EXPLORING TED SPEAKERS’ RHETORICAL STRATEGIES a GENRE ANALYSIS OF a SELECTED TED TALK = tìm HIỂU về các BIỆN PHÁP TU từ của DIỄN GIẢ TED TALK = PHÂN TÍCH THỂ LOẠI DIỄN NGÔN CHO một bài TED TALK

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF LINGUISTICS & CULTURES OF ENGLISH-SPEAKING
COUNTRIES

GRADUATION PAPER

EXPLORING TED SPEAKERS’ RHETORICAL
STRATEGIES
A GENRE ANALYSIS OF A SELECTED TED TALK

Supervisor: Mrs. Nguyễn Thị Thùy Linh
Student: Nguyễn Nguyệt Hà
Course: QH2017.F1.E2

HÀ NỘI – 2021
1


ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI
TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ
KHOA NGƠN NGỮ VÀ VĂN HỐ CÁC NƯỚC NĨI TIẾNG ANH

KHĨA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP

TÌM HIỂU VỀ CÁC BIỆN PHÁP TU TỪ CỦA DIỄN
GIẢ TED TALK
PHÂN TÍCH THỂ LOẠI DIỄN NGƠN CHO MỘT
BÀI TED TALK

Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Mrs. Nguyễn Thị Thùy

Linh
Sinh viên: Nguyễn Nguyệt Hà
Khóa: QH2010.F1.E2

HÀ NỘI – 2021
2


I hereby state that I: Nguyen Nguyet Ha – Class QH2017.F1.E2, being a candidate for the
degree of Bachelor of Arts (B.A. Honours Programme) accept the requirements of the
University relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in
the library.
In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library
should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal
conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper.

Signature

Date

3


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my great appreciation to Mrs Nguyen Thi Thuy Linh, my
research supervisor, for her patient guidance, valuable and constructive suggestions during
the planning and development of this thesis work. Her willingness to give her time
generously has been much appreciated. My special thanks are also extended to Dr. Nguyen
Thi Minh Tam, for her advice and assistance in keeping my progression on schedule.

I would like to extend my deep gratitude to my parents and my elder brothers who
gave me unflagging support throughout my study. Without their great encouragement and
endless patience, I would have never achieved this version of myself.
My many thanks go to my good friends, Do Ninh Chi and Do Lan Anh at my
university class for their wholehearted support and joyful friendship during my academic
journey.
My sincere gratefulness also goes to my favorite girl, Nguyen Lan Anh for her
loving care of me.
I am also deeply thankful to my friend, Van Sy Son, for always having faith in me
and my ability to complete this research work.
My last appreciation is for my dearest special friend for his unwavering love and
support over the years. Without his affection, I would have hardly been emotionally and
mentally sound enough to complete this journey.

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Abstract: This research aims at investigating the use of rhetorical strategies
deployed by TED Speakers. The analysis focuses on the rhetorical moves with their
corresponding steps and three modes of Appeals which characterize these moves in a
selected TED Talk in the science categorization. The data is discussed in the light of
Rhetorical Genre Studies (RGS) and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) theories of genre
analysis. Results demonstrate that in terms of rhetorical moves, there are six possible
moves and steps namely Topic Introduction, Speaker Presentation, Topic Development,
Closure, Concluding messages and Acknowledgements/Gratitude. Moreover, the
flexibility of move-step is also acknowledged in the chosen talk. Regarding rhetorical
strategies, there is an attempt to appeal to 3 modes, namely Logos, Ethos and Pathos, in 5
out of 6 moves to persuade the audience to accept her argument about the powerful benefits
of physical activities. These rhetorical strategies are characterized by 4 types of dictions
(technical, concrete, emotional and ironic diction), sentence lengths (telegraphic, short,

medium and long sentences) and sentence functions (declarative, interrogative, imperative
and exclamatory sentences).
Keyword: genre analysis, TED Talk, rhetorical moves, rhetorical strategies,
diction and syntax.

