Sports Discourse Research Articles

Структурно-семантические характеристики идиом в англоязычном спортивном дискурсе (на материале спортивных репортажей по регби)

The aim of the research is to determine the structural and semantic peculiarities of idioms in modern English online sports discourse. The work is novel in that it is the first to identify the types of idioms in rugby match reports and to classify the main sematic fields they refer to. The paper considers the semantic peculiarities of idiomatic expressions and their role in the implementation of the main functions of a match report, i.e., the information function and the influencing function. The analysis allows the researcher to examine the communicative-pragmatic goals of using set expressions in sports discourse, as well as to determine the main types of idioms according to A. V. Kunin’s classification. It is revealed that the idioms types are represented by nominative and nominative-communicative. As a result, it has been found that the idioms can be grouped into the following semantic fields: “Success”, “Difficulty”, “Struggle”, “Support”. The majority of the idioms belong to the semantic fields “Advantage”, “Achievement”, “Leadership”. The research findings have shown that idioms in match reports help the authors to convey a dynamic sports event in an expressive and emotional way and to fulfill the function of influencing the reader.

MANIPULATION AS A TYPE OF SPEECH INFLUENCE IN SPORTS ARTICLE

Background. The article focuses on the manipulative influence issues in sports analytical articles. Nowadays our life is significantly affected by sport and key sports events are covered by mass media. Since one of the major functions of mass media is the function to influence the reader, an attempt to analyze the mechanisms of manipulation within the framework of sports discourse seems to be reasonable. Based on the theoretical research study, it is established that manipulation is primarily characterized by its covert nature. In the practical part an analysis of linguistic ways of representation of manipulation on lexical and syntactical levels is given. Purpose. The purpose of the study is to define the mechanisms of manipulation in sports analytical articles and to analyze their linguistic side. Materials and methods. The research material comprises 7 sports analytical articles of 2024 taken from digital versions of the British magazines such as The Guardian and The Sun. The main research methods include analysis and synthesis of theoretical materials, discourse and contextual analysis together with descriptive method. The methods enumerated have given an opportunity to obtain accurate data on linguistic representation of various ways of manipulation in sports discourse. Results. The results of the study have shown that sports analytical articles possess a significant potential to influence the reader due to some manipulative methods such as hedges, labels, first person pronoun in a plural form, rhetorical questions and multiplication. The ways of linguistic representation of these manipulative methods are analyzed. Practical implications. The research results can be used for further investigation of ways of manipulation within sports analytical articles as well as in the development of courses on speech influence and sports discourse.

From Coubertin’s Olympism to neoliberal sports spectacle: narratives of Brazilian Olympic athletes

ABSTRACT This study aimed to examine how Brazilian athletes, who participated in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, perceive Olympism and its values within the context of their sports training, particularly considering the prevalent neoliberal elements in their high-performance sports environment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight athletes from a region with a strong emphasis on competitive sports. The analysis revealed that athletes primarily associate Olympism with their personal experiences in sports. Their representations align with an Olympic and neoliberal framework, emphasizing performance and professionalism, while also recognizing them as moral exemplars. Athletes develop their understanding of sports values within the discourse of high-performance sports and daily routines. These findings highlight the integration of Olympism into athletes’ perceptions, shaped by the demands of neoliberal ideologies that prioritize competitiveness and commercialization within the sports domain. The study provides a critical perspective on the influence of neoliberalism on the formation of Olympic athletes’ subjectivity.

Martial Arts Diplomacy: Japanese Judo Delegations and ‘Martial Arts Missionaries’ in Norway, 1945–1980

The use of martial arts in Japan’s cultural diplomacy, as well as the history of Japanese martial arts in Norway, remain underexplored. Despite its peripheral status in Japan’s cultural diplomacy, Japan actively influenced Norwegian judo from 1945 to 1980 by dispatching instructors and ‘goodwill’ judo delegations to Europe. These visits aimed not only to promote judo but also to align the international development of judo with Japan’s own martial arts discourse and cultural diplomacy strategies. In 1965 and 1968 the delegations worked to cement judo’s status as a modern Olympic sport while reinforcing the image of ‘New Japan’ – a nation that is peaceful, democratic and economically strong. In 1979 and 1980 similar delegations sought to secure a Japanese presidency in the International Judo Federation, while highlighting judo’s traditional cultural roots as a form of self-defence and character development. This discursive shift paralleled Japan’s economic rise and the growth of nihonjinron – a discourse affirming Japan’s unique culture. The Norwegian judo community adopted the sports discourse, but largely rejected the orientalised nihonjinron discourse.

