Introduction
Critical discourse analysis is an essential tool that identifies the different attributes of communication and uses various theoretical models; to determine the generalizability and applicability of such new evidence to different social and political contexts (Bonilla, 2016). Examining political speeches is essential to understand that language plays diverse functions other than communication. Political speeches help to create people with authority and power in society, for example, Trump is a renowned global leader. Thus, his political philosophies and actions, if any have repercussions for the rest of the globe. His speeches have not been extensively examined linguistically as evidenced by the accessible. The problem that this paper tries to address is that Trump’s speeches have been given little attention to linguistically. This is an issue of concern because his language could have an impact on so many people (Almurashi, 2016).
Critical discourse analysis is a branch in the study of contemporary linguistic. The study of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) explains the association between uses of words with social diversity and social context. Most explanation of CDA is concerned with social inequality. The purpose of this analysis is to bridge the linguistic gap by examining critically the use of the theories of discourse in the speeches of President Trump. This analysis is to show the convincing strategies President Trump has used to convince people to believe in his ideas.
To address the importance of this study, the researcher aims to increase the knowledge of Critical Discourse Analysis, especially in political discourse. This paper seeks to explore the use of critical discourse analysis theories to examine Donald Trump’s Speeches aimed at offering the audience substantial knowledge-based concerning the vital evaluation of political discourse. The paper is offering justification, limitation, significance, and limitation of the study. This paper is designed as a literature review, research methodology, and research analysis. The paper is using the qualitative aspect to analyze the describable elements of the language used in political dialogues. Finally, this paper offers a conclusion and future recommendations for the study.
Literature Review
Using critical discourse as a tool enables us to examine whether the language in political speeches is applicable in a given context (Bonilla, 2016). Mohammadi and Jovadi (2017) explored the utilization of power and hidden tactics through the use of language in political discourse. They found out that there exist linguistic traces that show the ideology in the text or language used in political campaigns either on the grammatical or lexis levels. This study is relevant to build on my analysis of Trump’s speeches from a linguistic point of view. Also, using the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) approach to evaluate the language used by Trump in his speeches as well as their meanings. Chanturidze (2018) demonstrated the functional and linguistic differences between the two genres of political discourse (victory and inaugural speeches). He concluded that victory and inaugural speeches of President Trump demonstrated functional differences and similarities. This study is relevant to my manuscript to acknowledge that political speeches can be viewed from both linguistic and functional perspectives. In other words, they present linguistic and functional characteristics. Bonilla (2016) explored “the discourse of Donald Trump as a businessman and as a president regarding the topics of immigration and economy”. The study concluded that Trump’s conversations as a businessman and as president about the economy and immigration aspects differed regarding conceptual metaphors and ideological structures. The research covers the aspects of language and text as well as their functions in the discourse, it assists this review to explain the similar things in Trump’s speeches
Moreover, Chen (2018) evaluated political discourse and demonstrates how the speaker convinces audiences to support and accept his opinions. The study established that language form can portray the views, stance, and attitudes of people, which can reveal their intentions. since this review is utilizing to expand the discourse analysis of Trump’s speeches from a linguistic perspective. This article used to support this review’s argument that Trump’s speeches convey texts that have political meanings. Almurashi (2016), focused on describing the Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) theory and its significance in the linguistic field. He argued that the (SFL) theory plays a significant role in the linguistics field by providing a functionalism tool for text analysis. This approach helps to explain the language used by Trump in his speeches as well as their functions.
References
Almurashi, W. A. (2016). An introduction to Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics. Journal for the study of English Linguistics, 4(1), 70-80.
Bonilla, J. F. G. (2016). A critical-cognitive analysis of Donald Trump’s discourse across time: Trump as a businessman versus Trump as a president. In Actas do XIII Congreso Internacional de Lingüística Xeral (pp. 409-416).
Chanturidze, Y. (2018). Functional and Linguistic Characteristics of Donald Trump’s Victory and Inaugural Speeches. Journal of Language and Education, 4(4), 31-41.
Chen, W. (2018). A Critical Discourse Analysis of Donald Trump’s Inaugural Speech from the Perspective of Systemic Functional Grammar. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 8(8), 966-972.
Mohammadi, M., & Javadi, J. (2017). A critical discourse analysis of Donald Trump’s language use in US presidential campaign, 2016. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 6(5), 1-10.