skip to main content

A Comparison between the Modality Analyses of Two Ellen Talk Shows

College of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Xiamen University, China., Myanmar

Received: 27 Apr 2022; Published: 13 Mar 2025.
Open Access Copyright (c) 2024 PAROLE: Journal of Linguistics and Education under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.

Citation Format:
Abstract

According to Systemic Functional Linguistics, modality is the realization of the interpersonal meaning. Many modality analyses have been conducted in political speeches, debates and student’s writing. However, there have been a few comparisons of two talk shows where the same participant interacted with two different power statuses. This article explored with whom and what type of modality Ellen, the host of Ellen Talk Show, used more and the ambiguous situations where it is difficult to decide propositions or proposals. With the theory of Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics (Halliday, 1985; Halliday, 1994; Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004; Eggins, 2004; Halliday and Matthiessen, 2014), the article found out that Ellen used more modality with the teacher (30%) than with the Vice President (17%). Despite she is supposed to communicate in formal language, she chose to speak in an informal way. Secondly, Ellen enjoyed more or less the same probability in two Talk Shows, while two times more obligation and 4 times more inclination with the teacher. Finally, it is significantly found that ambiguous situations can occur when obligation and inclination – ‘have to’ and ‘want to’- are realized in the exchange of information, and probability ‘am going to’ is found in the realization of an offer and ‘can’t’ in a command.

Fulltext View|Download
Keywords: Modality, Systemic Functional Linguistics, Talk Show, Social Statuses

Article Metrics:

  1. Brown, P. & Levinson, S. (1987).Politeness.Some Universals in Language Usage.Cambridge:Cambridge University Press
  2. Eggins, S. (2004). An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics
  3. Fairclough, N. (1989). Language and Power.Guiliano, Mireille (n.d.). “Women, Work & the Art of Savoir Faire Q&A.” Mireille Guiliano, Retrieved from mireilleguiliano.com/women-work-the-art-of-savoir-faire-qa/
  4. Halliday, M. A. K. (1985). An Introduction to Functional Grammar (1st ed.). London: Edward Arnold
  5. Halliday, M. A. K. (1994). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold
  6. Halliday, M. A., & Christian, M. I. M. Matthiessen. (2004). An introduction to functional grammar, 3
  7. Halliday, M.A.K., Matthiessen, C., & Halliday, M. (2014). An introduction to functional grammar,
  8. Routledge.Khalid, P. Z. B. M. (2013). Modality Analysis of the Newspaper Articles about the Scottish Ship RMS Queen Elizabeth. AcademicJournal of Interdisciplinary Studies. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.5901/ajis.2013.v2n9p458
  9. Kyaw, A.M (2014). The Study of Hedges in the Third Presidential Debate between Obama and Romeny in 2012[M.A dissertation, University of Yangon]
  10. Lihua, L. I. U. (2009). Discourse construction of social power. 59–78
  11. Martin, J., & White, P. R. (2005). The Language of Evaluation. New York: Palgrave Macmillan
  12. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230511910
  13. Meyers, G. (1989).The pragmatics of politeness in scientific articles.Applied Linguistics, 10, 1-35
  14. Okafor, V. C., & Issife, G. U. (2017). Mood and Modality in Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari's Inaugural Speech: A Stylistic Study. 14
  15. Pionery, H., & Isti’anah, A. (2017). Modality Analysis in Melania Trump's and Ivanka Trump's Campaign Speeches in Republican National Convention, July 19th, 2016. Journal of Language and Literature, 17(1), 24–35. https://doi.org/10.24071/joll.2017.170104
  16. Pounds, Gabrina. (2010). Attitude and subjectivity in Italian and British hard-news reporting: The construction of a culture-specific ‘reporter’ voice. Discourse Studies - DISCOURSE STUD. 12. 106-137. 10.1177/1461445609346777
  17. Poynton, C. (1985). Language and gender: Making the difference. Geelong. Victoria: Deakin University Press
  18. Qohroudi, M. Q., & Ghane’, Z. (2010). Mood and Modality in Iranian EFL Learners’ Writings: A Focus on the Effect of Mozart music on Enhancing Assertiveness. 11
  19. Salager-Meyer, F. (1997).I think that perhaps you should: A study of hedges in writtenscientific discourse.Retrieved from http://eca.state.gov/education/engteaching/pubs/BR
  20. TheEllenShow (2015, 06, 26). Surprise! It’s Vice President Joe Biden!. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTEiibVnRgI
  21. TheEllenShow (2019, 01, 03). Ellen Gives Back to Inspiring Special Education Teacher Jenna Albi. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uup3EMvDTeo
  22. Verdonk, P. (2002). Stylistics. Oxford University Press
  23. Winter, S., & Gärdenfors, P. (1995). Linguistic modality as expressions of social power. Nordic Journal of Linguistics, 18(2), 137-165
  24. Yuyun, I. (2010). A Mood and Modality Analysis of Arguments in Senior High School Debating. 6

Last update:

No citation recorded.

Last update: 2025-03-31 12:04:05

No citation recorded.