GENDER STEREOTYPES IN SPORTS DISCOURSE

The article is devoted to the study of gender stereotypes in sports discourse. Despite the fact that institutional analysisas already penetrated gender studies, there are very few studies devoted to such a truly ”masculine” activity as professional sports. This determines the relevance of the topic of this work. Sport as a social institution is an ideal opportunity to study male and female stereotypes. Gender stereotypes permeate every aspect of human personality and appearance, and dictate how men and women should act, think and behave. Gender embodies a pattern of relations that evolves over time to define masculinity and femininity, structuring and regulating people’s relation to society. Gender stereotypes are especially clearly visible in professional sports. Professional sports s seen as an activity in which the differences between males and females are manifested, as well as the dominance of the former over the latter. The study was conducted on the material of sports press in the period from 2018–2023.

Lexical, Grammatical and Stylistic Features of the Sports News Journalism (Based on the Material of the English Language).

The article presents an analysis of English-language sports news journalism from the point of view of the implementation of lexical-grammatical and stylistic means of speech expressiveness in the texts. The research is conducted on the material of modern American journalism presented in the Internet and is focused on the search for the most frequent and active stylistic means that allow to reveal the mechanisms of influence of information material on the consumer, whose impression of the provided information is formed depending on the degree of accuracy of transmission and emotional presentation of the material. The article includes a theoretical section, which is devoted to the specifics of sports discourse in general, its functions, the main means of conveying the expressiveness of the text, as well as the research part, which includes the analysis of the main lexical-grammatical and stylistic means, statistics of their use and linguistic features, supported by many examples. The main result of the research has been the conclusion that stylistic means of expressiveness account for about 50% of all existing techniques. The most active are metonymy and epithets. Grammatical means are represented to a much lesser extent.

Supporting the professional sports coach in the workplace: presenting the pedagogue as the missing scientist

ABSTRACT This is a positional paper in which we consider (re)imagining the role of the pedagogue as one who is specifically employed in a multi-disciplinary team of experts that can advise the professional sports coach. Our rationale is underpinned by multiple factors including the low impact of coach education, issues with knowledge translation, and current prevailing discourses in elite sport. Consequently, we employ ethnodrama as a “way in” to explore the precarious existence of elite coaches, cohering specifically around the profligate “hiring and firing” cultures found in professional football. This enables the inquiry to highlight how the pedagogue – the missing scientist – can utilise practical solutions on the ground responding to real-world problems. Going further, we consider how this role could also become a pivotal figure of resistance to the current value system inherent within elite sport reported to jeopardise athletes’ health and wellbeing. Thus, we respond to numerous challenges replete in elite sport organisations that are attracting increasing attention.

Navigating the imperial legacy: exploring the discourse of sport for development and peace in Flanders for communities with a migration background

ABSTRACT Sport is often harnessed to serve broader societal objectives. In Flanders (Belgium) – the region of interest in this research – sport is instrumentalised to promote social integration and inclusion, particularly among communities with a migration background. However, this Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) policy and programming is not straightforward. Scholars have pointed to the lingering imperial residue within SDP, prompting a need for critical examination. Therefore, this research aims to gain an understanding of how contemporary SDP discourse in Flanders is socially and culturally constructed and what its performative implications are for communities with a migration background. To this end, online documents from the sport administration and organisations involved in SDP were subjected to critical discourse analysis informed by the theoretical and cultural understanding of post-colonial theory and decoloniality. The findings indicate that SDP discourse reflects a complex interplay of imperial legacies and neoliberal influences, simultaneously projecting an image of inclusivity and perpetuating inequalities. Consequently, decolonising the SDP discourse in Flanders is an imperative transformative process and requires a comprehensive approach rooted in historical awareness, contextual sensitivity, and challenging existing power structures. This decolonisation may pave the way for a more equitable and inclusive SDP framework, genuinely reflecting the diverse realities of communities with a migration background while acknowledging and rectifying its colonial legacy.