5


TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………8
1.1. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY………………………………………………... 9
1.2. RESEARCH QUESTION…………………………………………………………...9
2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND/ LITERATURE REVIEW………………….10
2.1. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ………………………………………………. 10
2.2. PREVIOUS STUDIES INTO TED TALKS ………………………………………16
3. METHODOLOGY …………………………………………………………………19
3.1. SAMPLING ………………………………………………………………………. 19
3.2. SAMPLING ANALYSIS ………………………………………………………….21
4. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION …………………………………………………...23
4.1. THE RHETORICAL MOVES …………………………………………………….23
4.2. THE RHETORICAL STRATEGIES ……………………………………………...26
4.2.1. THREE MODES OF APPEALS ………………………………………………...26
4.2.2. SURFACE FEATURES …………………………………………………………32
4.2.2.1. DICTION ………………………………………………………………………32
4.2.2.2. SYNTAX ………………………………………………………………………36
4.3. THE TONE ………………………………………………………………………...43
5. CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………………………. 44
6

5.1. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS …………………………………………………44
5.2. IMPLICATIONS …………………………………………………………………...45
5.3. LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES ……………. 45
REFERENCE ………………………………………………………….………………46
APPENDIX ……………………………………………………………………………. 50

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
The study of genres has received significant attention in the last few decades. In the
past, genre studies used to be conducted mostly in the field of literature; however,
nowadays they have been observed in all discourse forms to analyze a variety of text types
for different purposes, produced by distinct communities in different situations and
contexts. Various attempts have been made by applied linguists to explore genres in
different perspectives (Bazerman, 2010; Bonini, 2001; Marcuschi & Luiz Antônio, 2004;
Martin, 1984; Meurer, 2003; Moritz, 2006, and Swales, 1990). In terms of spoken
discourse, genre studies have been carried out on dissertation defenses (Rescki, 2005,
2006), academic lectures and conference presentations (Flowerdew & Miller, 1996;
Rowley-Jolivet & Carter-Thomas, 2005; Thompson, 1994; Dubois, 1980) and TED Talks
(Compagnone, 2015; Scotto di Carlo, 2014a; Scotto di Carlo, 2015b; Sugimoto, Thelwall,
Larivière, Mongeon, & Macaluso, 2013; Chang & Huang, 2015).
TED, which is the acronym for Technology, Entertainment and Design, is a nonprofit organization providing short talks, aiming at celebrating new ideas across the globe.
Founded in 1984, TED was primarily devoted to spreading ideas in technology,
entertainment and design. Today, TED has gone far beyond these fields, covering a wide
range of topics, from science to education to entrepreneur to global problems. TED Talks,
delivered in more than 100 languages, are broadcast on the official website: www.ted.com,
offering internet users with free access to their interested topics. As part of oral discourse,
TED Talks have received much attention in recent years. Various authors have focused on
examining the rhetorical organization of TED Talks and their communicative purposes (Li

& Li, 2021; Miranda, 2018; e.g., Chang & Huang, 2015); and their linguistic features such
as epistemic lexical verbs, the use of the first and second pronouns and prosodic voice
characters (Tsai, 2015; Caliendo & Compagnone, 2014). Despite the current body of
literature, how TED speakers in a specific profession, for example science, use rhetorical
strategies to achieve their communicative purposes have yet to be robustly researched.

8


Significance of the study
The findings of this study on rhetorical strategies deployed by a TED speaker in the
category of science may contribute to the current body of literature about genre studies into
TED Talks by shedding light on the unexplored areas which are rhetorical strategies
deployed by TED speakers. Therefore, this paper can be the starting point for any research
attempting to describe and explain how TED Talk as a genre mediate the way member of
that community practice their language to reach the audience’s thoughts and actions.
Another contribution of this study is that it may be of some assistance for novice persuasive
speakers who can draw on the findings about rhetorical strategies to integrate this aspect
into preparing a persuasive speech, specifically related to the topic of science.
Research Questions
The current study aims at investigating the rhetorical strategies deployed by an
acclaimed neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki to fulfil her purpose of persuading the audience to
believe in the benefits of physical training in her TED Talk named “The brain-changing
benefits of exercise”. As such, this research set out to answer the following question:
(1) Which rhetorical moves, realized by steps, characterize the selected talk?
(2) Which rhetorical strategies are deployed to facilitate the speaker to persuade
the audience?
The findings of the current research reflect the significance of the present study
since they are directly related to the research problem.

9


CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND / LITERATURE REVIEW
In this chapter, the theoretical framework of the present study and literature related
to the subject of the current research are presented. The review starts with an overview of
genre and genre analysis, which puts an emphasis on three different approaches towards
genre studies, and then moves on to the research subject.
2.1. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
2.1.1. The introduction of Genre Analysis
In this section, the explanation of Genre Analysis and the classification of three
schools of genre study are given.
2.1.1.1. Genre and Genre Analysis
2.1.1.1.1. Definition
Genres have been a subject of study since the time of Aristotle’s Rhetoric (Bhatia,
2004). In terms of the orientation to genre study, Flowerdew (2002) pointed out that genre
analysis could be practically classified into two domains, which were textual analyses, and
context and social analyses. These two approaches were reported to have interrelation with
each other, instead of being two opposite perspectives. In other words, textual and
contextual orientations should be employed in attempt to afford better understanding of
genre theory.
For the purpose of conducting genre studies, Hyon (1996) mentioned in his seminal
article that there are three traditional approaches, namely English for Specific Purposes
(ESP), New Rhetoric (Reynolds, 1998) and Systemic Functional linguistics (a distinctive
Australian approach). In general, these traditions were different from one another in terms
of the theorists and practitioners; however, they still shared some similar aspects such as
the nature of the orientations towards how the text is constructed (Johns, 2002).
2.1.1.1.2. Three approaches in Genre Analysis
Rhetorical Genre Studies (RGS)
Rhetorical Genre Studies, based in North America, was inspired by the

