4.2 Interactional Metadiscourse Markers in Jacinda Ardern’s Speech
4.2.5 Engagement Markers
Engagement markers are included as interactional metadiscourse markers.
Engagement markers are devices that address audiences. According to Hyland (2005), basically there are two functions of engagement markers. First, it is used to focus the audience’ attention in the text. Second, engagement markers used to include the audiences as discourse participants. The researcher found devices which functioned as engagement markers in the speech. The list of engagement markers in the speech is presented in the following table.
Table 4.2.5 Engagement markers used in Jacinda Ardern’s Speech
Items Number
Percentage of total engagement markers
(%)
Percentage of total interactional metadiscourse
(%)
Turns 1 2.22 1.205
Do not 1 2.22 1.205
You 4 8.9 4.82
Your 1 2.22 1.205
Our 9 20 10.84
We 18 40 21.67
Us 8 17.78 9.64
Ours 1 2.22 1.205
Ourselves 2 4.44 2.41
Total 45 100 54.2
Engagement markers are the dominant interactional metadiscourse markers found in Jacinda Ardern’s speech. Based on the above table, pronouns are used the most.
As discussed previously that there are two functions of the use of engagement markers; thus, in this study, the researcher will discussed which engagement markers are functioned to focus the audiences’ attention and which are used to include the audiences as discourse participants. See excerpt 22 below.
Excerpt 22
And we also ask that the condemnation of violence and terrorism turns now to a collective response.
(Speech at Christchurch memorial, 2019)
The underlined word in excerpt 22 can be recognized as engagement marker. The use of that word in the sentence is functioned to focus audiences’ attention. By using the word "turns" in the above sentence, Jacinda Ardern wanted to focus the audience's attention on what she had to say. In that sentence, Jacinda said that violence is now a collective response. Another example of the use of engagement markers in the speech can be seen in excerpt 23.
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Excerpt 23
And so to each of us as we go from here, we have work to do, but do not leave the job of combatting hate to the government alone.
(Speech at Christchurch memorial, 2019)
The underlined words above also have a function to focus the audiences’
attention. The words “do not” is used by speaker to emphasize to the audiences that the job of combating hate is not the job of the government only. The use of that marker marks that Jacinda Arderns wants to emphasize to her audience to remember that everyone's role is indispensable in fighting hatred. And cooperation between the government and the citizens is urgently needed to fight them. In the speech, Jacinda Ardern uses more reader pronouns as engagement markers which indicate that the speaker wants to include her audiences as the discourse participants. There are a lot of pronouns used as engagement markers in the speech. The example of it can be seen in excerpt 24.
Excerpt 24
We gather here, 14 days on from our darkest of hours.
(Speech at Christchurch memorial, 2019)
There are two engagement markers found in the sentence above. Pronoun “we”
and possessive adjective “our” in the above sentence have explicitly referred to the speaker and her audiences, therefore they can be included as engagement markers. By the use of engagement markers “we” and “our”, Jacinda Arderns has engaged reader’s attention by inviting them into the text. Engagement marker
“you” also used in the speech. The example of it is presented in excerpt 25.
Excerpt 25
And over the last two weeks we have shown that, you have shown that, in your actions.
(Speech at Christchurch memorial, 2019)
The engagement markers “you” and “your” in the sentence above explicitly refer to the audiences of the text. Jacinda Ardern uses those engagement markers to include the audiences as the participants in the text. By using those engagement markers, Jacinda invites them in the text. The engagement markers are intended to build relationships and interaction with the audiences and it can be found easily in the speech. Another example of engagement markers that the researcher found in the speech can be seen in the following excerpt.
Excerpt 26
In the days that have followed the terrorist attack on the 15th of March, we have found ourselves without words.
(Speech at Christchurch memorial, 2019)
There are two engagement markers in the above excerpt and they are expressed by the use of inclusive we and ourselves. The two engagement markers are explicitly refer to the speaker and the audiences. In this kind of situation, Jacinda include herself as a part of society who experienced the terrorist attack. Jacinda Ardern also wants to include her audience as the discourse participants in her speech. The use of engagement markers in her speech not only serves to focus the audience's attention but also successfully builds interaction with the audience. Besides that, by including herself as a part of society, Jacinda Ardern has also succeeded in showing her solidarity and empathy to all the audiences. Sahragard &
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Yazdanpanahi (2017) have added that, engagement marker in one of crucial interpersonal devices used to interact with readers or hearers thought texts.