Grammatical Cohesion in Sports Discourse: A Dissection of Selected Radio Programmes in Ibadan Metropolitan Area, Nigeria

There is rarely any radio station that do not present programme on sports in the contemporary age. Most radio stations have their sports analysis in the various languages that their prospective listeners understand. It is possible because the issue of sports had become inevitable to the people irrespective of age, colour, and gender. It has become a unifying force among people of varied background. This, therefore, necessitated linguistic investigation into the grammatical properties utilized by sports analysts in their presentations on the radio. The study examines the occurrence of each grammatical property in enhancing cohesion in the presentations made by sports presenters on the radio stations. These grammatical devices include: reference, substitution, ellipsis, and conjunction. Ferdinand Saussures Model of Language Structure on Syntagmatic Relation was utilized as the theoretical framework for the study. The data for analysis in the study comprised thirty sports presentations that were recorded and afterwards transcribed to examine the manifestations of the grammatical devices. The results from the analyses show that personal reference is the most prominent of all the types of reference. Nominal substitution and nominal ellipsis are the most recurrent of the types of substitution and ellipsis respectively. The striking manifestations of coordinating, subordinating, and additive conjuncts dominate the types of conjunction employed by the sports analysts on the radio. The study suggests that radio analysts should continually undergo programmes that will enhance their grammatical competence and as well see language as a weapon for expressing content and meaning by practically influencing their listener.
 Key Words: Conjunction, Discourse, Ellipsis, Grammatical Cohesion, Reference, Substitution,

Listening to the Body in Physical Education and Sport

Purpose: Within physical education (PE) and sport, the body is constituted by ideas and discourses that legitimize certain forms of truth about image, health, and competence. This study used the Listening Guide method to explore voices in undergraduate students’ experiences of the body in relation to dominant PE and sport discourses. Method: Participants were four undergraduate third-year students (2 male, 2 female, aged 20–25 years) attending a 4-year 240 European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System Bachelor program in PE and sport science. Interviews were analyzed using a Foucauldian perspective on the working of discourses and power, via the four steps of the Listening Guide. Results: We identified joy of life (body as nature) and guiding (living norms) voices when participants referred to PE and struggle (body as machine) and questioning (functionality norms) voices when they talked about sport. Discussion/Conclusion: Voices spoke while moving between a “pull to train” paradigm and a “push back and think” perspective, aligning with the discursive logic of participants’ social context. This discursive logic transmitted ways of constituting knowledge about the body, together with social practices, or forms of subjectivity that perpetuated dominant understandings. We propose that the Listening Guide method can peel away layers of consciousness related to dominant discourses in PE and sport.

Pragmatic Semantics in Football Fans’ «Banner» Communication
 in the German Language

The article deals with utterances of German football fans written on banners used by them during matches as a means of communication. Football fans’ discourse is a distinctive linguistic semiotic form that reflexes the world view of representatives
 of this subculture. Despite the diversity of discourses it intersects with and a variety of concepts it exchanges with, it is the fan communication that provides the sports discourse with uniqueness and allows us to regard it as an integral part of the sports linguistic view of the world. Football fans’ discourse is formed by a number of subdiscourses, the so-called banner communication is one of them, possessing a prominent
 perlocutionary effect. The classification of utterances is based upon the theory of speech acts by J. Austin and G. Searle, but it also takes into consideration the latest achievements in this field as well as contemporary principles of pragmatic semantics.
 The article reveals the most effective techniques and mechanisms of building utterances to achieve the required pragmatic effect (metaphor, play on words, precedence, etc.),

System-structural and Functional-semantic Features of Motion Verbs in Sports Discourse Based on the Kazakh, Russian and English Languages

