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Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume 15. Number 2, June 2024 Pp.170 -188
Department of English Language and Literature, College of Languages and Translation
Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Climate change is a critical global issue that requires effective communication and public engagement to drive necessary actions and policy changes. Despite the critical importance of climate change communication, this topic has been limited in its coverage within discourse analysis research, making this study’s investigation particularly significant. This study aims to examine the communication strategies used by a prominent public figure, namely Sir David Attenborough, in addressing climate change issues. To achieve that, this study conducts a qualitative analysis of Sir David Attenborough’s discourse on climate change, with a specific focus on the role of presuppositions in framing his communication strategies. Through analyzing a corpus of his public speeches, this investigation identifies and categorizes the presuppositional triggers employed by Attenborough, particularly those that elicit existential presuppositions triggered by definite descriptions (78% of observed triggers) and structural presuppositions such as restrictive relative clauses (14% of observed triggers). This analysis provides insights into how Attenborough effectively conveys notions of ownership, shared responsibility, and inspires action through strategic use of presuppositions. Examining the persuasive strategies of a prominent public figure, this study makes a valuable contribution to the field and future investigations on climate change communication.
Keywords: climate change language, discourse analysis, pragmatic analysis, pragmatic presupposition, presupposition
types, Sir David Attenborough
Alsharif, R. S. (2024). A Pragmatic Presupposition Analysis in Sir David Attenborough’s Climate Change Speeches.
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Rashed Saad Alsharif holds a PhD from Indiana University Bloomington, USA, and MA from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, USA. He is currently an assistant professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. His research interests are in the areas of pragmatics, sociolinguistics, discourse and narrative analysis, CALL, second language acquisition, and intercultural communication. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1259-5721