Modality in Barack Obama’s Remarks Announcing Candidacy for Presidents in 2008 and 2012

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES DOÃN THÙY LINH MODALITY IN BARACK OBAMA’S REMARKS ANNOUNCING CANDIDACY FOR PRESIDENTS IN 2008 AND 2012 (TÌNH THÁI TRONG CÁC BÀI PHÁT BIỂU MỞ ĐẦU CHIẾN DỊCH TRANH CỬ TỔNG THỐNG NĂM 2008 VÀ 2012 CỦA BARACK OBAMA) MA Minor Thesis Field: English Linguistics Code: 60220201 HÀ NỘI – 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES DOÃN THÙY LINH MODALITY IN BARACK OBAMA’S REMARKS ANNOUNCING CANDIDACY FOR PRESIDENTS IN 2008 AND 2012 (TÌNH THÁI TRONG CÁC BÀI PHÁT BIỂU MỞ ĐẦU CHIẾN DỊCH TRANH CỬ TỔNG THỐNG NĂM 2008 VÀ 2012 CỦA BARACK OBAMA) MA Minor Thesis Field: English Linguistics Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Assoc.Prof.Dr Trần Xuân Điệp HÀ NỘI – 2014 DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis, entitled Modality in Barack Obama’s Remarks Announcing Candidacy for President in 2008 and 2012, has not been submitted as an exercise for a degree at this or any other universities This work is the result of my own original research and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text Signature DOÃN THÙY LINH i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In completing this thesis, I owe a particular debt of gratitude to my supervisor, Associate Professor Tran Xuan Diep I thank him for his profound knowledge, encouragement, support and patience Without his whole-hearted guidance, insightful comments and recommendations, this thesis would not have been possible My sincere thank also goes to my instructor, Professor Hoang Van Van, whose lectures have inspired me to the foundation of this thesis In addition, I would like to thank all of my lecturers in the faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, ULIS for their interesting lessons and dedication Finally, I must record my deep gratitude to my family It is their enduring love and expectations that have motivated me to complete this thesis ii ABSTRACT Modality in political speeches has been arousing much interest among researchers This paper was conducted on the ground of Systemic Functional Grammar, introduced by Halliday (1994) According to the theory, modality is analyzed as a system of type, polarity, orientation and value Two remarks declaring Barack Obama‘s candidacy for presidents in 2008 and 2012 were investigated The study firstly focused on the lexico-grammatical realizations of modality Secondly, modal features denoted in the two selected political discourses were taken into consideration Finally, appropriate discussions and comparisons were also be made iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ………………………………………………………………… i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………… ii ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………………… iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS …………………………………………………… vi LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES ……………………………………………… vii PART A INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………… 1 Rationale ………………………………………………………………… Significance………………………………………………………………… Scope …………………………………………………………………… Aims and Objectives …… ……………………………………………… Methods …………………………………………………………………… Structure ………………………… ……………………………………… PART B DEVELOPMENT …………………………………………………… Chapter THEORETICAL BACKGROUND………………………………… 1.1 Modality, Mood & Mode………….…………………………………… 1.2 Variables of Modality……………………………….…………………… 1.2.1 Type ………….………………………………………………… 1.2.2 Polarity ……….………………………………………………… 1.2.3 Orientation….…………………………………………………… 1.2.4 Value …………………………………………………………… 1.3 Realizations of Modality ………………………………………………… 10 1.4 Political Discourse & Modality ………………………………………… 12 1.4.1 Political Discourse ………………………………….…………… 12 1.4.2 Modality in Political Discourse …………………………………… 13 1.5 Review on Previous Works ……………………………………………… 14 iv Chapter METHODOLOGY ………………………………………………… 16 2.1 Subjects … ……………………………………………………………… 16 2.2 Materials ………………………………………………………………… 16 2.3 Methods …………………………………………………………………… 17 2.4 Procedures ………………………………………………………………… 18 2.5 Statistical Analysis ………………………………………………………… 19 Chapter FINDINGS …………………………………………………………… 20 3.1 Research Question 1……………………………………………………… 21 3.2 Research Question 2……………………………………………………… 24 3.2.1 Type ………………………………………………………………… 24 3.2.2 Polarity……………………………………………………………… 27 3.2.3 Orientation…………………………………………………………… 27 3.2.4 Value ……………………………………………………………… 29 3.3 Research Question 3……………………………………………………… 31 Chapter DISCUSSION ……………………………………………………… 34 4.1 Realizations of Modality ………………………………………………… 34 4.2 Variables of Modality ……………………………………………………… 36 PART C CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………… 38 Recapitulation ………………………………………………………………… 38 Limitations …………………………………………………………………… 39 Recommendations …………………………………………………………… 39 REFERENCES ………………………………………………………………… 40 Appendix A Remark 1…………………………………………………………… I Appendix B Remark 2… ………………………………………………………… X Appendix C Realizations of Modality in Remark 1…………….