Beyond tradition: using systemic functional linguistics in TED talks

Abstract

TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an internationally based open access platform where professionals from various fields are invited to give speeches, and to share ideas with like-minded people. In recent years, topics related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) or the COVID-19 pandemic have become the most popular speech topics on TED. This paper selects speech-related topics on TED during the pandemic, by using systemic functional linguistics to study how discourses are expressed on the platform. Unlike traditional textual analyses, content on TED are normally verbalized, requiring original texts to be presented in an understandable format. As a result, this paper focuses on the functional innovation of new forms of expression on TED. In other words, the functional perspective of the presentation in relation to COVID-19 based topics may rely on the explanation of the meta-meaning of the keywords, posting images and other techniques as auxiliary means for expression, to some extent. These auxiliary techniques offer traditional systemic functional linguistics new meanings in terms of ideational and interpersonal aspects.