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded

another degree or

diploma.
No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgements
in the thesis.
This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or
diploma in any other tertiary institution.
Binh Dinh, 2020
Tran Ngoc Anh Tram

il

ABSTRACT
This
investigate

study

applied

a

three

political

Critical

Discourse

speeches

Analysis

of President

perspective

Trump’s

in the

to

United

Nations Assembly General. The data for analysis in this thesis was taken from
the official website in the US, so the quality of the data is entirely reliable and
available. The study was based on the theory of Critical Discourse Analysis of
Norman

Fairclough

Explanation.

with

three

parts:

Description,

It focused on the textual description.

qualitative and quantitative approaches.
grammatical

Interpretation,

and

The research employed

The results show that strategies of

structure use to reflect the surrounding world like transitivity

with two

main processes

positive/

negative

material and relational; passive/ active structures,

sentences,

and

nominalization

was

used

in_ political

speeches. The findings show that politicians employ linguistic features and
persuasive
thesis

strategies

can be used

interested

in

understanding

to represent their power
as a reference

political
of the

speeches

and

for teachers,

and

can

different perspectives

ideology.

learners,

provide

Besides,

or those

them

with

of critical discourse

this

who

a

are

better

analysis.

Hopefully, the results of this thesis may be useful for those who are interested
in critical discourse analysis.


1H

TABLE

OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ou... cccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees |
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CHAPTER
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1. INTRODUCTION .£:ääậ])]})1]1)Ả)Ả)Ả)ẢẢẢẢ......

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1.2. Aims & ODJeCTIVES 0...
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1.4. Scope of the Study...
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CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL
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2.2.1. The concept of DIscourse anaÌyS1S......................
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2.2.2. Critlcal DIscourse AnaÏyS1S ......................
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2.2.3. Fairclough’s Analytical framewWOrK ...................-----cccc c2

9
10

2.2.4. Systemic Functional Grammar’ role in CDA...........................------ 16


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2.3. Political Speech... ............................

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CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH METHOIDS.........................--SSS S1

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3.2. Research procedures ...........cccceessecccccceseeeecceceaeceeecccceeaeeseeececaaaneeeeeseeaaes 21

3.3. Data COIOCTION .......................
3.4. Data analysis nh

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3.5. Reliability and valIdIty ........................ ST

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CHAPTER 4. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 00... ceeccceeeeeeeceeeeeeeeeeees 25
4.1. Experiential values of øsrammatical Íeafures ..............................------««<- 25
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4.2.3.
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32

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4.2.5. Verbal Process an ........

37
42
44

4.2.6. Frequency of occurrence of process 1n the speeches of President
Trump

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4.3.1. ActIve/PasSIV€ S€If€TC€S .......................
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4.3.2. Positive/Negative Se€'f€TnC€S.....................

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4.4. The use of nominaÌ1ZAfIOTS.....................
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CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATION.................................- 60
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5.3. LIII{AfIOTNS......................

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5.4. Sugeestlons for further research.......................----<<
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APPENDIX

64



VI

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3. 1. President Trump’s speeches in the United Nation General
C30)

3....................

23

Table 4. 1. Material process in three President Trump’s political speeches .. 26
Table 4. 2. Mental process in three President Trump’s political speeches..... 32
Table 4. 3. Mental process in three President Trump’s political speeches..... 37
Table 4. 4. Mental process in three President Trump’s political speeches..... 42
Table 4. 5. Verbal process in three President Trump’s political speeches ..... 44
Table 4. 6. Transitivity in three President Trump’s political speeches .......... 49
Table 4. 7. Distribution of Active/Passive sentences in three President
Trump’s political Speeches ..............:cccccesssssseseeesssssssesseeeseeeseseseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 52
Table 4. 8. Distribution of Positive/Negative sentences in three President
Trump’s political speeches .............::cccccesesseseseeessssssseesesesseeeseeeeeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeees 55

Vil

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1. Discourse as text, interaction and context (Fairclough, 1989)..... 11

Figure 2.2. Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework for the analysis of
lơ) 19 0)0)£ -E!iÍỒ.........5.

12

Figure 2.3. Explanation (Farrclough, Language and Power)......................... 15
Figure 4.1. Transitivity in English political speeches........................-----..--<+- 50
Figure 4.2. Distribution of Active/Passive sentences in three President
Trump’s political speeches 5...

54

Figure 4.3. Distribution of Positive/Negative sentences in three President
Trump’s political Speeches ..............:cccccesssssseseeesssssssesseeeseeeseseseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 57



CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
Nowadays,

the

world

is

changing

rapidly

development and enhancement of everything.

day

by

day

with

the

Therefore, the interest in the

language field has been more and more increase, mastering a language helps
people approach with a lots of world news such as politics, society, business,
etc. The explosion of the mass media, information technology has created
conditions

and

opportunities

for people

to communicate,

Language plays an important role in all aspects of our lives.

link and

share.

It can be used to

verbal or non-verbal communication such as gestures, body language and tone
of voice effectively. Moreover, language is also said to be a means to convey
inner thoughts and emotions
and power
between

embedded

them

when

and influence other's minds through ideology

in language

use.

linguists investigate

We

can discover

the relationship

in the immense

field of Critical

Discourse Analysis (CDA).