The relevance of the study lies in the fact that system-structural and functional-semantic features constitute the most important part of the linguistic system – a kind of basis in which ready communicative units of speech are produced. It is therefore only natural that these concepts have become an area of pioneering research in the functional linguistics of sports discourse. However, this is not confined to describing the pragmatics of speech, since the functions of grammatical units are performed within the language system. The syntactic properties of the sport forms in the position of the structural surface of the Kazakh, Russian and English languages constitute their main functional-semantic features and can be the object of functional syntax The aim of the research is to investigate the system-structural and functional-semantic facets of movement verbs in sports discourse in Kazakh, Russian and English. The basic prerequisite for the various functional versions is the consistent and coherent nature of the language system. In description practice, this means the interplay of grammatical categories and the consequent lack of clear-cut boundaries between the different levels of language – phonetics and morphology, vocabulary and grammar, morphology and syntax. The content and plan of the form of features, including morphological ones, are not reducible to formal manifestations: the same form of motion verbs usually belongs to several morphological categories. The interpretation of the form in a particular situation of use is determined by the factors external in relation to the category. With a grammatical form it is possible to express semantics that is not attributed to any particular form alone, since various linguistic means are involved in its realisation. The practical significance lies in determining the peculiarities of system-structural and functional-semantic mechanisms of motion verbs in sports discourse on the material of the respective languages.

СРЕДСТВА ВЕРБАЛИЗАЦИИ БАЗОВЫХ ЭМОЦИЙ В ИНДИВИДУАЛЬНЫХ ПОРТРЕТНЫХ ИНТЕРВЬЮ С АМЕРИКАНСКИМИ СПОРТСМЕНАМИ

The article is dedicated to the issue of verbalization of emotion in an individual portrait interview with American athletes. The work provides approaches to the definition of basic emotions from the point of view of psychology and psycholinguistics, it also touches upon the question of the number of basic emotions. The aim of the work is to identify prevailing means of verbalizing emotions in individual sports interviews. The research material consists of 50 video interviews with American athletes by American journalists. Sports is a topical and widely discussed theme in everyday life, outstanding athletes are the subjects of national pride, so emotivity is an ubiquitous component of the sports discourse, this fact makes the work relevant. The authors believe that the verbalization of emotions by athletes and journalists in individual interviews has specific features connected with the peculiarities of one-to-one communication. In addition, this is the first time basic emotions are studied in the perspective of sports discourse. Research methods: continuous sampling, generalization and interpretation of results, introspection. The object of the study is 6 emotions (joy, anger, fear, sadness, disgust, surprise), which are recognized as basic by the majority of scientists. Interview analysis shows that mostly positive emotions (joy, pleasant surprise) are verbalized. Verbalization of emotions is realized by lexical and syntactic means. Lexical means include exact naming of the emotion and description of emotional state, syntactic means are represented by repetitions. The selected factual material is undoubtedly of scientific interest to researchers. The results of the study can serve as a basis for further research of the verbalization of basic emotions, make a certain contribution to the linguistics of emotions and linguistic theory of communication.

Editorial: Innovations in Language Education: Prospects and Opportunities for Use

Development is the key to success and progress in all areas of life. This principle is especially important in the educational process. Language is one of the key components of cultural and educational development, and its study and teaching require constant improvement and adaptation to changes in society. The main goal of this thematic issue is to provide a comprehensive and in-depth study of key topics and trends in language education and linguistics. The issue will contribute to the introduction of innovative methodologies that can improve language learning motivate students, intercultural understanding, and inform pedagogical approaches around the world. The articles in this issue address different aspects of this issue, offering a wide range of practical solutions for teachers and educators. The issue also aims to support innovations in the field of linguistics by analyzing the structure of languages and functional and semantic features of motion verbs in sports discourse.

Reflexive meanings of global and local sports culture: Chinese female sports fandom in the context of glocalization

This article aims to explore the appreciation of transnational European football clubs by Chinese female sports fans and demonstrate the intersections between the global discourses of sport and the local patriarchal practices of Chinese society as they affect middle-class, educated Chinese women. By applying glocalization theories, feminization of sports fandom theories and qualitative research methods, the findings indicate that Chinese female sports fans construct reflexive meanings of global and local sports culture. The focus of this reflexivity centres on the confrontation of local nationalist patriarchy and its interplay with global neoliberal patriarchy, both of which Chinese female fans recognize as domains necessitating active resistance. Although the globalization of sports may marginalize women in sports fandom from the top down, Chinese women actively respond to and challenge the intersecting power structures by imbuing football culture with reflexive meanings.