developmental psychology and meta-cognitive science which paid attention to the social
purpose of genre. Therefore, genre was described by Miller (1984) as “typified rhetorical
actions based in recurrent situations. The primary focus of this tradition was to gain insights
into the way genre ‘mediates situated practices, interactions, symbolic realities and
congruent meanings” (Bazerman, 2003). By exploring this feature, researchers were able
to understand the dynamic relationship between genre and situations. Based on this focus
10


of RGS, it can be inferred that the aim of RGS was to investigate the context of genre where
genres were considered sociological concepts determining the characteristics of the texts
and how people socially interact in those contexts. For the realization of the goal set by
RGS practitioners, it should be noted that the starting point of any genre analysis was to
examine the context in which genre was found and how genre performed within that
context. Particularly, in a genre study within RGS, instead of text analysis, an
ethnomethodological approach should be employed since this analysis method offered
researchers a deeper and detailed exploration into social and cultural contexts. Put
differently, RGS attempted to gain understanding into how the communities of text users
express their attitudes, set of values and beliefs (Hyland, 2002). These features, in turn,
were realized in the way genre is constructed.
English for Specific Purposes Perspective (ESP)
The term English for Specific Purposes (ESP) was coined to refer to a variety of
English aspects including academic English or professional English such as business
English or English in information technology. This tradition was influenced by
Bakhtinian’s concepts about inter-textuality and dialogism, and adopted the view of
Systemic Functional Linguistics about text structure (Hyland, 2002). However, ESP
approach did not draw on any systemic model of language or meta-functional grammar.
From the perspective of ESP, genre was defined as “a class of communicative events”
where language has an important role to play, both in the discourse meaning and the
environment and culture around the text (Swales, 1990). The primary aim of ESP was the

providing adequate target language materials and skills that were required in certain studies
or professions for second language learners through the analysis of the communicative
purposes and linguistic features (Bhatia, 1993; Swales, 1990). Therefore, it can be
understood that genres were considered the communicative tools in the social context in
the sense that genres helped to investigate the goals of the discourse community and how
these communicative purposes can be achieved with the use of text structure and lexicalgrammatical features.
In this tradition, Swales (1990) also covered the investigation into its rhetorical
structure which is characterized by the moves and steps. By definition, a move was “a
section of a text” which not only “has its own purpose” but also “contributes to the overall
communicative purpose of the genre” and these moves are, in turn, supported by steps
(Connor, Upton, & Kanoksilapatham, 2007). Therefore, the aim of move analysis was to
explore the way a written or spoken text is constructed by a series of moves and steps
(Henry & Roseberry, 1998; Tardy, 2011). In the analysis of the research article introduction
conducted by Swales (1990), the “create a research space” (CARS) move framework was
presented with three moves, namely (1) establishing a territory, (2) establishing a niche
and (3) occupying a niche. These moves were then realized by a set of different steps. The
11


realization of the moves and steps in the framework contributed to identify the
communicative goal of the genre, which provides a persuasive rationale for the study.
Move

Step

1.Establishing a territory
(citations required)

(1) Topic generalizations
increasing specificity

2. Establishing a niche
(citation possible)

(2A) Indicating a gap OR
(2B) Adding to what is known
(3) Announcing present research
descriptively and/ or purposively
(obligatory)
(4) Presenting Research Question
(RQ) or hypotheses
(optional)
(5) Definitional clarifications
(optional)
(6)
Summarizing
methods
(optional)
(7)
Announcing
principal
outcomes
(probable in some fields, but
unlikely in others)
(8) Stating the value of the present
research
(probable in some fields, but
unlikely in others)
(9) Outlining the structure of the
paper

(probable in some fields, but
unlikely in others)

