Tourism Discourse Revisited: An Analysis of Evaluative Strategies in Tourist Brochures from a Systemic Functional Linguistics Perspective

Abstract

Today, studying tourism discourse has become widespread among scholars in the field of text analysis. However, few, if any, studies which have addressed the language of tourism have examined the verbal content of travel brochures from the point of view of the appraisal model. The major questions addressed in this study pertain to Graduation strategies as part of appraisal strategies in the discourse of tourism as well as the lexico-grammatical resources for the coding of these strategies in texts. The dataset comprised 50 e-brochures released by tour operators across the United States within the period 2012 to 2013. First, the data were examined quantitatively to identify the statistical variations in utilizing Graduation strategies in tourist brochures. The preferences for lexico-grammatical resources for the construal of these strategies were also illustrated in light of a qualitative analysis. The results of the study revealed that the discourse of travel brochures is loaded with Graduation strategies. The subsystems within the system of Graduation were shown to serve as strong tools in promoting various aspects of tourist destinations such as the number and distribution of tourist sites over an area.

Students' Perceptions of the Teaching Materials Used in the English for Tours and Travel Course

“…Students in the English for Tours and Travel course positively perceive the material introducing local Balinese culture. They feel that a deep understanding of local culture is relevant in tourism, especially in destinations as popular as Bali (Jalilifar & Moradi, 2019;Sukmaratri, 2018). This material has provided rich and in-depth insight into Balinese traditions, customs, art, and history.…”

“…The largest percentage of the score obtained shows this. Students' perceptions of introductory material which requires them to be able to carry out tasks carried out in connection with tours and travel operations in the English for Tours and Travel course are less than satisfactory (Jalilifar & Moradi, 2019; I. M. A. . Many students feel that this material needs to be lighter and sometimes needs to match their level of understanding.…”

“…The introduction of materials related to tourism facilities and services in English teaching the English for Tours and Travel course could be better, as shown by the largest percentage of scores obtained. Introducing materials related to tourism facilities and services in English for the Tours and Travel course is considered inadequate (Jalilifar & Moradi, 2019;. Students expressed concerns regarding the depth and relevance of the content in understanding practical aspects of the tourism industry.…”

A Study of Appraisal System and Its Texture/Textuality Mechanisms

“…Graduation is strength of attitude and degree of commitment in dialogue. Hood & Martin and Jalilifar & Moradi illustrated the mechanisms of Force and Focus to modulate attitude varieties in research article introductions of academic writing and tourist brochures of tourism discourse [11,13]. Bednarek summarized and integrated the patterns of three subsystems in the news corpus [1].…”

Vaccines, media and politics: A corpus-assisted discourse study of press representations of the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines

“…The same ideologies about the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines can also be revealed in the rhetoric of quantification. The rhetoric of quantification refers to the use of numerical and non-numerical quantity formulations for argumentative purposes [50]. Quantification is a means via which meanings can be graded up or down as force in terms of Number, Mass, and Extent [51].…”