Thai persuasive discourse: a systemic functional approach to an analysis of amulet advertisements

Abstract

Advertisements, as a distinct register or text type, are characterized by particular patterns of language with underlying meaning of purchasing a promoted product (Toolan, 1988). Thus advertisement is a good example of the creative use of persuasive strategies which can be illustrated through language. This study aims to explore amulet advertisements as examples of persuasive discourse widely found in Thailand. In the Thai context, the advertising of amulets and Buddha images seem prevalent in a wide range of printed media – leaflets, newspapers, magazines, and books. Data for this paper are drawn from three amulet advertisements (collected from March 2005 to March 2007). All of them are taken from Thailand’s best selling printed newspaper – Thairath. The linguistic framework used in this study is Systemic Functional Linguistics, initially developed by Michael A. K. Halliday. Two key aspects of SFL are analysed – context and lexicogrammar strata. Based on the Thai context, three contextual values – field, tenor, and mode are discussed. In terms of lexicogrammatical analysis, the study will focus on an exploration of three metafunctions – textual, interpersonal, and experiential.