3. Presenting the present work
(citation possible)

of

Table 1: Swales’ CARS Model (Swales, 2004)
Thompson (1994) based his research on ESP tradition to examine 18 introductions
to academic lectures, which were spoken genres, and identify two main moves, including
(1) setting the lecture framework (comprising four or five possible steps) and (2) putting
the topic into context (comprising three possible steps). In addition, her analysis of the data
also indicated that there was a variation in the sequencing of moves and steps. RowleyJolivet and Carter-Thomas (2005) carried out another move analysis of oral discourse,
specifically introductions to conference presentations. According to their results, the moves
12


setting up the framework, contextualizing the topic, and stating the research rationale were
identified.
Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL)
Regarding the definition of genre, within SFL, genre was seen as “staged, goaloriented and purposeful social activity that people engage in as members of their culture”
(Martin, 1984). Eggins (2007) claimed that genre was considered the ‘cultural purpose’ of
the texts and was realized through structural patterns. Initially, the focus of this approach
was to provide help for the education of language and literacy in the context of Australian
school and adult migrant projects. However, recently, a growing number of practitioners
of this approach have paid more attention to the analysis of genre in a variety of contexts
and languages. In terms of the primary focus of genre studies in Systemic Functional
Linguistics was to (1) gain insights on the link between social purposes and text structure
and to (2) understand the realization of social purposes as social, linguistic and situated

actions within register (including field, tenor and mode). In the context of SFL, it was
acknowledged that genres were described as purposeful, interactive and sequential while
language was systematically related to context. Hence, the analysis of genre from the
perspective of SFL aimed to investigate the stages or moves whose functions were realized
by lexical, grammatical and cohesive patterns (Rothery, 1996).
2.1.1.1.3. Distinction of the three approaches in Genre Study
A shared understanding of genre among three approaches whether it was a
linguistic or rhetorical tradition was that genres were seen as a collection of texts and
contexts which were connected to one another through their focus on the context,
audience and occasion (Freedman, 2006). Moreover, RGS, ESP and SFL all aimed at the
description and explanation of the “regularities of focus, form and situated social
action” (Hyland, 2002). However, each approach to genre analysis offered researchers
a different point of view due to the differences among the approaches including the
focus of the genre and the trajectory to genre analysis (either analytical or pedagogical
approach).
It was contended that, regarding the focus of the genre analysis, while RGS aimed
to investigate the social purpose of a genre, ESP attempted to describe the moves and
the discourse structure within a genre. Whereas, within SFL, the focus of the studies
was grammatical features and the discourse structure which were related to a genre’s
social function (Yunick, 1997).

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The table 2 below gives the overview of how each approach (RGS, ESP, SFL)
differs to one another:
Feature

RGS

ESP

SFL

‘typified rhetorical actions “a class of communicative
based in recurrent situations’ events” where language has an
(Miller, 1984).
important role to play, both in
Definition
the discourse meaning and the
environment and culture
around the text (Swales,
1990).

‘staged, goal-oriented and
purposeful social activity
that people engage in as
members of their culture’
(Martin, 1984).

to gain insights into the way to analyze communicative
genre ‘mediates situated purposes and formal language
practices,
interactions, components
symbolic
realities
and
congruent
meaning’s’
(Bazerman, 2003).

to (1) gain insights on the
link
between
social
purposes and text structure
and to (2) understand the
realization
of
social
purposes
as
social,
linguistic and situated
actions within register
(including field, tenor and
mode).

Aim

to understand the dynamic
relationship between genre
and situations, the difficulties
of situations and social
motives behind people’s
actions in those situations by
studying the social structure.

to equip second language
learners with adequate target

language materials and skills
that are required in certain
studies
or
professions
(Swales, 1990; and Bhatia,
1993).

to gain insights on how the
organization and structure
of language can realize its
social purpose in a specific
context and culture.

View/
Concern

the study of genre should go
with the study of the
community in which a kind of
genre emerges; and should
involve the investigation of
the surrounding social context
through an ethnographic
approach.

genres are regarded as
communicative tools in the
social context in the sense that
genres help to investigate the

goals of the discourse
community and how these
communicative purposes can
be achieved with the use of

genres are characterized as
purposeful, interactive and
sequential and language is
systematically related to
context.

Focus

14


text structure and lexicogrammatical features.
Key
Concept

Typification

Discourse
community, Realization
communicative purpose

to examine the context in to identify the communicative
which genre is found and how purpose within the discourse
genre performs within that community.
context.

to describe the moves
within the genres & their
functions
realized
by
lexical, grammatical and
cohesive patterns.

Ethnomethodological:
- Moving from contextual to
analyzing the social and textual analysis: (1) the
cultural context in detail.
identification of a genre with a
discourse community, (2) the
- emphasizing the analysis of identification
of
the
social purposes/ actions
communicative purpose of the
Approach
genre, (3) the investigation
into the organization of the
genre, (4) the realization of the
textual and linguistic features
that help construct the
rhetorical moves.

