VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES - NGUYỄN THANH NGA A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF MICHELLE OBAMA’S SPEECH ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2016 (Phân tích diễn ngơn phê phán diễn văn Michelle Obama vào ngày Quốc tế Phụ nữ năm 2016) M.A THESIS PROGRAMME I Field Code : English Linguistics : 8220201.01 Hanoi - 2019 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES - NGUYỄN THANH NGA A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF MICHELLE OBAMA’S SPEECH ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2016 (Phân tích diễn ngơn phê phán diễn văn Michelle Obama vào ngày Quốc tế Phụ nữ năm 2016) M.A THESIS PROGRAMME I Field : English Linguistics Code : 8220201.01 Supervisor : Prof NGUYỄN HÒA Hanoi - 2019 DECLARATION I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled “A critical discourse analysis of Michelle Obama’s speech on International Women’ s Day 2016”submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in English Linguistics Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis Ha Noi, 2019 Nguyễn Thanh Nga ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For the fulfillment of this study, first and foremost, I would like to express my high appreciation to my supervisor, Prof Nguyễn Hòa, the lecturer at Faculty of Post- Graduate, ULIS, VNU for his valuable instructions, comments as well as his advice I also would like to send my thankfulness to all the lecturers of Faculty of Post- Graduate, ULIS, VNU for their training and assistance that help me to accomplish this M.A thesis Last but not least, my deep gratitude is towards to my family and my friends for their valuable support and encouragement ABSTRACT This study aims at investigating and figuring out the ideologies embedded in the speech delivered by First Lady of the 44 th U.S president, Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017 on International Women’s Day 2016 in Washington D.C.’s Union Market in front of dozens of adolescent girls in the Let Girls Learn from Critical Discourse Analysis (for short CDA) perspective In this study, the main dialectical – relational framework provided by Norman Fairclough is used to achieve its objective According to Fairclough’s CDA framework, the study conducts three major steps The analysis interprets data in three different levels: text analysis (description), processing analysis (interpretation) and social analysis (explanation) Each above phase can be sub- divided into three categories (experiential, relational, expressive) The conclusion supports her ideology that it is necessary that there be an equality for women in education across the globe, and she therefore calls for the approval and support from all corners of the world It also confirms the relationship between language and ideology in CDA and suggests some implications in language research and pedagogy LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CDA: SFG: MR: Critical Discourse Analysis Systemic Functional Grammar Members’ Resource TABLE OF CONTEN DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv TABLE OF CONTENT v LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Scope of the study Aims of the study and research questions Methodology of the study .2 Design of the thesis CHAPTER 2THEORETICAL BACKGROUND& LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definitions of CDA 2.2 Principles of CDA 2.3 Some key concepts in CDA 2.4 Approaches to CDA .8 2.5 Review of previous studies 16 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 19 3.1 Reasons to choose the speech 19 3.2 Context of the speech 20 3.3 Data analysis procedure 21 3.4 Fairclough ’s CDA framework 21 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 26 4.1 Textual description and Analysis 26 4.1.1 Appreciating women’s achievements 26 4.1.2 Sympathizing with women’s inequality .28 4.1.3 Supporting with women’s equality in education 32 4.2 Interpretation of the relationship between the productive and interpretative processes 41 4.2.1 Interpretation of situational context 41 4.2.2 Intertextual context and presupposition 42 4.3 Explanation of the relationship between discourse processes and social processes 43 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 47 Recapitulation .47 Conclusion .48 Implications 49 Limitations 51 Recommendations 52 REFERENCES 53 APPENDICES I APPENDIX I APPENDIX X APPENDIX XXX APPENDIX XXXVIII APPENDIX XL LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLE Figure 2.1 Discourse as text, interaction and context (Fairclough, 2001, p.21) 10 Table 2.1 Overview of process types (adapted from Halliday, 1994) .13 Table 2.2 Basic speech role (Thompson, 1996, p 40) 14 Table 2.3 Components of a multiple theme (adapted from Halliday, 1994, p.54) 15 Figure 3.1 Interpretation (Fairclough, 2001, p 119) 23 Figure 3.2 Explanation (Fairclough, 2001, p 36) 25 Y CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This part includes rationale, scope, aims, methodology and design of the thesis Rationale It is clear that language is the most important characteristic of human society, and it plays an important role in demonstrating human social relationship Therefore, researching the relationship between language and human society has attracted many researchers’ attention, especially linguists’ Those who take interest in this relationship apply the knowledge in Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA for