A discourse analysis on some of british queens christmas messages 1952 2015

The discourse analysis of Queen’s speeches is indeed a challenging task; however it is truly helpful for English learners, especially those who are taking discourse analysis course.. Oxf

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH

GRADUATION THESIS B.A DEGREE IN ENGLISH STUDIES

CODE: 16

Full name

First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to

my supervisor, Mr Luu Chi Hai, MA for his time and effort guiding me and identifying the flaws in my draft This paper was completed owing to his instruction and valuable advice

Secondly, I want to give credits to all my teachers who taught

me countless lessons, enriching my knowledge in English throughout my four years in the university

I would also want to send my thanks to my family and friends who have continually shown support to keep me always inspired to work hard on the thesis

TABLE OF CONTENTS

D e c l a r a t i o n 2

A c k n o w l e d g e m e n t 3

I I nt r o d u c t i o n 8

II Theo reti ca l Pa rt 9

2.1 Discourse Analysis 9

2.1.1 Discourse 9

2.1.2 Discourse Analysis 12

2.1.3 Methods of discourse analysis 13

2.1.4 Perspectives of discourse analysis 13

2.1.4.1 Written and Spoken language 13

2.1.4.2 Grammatical cohesion 18

2.1.4.3 Lexical cohesive devices 22

2.1.4.4 Prag matics 25

2.1.4.5 St yl e 26

2.2 The Christ mas message 26

III Practical Part 28

3.1 Language 28

3 2 Grammatical cohesion 28

3.2.1 Length and structure of sentences 29

3.2.2 Reference 31

3.2.3 Substitution 33

3.2.4 Ellipsis 34

3.2.5 Conjunction 34

3.2.6 Su mmar y 35

3.3 Lexical cohesive devices 35

3.4 Vocabular y 36

3.4.1 Topics 36

3.4.2 Frequently used words 38

3.4.3 Pronouns 39

3.4.4 Summar y 40

3.5 Style 40

3.5.1 Metaphor 40

3.5.2 Si mile 41

3.5.3 Parenthesis 41

3.5.4 Citations 41

3.5.5 Rhetorical questions 42

3.5.6 Personification 42

3.5.7 Poetry 42

III Conclusion 44

IV Reference 45

V A p pe n di x 4 7

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Differences between written and spoken language 14

Table 2 Frequently used conjunctions 35

Table 3 Speeches topics 35

Table 4 Frequentl y used nouns 38

Table 5 Frequentl y used verbs 38

Table 6 Frequently used adjectives 39

Table 7 Frequency of the use of pronouns 39

I INTRODUCTION

Christmas is considered the most important holiday in Britain – a country whose most of the citizens identify with Christianity The Royalty has been presenting the traditions and religion in many aspects, one of which is their Christmas celebration

The Christmas message, started by King George V in 1932, has received

a great concern from the public and been passed on through three reigns The Queen Elizabeth II has been praising traditional values and maintaining the tradition set up by her grandfather to express solidarity with her people in good as well as bad times The Christmas speeches are one of the outstanding examples of preserving this tradition Therefore, it is fascinating for me to do

a research about Christmas speeches’ origin and typical features in words and style The speeches are typical formal texts produced by native English speakers The discourse analysis of Queen’s speeches is indeed a challenging task; however it is truly helpful for English learners, especially those who are taking discourse analysis course

Every year, the Queen Elizabeth II delivers a Christmas speech from

has sent 63 Christmas messages This study will deal with the Christmas messages in 1952, 1954, 1962, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2005 and 2015, consisting

of 8 speeches of well over 5,300 words in total

In this study, the most used method is data gathering and analysing The text will be analysed in several levels such as grammatical, lexical and stylistic; and we will also try to look into diachronic changes and describe them

II THEORITICAL PART

‘There is more elbow-room here than in my workshop.’

B: Oh! Yeah The Titanic Yes, well, it was meant to sink And I saved it

(Supernatural series– season 6, episode 17, 2011)

Extract 3:

In most western countries, child-rearing is now accepted as the responsibility of both parents Undoubtedly , public interest in folk music has declined Therefore, although students may gain knowledge from the internet, the skills and ideas ultimately emanate from the teachers There is nothing better than keeping a cat or a dog if you want your kids to be more independent and responsible

Conclusion:

Extract 1 and 2 are discourses because the sentences in the first extract and the utterances in the second one are related in terms of the ideas or communicative functions that they share On the contrary, extract 3 consists

of unrelated sentences collected from different texts and they do not share a common idea, therefore it is not a discourse

Many linguistics experts have given discourse definitions according to their own understanding The followings are possibly the most simple and understandable for learners:

− Discourse is a connected series of utterances; a text or conversation

(Oxford dictionaries)

