Abstract:

This study employed Martin and White’s (2005) appraisal framework to explore evaluative language within political discourse. The study utilized a mixed-method research design to examine the features of the three types of attitude: affect, judgement and appreciation employed by Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Leslie Stahl and Norah O’Donnell in four political interviews on 60 Minutes during the 2020 presidential elections in the United States of America. The analysis revealed that Trump and Stahl employed more attitude resources of affect in their interviews, whereas Biden and O’Donnell used more attitude resources of appreciation. The findings also revealed that each of the four participants strategized the attitude types and polarity to achieve particular argumentative goals. Moreover, the analysis established a correlation between the attitudinal resources employed by the four participants and the political stance and ideology they adopted during the interviews. Finally, the findings indicate that the overall atmosphere of the interviews was highly affected by the attitudinal exchange between the interviewer and interviewee. 

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