LINGUIST List 20.2860
Mon Aug 24 2009
Diss: Discourse Analysis: Crawford Camiciottoli: 'Evaluation in ICT...'
Editor for this issue: Di Wdzenczny
<dilinguistlist.org>
1. Belinda
Crawford Camiciottoli,
Evaluation in ICT-Mediated Genres of Financial Disclosure: A contrastive analysis of spoken earnings presentations vs. written earnings releases
Message 1: Evaluation in ICT-Mediated Genres of Financial Disclosure: A contrastive analysis of spoken earnings presentations vs. written earnings releases
Date: 24-Aug-2009
From: Belinda Crawford Camiciottoli <bcrawfordtin.it>
Subject: Evaluation in ICT-Mediated Genres of Financial Disclosure: A contrastive analysis of spoken earnings presentations vs. written earnings releases
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Institution: Universitat Jaume I
Program: Interuniversity Program in Applied Linguistics
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2009
Author: Belinda Crawford Camiciottoli
Dissertation Title: Evaluation in ICT-Mediated Genres of Financial Disclosure: A contrastive analysis of spoken earnings presentations vs. written earnings releases
Linguistic Field(s):
Discourse Analysis
Subject Language(s): English (eng)
Dissertation Director:
Inmaculada Fortanet-Gomez
Dissertation Abstract:
This dissertation contributes theoretical and practical knowledge to thefield of professional business communication, with particular reference tofinancial disclosure, i.e., the periodic reporting of economic performancedata, representing one of the most important communicative activities ofbusinesses today. Although large companies are often legally required toregularly disclose financial information, this type of reporting has takenon greater significance following the high-profile scandals that haverecently shaken the international corporate community. Based on acomparative analysis of two specialized corpora of prominent, yet fairlyunexplored technology-mediated financial genres - oral EarningsPresentations (EP) and written Earnings Releases (ER) - the study providesinsights into key linguistic and discursive features. Using a 'two-pronged'approach (i.e., top-down/discourse analysis and bottom-up/corpuslinguistics), the dissertation offers a comprehensive analysis of the formsand functions of selected evaluative features in the two genres. Evaluativefeatures were analyzed by means of quantitative techniques, also involvingpart-of-speech tagging to conduct thorough searches on open-classgrammatical categories, as well as qualitative analysis within context ofusage. The findings of the analysis were further illuminated by the inputof a professional informant with extensive experience in events offinancial disclosure.
The dissertation is structured into two major sections. Part I (chapters1-6) constitutes the background of the study, reviewing previoustheoretical and empirical research that has been done in a number of areasthat are relevant to this study: discourse and genre analysis, corpuslinguistics, ICT-mediated communication, English as a lingua franca,financial disclosure and evaluation. Part II (chapters 7-12) is dedicatedto the analysis of the two corpora, beginning with an exhaustivedescription of the methodological approach (Chapter 7). Chapter 8 thenfocuses of the structural analysis of the two corpora, distinguishing eachas a business genre in its own right influenced by communicative mode,medium and roles of the interlocutors. Chapters 9-11 are devoted to thecontrastive analysis of evaluative features drawing on Martin and White's(2005) appraisal model. These chapters are similarly organized startingwith methodological and editing issues, various types of analyses(quantitative, qualitative and functional), a combined macro-micro analysisand ending with a chapter wrap-up. Chapter 9 focuses on evaluativeadjectives as encoders of attitude, showing that these are considerablymore frequent and varied in the EPs than in the ERs. Chapter 10 deals withconcessive connectives as resources of engagement, which appear to beexploited for rhetorical purposes by executive speakers in the EPs, and toa lesser extent by writers of the ERs. Chapter 11 examines the use ofintensifiers and mitigators in the corpora. The results show that bothintensifiers and mitigators are more frequent in the EPs than in the ERs.The final chapter re-establishes the rationale of the study by relatingback to important previous research and showing how the current work hasexpanded knowledge in this area. The findings of the study are thensummarized by revisiting the original research questions. The final chapterconcludes with a discussion of directions for further research and thepedagogical implications of the research findings.
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