Author:
Abstract
Writers of argumentative texts in general and newspaper editorials in particular are supposed to abide by the rules of writing such texts. Some of the rules are to be balanced and logical in their presentation of facts and opinions, and to be unbiased and objective. On the other hand, many newspapers' writers usually manipulate facts by giving boost to opinions and ideologies that satisfy the interests of the institutions which finance them. To achieve their ultimate objective, writers use many different devices among which is the main topic of this paper, i.e., the use of intensifiers and downtoners. The present study hypothesizes that non-native writers of English editorials draw heavily on intensifiers and downtoners, unlike their opposition of native writers. In order to prove this hypothesis, a thorough theoretical survey of adverbs, to which the elements of the study belong, is introduced. Then two selected editorials, native and non-native, have been subjected to a detailed analysis. The conclusions of the theoretical and applied parts of the study clearly indicate the hypothesized claims by showing in numbers the usage, type and frequency of each questioned item found in the chosen corpus.
Keywords
Abstract
Writers of argumentative texts in general and newspaper editorials in particular are supposed to abide by the rules of writing such texts. Some of the rules are to be balanced and logical in their presentation of facts and opinions, and to be unbiased and objective. On the other hand, many newspapers' writers usually manipulate facts by giving boost to opinions and ideologies that satisfy the interests of the institutions which finance them. To achieve their ultimate objective, writers use many different devices among which is the main topic of this paper, i.e., the use of intensifiers and downtoners. The present study hypothesizes that non-native writers of English editorials draw heavily on intensifiers and downtoners, unlike their opposition of native writers. In order to prove this hypothesis, a thorough theoretical survey of adverbs, to which the elements of the study belong, is introduced. Then two selected editorials, native and non-native, have been subjected to a detailed analysis. The conclusions of the theoretical and applied parts of the study clearly indicate the hypothesized claims by showing in numbers the usage, type and frequency of each questioned item found in the chosen corpus.