Textual
analysis:

(1)
identify social purposes
which are represented in a
generic structure and stages
a within genre; (2) analyze
the register of a text as
demonstrated in field, tenor
and mode; (3) analyze
language meta-functions;
(4)
analyze
semantic,
lexico-grammatical
and
phonological features of a
genre (micro-analysis)

Starting
point

Table 2: Distinction among three approaches
Based on the table 2 above, SFL and ESP practitioners shared the same principle to
the analysis of genre which was the linguistic one. In other words, those researchers viewed
that there was a connection between linguistic features and a genre’s social context and
function. However, SFL and ESP did not take on the same approach to investigate how
genres were situated and analyzed. Specifically, from the view of SFL, genres were situated
within the context of culture, referring to the macro level (explanations, recounts, reports).
On the contrary, within ESP, genres were put in the context which are restricted by
discourse communities.
ESP and RGS, on the other hand, did not share the same fundamental perspective

of genre definition. Particularly, while ESP perceived genres as communicative tools
located in social contexts, RGS considered genres as sociological terms (Bawarshi & Reiff,
2010).

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From the discussion above highlighting the distinction in definition, focus, aim,
concepts, analysis approaches, the researcher of the current study has chosen to base her
genre analysis on RGS and ESP analytical approach, considering her research aims:
(1) to explore the move structure of the sampling in TED Talks as a genre, and (2) to
realize the rhetorical strategies in terms of textual and linguistic features that help
construct the rhetorical moves.
2.2. PREVIOUS STUDIES INTO TED TALKS
In this part, some previous studies that are related to her research focus, TED Talks,
are presented. The purpose of reviewing the existing literature was to identify the research
gap, which facilitated the process of conducting the current research.
TED has been regarded as a useful source for improving L2 proficiency,
specifically listening comprehension (Takaesu, 2013). More significantly, it has been
generally recognized for providing meaningful and inspirational information for teachers
and learners across the globe (Banker & Gournelos, 2013; DaVia Rubenstein, 2012). Many
scholarly attempts have been made to explore the pedagogical effectiveness of TED Talks
(Bell, Panayiotou, & Sayers, 2019; Chang & Huang, 2015; Rubenstein, 2012; Wolfe, 2015;
Ratanakul & Surasawadee, 2017).
As part of spoken genres, TED Talks have been explored as a genre; however,
the subject has received little attention, thereby the existing body of literature being
still scarce.
Some scholars have already made attempts to examine TED Talks in terms of
their linguistic features. Caliendo and Compagnone (2014) conducted a contrastive
corpus-based analysis about epistemic stance in university lectures and TED Talks. This

comparative study showed that see, show, know and think were the 4 most frequent
epistemic lexical verbs; and the person pronoun we employed by the speakers did not
include the audience, which was supposed to be one of the traits found in lectures at
universities. Similarly, Tsai (2015) placed the focus of his study on the comparison
between TED speakers and university lecturers. According to the data analysis, speeches
in TED Talks were found to have less silent time, yet more high-energy, thereby making
TED speakers appear to be consistent in their speeches. In contrast, university professors
tended to include more chunks of silence and varied energy in their lectures. Another
finding was that when projecting their voices, TED speakers seemed to be deeper than
university lecturers.
Several attempts have been made to explore the rhetorical organization or structure
of TED Talk in the existing body of literature. Drawing on the corpus-based move analysis
approach, Chang and Huang (2015) identified 5 mandatory moves “topic introduction,
topic development, closure, concluding messages and acknowledgements/ gratitude” and
16


2 optional moves “listener orientation and speaker presentation” after the analysis of 58
selected TED Talks in different topics including design and technology, science and
medicine, humanities and education, business, and global issues. According to their data
analysis, it was possible to perceive the flexibility of speech genres.
Move
1. Listener Orientation

2. Topic Introduction

3. Speaker presentation

Step
(1) Greet audience

(2)
Engage
in
discussion
(3) Set the scene
(4) Outline Structure
(5) Introduce Oneself

meta-level

(6) Establish authority

(7) Show stance/ position
(8) Present an argument
(9) Offer an explanation
4. Topic development
(10) Describe a process/ series of
events
5. Closure
x
(11) Call for action
6. Concluding messages
(12) Make generalization/ Offer
speculations
7. Acknowledgements/ gratitude
x
Table 3: Chang and Huang’s TED Talks model (2015)
In 2018, similarly, following the ESP tradition, with the same attempt to uncover
the rhetorical structure, characterized by its moves and steps, Miranda also compiled a
corpus of 10 TED Talks from the category of science and analyzed the data. In her research,

