1. Upscaling and downscaling
Graduation of evaluative meanings

2. REVISION
Overt or Covert
Evaluation 2

3. revision
We are looking at evaluative language, which gives the subjective point of view or stance of the speakeer/writer.
We have seen how evaluation is an important part of communication.
In texts it can be seen at lexical, grammatical and discourse levels.

4. Covert Evaluation No linguistic clues Goal orientated
evaluation can be implicit or ‘conceptual’, with no obvious linguistic clues, exploiting the audience’s ability to recognize a good – or bad – thing when they see it.
No linguistic clues
Goal orientated
Based on what we recognize to be desirable 4

5. Overt Evaluation
Lexical
Grammatical
Discourse /Textual 5

6. Evaluation Lexical Adjectives: splendid, terrible, surprising…
Adverbs: happily, unfortunately, plainly…
Nouns: success, failure, tragedy…
Verbs: succeed, fail, win, lose… 6

7. Evaluation Grammatical e.g.
Superlatives: the best, the worst…Comparatives: better, worse …
Choice of tense:
“Skinner (1957) argued that language was learned through a process of stimulus-response, with large amounts o f controlled repetition. Chomsky (1959) argues that language could never be learned in this way, and that we are all endowed at birth with a language acquisition device”
(From Batstone, 1994)
the thematised it structure (it is frightening to think that…) 7

8. Evaluation Discourse / Textual John argued with Sue
Sue argued with John
John and Sue argued
The words in red are themes 8

9. Evaluation Discourse / Textual
In newspaper editorials the most important
evaluation is placed at the end. 9

10. Textual Evaluation
To complain that there's too much swearing on TV isn't prissy or
prudish but a recognition that standards could be higher.
Parents increasingly feel under siege as children are able to watch
shows with bad language in bedrooms or on the internet.
This is why the culture spokesmen of the three main political parties
added their voices to the Daily Mirror's call to clean up TV.
Swearing in the proper context at the right time will always be part
of broadcasting.
But producers must ask themselves if it is really necessary instead
of just nodding through expletives.
(Mirror) 10

11. Textual Evaluation Guardian
In itself, the fact that a majority of the country either
opposes or is sceptical towards his policy on Iraq is not
necessarily a reason for Tony Blair to change course If a
particular policy is right, then a minister is entitled to stick
with it in the face of opposition, to trust to his own judgment
and to take the consequences….
But Mr Blair's view of the crisis - and of the role he is playing
- remains dangerously double-edged. Mr Blair's whole
approach on Iraq may be put to its ultimate test very soon, ...
US approach towards the Iraqi regime.</FP> 11

12. Textual cohesion
In retrospect, the solemnity – and to modern eyes and ears, pomposity – of the politics and media of the past may be seen as in part a reflection of the current or very recent reasons to be be serious: the daily expectation of invasion or death.
Similarly, the frivolity and triviality of much modern discourse … is the product of a decade in which nothing seems to matter very much … (Guardian) 12

13. Graduation of evaluative meaning
Upscaling and downscaling of the intensity attitudinal or evaluative meaning

14. gradability
Attitudes and subjective meanings can be expressed with more or less positivity or negativity reflecting the degree of investment in the utterance
There are various ways of doing this
You can grade by intensity or by amount (force)
And you can grade by preciseness of category boundaries or prototypicality (focus)

15. Focus
Prototypicality and the preciseness by which category boundaries are drawn
The degree to which some core or exemplary instance of a semantic category are matched
It is possible to up-scale or ‘sharpen’ the specification
E.g. a real father, a true friend

16. Focus
Or you can down-scale or ‘soften’ the specification characterising an instance as having a more marginal membership of the category
E.g they sort of play jazz, she is kind of crazy,

17. Sharpening and softening
Sharpening involves maximal investment by the authorial voice in the value position
Softening of positive values occurs when positive assessement might be problematic for the writer/reader relationship
Softening of negative values indicates a lessening of the speaker/writer’s value position

18. Hedges and boosters Softening values is often called hedging
Sharpening values is often called boosting
See Cambridge Grammar of English
Sections: 146,423,539 on hedges and boosters in academic texts

19. Focus You can increase focus by using intensifiers True, real, genuine
Really, very, genuinely
You can lessen focus by hedging:
Kind of, sort of, a bit, -ish

20. Force
Force = degree of intensity which can be up- scaled or down-scaled
Slightly, somewhat, a bit, rather,
Are all downtoners and lessen intensity
Greatly, very, absolutely
Are intensifiers which increase

21. isolating
Some items can realise the up or downscaling on their own to establish the intensity, applying it either to qualities (adjectives and adverbs) or to verbal processes e.g the items a bit, rather, somewhat, quite
A bit miserable, rather/very miserable
Slightly abruptly, quite abruptly, very abruptly
This rather annoyed me

22. maximisers These increase force to the highest possible intensity:
Utterly, totally, thoroughly, absolutely, completely, perfectly
These are considered to be grammatical intensifiers since they belong to a closed set and have relatively little referential meaning

23. Hyperbole Hyperbole uses maximisers I’m always thinking about food.
This gate is in constant use
I never make mistakes

24. lexicalisation
Some intensification can be done by lexical means, either figurative or with attitudinal overtones:
Ice cold
Crystal clear
Deliriously happy
Ridiculously easy

25. Scales of intensity
Sometimes the intensity is not conveyed by a separate lexical item but is infused in the meaning of items in a lexical set
Warm – hot- scalding
Contented – happy – joyous
Trickle – flow – flood
Glance – look - scrutinise

26. repetition
You can also intensify by repeating the same lexical item (reiteration):
It’s hot, hot, hot
A tiny, tiny,little baby
(see Robert Fisk article)
Or by semantic repetition via synonyms
He’s, dumb, stupid, idiotic, cretinous and totally brainless

27. metaphor You can also use metaphor to convey intensified meanings:
Prices have sky-rocketed
Mountainous seas

28. Persona
The way a person uses up and down scaling can be part of their personality.
It can be used by authors to construct character
It can be used by journalists to construct their persona with their public
It is an important part of the expression of opinions and of certainty and uncertainty

29. Attribution vs averral
another sort of ‘embedding’ of evaluation is possible in texts: where the author attributes evaluations to other voices.
It can often be important to determine who is projected by an author as performing an evaluation, in other words, who is projected as the ‘principal’ (Goffman 1981) or the ‘responsible’ or ‘motivator’ (Levinson 1988) of the evaluation, that is, the supposed evaluator.

30. Attribution
We will be looking later on at this resource, the way other voices are brought into the discourse to support or rebut an argument.

31. Evaluation and conflict
Evaluation is often a key element of conflict. Often conflicts are a result of opposing value systems, what one group thinks is good, the other thinks is bad – the words they choose to talk about the conflict will often signal their investment through intensification or hedging.
In turn the words used can intensify a conflict

32. remember
the persuader uses evaluative language to convince his or her audience that their own opinions are good and that their proposals are worthy and logical, those of their opponents illogical or dangerous, that they are trustworthy and honest and maybe that others who disagree with them are not.

33. There are many ways to do this
There are many ways to do this. (lexical, grammatical, covert, overt etc, use of metaphor, graduation)
Look at the text.
Can you identify and label examples of upscaling or downscaling?

34. NB
The first part of the course deals with attribution and evaluation in the press
24 Feb – 17 March
There will be a written prova in itinere on 18th of March for those who have been studying during the course
The second part of the course deals with the language of television news (evaluation and attribution) and runs from 19th March – 9th April