Appraisal-SFL Again

 

Appraisal theory is a key aspect of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) that focuses on how language is used to express attitudes, emotions, and evaluations. Appraisal theory is concerned with the ways in which speakers and writers evaluate things, people, and events, and how they use language to do so.

At its core, appraisal theory is based on the idea that language is not only used to convey information, but also to express attitudes and evaluations. According to SFL, the language we use to express our attitudes and evaluations is organized into three main systems: the attitudinal system, the affective system, and the judgemental system.

The attitudinal system is concerned with our attitudes towards people, things, and events. It includes resources such as adjectives, adverbs, and verbs that are used to express our feelings and opinions. For example, saying that something is "amazing" or "terrible" is an expression of our attitude towards it.

The affective system is concerned with our emotions and feelings. It includes resources such as interjections and exclamations that are used to express our emotional responses. For example, "Wow!" or "Oh no!" are expressions of our emotional reactions.

The judgemental system is concerned with the evaluation of people, things, and events. It includes resources such as modal verbs, evaluative adjectives, and adverbs that are used to express our judgments about things. For example, saying that something is "good" or "bad" is a judgement about its quality.

By analyzing the language used in texts, SFL scholars can identify how speakers or writers evaluate things, people, and events. This can provide insights into the social and cultural values that underpin a particular discourse or text, and the ways in which language is used to express power, authority, and ideology.

 Let's take a sentence from a news article as an example:

"The new policy has been widely criticized by environmental groups."

Applying appraisal theory to this sentence, we can identify the following:

- Attitude: "widely criticized" expresses a negative attitude towards the new policy.

- Judgment: "widely criticized" is a judgment about the quality of the new policy.

- Graduation: "widely" implies that the criticism is not just a few isolated voices, but rather a significant and widespread response.

In this way, we can see that the language used in this sentence expresses a negative evaluation of the new policy and implies that the criticism is significant and widespread. This can provide insights into the stance of the author or the news outlet towards the policy, as well as the stance of the environmental groups who are criticizing it.

By analyzing the language used in this way, we can gain a deeper understanding of the attitudes and values that are being expressed in the text, and the ways in which language is being used to persuade or influence the reader.