The number of engagement markers used in Jacinda Ardern's speech at Christchurch memorial, especially the use of inclusive we in the speech, has influenced Jacinda Ardern's success in conveying her sense of solidarity, respect and empathy for all victims, the victims' families, all Muslim community, all New Zealanders and all who had come and followed the event. The success of Jacinda Ardern in conveying her respect, solidarity and empathy through her speech is what makes people from all over the world support and considered her as an inspirational leader.
CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION
This research discovers the use of interpersonal metadiscourse markers used in Jacinda Ardern’s speech at Christchurch memorial. After analyzing the data, both interactive and interactional metadiscourse markers are found in the speech. There are 4 subcategories of interactive metadiscourse markers found in the speech such as transitions, frame markers, evidential and code glosses. This research also found that all of the five subcategories of interactional metadiscourse markers, such as hedges, boosters, attitude markers, engagement markers and self-mentions are used in Jacinda Ardern’s speech.
There are 135 interpersonal metadiscourse markers with 52 interactive metadiscourse markers and 83 interactional metadiscourse markers used by the speaker in her speech. It is concluded that the number of interactional resources found in the speech is more than the interactive resources. This can be recognized as one of the differences between the use of interpersonal metadiscourse markers in spoken text and written text, in which written text mostly used interactive metadiscourse more than the interactional metadiscourse markers.
Transitions become the most frequent markers with the percentage of 41.57%
among other interactive metadiscourse used in the speech. This finding is in line with the finding of Yipei and Lingling (2017). Jacinda Ardern has successfully produced a well-organized text by using transition markers in her speech. The use of transition markers gives clear transition between steps in the speech. Most of transitions markers found in the speech are functioned to add additional information; however there is also transition which functions to mark difference.
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The functions of frame markers found in the speech are to order arguments and to signal text boundaries. In addition, the use of evidential markers and code glosses in the speech has successfully created a coherent speech.
This research found that engagement markers are the dominant markers among other interactional metadiscourse markers used in the speech. 45 of 83 interactional resources are recognized as engagement markers. This may be in line with Jacinda Ardern's goal in delivering her speech that is to urge all audiences to always show solidarity and respect for others. With engagement markers, Jacinda Ardern has succeeded in building relationships and interaction with the audiences by inviting them into her text. The speaker also used self-mentions to show her presence in the text and to engage with her audiences. Moreover, the use of hedges, boosters and attitude markers make the speech becomes persuasive.
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APPENDICES Appendix 1: Jacinda Ardern’s Speech
“E rau rangatira mā, e ngā reo, e ngā mana. Tēnā koutou katoa.
(I acknowledge amongst us today our distinguished leaders, speakers and those who bear authority.)
Ngāi Tahu Whānui, tēnā koutou.
(My greetings to the whole of Ngāi Tahu.)
E papaki tū ana ngā tai o maumahara ki runga o Ōtautahi.
(The tides of remembrance flow over Christchurch today.)
Haere mai tātou me te aroha, me te rangimārie, ki te whānau nei, e ora mārire ai anō rātau, e ora mārire ai anō, tātou katoa.
(So let us gather with love, in peace, for this family, so that they may truly live again, so that we all may truly live again.)
We gather here, 14 days on from our darkest of hours. In the days that have followed the terrorist attack on the 15th of March, we have often found ourselves without words.
What words adequately express the pain and suffering of 50 men, women and children lost, and so many injured? What words capture the anguish of our Muslim community being the target of hatred and violence? What words express the grief of a city that has already known so much pain?
I thought there were none. And then I came here and was met with this simple greeting. As-salaam Alaikum. Peace be upon you.
They were simple words, repeated by community leaders who witnessed the loss of their friends and loved ones. Simple words, whispered by the injured from their hospital beds. Simple words, spoken by the bereaved and everyone I met who has been affected by this attack.
As-salaam Alaikum. Peace be upon you.
They were words spoken by a community who, in the face of hate and violence, had every right to express anger but instead opened their doors for all of us to grieve with them. And so we say to those who have lost the most, we may not have always had the words.