the results about moves and steps closely correspond to those found in Chang and Huang’s
(2015) in terms of the 5 obligatory moves. However, Miranda (2018) did not identify the
2 non-obligatory moves in her 10 TED Talks as in the corpus in Chang and Huang’s (2015).
Specifically, closure and listener orientation were the 2 moves that were not found in
Miranda’s (2018) while speaker presentation as the non-obligatory moves in Chang and
Huang’s (2015) was supposed to be obligatory in Miranda’s (2018). Results in Li and Li’s
(2021) were also consistent with the data in Miranda’s (2018), in the sense that speaker
presentation in the body section is identified as the obligatory move in TED Talks about
Education. This difference in their research data about the rhetorical structure of TED Talks
could be attributed to the different fields that they approach. As in Miranda’s (2018), her
talks belonged to the category of science. In addition to the attempt to explore the rhetorical
structure of TED Talks, Miranda’s (2018) furthered her study by revealing the
17


communicative purpose of TED Talks which was one of the key features in ESP tradition.
According to her results, targeting at a lay audience, TED speakers all aimed at celebrating
new ideas in different fields. In this vein, previously, TED Talks were already regarded as
a genre which belonged to the field of science popularization (Calsamiglia & Van Dijk,
2004). These authors claimed that TED Talks provided the audience with a variety of
communicative events in which the speakers transformed their professional or specialized
knowledge into ‘lay’ knowledge.
Considering the move analysis conducted in Chang and Huang’s (2015), it should
be noted that the study only paved the way for genre analysis regarding TED Talks.
Although their results revealed 7 major moves and 14 corresponding steps in TED Talks,
which practically covered the 3 parts (Introduction, Body and Conclusion), the authors
have not done any work related to the identification of the boundary between each part.
Additionally, there has not been any consideration given to a variety of topics in TED.
Therefore, Khajornphainoon and Vungthong (2019) carried out a study into the rhetorical
move organization and the linguistic features in Introduction of 20 TED Talks about the

topic Life. Based on Swales’ move analytical approach, 2 main moves which were Topic
Introduction and Purpose/ Main idea Identification were identified in the Introduction part.
In addition, the analysis of keywords was also used to investigate the lexical features in
Introduction. Results showed that there were 5 identified themes (self-orientation, being
unspecific and referencing, intention, action and mental orientation, and being
told/informed).
Although TED Talks with various topics, ranging from technology to science to
business, have been discussed from the perspective of genre analysis, as above, the existing
literature is only limited to the aspects of linguistic features, rhetorical move structures and
communicative purposes. The rhetorical strategies that a speaker from specific field uses
to achieve their intended communicative purpose has been largely neglected. Such gap in
the current body of research well justifies the necessity of examining rhetorical strategies
deployed by TED speakers.

18


CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
The present chapter is dedicated to the explanation of the methodology that the
researcher applies in her study.
3.1. Sampling
The data was collected from the talk named “The brain-changing benefits of
exercise” in English and delivered by the neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki. The video, which
lasts
for
12
minutes
and
54
seconds,

was
retrieved
from
/>The primary reason to select the talk was the scarcity of findings on the aspect
of rhetorical strategies used in TED Talks in the field of genre analysis. Moreover, the
study of rhetoric in scientific topics have been left unexplored. For this reason, the data
collection began with the search for data on the official website www.ted.com for the data
by using the key word search tools. The key word for the selected video were brain, neuroscience and health.
The second reason was the success of the talk. The total number of views on the
website was the indication of whether a talk was successful or influential. It could be
noticed that the talk “The brain-changing benefits of exercise” belonged to mostlywatched videos with more than 10 million views on the TED official website.
The third reason was the speaker’s credibility. Concrete evidence about Dr.
Wendy Suzuki’s credence was retrieved from her official website,
www.wendysuzuki.com. According to her detailed biography, the speaker is a Professor
of Neural Science and Psychology in the Centre for Neural Science at New York
University. She earns a reputation largely for her extensive work examining which areas
in the brain are responsible for the task of forming and retaining new long-term memories.
In recent years, she has shifted her research focus from brain plasticity to the powerful
benefits of exercise on improving learning, memory capacity and higher cognitive abilities
in humans.
The fourth reason was the speaker’s experience in public speaking. Based on
the analysis of the website www.wendysuzuki.com, she is a big name and a well-known
speaker in her field which is brain science since she has delivered more than 30 keynote
talks and public speeches at different major events such as the upcoming Neuro-sports
Conference (from March, 26th, 2021 to March, 27th, 2021 at Wyndham Deerfield Beach
Resort), National Geographic’s Special Issue on Memory (on Monday, November, 30th,
2020) and American College of Sports Medicine Annual Conference (on Tuesday, July
14th, 2020 virtually due to COVID-19).