short) to describe, interpret and explain these relationships According to Fairclough and Wodak (1997), that CDA addresses social issues is one of foundational principles of this critical approach Not only does it describe language but it also provides critical linguistic resources to linguists who want to discover social relations underlying in a wide number types of discourse in terms of both their linguistic factors and contexts This can help to uncover the relationship between language and human beings’ issues such as right, ideology or power Similarly, with the hope of conducting the study, I want to analyze Michelle Obama’s speech on International Women’s Day 2016 from CDA perspective This address is considered as a doctrine presented by Michelle Obama as First Lady of the US on behalf of all women around the world Through her speech, Michelle Obama hopes to emphasize the reasons why fighting for women’s rights and finding out the equality for all women, especially in education in the modern societyare absolutely indispensable More importantly, the study’s underlying aims is to illustrate CDA concepts and discover how language is encoded in the speech delivered by Michelle Obama 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 I They They They They The Girl Scouts It Folks of all ages Carrier Actor Actor Actor Actor Actor Carrier Actor on ’ve got ’re donating ’re creating ’re promoting ’re doing are getting in ’s not are stepping up Relational Material Material Material Material Material Relational Material Actor have donated Material Carrier was Relational Actor Actor ’ll be launching haven’t just Material Material Carrier Actor inspired was have joined Relational Material Actor agreed Material Carrier Actor ’re seeing See were planning to Mental Mental Material Actor Actor Actor marry had learned refused to go went on to Material Material Material and all walks of 113 life More than 1,600 people in nearly 114 all 50 states Our #62MillionGirls 115 116 117 118 hashtag We we Our hashtag countries like Japan, the UK, 119 South Korea nearly 200 120 121 122 countries We We her parents 123 124 125 Fiker she She graduate 23 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 We Nourhan she She She She I We Kids across the Senser Actor Carrier Actor Carrier Sayer Behaver Senser Actor see got accepted was took ’s Says dream of being ’re seeing are learning Mental Material Relational Material Relational Verbal Behavioural Mental Material 135 136 U.S They Students at a Actor Actor ’re embracing raised Material Material 137 138 139 California students they one of these Actor Actor Sayer Raised created said Material Material Verbal 140 signs 33 million fewer Actor are Relational girls than boys They We we Sayer Carrier Actor young kids We these girls They They each their fate We Actor Carrier Carrier Carrier Carrier Carrier Actor said ’re [can] make See get ’re are are have is ’re going to be Verbal Relational Material Mental Material Relational Relational Relational Relational Relational Material Actor expanding are going to be Material Existent engaging there is Existence middle school in 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 We so much that 24 students like you can to make a real difference on girls’ 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 education You You Actor Actor can study can study or Material Material Actor Actor Actor volunteer graduate can even join get out there and Material Material Material Actor Carrier Actor get a job can get ’s are announcing Material Relational Material companies you Every single one Carrier Carrier can be has Relational Relational of us you No contribution you That it it Actor Carrier Senser Carrier Carrier Carrier we we we I we I we I Actor Actor Actor Senser Carrier Senser Carrier Senser can start Is can see ’s will not be will not be Make can make keep putting can get know are know are see Material Relational Mental Relational Relational Relational Material Material Material Material Mental Relational Mental Relational Mental you you you you That That kind of commitment that 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 25 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 I you Senser Senser Those girls They They they I I 190 191 192 193 Material Existence Verbal Mental Relational Behavioural Total I You We Carrier Carrier Carrier Carrier Senser Actor know feel Turn Turn will be are are are want look forward Mental Mental Material Material Relational Relational Relational Relational Mental Material Actor to continuing cannot wait to Material see Think can get Thank Mental Material Material Senser Actor Quantity 94 33 60 193 26 Percentage 48.70% 0.05% 1.55% 17.1% 31.08% 1.52% 100 % APPENDIX Personal pronoun analysis Instances of the use of “I” in the text Claus The use of “I” e I just wanted to briefly express my sadness over the passing of 14 15 former First Lady Nancy Reagan I settled into my role as First Lady I am so grateful for her kindness and generosity to me and my 16 19 22 23 family over the years I hope I have to start by thanking Ambassador Power the President and I are very lucky to have her as a friend I also want to recognize our outstanding Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues, Cathy Russell, and her yes (applause) and her entire team at the State Department for hosting this event and for their tremendous work on girls’ education and so many other 24 25 critical issues I’m thankful