− Discourse is language that is functional – language that is doing some job in some context as opposed to isolated words or sentences Discourse can be spoken, written or in any other medium of expression

Discourse is a unit of language in use It is not a grammatical unit, like

a clause or a sentence

Discourse is a semantic unit, a unit not of form but of meaning A discourse does not consist of sentences; it is realized by, or encoded in sentences

(Halliday M.A.K & Hasan R., 1976)

From Halliday & Hasan’s definition, it can be inferred that a discourse

can be realized by a word (e.g hey, great, wow); a phrase (e.g no smoking,

According to Bell R T (1991), there are seven criteria help to identify a discourse which are also a discourse’s inherent features:

2.1.2 Discourse analysis

Discourse analysis is a branch of linguistics dealing with the largest unit

of language in communication – discourse, referring to a number of approaches to analyze written, vocal, or sign language use, or any significant semiotic event

The term first came into general use following the publication of a series

of papers by Zellig Harris which began in 1952 In the late 1960s and 1970s, a variety of other approaches to a new cross-discipline of discourse analysis began to develop in most of the humanities and social sciences concurrently with and related to other disciplines such as semiotics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, and pragmatics Many of these approaches, especially those influenced by the social sciences, favour a more dynamic study of oral talk-in-interaction

While Cook claimed discourse analysis as the search for what gives the language in use coherence, Brown and Yule, however, focused primarily on the importance of pragmatics when analysing a discourse believing that discourse analysis must involves syntax and semantics but it primarily consists of pragmatics

Discourse analysis learners might know how to adjust their knowledge to

a particular context in order to communicate their message clearly The findings of discourse analysis help to uncover the natural patterns of communication and theirs application help the users to achieve successful communication

2.1.3 Methods of discourse analysis

Discourse analysis has gained a significant place in the study of language and it is rapidly expanding There are several ways to analyse a discourse Brown and Yule focus on the discourse level and pragmatics of the text, they describe the role of context in interpretation, discourse topic, thematisation and staging, information structure, cohesion and coherence Crystal and Davy divide discourse analysis into several levels consisting

of phonetic, phonological, grammatical, lexical and They further notice that more levels may be needed or a level within the mentioned levels may be established if the text requires doing so They suggest to start with

an independent analysis at each level using the techniques developed in linguistics for them (Crystal, 1989)

This thesis, inspired by all four authors, will analyse discourse at the levels of grammatical, vocabulary, stylistic and pragmatics

2.1.4 Perspectives of discourse analysis

2.1.4.1 Written and spoken language

Spoken language is language produced by articulate sounds Some most significant features of spoken language are paralinguistic, sound and emotions Sounds and emotions are expressed through intensity of voice, intonation and pitch range Spoken language also depends on non-verbal language such as body language, facial expression

Written language is language presented through writing system The writer usually express emotion and attitude through the choice of words and punctuations, therefore the reader is required to have a certain knowledge to fully understand a written text

Both two types of communication share same purposes: to deliver information, to complete tasks or to entertain On the other hand, they differ

in three aspects namely situation, grammar and lexical density (Van H V.,

2006)

a) Situation

Regarding situation aspect, the speaker and writer produce texts in divergent ways The table below is the summary of some notable differences between these two language in terms of the situation they are produced:

− situation inferred from the text

− writer has time to choose

linguistic devices

− words carry all shades of meaning

− reader making assumptions about

the writer’s state of knowledge,

opinions and intentions

− instant interaction between speaker and listener

Table 1 Differences between written and spoken language

going to be committed for a long term.

complex clauses, whereas the complexity in spoken language exists in the way clauses are connected

e.g 1: This morning at half past eleven, Associate Professor Dean

Wolfe will present a programme entitled ‘The Science of Music’,

in which the listener will experience a number of fascinating things, including music played backwards – although most will be played forwards.

e.g 2: This morning Associate Professor Dean Wolfe will talk

about the science of music at half past eleven, and we’ll hear some fascinating thing such as music backwards – but most of it will be played forwards!

(Van H V., 2006)

that of written language

vi) In spoken language, active declarative forms are normally found passives are less common

connectors Common clauses markers in written language are that,

used

e.g A man who turned into a human torch ten days ago after snoozing in his locked car while smoking his pipe has died in hospital

It is rare to find adjectives with more than two pre-determiners in spoken language

e.g It’s a big tabby cat + with torn ears

subject-predicate form

e.g The cats were left outside

Spoken language sentences are usually in topic-comment structure

e.g The cats + they were left outside

more frequent

xii) In spoken language, the speaker may rely on non-verbal language like gaze or pointing direction when chat about the immediate environment

e.g (looking at the rain) We might have to stay the night

times

e.g I look at fire extinguisher + I look at fire exits + I look at the

available gangways + I look at electric cables + are they properly earthed + are they properly covered.

