Metadiscourse Markers in Dr. Zakir Naik's Persuasive Discourse

Authors

  • Fatima Tamim Al Khodari Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
  • Hadina Habil Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7509-5425

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17576/gema-2021-2104-18

Keywords:

Metadiscourse, interpersonal Metadiscourse, Islamic discourse, Persuasion discourse, Zakir Naik

Abstract

The International speaker Dr Zakir Naik has been the target of many studies for his influential speeches. Analysing persuasive speeches can be tackled from different angles, amongst which is the functional markers of persuasion represented by the Metadiscourse markers. Dr Zakir Naik's persuasive speeches have never been analyzed from a metadiscourse perspective.  This paper aims to investigate the types and functions of metadiscourse markers in Zakir Naik's speeches. After transcribing Zakir Naik's videos manually, the coding process was accomplished via NVivo software and Microsoft Excel. Applying Dafouz-Milne's (2008) categories in the codification process, the interpersonal and textual metadiscourse markers are revealed. In terms of interpersonal metadiscourse markers, commentaries have been chiefly employed, contributing to Naik's relation to the audience. In terms of the textual metadiscourse markers, logical markers showed the highest usage. Such markers help in connecting his various persuasion strategies and multi-argument to make them smoothly connected. This paper has found that, generally, Zakir Naik has effectively developed and promoted his arguments via the extensive use of various metadiscourse tools while establishing an excellent relationship with the audience to attain a continuous relationship. This paper also argues that a fruitful approach to explore the interpersonal and textual definitions of language is Dafouz-Milne's categorization of metadiscourse markers as a powerful methodological tool in discourse analysis. 

Author Biographies

Fatima Tamim Al Khodari, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Fatima Tamim Al Khodari holds a PhD from Language Academy, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities,Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Johor. She received her B.A in Linguistics in 2010 in Taif University, Saudi Arabia with an honors Degree, and respectively an M.A. in Linguistic with honors Degree from Taif University, Saudi Arabia in 2016. Her interest is in Discourse Analysis, specifically looking at the oral and written discourses. Her latest research investigated the oral discourse of a popular Islamic figure when responding to questions about Islam in his sermon. 

Hadina Habil, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Hadina Habil, Ph.D, is an Associate Professor at Language Academy, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor, MALAYSIA.  She teaches Discourse Analysis, and Sociolinguistics to TESL students and Corporate Communication to Master’s students of Language Academy.  Her research interests are in the areas of Applied Linguistics, Language and Communication in Professional Practices, TESL, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and Teaching English for Specific Purposes (TESP), and Computer Mediated Communication. She has supervised students in her areas of interests and presented and published papers in the field nationally and internationally. 

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Published

2021-11-30

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