From the perspective of functionalism, one of the language functions is that of persuading. From this point of view, language serves as a means of achieving an end, that is, in terms of persuasive purposes, the change of one's attitudes, behaviors, or points of view.
This study of typically persuasive discourse of com¬mercial advertising texts demonstrated that, from a pragmalinguistic point of view, a persuasive discourse was characterized by the use of any or all of the follow¬ing elements: the imperative sentence modality, typical morpho-lexical items, role relation patterns, and, in terms of textual construction or management, the use of forms of block language or little textuality.
Imperative sentence modality was one of the most frequently found elements in a persuasive discourse. The study suggested that the very essence or core of persua¬sive purposes were inclined to be disguised or encapsu¬lated so as to minimize the likelihood of the readers're¬sentment or offense by means of, among others, raising and highlighting the benefit for the persuadees or exer-cising nonliteral communication strategies.
A persuasive discourse was also distinct due to the frequent use of typical morpho-lexical items. Such mor¬pho-lexical items were generally evaluative and compara¬tive rather than descriptive. It is believed that, by this evaluative nature of such items, the persuadees' at¬titudes can be influenced, changed, or modified.
A typically persuasive discourse of commercial ad¬vertising text may also be characterized by the tendency of the use of affective devices to manage the role rela¬tion between the persuader(s) and persuadee f s). The underlying principle is that of courtesy. This was ob¬servable in the frequent use of the first plural personal pronoun expressing the persuaders' self-address such as we and/or the direct, persuadees' or readers-addressing you. The use of either or both of the two pronouns creat¬ed the tension and selection of whether to brag and boast, to be neutral, to be courteous, to be close or to keep a distance, to impersonalize, to personalize or interpersonalize.
In terms of textual construction or management, a typically persuasive discourse of commercial advertising text was characterized by the use or the presence of brief, simple, straightforward and provocative expres¬sions. This tendency was observable in the instances of block language or little textuality. Elliptical construc¬tions were commonly found. Sentential elements having low informational values were inclined to be deleted or reduced to a minimum. |