The Persuasion Strategies Used in Media Discourse: Jordanian Defense Orders and Press Conferences Held during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Faisal Ahmad  Alserhan

doi:10.35516/hum.v51i2.3162

Authors

Faisal Ahmad Alserhan Journalism and Media Department, Arab Open University, Amman, Jordan https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2601-8378

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35516/hum.v51i2.3162

Keywords:

Persuasive strategies, defense orders, press conferences, media discourse, Covid-19

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the persuasion strategies used in the Jordanian defense orders 16 through 31 and press conferences held during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Method: Within Critical Discourse Analysis, the study adopts van Dijk's (2000) model as a theoretical framework. It is a practical method for analyzing discourse, where many strategies were demonstrated, mainly metaphor, actor description, burden, euphemism, modality, repetition, and numbers.

Results: The findings revealed that defense orders did not use persuasion strategies much but used very direct intimidating discourse because they are statements issued by the government to the people living in Jordan and they must abide by them without the need to implement persuasion strategies. Conversely, press conferences extensively used persuasive strategies to convince people to adhere to the rules, so they help the government combat the pandemic. The mostly used persuasion strategies are repetition, followed by numbers, and then, metaphors and burden.

Conclusions: The study concludes that both the government and the majority of the public worked hand in hand to face the pandemic and keep Jordan safe, but in the beginning, it was a difficult situation for both. It is recommended that official government speakers who usually deliver public speeches shall be trained on how to persuade the public and what strategies they need to use.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

A'raf Taha Yassen, D., & Rashid, B. N. M. (2022). Speech Act of Persuasion in two Political Speeches American and British. Specialusis Ugdymas, 1(43), 5690-5699.

Awaad, I. G. (2016). Persuasive Strategies in Selected Speeches of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Hosni Mubarak and Muammar Gaddafi. Journal of Scientific Research in Arts, 17(3), 1-47.

Crespo Fernández, E. (2014). Euphemism and political discourse in the British regional press. Brno Studies in English. 40(1), 5-26.

Dhayef, Q. A., & Hassan, A. F. A. (2022). Critical Discourse Analysis of Persuasive Language in The American and Iraqi Electoral Campaigns, Humanitarian & Natural Sciences Journal, 3(1), 463-472.

Duranti, A. (2006). Narrating the political self in a campaign for U.S. Congress. Language in Society, 35, 467-497.

Edwards, R., Nicoll, K., Solomon, N., & Usher, R. (2013). Rhetoric and educational discourse: Persuasive texts. Routledge.

Ferrari, F. (2007). Metaphor at work in the analysis of political discourse: investigating a preventive war' persuasion strategy. Discourse & Society, 18(5), 603-625.

Heilmann, J., Malone, T. O., & F. Westerveld, M. (2020). Properties of spoken persuasive language samples from typically developing adolescents. Language, speech, and hearing services in schools, 51(2), 441-456.

Khajavi, Y., & Rasti, A. (2020). A discourse analytic investigation into politicians’ use of rhetorical and persuasive strategies: The case of US election speeches. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 7(1), 1740051.

KhosraviNik, M. (2010). Actor descriptions, action attributions, and argumentation: Towards a systematization of CDA analytical categories in the representation of social groups. Critical discourse studies, 7(1), 55-72.

Koch, T. (2017). Again and again (and again): A repetition-frequency-model of persuasive communication. SCM Studies in Communication and Media, 6(3), 218-239.

Marie, S., & Zibin, A. (2020). The use of persuasive speech acts by female arab fashion influencers on instagram. Dirasat: Human and Social Sciences, 47(4), 366-380.

Orji, R. (2017). Why are persuasive strategies effective? Exploring the strengths and weaknesses of socially oriented persuasive strategies. In international conference on persuasive technology (pp. 253-266). Springer, Cham.

Public Security Directorate. (n.d.). Public Security Directorate. https://www.psd.gov.jo. Retrieved November 19, 2022, from https://www.psd.gov.jo/en-us

Rabab'ah, G. A., & Khawaldeh, M. (2016). Persuasive appeals in English and Arabic TV advertisements: implications for EFL learners and teachers. Dirasat: Human and Social Sciences, 48(4116), 1-13.

Rezaei, S., & Nourali, N. (2016). Language and power: The use of persuasive techniques in Iran and US president speeches. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 7(6), 1203.

Stiff, J. B., & Mongeau, P. A. (2016). Persuasive communication. Guilford Publications.

Van Dijk, T. A. (2015). Critical discourse analysis. The handbook of discourse analysis, 466-485.

Van Dijk, T. A. (2017). Socio-cognitive discourse studies. In The Routledge handbook of critical discourse studies. Routledge, 26-43.

Younes, A. S., & Altakhaineh, A. R. M. (2022). Metaphors and metonymies used in memes to depict COVID-19 in Jordanian social media websites. Ampersand, 9, 100087.

YouTube. (n.d.). Roya News. YouTube. Retrieved November 19, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/@RoyaNews