………………… XXIV Appendix D Realizations of Modality in Remark 2……………………………… XXXV v LIST OF ABBREVIATION SFG: Systemic Functional Grammar vi LIST OF FIGURES & TABLES Figure Types of modality Page Figure Relation of modality to polarity Page Figure Orientations in modality Page Figure Examples of transfer between proposition and modality in Page median value Table Examples of type and orientation combined Page Table Values of modality expressions Page Table Typical realizations of modality Page 11 Table Examples of modality expressions used in two remarks Page 21 Table Occurrences of kinds of modality expressions in two remarks Page 22 Table Occurrences of modality expressions in used in two remarks Page 23 Table Occurrences of modality expressions used in two remarks in Page 26 terms of type Table Examples of modality expressions used in two remarks in terms Page 29 of orientation Table Occurrences of modality expressions used in two remarks in Page 29 terms of orientation Table 10 Examples of modality expressions used in two remarks in terms Page 30 of value Table 11 Occurrences of modality expressions used in two remarks in terms of value vii Page 31 PART A INTRODUCTION Rationale Modality, for a long time, has been discussed by scholars all around the world This linguistic phenomenon refers to how language is used to express the speaker‘s attitude Especially, the performance of modality in political speeches has provoked high interest in the researchers Among many politicians, Barack Obama, the fortyforth President of the United States, has been working as the subject of numerous works He has won two continuous presidential terms; therefore, his language use is assumed to make a considerable contribution to the remarkable success Thus, linguistic expressions which Obama had employed to denote modality need being investigated This study was conducted for the main purpose of revealing linguistic forms to characterize modality in Obama‘s speeches In particular, the selected materials were the two remarks declaring Obama‘s candidacy for President in 2008 and 2012 The former was made in Illinois in 2007 while the latter was produced in Ohio in 2012 Significance It is widely agreed that the interpersonal relationship between the speaker and the listeners is vital in political discourses In other words, it is modality that not only expresses the orator‘s ideology but also evoke the audience‘s affection and thoughts The reciprocal relations are regarded as the core of all political communications Linguistically, exploring modal features in those texts is eligible Practically, the examined documents were two speeches announcing Obama‘s engagement into the race of becoming the White House‘s owner As can be popularly agreed, the very first movement of one candidate would become high concern to the public Indeed, these opening speeches were expected to proclaim the major guidance for the whole campaign The approval and support from the audience would be the major objectives of these two discourses Consequently, modal features via the system of modality expressions could partly make contribution to fulfill those intentions APPENDIX D: Realizations of Modality in Remark Types Realizations I Probability Modal auxiliary CAN Everybody, have a seat—who can sit down Stand up, Tim, so everybody can see you We love Connie Although, Connie, I did tell Sherrod he can take his tie off And that is if you work hard, if you take responsibility for yourself and your family, and you don't get discouraged when you hit some setbacks, you can make it if you try If you're willing to apply yourself and work hard, you can make it You can follow your dreams And so my whole life, and Michelle's whole life, was an example of this American Dream: this idea that if you work hard, you wage and you can afford a home you can retire with some dignity and respect 10 you can take a vacation 11 but you can go with your kids and enjoy each other's company and see the amazing sights of this country 12 You can see it on their web sites 13 it [you‘ve got health insurance] means that your kids can stay on your health insurance plan until they're 26 and have really gotten a job that provides them benefits; 14 But we can keep on doing more, not only increasing production of XXXV traditional fuels 15 And by the way, we can put people back to work in the process That's moving forward 16 I don't think government can solve every problem 17 I don't think we can always help folks who don't want to help themselves 18 I'm going to work as hard as I can 19 enough people start having that feeling, nothing can stop them 20 Nothing can stop you I don't care how much the other