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3.1.1. Sampling description
3.1.1.1. Exigence
The first hidden motivation behind the selected talk “The brain-changing
benefits of exercise” was to persuade the audience to take exercise for the sake of their
brain health. For this reason, the neuroscientist introduced some key points and important
ideas related to her scientific findings and the existing body of literature in the field.
Furthermore, to ensure that every listener in the conference is persuaded or motivated to
start their exercise regimes, she also made the audience stand up and take part in the short
call-and-response activity. By telling the participants to perform some basic moves, the
speaker tried to emotionally influence the audience to take exercise in order to improve
their health conditions and their brains particularly.
3.1.1.2. Audience
The targeted audience was not only the participants at TEDWomen 2017
Conference but also the viewers on the website www.ted.com. In fact, any TED Talks,
including the selected one delivered by the neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki, altogether
aim at the same audience that is a community of people who have a thirst for
knowledge and a curiosity for new ideas. When having an exposure to TED Talkers or
the guest speakers’ meaningful and powerful ideas, these curious listeners are invited to
have a perspective change in different aspects of life such as Technology, Education,
Design, Health, Politics and Laws.
3.1.1.3. Purpose
The main communicative purpose of the selected TED Talk was to celebrate the
idea which was the science of how taking exercise can be beneficial for the mood and
memory while it could at the same time prevent the brain from neurodegenerative
diseases like Alzheimer's.

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3.2. Sampling analysis
3.2.1. Procedures for analyzing the rhetorical moves of the talk
The investigation into the rhetorical moves of the selected talk began by watching
the video and writing the transcript down for data analysis. Next, Move analysis developed
by Swales (1990, 2004) was applied to identify the moves and steps in the selected talk.
After the configuration of the moves, the comparison between her findings and
the model created by Chang and Huang (2015) as in the previous chapter was
presented.
3.2.2. Procedures for analyzing rhetorical strategies
Jolliffe’s Rhetorical Framework (2009) was chosen as this model facilitates the
understanding of how a text in a genre impacts the audience’s thoughts and shapes
their actions.
Jolliffe’s Rhetorical Analysis Framework Design (2009) is displayed in the diagram
below:
Exigence

Audience

Situation

Purpose

Logos
Appeals

Ethos

Pathos
Tone

Organization/ Structure/ Form
Surface
Features

Diction

Syntax

Imagery

Figurative Language

Diagram 1: Jolliffe’s Rhetorical Framework (2009)
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Jolliffe’s Rhetorical Framework for rhetorical analysis is divided into three parts.
The first part is labelled as Rhetorical situation which deals with the description of
Exigence, Audience and Purpose. Exigence, rhetorically speaking, means the reason that
prompts the speaker to deliver a certain speech or to send a message to the audience.
Consequently, it is essential to examine the audience or specifically the type of response
from the audience that the speaker expects.
3.2.2.1. Procedures for analyzing 3 modes of Appeals
Regarding the second important part of the framework which is Appeals, the
analysis involves three means of persuasion: Logos, Ethos and Pathos. According to
Aristotle’s Rhetoric, the persuasion is accomplished by logical arguments, writer or
speaker’s credence and emotional dispositions. Specifically, Logos can be defined as the
process of persuading the audience by the argument itself. On the other hand, Ethos mainly
deals with the presentation of the speaker’s profession and authority in the field. Finally,

Pathos is concerned with the action of bringing the listeners to certain frame of mind which
then modifies their judgement on certain topics (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
2010).
3.2.2.2. Procedures for analyzing Surface Features
The investigation into surface features involved in the analysis of diction and
syntax. Each of these aspects were supported by the evidence in the rhetorical strategies. It
should be noted that the study of syntax involved the analysis of two aspects: Sentence
lengths and Sentence functions. Regarding sentence lengths, there were 4 types of lengths:
telegraphic sentences (five words or less), short sentences (roughly from 5 to 15 words),
medium sentences (approximately between 18 and 20 words) and long sentences (more
than 25 words). Considering sentence functions, there were 4 types: declarative,
interrogative, imperative and exclamatory sentence (Frank, 1972). The detailed analysis of
sentences in terms of their sentence lengths and functions. was included in the Appendix.
In the present research, the analysis of imagery and figurative language was not
included due to the time constraint and word limit.

