Engagement in the Republican National Convention Endorsements: A Discourse Analysis

Abstract

Engagement deals with how the speaker acknowledges other voices with alternative propositions different from his own. The study looks at how engagement is utilised in political speeches as a means of endorsing a specific candidate in the United States presidential elections. The study analyses a speech by Representative John James  delivered on 15 July 2024, during the Republican National Convention. It raises the question: What are the types of Engagement utilised in the selected speech? What are the groups divided in the chosen speech?  The study is limited to analysing John James’s speech using the Engagement system according to Martin and White’s (2005) Appraisal Theory and van Dijk’s (2011) in-group/out-group division. The study concludes that heteroglossic engagement is the most used in the selected speech and that engagement as a discoursal strategy is used in the manifestation of  endorsement.