side spends CAN‘T Michelle thought, you can't just have a house full of girls and no parental supervision It means that insurance companies can't drop you for no reason or when you need it most; ; it means that they [insurance companies] can't impose lifetime limits insurance companies can't impose lifetime limits so that when you really need it We can't afford it; we don't have enough [money to run programs that don‘t work] So government can't everything But we can't have a culture that just encourages selfishness and looking out for yourself and not looking out for anybody else, just looking out for you and not the next generation MAY Now, you may not have noticed, but we're in the middle of campaign season here It [American‘s Dream] may not be fancy; XXXVI MAY NOT Now, you may not have noticed, but we're in the middle of campaign season here COULD And I could not be prouder to have, as one of my campaign cochairs, your former Governor: The outstanding Ted Strickland is here Now, she [Malia – Obama‘s daughter] used to be young enough where I could convince her that all these fireworks were for her birthday And when my mom, a single mom, was raising two kids and trying to get her education, there were grants and loans available; and she [Obama‘s mother] could instill a love of learning in me and my sister And the problem was that you could feel, over the last decade, how that dream was slipping away for too many people But the truth is, there is so much more we could be doing [to keep moving forward] Nothing could be bigger right now than the choice you're about to make; COULDN‘T And I am—couldn't be prouder of the work that we have done in getting this health care law passed MIGHT But after I explained to her [Michelle – Obama‘s wife] why I thought it might make sense for me to run, she joined in XXXVII MIGHT NOT you might not be going to some fancy resort [talking about American Dream] WILL And this will be—one way or another, this will be my last campaign, which gets me to thinking about my first campaign That first, it will benefit wealthy investors and then things will rain down on you and benefit you in some fashion Now, over the next months, you will see a lot of stuff on TV And as long as I have the privilege of being your President, I will keep that promise because I still believe in you we will finish what we started in 2008 And we will grow this middle class, we will strengthen America and we'll remind the world just why it is that we live in the greatest nation on Earth WON‘T you won't go bankrupt when you get sick [talking about American Dream] BE GOING TO and we knew we weren't going to turn it [challenge] around overnight And the reason I'm so glad you're here today is because the only way we are going to keep moving forward is with you XXXVIII somehow all this [we don't have taxpayer bailouts of Wall Street banks anymore] is going to benefit you And if you're a senior on Medicare, it means your prescription drug costs are going to be lower we're going to close that donut hole that has hurt a lot of seniors we're going to get rid of programs that don't work They're saying, we don't know how this is going to turn out because we've never seen a sitting President outspent like this, with all this money and all these negative attacks I'm going to work as hard as I can I'm going to talk to my friends 10 I'm going to talk to my neighbors 11 I'm going to talk to my coworkers 12 I know it's going to be frustrating 13 and I know it's going to be hard sometime 14 there are going to be setbacks, 15 but I'm going to stay with it 16 In the last election, I told people, I'm not a perfect man and I certainly wasn't going to be a perfect President BE ABOUT TO XXXIX the choice you're about to make Because it's more than just being about two candidates or two political parties; this is about two fundamentally different visions of how we move forward WOULD And we [Obama and his wife] started knocking on doors, and I'd go in front of the grocery store, and I'd shake hands And we would march in parades And I'd go to State fairs we'd go to county fairs and we[Obama and his wife] 'd stop in little towns and meet folks and go to VFW halls Even though he [Michelle‘s father] had MS, he'd have to wake up an hour earlier than everybody else to get dressed and get to the job, I promised, I'd end the war in Iraq In the last election, I told people, I'm not a perfect man and I certainly wasn't going to be a perfect President But I said, I'd always tell you what I thought 10 I'd always tell you where I stood 11 I'd spend every single day fighting as hard as I knew how for you to try to make sure that every single one of you had the same chance as my family had because I saw myself in you Modal lexical verb THINK I've got a different theory I think they [wealthy investors]'re wrong As Wendy said, I