Формирование восприятия и оценки спортивных событий посредством концептуальных метафор в англоязычном спортивном дискурсе

The research aims to identify the features of metaphorical conceptualization in the English-language sports discourse. The paper investigates the systematicity of conceptual metaphors and their capacity to create new and complex meanings in various contexts. Metaphors in the English-language sports discourse are examined taking into account three aspects: the common meaning of a metaphor, the initial metaphoric transfer, as well as the transfer created in the context of a wide range of unseen implications. The novelty of the research lies in describing the functioning of conceptual metaphors in the English-language sports discourse based on the football articles that cover the participation of the Icelandic national football team in Euro 2016. Special attention is paid to conventional metaphors that acquire new meanings and implications depending on the context and metaphors that express participation in a tournament as a journey (verbalization of the general ‘A tournament is a journey’ metaphor). These specific subcategories of metaphors help describe and evaluate sports actions, events and situations. The research findings show that metaphors highlight various aspects of sports events and characterize their participants, which influences the perception of sports discourse recipients.

“Stick to Sports” and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies

This research aims at unpacking the discourse of “stick to sports,” which audiences and industry wield to police social and cultural boundaries involving corporate control, race, gender, and politics. The “stick to sports” discourse is increasingly prevalent in sports discourse, but also national political discourse, and is used to dictate who can and cannot speak and what kinds of discussions are appropriate concerning sports and politics. In this article, the sports media franchise ESPN and their “No-Politics” policy, media personality Clay Travis’ PragerU polemic, Dan Le Batard, and Jemele Hill are analyzed as sites for understanding how corporations leverage this discourse to claim neutrality or unity while disciplining employees for veering too far politically. This paper analyzes “stick to sports” through industry practices and textual extensions of the discourse, calling for sports media and communication as a discipline to incorporate a critical sports media industry studies (CSMIS) approach.

Trained to be sexist: operationalizing institutional logics in the co-construction of gendered discourse in sport

ABSTRACT Research Question I enter the cultural processes of gender through operationalizations of the institutional logics that thread agency, structure, and the reproduction of dominant discourses. The research question that guided the design of my autoethnography was: How were gender logics co-constructed across my sport career? Research Methods Institutional logics as a method holds the potential to develop novel access points for deconstructing and disrupting dominant discourses. In an analytic autoethnography, I situate institutional logics as the organizing principles for the co-construction of gendered discourse in my story, as a former professional athlete and coach. Results and Findings I offer a selection of anecdotes written into a story, each operationalizing the co-construction of one of four dominant gendered logics: (a) ‘less than’, the primary overarching logic, (b) ‘conform socially’, (c) ‘protect girls’, and (d) ‘vision of value’, or projections of how my personality and potential should be harnessed. Implications The two most salient contributions to the literature from the autoethnography are (a) the nuance that emerged in the ‘vision of value’ logic, which evidenced a tension in how gendered visions of potential were imposed on talent that was valued for traditionally masculine characteristics, and (b) the disruptive and emancipatory potential of the proposed entry into the co-construction of sport discourse through the mechanisms of institutional theory.

Sports blogging: communicative strategies in contemporary sports discourse

The article provides an analytical description of the pragmatic level of sports blogs, identifying the main communicative strategies used in sports blogs and describing the communicative tactics as well as their linguistic operationalisation. The pragmalinguistic approach is used to identify the linguistic features, communicative and pragmatic goals of the blog, shedding light on the mechanisms that make blogosphere language into an effective tool for interactive communication. The research examines both verbal and non-verbal aspects of communication in English-language sports blogs from 2020-2022. We conclude that modern sports blogs are data-driven and interactive, characterized by a transition from a descriptive to an analytical approach to the story.

Sports have changed, you can bet on it: The rise of the non-aesthetic in sports

The purpose of this article is to analyse what is described as the non-aesthetic within the discourse and consumption of sports, which emphasizes the entrepreneurial logic of its management culture. In particular, I address the growing importance of analytics in sports as well as the growth of sports gambling and daily fantasy sports, which are simulated forms of the non-aesthetic, and how each of these embodies the philosophy of neo-liberalism and its entrepreneurial ethos. These are contrasted with the sports as an aesthetic activity relying upon the writings of ) to illustrate that, while analytics, sports gambling and daily fantasy sports can contribute towards the marketing potential of sports, particularly among younger demographics, these shifts come at the sacrifice of sports as a source of important cultural meaning.