A transitivity analysis of a political interview extract from Question Time regarding Brexit

The controversial vote to leave the European Union has been one of the most influential socio- political decisions in recent years. ‘Brexit’ continues to be a topic of relevant political debate and the opinions voiced on this subject are strong and diverse to say the least. This presentation will examine an interview extract from the flagship news programme, Question Time, which focusses on the topic of ‘Brexit’, first broadcast in October 2016. The analysis will ultimately be an exploration into Grice’s (1991) theory of pragmatics and Halliday’s (2004) model of transitivity, in order to consider how specific lexical choices can convey different meanings. Through methods of critical discourse analysis (CDA), examples of verb processes will be used to highlight how participants make grammatical and lexical choices that reflect their position of power within the setting. Fairclough states that “analysing and critiquing relations between discourse and power is a central objective for CDA” which underpins the importance of understanding how positions of power can influence the way we convey meanings (2015: 26). Relevant sociolinguistic concepts including Brown and Levinson’s (1987) politeness theory and Grice’s (1991) maxims will be referred to in order to consider the institutionalised setting of the interactions and evaluate to what extent this reflects the dynamics of power between the different participants. Brown, P. & Levinson, S.C. (1987) Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Fairclough, N. (2014) Language and Power. 3rd edn. London: Routledge Grice, P. (1991) Studies in the Way of Words. Cambridge: Harvard University Press Halliday, M.A.K. (2004) An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Routledge