don't think we grow our economy from the top down XL I think we grow the economy from the middle class out I think, we grow the economy by making sure everybody has got a fair shot Now, I think that [a health care system] was the right thing to I don't think government can solve every problem I don't think we can always help folks who don't want to help themselves And I think a lot of people are looking at this [Obama‘s fault] BELIEVE I believe that we should have a health care system that works for middle class families Modal adjective Modal adjunct Adjunct of Polarity NOT And I could not be prouder to have, as one of my campaign cochairs, your former Governor: The outstanding Ted Strickland is here you may not have noticed, but we're in the middle of campaign season here It [American Dream] may not be fancy you might not be going to some fancy resort, I want to make sure that the next generation, not just my kids, but everybody, has that same chance It's not just about income XLI It's about knowing what's important and not measuring your success just based on your bank account What we wanted to was make sure that we started moving in the right direction: moving forward, not moving backwards Your wages and your incomes did not go up 10 But we can keep on doing more, not only increasing production of traditional fuels, 11 That's not a plan to deal with our deficits [Mr Rommy‘s proposal to deal with the recession is $5 trillion of tax cuts] 12 And by the way, I'm not somebody who believes that every government program works 13 and not looking out for anybody else, just looking out for you 14 just looking out for you and not the next generation 15 We these things not because it helps any one of us individually, but because it gives opportunity for all of us to succeed 16 It's [President‘s campaign] not a plan to put people back to work 17 Their [Other candidate‘s campaigns] plan is not a plan to grow the middle class 18 you know what, this is not just about me, but this is about my kids and my grandkids, 19 You cannot be stopped once you have decided what is right and what is true 20 In the last election, I told people, I'm not a perfect man Adjunct of Probability Now, I know you probably are already sick of this election with all the XLII commercials In the last election, I told people, I'm not a perfect man and I certainly wasn't going to be a perfect President because we've never seen a sitting President outspent like this, with all this money and all these negative attacks And maybe it'll work II Usuality Modal auxiliary Modal lexical verbs Modal adjective Modal adjunct Adjuncts of Polarity and Modality SOMETIMES Sometimes they say, it's Obama's fault because he thinks government is all the answer Sometimes it's because, well, Obama, he doesn't have private sector experience making a lot of money like the other guy I know it's going to be hard sometimes and there are going to be setbacks, ALWAYS I don't think we can always help folks who don't want to help themselves And when I think back to my first campaign, and I think back to that first senate campaign that I ran, what I always remember But I said, I'd always tell you what I thought XLIII I'd always tell you where I stood NEVER but he[Michelle‘s father] never missed a day of work They[Michelle‘s parents] never had a lot, but they had a chance to give their kids this great education we don't know how this is going to turn out because we've never seen a sitting President outspent like this EVER The other side is spending more money than we've ever seen before Adjuncts of Temporality STILL There are too many folks still out of work homes still underwater Too many kids are still trying to figure out how to pay for their college education I will keep that promise because I still believe in you And if you still believe in me ALREADY Now, I know you probably are already sick of this election with all the commercials ONCE You cannot be stopped once you have decided what is right and what is true JUST I started just traveling the State Adjuncts of mood JUST XLIV Now, I just want to first of all say, thank you, guys, for taking your time to come out And she [Malia – Obama‘s daughter] is just an incredible young lady just like Sasha is you can't just have a house full of girls and no parental supervision So just letting you know I want to make sure that the next generation, not just my kids, but everybody, has that same chance It's not just about income It's about knowing what's important and not measuring your success just based on your bank account Because it's more than just being about two candidates or two political parties 10 Now, let me just say, this is a coherent theory 11 And there is so much misinformation out there, so I just want to clear up a couple of things 12 Now, let me just say this: I don't need a tax cut 13 But we can't