to have them as partners in this effort I want to thank all of you for your tremendous leadership on behalf 29 32 40 of girls around the world I’m so proud I know the more I traveled and met with girls and learned from experts 41 45 46 47 about this issue the more I realized I take all of this personally I’m thankful I’ve never faced anything like the horrors that many of these girls 48 endure, like most women I know how it feels to be overlooked, to be underestimated, to have 49 someone only half listen to your ideas at a meeting I’ve seen how these issues play out not just on a personal level, but 27 51 70 74 on a national level in our laws and policies in my lifetime -– and I’m not that old I’ve seen it time and time again then here I show up with a hoard of international reporters shoving 83 84 85 89 microphones in their faces I’m passionate about this I truly see myself in these girls I know I have met countless men who learn about the plight of girls around 104 105 132 the world I could go on and on I’ve got my bracelets on I dream of being the youngest Nobel Prize winner for Nuclear 175, Physics I know 177, 180 179 188 I see it in your eyes I want to close by thanking all of you once again for everything you have done in this year, and everything we will continue to 189 together I look forward to continuing our work together in the months 190 and years to come And I cannot wait to see all the doors we will open, all the fortunes we transform for girls across the globe 28 Instances of the use of “WE” in the text Claus The use of “WE” Inclusive/ e We’ve got a lot to on this International Women’s Exclusive inclusive Day we mark the first anniversary of Let Girls Learn today, we want to celebrate all of the wonderful inclusive Inclusive progress we’ve made and the momentum we’re 21 seeing around girls’ education across the globe before we get started We are lucky to have someone like her in this Inclusive Inclusive 33 administration each of us here today has a story like Samantha Inclusive shared about how we first got engaged in this issue –- the moment our heart first broke or we felt that 34 35 first flare of outrage we realized 62 million girls worldwide –- girls who are just as Inclusive Inclusive smart and hard-working as we are -– aren’t getting 55 the opportunities that we sometimes take for granted today, it is so easy to take for granted all the Inclusive 58 60 progress we’ve made on these kinds of issues we let our guard down for a single minute These freedoms that we take for granted aren’t Inclusive Inclusive 93 guaranteed in stone we have been overwhelmed by the response we’ve Inclusive 115 received we’ll be launching the next phase of this social Inclusive 116 media campaign next week at South by Southwest we haven’t just inspired folks here in the United Inclusive 120 States today, just 12 months after we launched Let Girls inclusive 29 Learn, we’re seeing the impact of these efforts all 121 around the world We see it in the story of a girl named Fiker from Inclusive 126 Ethiopia We see the impact of our work in the story of a Inclusive 133 young woman named Nourhan in Egypt we’re seeing the impact of our efforts not just on Inclusive girls worldwide, but on young people right here at 142 143 146 151 home We’re in this together Together we [can] make a difference We’re in this together in the coming months, we’re going to be expanding Inclusive Inclusive Inclusive Inclusive 152 167 our call to action to support these girls We are going to be engaging even more people in the end, that’s how we’re going to solve this Inclusive Inclusive 171 172 173 problem we can this we can make this kind of project we keep putting in this effort and this investment that Inclusive Inclusive Inclusive 174 176 178 190 these girls deserve we can get this done we are all up to the task we are I cannot wait to see all the doors we will open, all Inclusive Inclusive Inclusive Inclusive the fortunes we – and futures we transform for girls 192 across the globe we can get this done Inclusive 30 Instances of the use of “YOU” in the text Sentenc The use of “YOU” e 25 Thank you so much Hey You guys good? It is a pleasure to be here with all of you But most of all, I want to thank all of you for your tremendous 26 leadership on behalf of girls around the world Some of you have been with ussince the day we launched Let 27 28 Girls Learn some of you have been working on girls’ education for decades and some of you are students who will be leading the way on this 30 45 48 issue in years to come you all are here And like many of you, as a woman, I take all of this personally I know how it feels to be overlooked, to be underestimated, to have someone only half listen to your ideas at a meeting to see them turn to the man next to you, the man you supervise, and assume he’s in charge or to experience those whistles and 50 79 86 152 taunts as you walk down the street You see You see many of you do, too We are going to be engaging even more people -– moms and dads, faith and youth organizations, and young people like so 153 many of you Because there is so much thatstudents like you can to make a 154 real difference on girls’ education You can study this issue and organize your classmates to take 155 action You can study or volunteer abroad and be on the front lines 156 educating girls After you graduate from college 31 157 you can even join the Peace Corps and run your own girls’ 158 education project Or if you