During the process of exploring new aspects in the language, we have to
confront with lots of obstacles in interpreting language which is not only at
such levels as phonology,
CDA

syntax, lexical but also at the level of discourse.

was developed by Roger Fowler and Gunther Kress in the late 1970s

and the early 1980s. It is considered as an interdisciplinary approach to the
study of discourse in the perspective that language is viewed as a form of
social practice. According to Fairclough (2001), CDA

studies and analyses

any type of discourse (written text, speech, gesture, symbols, signs posters,
electronic and printed advertisement and any type of communication)
systematically

communicates

with

us.

CDA

significantly

expresses

that
the



ideology of the writer and the speaker and enables linguistic researchers to
analyze different kinds of discourse. Political discourse is one of the most
important and popular targets of CDA. It describes the dialectical relationship
between the use of language and the power to emphasize the theoretical value
and practical value. Theoretically,

it provides

a new

approach to political

analysis to the text. The analysis of grammar and vocabulary in the examples
of the political speeches demonstrates a part of the analysis from the CDA
perspective. Moreover, the lexical analysis in a sentence can be carried out in
many aspects, such as relational value, expressive value of metaphors. Using
the values of vocabulary aims to enhance the interaction between writers and
readers. Meanwhile,

the values of grammar

(the experiential, relational, and

expressive value of grammar), as well as textual structure, were analyzed in
the same way.
CDA

has been used to study many different aspects of linguistics by a

number of researchers and scholars studying. For example, Hanh (2016) did a
research

“A

English”.

critical discourse

Nhu

(2016)

analysis

of online

game

studied the thesis about CDA

advertisements

in

abstract of education

journal articles in English and Vietnamese. In 2018, Duong

researched about

CDA of the speeches of Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May. In fact, many
researchers
speeches;

have

focused

however,

on certain

it is interesting

linguistic

features

to explore

the

of the politicians’

language

the

current

president of the United States Donald Trump.
Besides,
development.

critical thinking is seen as an integral element
CDA

of education

is very necessary for language teaching and learning.

Thus, with the recognition of the importance of CDA, I decide to carry out the
study

entitled

Speeches

“A

in The

Critical
United

Discourse
Nations

Analysis

General

of

President

Assembly".

In this

Trump’s
study,

I



attempt to investigate and analyze CDA in President Trump’s speeches in the
United Nations General Assembly with the hope that the result of the study
will provide some useful knowledge of CDA
learners. Moreover,

in politics field for language

I strongly hope to help language teachers and learners

find it is useful for them to understand and apply CDA in their teaching and
learning English.

1.2. Aims & Objectives
4.2.2.
This

Aims
research

aims

to discover

the

textual

description

in terms

of

grammar analysis within the framework of CDA in the speeches of President
Donald Trump. It also aims at clarifying his speeches in the grammar analysis
of the

language

information
political

of CDA.

and

It provides

learners

to raise their awareness

speeches

in English.

of English

with

of critical discourse

Moreover,

this thesis

significant contribution of the experiential values

practical

analysis

is to investigate

of grammatical

in
the

features

have in Trump’ speeches. It also identified the nominalization, active/ passive
sentences,

and positive/ negative

sentences

were

used in the speeches

of

President Donald Trump’s in United Nations General Assembly.
4.2.3.

Objectives

To achieve the aims of the study, the following objectives are intended
to:
-

Investigate the textual description in terms of grammar
political

speeches

by

America‘s

45th

President

analysis in

in United

Nations

General Assembly.
-

Highlight

the

significant

employed in Trump’s
-

contribution

of

the

experiential

values

speeches.

Identify the nominalizations, active/ passive sentences, and positive/



negative sentences were used in Trump’s speeches.
1.3. Research Questions
The following questions are posed, based on the aims and objectives
mentioned above, to guide the research process:
1. What are the discourse features of President Trump’s speeches in
United Nations General Assembly in terms of grammar analysis
in CDA?
2. What

are

the

nominalizations,

active/

passive

sentences,

and

positive/ negative sentences that were used in President Trump’s
speeches in United Nations General Assembly?

1.4. Scope of the Study
In this thesis, the scope of study is limited to the CDA in three President
Trump’s speeches in United Nations General Assembly and their respective
functions. It focuses on the textual description in terms of grammar analysis
of political speeches basing on CDA.
This

study

framework.

It

followed

the

investigates

description
the

process

grammatical features have in Trump’
nominalization,

active/ passive

were used in the speeches
General

Assembly.

The

stage
of

according
the

to Fairclough‘s

experiential

values

of

speeches. This study also identifies the

sentences,

and positive/ negative

of President Donald

interpretation and

Trump

explanation

sentences

in United Nations
stages

will not be

included because the substance of “analysis” changes from stage to stage. In
the description,

analysis

is generally

seen as a matter of identifying

and

‘labelling’ formal features of a text in terms of the categories of a descriptive
framework.

and

in

In the interpretation, it is the cognitive process of participants,

the

(interactions).

explanation,

it

is

relationships

in

transitory

social

events