have a culture that just encourages selfishness and looking out for yourself and not looking out for anybody else 14 [we can‘t have a culture that] just looking out for you and not the next generation 15 I mean, you've got billionaires just writing $10 million checks 16 They [people in ads on TV] just—they're spending money like nobody's business 17 Some of it is, well, he [people call Obama] just thinks everything is fine or he is in over his head 18 , this is not just about me, but this is about my kids and my grandkids, XLV 19 we'll remind the world just why it is that we live in the greatest nation on Earth O NLY But we can keep on doing more, not only increasing production of traditional fuels, but in developing and inventing new fuels because we need to free ourselves from our dependence on foreign oil EVEN And it was tough even before the crisis hit REALLY it means that your kids can stay on your health insurance plan until they're 26 and have really gotten a job that provides them benefits insurance companies can't impose lifetime limits so that when you really need it IN FACT In fact, the Fourth of July parade in Hyde Park, back in Chicago, they had a tradition where they made folks who were in office or running for office dress up ALMOST And it was tough even before the crisis hit And then this crisis hit, and the auto industry almost went under Comment adjunct And frankly, we've been moving forwards without a lot of help from the other side III Obligation Modal auxiliary SHOULD And yes, I believe that we should have a health care system that works for middle class families XLVI HAVE TO/ HAS TO/ HAD TO Even though he [Michelle‘s father] had MS, he'd have to wake up an hour earlier than everybody else to get dressed and get to the job government can't everything, but there are some things we have to to grow the economy I don't want a tax cut if it means seniors have to pay something more for Medicare DON‘T HAVE TO the idea is that you don't have to be born into fame or fortune [The basic American bargain] Modal lexical verbs NEED It didn't grow our economy the way it needed to It means that insurance companies can't drop you for no reason or when you need it most insurance companies can't impose lifetime limits so that when you really need it We need to have an American energy policy we need to free ourselves from our dependence on foreign oil NEEDN‘/ DON‘T NEED I don't need a tax cut Mr Romney sure doesn't need a tax cut BELIEVE Do you believe that we're on our own, all of us, Do you believe we're in it together? XLVII Modal adjective Modal adjunct IV Inclination Modal auxiliary Modal lexical verbs WANT first of all—I want everybody to give Wendy a big round of applause for the introduction Now, I just want to first of all say, thank you, guys, for taking your time to come out I'm running my last political race, because I want to make sure that the next generation, not just my kids, but everybody, has that same chance I want to say, by the way, when I talk about middle class, I'm also talking about poor folks who are doing the right thing and trying to get into the middle class What we wanted to was make sure that we started moving in the right direction: moving forward, not moving backwards But look, I want you to understand: Nothing could be bigger right now than the choice you're about to make So I want to hire new teachers, especially in math and science and I want to train them better and pay them better And I want to give million more people the opportunity to go to a community college and train for the jobs that exist right now 10 And I want to make college more affordable for young people and bring tuition down XLVIII 11 And there is so much misinformation out there, so I just want to clear up a couple of things 12 I want to rebuild America 13 And now I want to take half the money that we're no longer spending on war and use it to drive down our deficits 14 And I want to take the other half to start doing some nation-building here in Ohio Do some nation-building here at home 15 We don't want to waste money [for the programs that don‘t work] 16 I don't want a tax cut if it means, suddenly, students are having a tougher time affording going to college PROMISE I promised, I'd end the war in Iraq I ended the war in Iraq UNDERSTAND I want you to understand: Nothing could be bigger right now than the choice you're about to make Modal adjective WILLING If you're willing to apply yourself and work hard, you can make it You can follow your dreams when we remember what our values are and we're willing to fight for them; when we're willing to say, you know what, this is not just about me, but this is about my kids and my grandkids, and if you're willing to stand with me and knock on some doors with me and make some phone calls with me, we will finish what we started in 2008 XLIX