This article uses a novel, quantitatively based method to assess the extent to which
UK party election broadcasts in the 31 years between 1966 and 1997 became more
‘informal’. Using the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written
English, I identify 28 linguistic ‘markers’ which are
salient in the assessment of formality, and count their frequencies in the
37,000-word corpus. My quantitative findings reveal a general increase in
informalization over time, which corresponds with judgements made in critical
discourse analysis (CDA). But I also discover an anomaly in the broadcasts from
1987, which I explain with reference to the influence of the Conservative party
leader, Margaret Thatcher.
Allan, S.
,
Atkinson, K.
and
Montgomery, M.
(1995)
‘Time and the Politics of Nostalgia: An Analysis of the
Conservative Party Election Broadcast “The Journey”’
, Time and Society4(3):
365-395
.
2.
Biber, D.
,
Johansson, S.
,
Leech, G.
,
Conrad, S.
and
Finegan, E.
(1999) Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English.
Harlow: Longman
.
3.
Blair, T.
(2003) ‘Have Your Say’, at
http://www.bigconversation.org.uk/index.php?id=682 (accessed 21 February 2004).
4.
Chouliaraki, L.
and
Fairclough, N.
(1999) Discourse in Late Modernity: Rethinking Critical
Discourse Analysis.
Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press
.
5.
Crystal, D.
(1992) An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Language and
Languages.
Oxford: Blackwell
.
6.
Fairclough, N.
(1992) Discourse and Social Change.
Cambridge: Polity
.
7.
Fairclough, N.
(1995a) Critical Discourse Analysis.
London: Longman
.
8.
Fairclough, N.
(1995b) Media Discourse.
London: Arnold
.
9.
Fairclough, N.
(1996) ‘Border Crossings: Discourse and Social
Change in Contemporary Societies’, in
H. Coleman
and
L. Cameron
(eds) Change and Language, pp. 3-17.
Clevedon: Multilingual Matters
.
10.
Fairclough, N.
(2000a) New Labour, New Language?London: Routledge
.
11.
Fairclough, N.
(2000b) ‘Call for Action on Language in the New
Capitalism’, at
http://www.cddc.vt.edu/host/lnc/lncarchive.html (accessed 1 June 2002).
12.
Fairclough, N.
and
Mauranen, A.
(1997)
‘The Conversationalisation of Political Discourse: A Comparative View’
, The Belgian Journal of Linguistics11:
89-119
.
13.
Goatly, A.
(2002)
‘The Representation of Nature on the BBC World Service’
, TEXT22(1):
1-27
.
14.
Jaworski, A.
and
Coupland, N.
(1999) ‘Introduction: Perspectives on Discourse
Analysis’, in
A. Jaworski
and
N. Coupland
(eds) The Discourse Reader, pp. 1-44.
London: Routledge
.
15.
McArthur, T.
(ed.) (1992) The Oxford Companion to the English
Language.
Oxford: Oxford University Press
.
16.
Mautner, G.
(1995) ‘Only Connect: Critical Discourse Analysis
and Corpus Linguistics’, Unit for Computer Research on the
English Language Technical Papers,
Lancaster University
.
17.
Montgomery, M.
(1999)
‘Speaking Sincerely: Public Reactions to the Death of Diana’
, Language and Literature8(1):
5-33
.
18.
Mulderrig, J.
(2002)
‘Consuming Education: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Social
Actors in New Labour’s Education Policy’
, The Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies1(1) at http://www.jceps.com/?pageID=article&articleID=2
19.
Pearce, M.
(2001)
‘“Getting Behind the Image”: Personality
Politics in a Labour Party Election Broadcast’
, Language and Literature10(3):
211-228
.
20.
Pearce, M. (2002) ‘Informalization in UK General Election
Propaganda 1964-1997’, unpublished PhD thesis, University of Leeds.
21.
Piper, A.
(2000a)
‘Some Have Credit Cards and Others Have Giro Cheques: A Corpus
Study of “Individuals” and “People”
as Lifelong Learners in Late Modernity’
, Discourse and Society11(4):
515-542
.
22.
Piper, A.
(2000b)
‘Lifelong Learning, Human Capital, and the Soundbite’
, TEXT20(1):
109-146
.
23.
Piper, A.
and
Kenner, C.
(2000) ‘Risk is the Mobilising Dynamic of a
Society Bent on Change: How Metaphors Help to Stabilise the Developing Discourse
of the Learning Society, and How They Don’t’, in
H. Trappes-Lomax
(ed.) Change and Continuity in Applied Linguistics, pp.
151-168.
Clevedon: Multilingual Matters
.
24.
Rosenbaum, M.
(1997) From Soapbox to Soundbite: Party Political Campaigning
in Britain since 1945.
London: Macmillan
.
25.
Scott, M.
(1999) WordSmith Tools Version 3.
Oxford: Oxford University Press
.
26.
Steen, G.
(2003) ‘Conversationalization in Discourse:
Stylistic Changes in Editorials of The Timesbetween 1950 and
2000’, in
L. Lagerwerf
,
W. Spooren
and
L. Degand
(eds) Determination of Information and Tenor in Texts: Multidisciplinary
Approaches to Discourse 2003, pp. 115-124.
Amsterdam: Stichting Neerlandistiek;
Münster: Nodus Publikationen
.
27.
Stubbs, M.
(1996) Text and Corpus Analysis.
Oxford: Blackwell
.
28.
Wales, K.
(2001) A Dictionary of Stylistics, 2nd edn.
London: Longman
.
29.
Widdowson, H.
(1995)
‘Discourse Analysis: A Critical View’
, Language and Literature4(3):
157-172
.
30.
Widdowson, H.
(1996)
‘Reply to Fairclough: Discourse and Interpretation: Conjectures
and Refutations’
, Language and Literature5(1):
57-69
.
31.
Widdowson, H.
(1998)
‘The Theory and Practice of Critical Discourse Analysis’
, Applied Linguistics19(1):
136-151
.
32.
Widdowson, H.
(2000a)
‘On the Limitations of Linguistics Applied’
, Applied Linguistics21(1):
3-25
.
33.
Widdowson, H.
(2000b) ‘Critical Practices: On Representation
and the Interpretation of Text’, in
S. Sarangi
and
M. Coulthard
(eds) Discourse and Social Life, pp.
155-169.
Harlow: Longman
.
34.
Widdowson, H.
(2002)
‘Verbal Art and Social Practice: A Reply to Weber’
, Language and Literature11(2):
161-167
.
