Voices of UK Academics in the Brexit Debate – A Discourse Analysis Perspective Based on Appraisal Theory

Abstract

The present paper analyses the language used in three articles written by academics and a journalist’s blog on the topic of Brexit and its impact on academic life. The methodology used is that of the apparaisal theory which in its turn draws on findings of the systemic functional linguistics and discourse analysis. This approach focuses on the interpersonal meanings conveyed by the authors, on their feelings and attitudes about a certain topic as well as on the voices, others than that of the author that may be present in the text. After a brief outline of the approach, the paper examines the way in which linguistic resources such as modalization and projection, as well as key lexical items may introduce stance in discourse, highlighting the differences of engagement found in samples of media discourse versus samples of scientific articles

Keywords

• systemic functional linguistics
• appraisal theory
• engagement
• modality
• voice