get out there and get a job, like your parents may want 159 162 164 you to you can get your company involved in Let Girls Learn you can be a part of making it happen And you can start today by going to LetGirlsLearn.gov and find 166 167 out how to get involved right now as you can see because in the end, that’s how we’re going to solve this problem –- one girl, one school, one village at a time, with folks like all of 181 187 188 you particularly our young people leading the way you feel that burning sensation, that sense of unfairness and they are you So I want to close by thanking all of you once again for everything you have done in this year, and everything we will 191 193 continue to together You think Thank you all so much APPENDIX Passive analysis Line 45-47 Passive voice For me, it was the drumbeat of horrifying stories: Malala Yousafzai shot in the head by terrorists just for speaking the 47-49 simple truth that girls should to go school More than 200 Nigerian girls kidnapped from their school dormitory by a terrorist group determined to keep them from 50-52 getting an education Little girls being brutally assaulted on their way to school, being forced to marry and bear children when they’re barely even 32 66-68 teenagers I know how it feels to be overlooked, to be underestimated, to 74-75 have someone only half listen to your ideas at a meeting In my lifetime, women were not legally allowed to make 76-78 fundamental decisions about their bodies In my lifetime, domestic violence was seen as a private matter between a man and his wife rather than as the horrific crime that 81-82 it is so many of these rights are under threat from all sides, always at 83 83-84 risk of being rolled back These issues aren’t settled These freedoms that we take for granted aren’t guaranteed in 85-86 stone these rights were secured through long, hard battles waged by women and men 122-123 we have been overwhelmed by the response we’ve received 168-169 Fiker had learned about the dangers of early marriage from a USAID program she was involved in 172-173 We see the impact of our work in the story of a young woman named Nourhan in Egypt 33 APPENDIX Thematic analysis Sentenc e 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 Theme Thank you You guys Hi It And But Mrs Reagan Through And And So I We I I But Some of you And Give Our young people And For me Malala Yousafzai More than 200 Nigerian girls Little girls Girls in every corner of the world And It It And While And You In my lifetime 34 Type Marked/ Interpersonal Topical Interpersonal Topical Textual Textual Topical Textual Textual Textual Textual Topical Topical Topical Topical Textual Topical Textual Topical Interpersonal Textual Topical Topical Topical Topical Topical Textual Topical Topical Textual Topical Textual Topical Topical Unmarked + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 In my lifetime And But These issues These freedoms And No And The ability to read, write and Topical Textual Textual Topical Topical Textual Textual Textual Topical + + + + + - 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 analyze And They I Girls in Cambodia Bangladeshi immigrant girls These girls And They They You It And And And I So This issue From day one They They They They Let Girls Learn And I They They They They Textual Topical Topical Topical Topical Topical Textual Topical Topical Topical Topical Textual Textual Textual Topical Textual Topical Topical Topical Topical Topical Topical Topical Textual Topical Topical Topical Topical Topical + + + + + + + + - 35 73 74 75 The Girl Scouts And Folk of all ages and all walks of Topical Textual Topical + - 76 life More than 1600 people in nearly Topical - 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 all 50 states Our #62MillionGirls And And Our hashtag And And And We But She We When But And I And Kids across the U.S Students at a middle school in Topical Textual Textual Topical Textual Textual Textual Topical Textual Topical Topical Topical Textual Textual Topical Textual Topical Topical + + + + + + + + + + - 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 California At a school in Wisconsin As part of their campaign They We Together See We Because They They And We Because Topical Topical Topical Topical Textual Topical Topical Textual Topical Topical Textual Topical Textual + + + + + + 36 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 You You After Or That That kind of commitment Every single one of us And No contribution And And But If I I I I Turn Turn Those girls They So And And So You Thank you 37 Topical Topical Textual Textual Topical Topical Topical Textual Topical Textual Textual Textual Textual Topical Topical Topical Topical Topical Topical Topical Topical Textual Textual Textual Textual Topical Interpersonal + + + + + + + + + + + + ... CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF MICHELLE OBAMA S SPEECH ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2016 (Phân tích diễn ngơn phê phán diễn văn Michelle Obama vào ngày Quốc tế Phụ nữ năm 2016) M.A THESIS PROGRAMME... study, I want to analyze Michelle Obama s speech on International Women’s Day 2016 from CDA perspective This address is considered as a doctrine presented by Michelle Obama as First Lady of the... procedure of Michelle Obama s speech on International Women’s Day 2016 are presented Chapter 4: Findings and discussion This chapter explores critical discourse analysis of Michelle Obama s speech