(Brown & Yule, 1983)

c) Lexical density

Functionally, there are two kinds of words: lexical and function words

− A lexical word refers to a thing, quality, state, action or event

− A function word indicates only grammatical relationships

Lexical density refers to the number of lexical words in a clause

e.g My father is very experienced in engineering

In the sentence, the lexical words are father, experienced, engineering; the function words are my, is, very, in

current President of the United States He is the first African American

to hold the office Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory

in the 2008 presidential election.

(Trung H.N., 2009)

Classification:

Reference

personal demonstrative comparative

text

backwards (anaphoric) or forwards (cataphoric)

possessive pronouns and determiners

the reference on a scale of proximity

adverbs in comparison items within a text in terms of identify or similarity

b) Substitution

Definition:

Substitution is a relation within the text on the lexico-grammatical level

A substitute is sort of counter used in place of the repetition of a particular item

(Halliday & Hasan, 1976) Classification:

There are three types of substitution: nominal, verbal and clausal

substitution

head noun of a corresponding noun phrase Presupposed noun is always a count noun, mass noun does not have substitute form

e.g 1: I tried to find out who set the house on fire that day Until

now, I still believe that it was Tom’s little sister who did it.

e.g 2: Mike’s been blaming himself that he did not comeback for

Christmas last year If he had done so, things would not have been

that way.

e.g 3: When I told him I was going to book a flight ticket on the

Sunday, he told me not to do that.

clausal substitute, so presupposes a whole clause, and not is taken

as its negative equivalent

e.g 1: He’s a nice guy At least his mother says so

e.g 2: She should be there If not, we must report to the police

e.g 3: - Will you ever change your mind ?

Classification:

Like substitution, ellipsis has three types: nominal, verbal and clausal

predicator

especially is subject-pronoun

and spaghetti

d) Conjunction

Conjunction can be simply seen as a part of speech that connects words, phrases, clauses and sentences Yet, in fact, conjunctive elements are not primarily devices for reaching out into the preceding or following text, but they express certain meanings which presuppose the presence of other components in the discourse (Trung H N., 2014)

It is not easy to list definitively all the items that perform the conjunctive role in English Despite this fact, Halliday and Hasan divide conjunction in

English into four types namely adversity, addition, temporality, causality

i) Adversative conjunction states a contrast idea

e.g He’s been waiting for this opportunity for all his life, yet he is

hesitant now.

ii) Additive conjunction states an additional idea

e.g That man is a wise person His son is quite intelligent as well

e.g He went to the harbor that morning and didn’t come home

until the next day That moment, his family understand how the

incident affected him.

e.g She’s been spending all her time studying for the test Thus,

there should be no problem getting a perfect score this time.

2.1.4.3 Lexical cohesive devices

Lexical cohesion refers to the ties created between lexical elements and

is divided by Halliday and Hasan (1976) into 2 types: reiteration and collocation

a) Reiteration

Reiteration is restating an item in a later part of the discourse by direct repetition or else reasserting its meaning by exploiting lexical relations It

includes five subtypes, namely repetition, synonymy, antonymy,

superordinate & meronymy and general word (Trung H N., 2014)

more than one sentence

e.g 1: A: Mom, I’m going out with Marie

B: Well, Marie will have to wait until you finish your

homework

e.g 2: My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,

(William Shakespeare, Richard III)

ii) Synonymy refers to the relation between different words bearing

the same meaning or nearly the same meaning for a particular person, object, process or quality and is used to avoid unnecessary repetition

e.g 1: I turned to the ascent of the peak The climb is perfectly

easy.

e.g 2: The meeting commenced at six thirty But from the moment

it began, it was clear that all was not well

iii) Antonymy is divided into four subtypes: contrary (thick – thin;

relational opposites (employer – employee; teacher – student), and ordered series (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, ; spring,

Meronymy presents a part – whole relationship E.g arm, leg,

v) General word refers to the use of nouns with general meanings to

refers to some item with specific meanings

e.g 1: Tell me more about John I’m really curious about the boy e.g 2: Michael launched his own company few years ago The

business seems going fine so far

e.g 3: She asked me if I was okay with the plan I just couldn’t

answer the question

b) Collocation

Collocation refers to the association of lexical items that regularly

co-occur There are three subtypes of collocation: resultative, modificational and contextual

i) Resultative collocation refers to the relation of one item leading

to the outcome of another item E.g kill – die, hit – hurt, rain –

wet,

ii) Modificational collocation refers to the relation between an item

and one of its inherent qualities E.g light – bright, rain – heavy,

and the participant E.g build – house, write – letter, doctor –

e.g You’re a genius (A to B)

