AbstractsLanguage, Literature & Linguistics

Insight into the water oxidation mechanism on nickel hydroxide electrocatalysts

by Simone Verhoek




Institution: Högskolan Dalarna
Department:
Year: 2016
Keywords: Political discourse; participation framework; personal pronouns; inaugural addresses; corpus linguistics.; Humanities; Languages and Literature; Specific Languages; Humaniora; Språk och litteratur; Språkstudier
Posted: 02/05/2017
Record ID: 2131888
Full text PDF: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-21158


Abstract

Pronouns carry considerable importance in language. The speaker’s identity and connection to the audience emerges through the consistent use of certain pronouns (De Fina, 1995). This research is about the use of we, us, and our in political discourse. Specifically, their use will be examined in the inaugural addresses of George W. Bush in 2005 and Barack Obama in 2009. The aim of this research is to examine the frequencies and the co-occurrences of these pronouns and then compare their use in these two speeches. More specifically, how do the pronouns examined affect the message and enhance hearer credibility. This is done by applying (a) a quantitative corpus linguistics analysis and (b) qualitative analysis of the context of use. The results show that there is a difference in frequency of pronoun use; however, the usage of pronouns is rather similar in the two speeches