The Use of Grammatical Metaphors in Barack Obama’s Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech

The Use of Grammatical Metaphors in Barack Obama’s Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech Lê Thu Trang Trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ Luận văn ThS. Chuyên ngành: English Linguistics; Mã số: 60 22 15 Người hướng dẫn: Prof. Dr. Hoang Van Van Năm bảo vệ: 2011 Abstract: This thesis focuses on the use of grammatical metaphor in Barack Obama’s Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech. To fulfill this aim, the concept of “grammatical metaphor” is examined. The thesis starts by explaining the notion of “metaphor” in general and distinguishes lexical metaphor from grammatical metaphor in particular. Then, a study on grammatical metaphors in Barack Obama’s Presidential Nomination Acceptance speech is implemented based on the theoretical background of Halliday (1994) and Halliday & Matthiessen (1999). This is a descriptive research with both quantitative and qualitative techniques in data analysis. Two types of grammatical metaphors are ideational and interpersonal metaphors are densely used from the text. In ideational metaphor type, Barack Obama mainly used type 1 (quality → thing), 2 (process → thing), 5 (process → quality), 6 (circumstance → quality), 13 (thing → various) with high frequency. In interpersonal metaphor type, metaphor of mood and metaphor of modality are explained and illustrated to highlight the attitude and emotion of the speaker. Keywords: Tiếng Anh; Ẩn dụ; Ngữ pháp; Diễn văn Content CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1. Rationale Metaphor is a well-known phenomenon in language. Thus, it has received attention in a myriad of disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics, literary theory, semiotics, stylistics, psychology, pedagogy and so on. Halliday, the author of the famous work “An Introduction to Functional Grammar” is one of the linguists who spent long time to study on metaphor in general and grammatical metaphor in particular. He recognized that lexical metaphor which traditional researches always mentioned is only one aspect of metaphor and there is a strong grammatical element in rhetorical transference which is called grammatical metaphor. In addition, in this work, Halliday states that “metaphorical modes of expression are characteristic of all adult discourse”. Therefore, I believe that all speeches can have included this phenomenon. It is also the reason why I chose one famous speech of a famous President to examine grammatical metaphor used in it. Moreover, now Barack Obama is an American President who is famous for not only his talent in political field but also in numerous persuasive speeches because the language he chooses always makes his speech powerful and convincing. One of the strategies that we are easy to recognize in all his speeches is using not only lexical metaphors but also grammatical metaphors to make the discourse vivid and easy to understand for all classes of citizen. In conclusion, I chose this topic because of my interest in metaphor in general and grammatical metaphor in particular; the appearance with high frequency of metaphor in adult speeches and the admiration to American President Barack Obama’s powerful and convincing speeches. 1.2. Aims of the study This study aims at examining the use of metaphorical modes of expression in Barack Obama’s Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech from a systemic functional perspective. Features of grammatical metaphor used in this speech will be analyzed following the approach of systemic functional linguistics to understand the roles of grammatical metaphors in developing and structuring this discourse. 1.3. Scope of the study This study attempts to look at how Barack Obama uses grammatical metaphors in his Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech. The analysis will follow Halliday’s work “An Introduction to Functional Grammar” as the framework and Obama’s Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech will be taken as source of data for illustration. 1.4. Method of the study Since the thesis sets its main objective of investigating the use of grammatical metaphor in Barack Obama’s Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech, it is a descriptive research which reexamines the senses in which the grammatical metaphors are used. The techniques involved in data analysis are both qualitative and quantitative. 1.5. Format of the study The study is composed of four chapters Chapter 1: Introduction ─ presents the rationale, the aims, the scope, the methodology and the format of the study. Chapter 2: Literature Review ─ provides the theoretical background of the study. It examines aspects of metaphor and focuses on the nature of grammatical metaphor. Chapter 3: The Study ─ is the main part of the study which investigates the use of grammatical metaphor in Barack Obama’s Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech. Chapter 4: Conclusion ─ summarizes the main contents of the study and offers implications for teachers and makes suggestions for further studies. REFERENCES 1. Berry, M. (1975/7), Introduction to Systemic Linguistics 1 & 2, Batsford, London. 2. But, D., R. Fahey, S. Spinks and C. Yallop. (1995), Using Functional Grammar: An Explorer's Guide, Macquarie University, Sydney. 3. Downing, A. & P. Locke. (1992), A university course in English grammar, Prentice Hall, New York. 4. Eggins, S. 1994, An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics, Pinter, London. 5. Fries, P. H. (1981), On the Status of Theme in English Arguments from Discourse, Forum Linguisticum 6.1: 1-38. 6. Galperin. I. R. (1981), Stylistics, Vyssaja Skola, Moscow. 7. Gerot, L. and P. Wignell. 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(2004), Grammatical Metaphors in English, Moderna Spark. 23. Thompson, G. (1996), Introducing Functional Grammar, Hodder Education, Londono. 24. Hoang Van Van. (1997), An Experiential Grammar of the Vietnamese Clause: A Functional Description, Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation: Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University, Australia. 25. Hoang Van Van. (1999), “A Preliminary Inquiry into the Nature of Grammatical Metaphor”, (In) Journal of Science, (No 3), VNU. 26. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-different-types-of-metaphors.htm . nature of grammatical metaphor. Chapter 3: The Study ─ is the main part of the study which investigates the use of grammatical metaphor in Barack Obama’s Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech. . use of grammatical metaphor in Barack Obama’s Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech, it is a descriptive research which reexamines the senses in which the grammatical metaphors are used. The. Obama’s Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech will be taken as source of data for illustration. 1.4. Method of the study Since the thesis sets its main objective of investigating the use