A Study on Interpersonal Meaning of Engagement Resources in the First Speeches of British Prime Ministers (54th - 57th)

Abstract

Appraisal Theory expands on the concept of the interpersonal meaning found in Systemic Functional Linguistics. As one of the three distinct types of the Appraisal System, the Engagement System (ES) is frequently employed to deconstruct the speakers’ position in their speeches to better understand how they manipulate interpersonal interactions with their audience. The UAM Corpus Tool 6.0 was applied in this study to undertake an in-depth quantitative and qualitative analysis of four different British Prime Ministerial First Speeches (BPMFS) from the 54th to 57th Prime Ministers. It was found that three Engagement Resources (ERs) were mainly employed in the selected BPMFSs: Assertion Resources help British Prime Ministers take responsibility for directly introducing their evaluation into the text; Entertainment Resources contribute to opening the dialogic space to bridge differences; and through Disclamation Resources (including Denial and Countering Resources), Prime Ministers can oppose suspicion to build rapport with their recipients and establish common goals for a more prosperous future.