- Context 1: A just read B’s script for a book and it was brilliant → the utterance is a compliment

- Context 2: A and B are trying to figure out how to use a machine and B broke it → the utterance is sarcastic

Analysing the Christmas speeches, the pragmatics chapter will mainly focus on the background of the years the speeches took place, the situation affected the content of the speeches as well as the speaker’s intention

2.1.4.5 Style

In public speaking language, word choice plays an indisputable role

in making the speech appealing to the listener The speaker has to catch the listener’s attention and maintain it, hence they may make use of a variety of tricks such as exclamations, fronting, poetic devices, etc

The aim of this part would be trace and analyse the imagery (allusion, metaphor, rhetorical question, ), sense of humour and poetic devices

2.2 The Christmas message

The original of the Royal Christmas message was proposed to King George V in 1922 by the founder of British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

- John Reith It wasn’t until 1932 when Reith approached the King again that the King agreed to do it being encouraged by Queen Mary and Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald The tradition began in 1932 with a radio broadcast on the British Broadcasting Corporation's Empire Service and since then has evolved into an important part of the Christmas Day celebrations for many in Britain and around the world

Queen Elisabeth II broadcasted her first message in 1952 from Sandringham Since then, the Queen has made a Christmas Broadcast to the Commonwealth every year of her reign except 1969, when the screening of the film ‘Royal Family’ was repeated and a written message from the Queen was issued instead In 1957 the speech was televised for the first time and since 1960 the radio broadcasts are pre-recorded in order to enable transmission at a convenient time in remote countries The recording

typically takes places at some of the Royal family residences - the aforementioned Sandringham, Buckingham Palace or Windsor Unlike the Queen’s speech at the state opening of the Parliament that is written by the government, the Christmas speech is written by the Queen herself, the Queen chooses a theme of the speech in advance and the appropriate footage showing public engagements and sometimes private events is filmed during the year

The Christmas Broadcast is a chance for the Queen to express her own views on the year’s events, her concerns about the current issues and her people It also creates the opportunity to present the monarchy as a symbol

of national stability and serves as a chance for the monarch to boost the morale of her subjects and to express hope for a better future

III PRACTICAL PART

In this part, the text analysed in different aspects – language form, grammar, lexical, vocabulary, style and pragmatics described After analysing at different levels, a comparative analysis aimed at the description

of changes in Christmas speeches over time will be attempted The focus will

be on changes in the choice of linguistic devices, which may affect style, or may result in different degree of emotiveness or explicitness

3.1 Language

The Christmas messages are presented in speaking form; however, they are written in advance, some features of written language can be seen from the texts:

• There is no immediate interaction between speaker and listeners

• The texts are careful organised with a diversity of complex sentence structure and show compact expression

• Errors or any perceive inadequacies are eliminated beforehand therefore the texts are well presented

3.2 Grammatical cohesion

This section will focus solely on the syntax level The grammatical structure of Christmas speeches shows more features of written language than of a spoken one, however, the conclusions should only be made after a close analysis of the corpus

3.2.1 Length and structure of sentences

The long sentences are undoubtedly able to show the most characteristics There are plenty of remarkably long sentences, taking up several lines

spending Christmas with my family; and let me say at once how I hope that your children are enjoying themselves as much as mine are on a day which is especially the children’s festival, kept in honour of the Child born at Bethlehem nearly two thousand years ago (1952)

country and throughout the Commonwealth, and it has been a particular pleasure for me to visit Millennium projects large and small which will

be reminders for generations to come of the time when the twenty-first century began (2000)

discouraged; rather, it inspires us to try harder: to be thankful for the people who bring love and happiness into our own lives, and to look for ways of spreading that love to others, whenever and wherever we can (2015)

As can be seen from the examples, the sentences are usually complex or compound and are well utilized in expressing the relationships between the

subject matters such as time, place and cause, or for a more detailed description of an object

Because of the prevailing presence of long complex and compound sentences, the shorter sentences usually have a prominence when they are used

grandchildren, then great grandchildren, help decorate the Christmas tree And this year my family has a new member to join in the fun!

The customary decorations have changed little in the years since that picture of Victoria and Albert’s tree first appeared, although of course electric lights have replaced the candles

There’s an old saying that “it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness”

There are millions of people lighting candles of hope in our world today Christmas is a good time to be thankful for them, and for all that brings light to our lives.

In contrast to speaking language, linking words are frequently used to marked the beginning and the end of paragraphs in a written discourse, making the speech more comprehensible and easier to orientated for listeners

among people who are my own people and whose affectionate greeting I shall remember all my life long They surrounded us with kindness and friendship, as did all my people throughout the mighty sweep of our world-encircling journey