Quoting to persuade : A critical linguistic analysis of quoting in US, UK, and Australian newspaper opinion texts

Journal article


Cope, Jen. (2020). Quoting to persuade : A critical linguistic analysis of quoting in US, UK, and Australian newspaper opinion texts. AILA Review. 33(1), pp. 136-156. https://doi.org/10.1075/aila.00034.cop
AuthorsCope, Jen
Abstract

This paper examines how quotations are linguistically constructed by expert contributors in US, UK, and Australian opinion texts, vis-à-vis their form, function, and processes. Cope’s (2016) study found that authoritative expert contributors integrated a considerable number of quotations on blame and responsibility for the global financial crisis in single-authored US, UK, and Australian opinion texts. By examining the form, function, and processes of quoting in this paper, she found evidence that quoting is an intertextual form of positioning. Empirically grounded linguistic analyses investigate the language of quoting frames – how the quoted source is specified, the quoting verb used, e.g., strong meanings (demanded, thundered, promised) or neutral (said, told) – and evaluate the language of propositional content in quotations. Such analyses reveal authorial positions taken in quoting. A greater number of quotations incorporated by general newspaper opinion authors, than by specialized financial newspaper opinion authors, furthermore implies that quoting increases a writer’s authority in non-specialized media sources. The specially created integrated linguistic framework draws on Martin & White’s (2005) Appraisal system from systemic-functional linguistics, White’s (2012, 2015) attribution and endorsement, and Bazerman’s (2004) intertextuality techniques. Contextual factors in language use and quoting are evaluated throughout. This paper thus provides evidence of, and implications for, quoting in cross-cultural opinion texts, and contributes to knowledge on the increasingly mediatized practice of language recycling and to media literacy.

Keywordscommunication strategies; evaluative language; expert contributors; financial crisis; linguistic analyses; opinion texts; quotation
Year2020
JournalAILA Review
Journal citation33 (1), pp. 136-156
PublisherJohn Benjamins Publishing Company
ISSN1461-0213
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1075/aila.00034.cop
Scopus EID2-s2.0-85092569540
Open accessPublished as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
Research or scholarlyResearch
Page range136-156
Publisher's version
License
File Access Level
Open
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online07 Oct 2020
Publication process dates
Deposited28 May 2021
Permalink -

https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/8w1z3/quoting-to-persuade-a-critical-linguistic-analysis-of-quoting-in-us-uk-and-australian-newspaper-opinion-texts

Download files


Publisher's version
OA_Cope_2020_Quoting_to_persuade_A_critical_linguistic.pdf
License: CC BY-NC 4.0
File access level: Open

  • 72
    total views
  • 30
    total downloads
  • 0
    views this month
  • 0
    downloads this month
These values are for the period from 19th October 2020, when this repository was created.

Export as

Related outputs

Coding and computational thinking across the curriculum : A review of educational outcomes
Mills, Kathy Ann, Cope, Jen, Scholes, Laura and Rowe, Luke. (2024). Coding and computational thinking across the curriculum : A review of educational outcomes. Review of Educational Research. pp. 1-38. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543241241327
Linguistic recycling : The process of quoting in increasingly mediatized settings
Haapanen, Lauri, Perrin, Daniel, Anson, Chris M., Argus, Reili, Burgess, Sally, Cope, Jen, Digmayer, Claas, Hall, Susanne, Jakobs, Eva-Maria, Laalo, Klaus, Leppänen, Leo, Martín-Martín, Pedro, Matsushita, Kayo, Merminod, Gilles, Moskovitz, Cary, Pemberton, Michael, Pfurtscheller, Daniel and Reber, Elisabeth. (2020). Linguistic recycling : The process of quoting in increasingly mediatized settings. AILA Review. 33(1), pp. 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1075/aila.00027.int
Multimodal literacy and large-scale literacy tests: Curriculum relevance and responsibility
Unsworth, Len, Cope, Jen and Nicholls, Liz. (2019). Multimodal literacy and large-scale literacy tests: Curriculum relevance and responsibility. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy. 42(2), pp. 128 - 139.