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We may have left flowers, performed the haka, sung songs or simply embraced.
But even when we had no words, we still heard yours, and they have left us humbled and they have left us united.
Over the past two weeks we have heard the stories of those impacted by this terrorist attack. They were stories of bravery. They were stories of those who were born here, grew up here, or who had made New Zealand their home. Who had sought refuge, or sought a better life for themselves or their families.
These stories, they now form part of our collective memories. They will remain with us forever. They are us.
But with that memory comes a responsibility. A responsibility to be the place that we wish to be. A place that is diverse, that is welcoming, that is kind and compassionate. Those values represent the very best of us.
But even the ugliest of viruses can exist in places they are not welcome. Racism exists, but it is not welcome here. An assault on the freedom of any one of us who practices their faith or religion, is not welcome here. Violence, and extremism in all its forms, is not welcome here. And over the last two weeks we have shown that, you have shown that, in your actions.
From the thousands at vigils to the 95 year old man who took four buses to attend a rally because he couldn’t sleep from the sadness of seeing the hurt and suffering of others. Our challenge now is to make the very best of us, a daily reality.
Because we are not immune to the viruses of hate, of fear, of other. We never have been. But we can be the nation that discovers the cure.
And so to each of us as we go from here, we have work to do, but do not leave the job of combatting hate to the government alone. We each hold the power, in our words and in our actions, in our daily acts of kindness. Let that be the legacy of the 15th of March. To be the nation we believe ourselves to be.
To the global community who have joined us today, who reached out to embrace New Zealand, and our Muslim community, to all of those who have gathered here today, we say thank you.
And we also ask that the condemnation of violence and terrorism turns now to a collective response. The world has been stuck in a vicious cycle of extremism breeding extremism and it must end.
We cannot confront these issues alone, none of us can. But the answer to them lies in a simple concept that is not bound by domestic borders, that isn’t based on ethnicity, power base or even forms of governance. The answer lies in our humanity.
But for now, we will remember those who have left this place. We will remember the first responders who gave so much of themselves to save others.
We will remember the tears of our nation, and the new resolve we have formed.
And we remember, that ours is a home that does not and cannot claim perfection.
But we can strive to be true to the words embedded in our national anthem Men of every creed and race,
Gather here before Thy face, Asking Thee to bless this place God defend our free land From dissension, envy, hate And corruption, guard our state Make our country good and great God defend New Zealand
Ko tātou tātou As-salaam Alaikum
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Appendix 2: Interactive Metadiscourse in Jacinda Ardern’s Speech TRANSITIONS
What words adequately express the pain and suffering of 50 men, women and children lost, and so many injured?
I thought there were none. And then I came here and was met with this simple greeting.
They were words spoken by a community who, in the face of hate and violence, had every right to express anger but instead opened their doors for all of us to grieve with them.
And so we say to those who have lost the most, we may not have always had the words.
We still heard yours, and they have left us humbled and they have left us united.
They were stories of those who were born here, grew up here, or who had made New Zealand their home.
Who had sought refuge, or sought a better life for themselves or their families.
But with that memory comes a responsibility.
But even the ugliest of viruses can exist in places they are not welcome.
Racism exists, but it is not welcome here.
And over the last two weeks we have shown that, you have shown that, in your actions.
From the thousands at vigils to the 95 year old man who took four buses to attend a rally because he couldn’t sleep from the sadness of seeing the hurt and suffering of others.
We never have been. But we can be the nation that discovers the cure.
We each hold the power, in our words and in our actions, in our daily acts of kindness.
And so to each of us as we go from here, we have work to do, but do not leave the job of combatting hate to the government alone.
The world has been stuck in a vicious cycle of extremism breeding extremism and it must end.
But the answer to them lies in a simple concept that is not bound by domestic borders, that isn’t based on ethnicity, power base or even forms of governance.
But for now, we will remember those who have left this place.
We will remember the tears of our nation, and the new resolve we have formed.
And we remember, that ours is a home that does not and cannot claim perfection.
But we can strive to be true to the words embedded in our national anthem FRAME MARKERS
These stories, they now form part of our collective memories.
And we also ask that the condemnation of violence and terrorism turns now to a collective response.
But for now, we will remember those who have left this place.