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CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
This section aims at presenting the analysis and the discussion of the selected TED
Talk in terms of its rhetorical moves and rhetorical strategies. It is divided into two parts
dealing with each research question.
4.1. The rhetorical moves
Question 1: Which rhetorical moves, realized by steps, characterize the selected
talk?
4.1.1. Findings
In the current study into one selected talk from the library on www.ted.com, 6
moves and their corresponding steps are identified: Topic Introduction, Speaker
Presentation,

Topic
Development,
Closure,
Concluding
messages
and
Acknowledgements/Gratitude.
Move
1. Topic
Introduction
(TI)

2. Speaker
presentation
(SP)

Step
(1) Set the
scene

Transcript
Excerpt 1: What if I told you …
Would you do it? Yes!

(2) Announce
the topic

Excerpt 2: I am talking about … that
can last for the rest of your life.

(3) Show
stance/position

Excerpt 3: So what I want … the
most transformative thing that you
can do for your brain today.

(4) Establish
authority

Excerpt 4: Now, as a neuroscientist,
I know that our brains … And that
structure is called the hippocampus.

3. Topic
Development
(TP)

(5) Describe a
process/series
of events

4. Closure
(C)

x

Excerpt 5: So I’ve always been
fascinated with the hippocampus
… Which eventually led me to the

big decision to completely shift
my research focus.
Excerpt 6: And so now, after
several years of really focusing
on this question … And it’s even
better, because it’s free.
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(6) Present an
argument
5. Concluding
messages
(CM)

(7) Establish
authority

(8) Offer
speculation

Excerpt 7: So this is the point in
the talk where everybody says …
going to take at the gym.
Excerpt 8: So I’ve gone from
memory pioneer to exercise
explorer … And done! OK, good
job!
Excerpt 8: Thank you. I want to
leave you with one last thought …

change the trajectory of your life
for the better.
Excerpt 9: Thank you very much.

6.
Acknowledgements
x
(A)
Table 4: Moves and Steps in the chosen TED Talk “The brain-changing effects of exercise”
by Wendy Suzuki:
The findings in the current study echo that of Chang and Huang’s (2015) in terms
of the flexibility in move structures which describes the variation of obligatory and nonobligatory moves in TED Talks (Chang & Huang, 2015, pp.44-48).
Labelled as a non-obligatory move in Chang and Huang’s (2015, Listener
Orientation in which the speaker aims to be interactive with the audience by dealing with
questions indirectly related to the topic of the speech, was not employed in the current
speech. This can be attributed to the fact that the neuroscientist already made a connection
with the audience in the step Set the scene in the obligatory move Topic Introduction by
asking the listeners three rhetorical questions:
What if I told you there was something that you can do right now that would
have an immediate, positive benefit for your brain including your mood and
your focus? And what if I told you that same thing could actually last a long
time and protect your brain from different conditions like depression,
Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. Would you do it? Yes!
In other words, the flexibility of the moves is evident in the current study since the
speaker began the talk by interweaving the move Listener Orientation and the step Set the
scene.
4.1.2 Discussion about the rhetorical moves
According to Chang and Huang (2015), in order to achieve a specific
communicative purpose, speakers sometimes intentionally relocated moves from one
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rhetorical section to another one. This flexibility of the move/ step placement can be
observed in the move Concluding messages in the present research. In Chang and Huang’s
(2015), the move Concluding messages often consists of two typical steps: Call for action
and Make generalization/ Offer speculation. However, the present findings show that a
step of Topic Development (typical to the body section), named Present an argument,
located in the conclusion section, toward the end of the talk.
[…] you don’t have to become a triathlete to get these effects. The rule of
thumb is you want to get three to four times a week exercise minimum 30
minutes an exercise session […] you don’t have to go to the gym to get a
very expensive gym membership. Add an extra walk around the block in
your power walk. You see stairs — take stairs. And power-vacuuming can
be as good as the aerobics class that you were going to take at the gym.
This placement can be considered a strategy to emphasize the main point of the
speech and persuade the audience to change their thoughts and actions – that is taking
exercise.
Likewise, the step Establish authority occurred twice in the present talk. The first
occurrence was recorded in the introductory move, Speaker presentation and the second
one was witnessed in the conclusion. The reappearance of the step helped the speaker to
reinforce her credibility, thus making a strong impression on the audience about her
arguments.
So I’ve gone from memory pioneer to exercise explorer. From going into
the innermost workings of the brain, to trying to understand how exercise
can improve our brain function […] maximize the effects of exercise today
and also to improve your brain and protect your brain the best for the rest
of your life.
The findings in the current study highlight the typicality of moves/steps in TED
Talks and reflect the flexibility in the move step placement.

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