The Language of Evaluation Appraisal in English

This is the first comprehensive account of the Appraisal Framework, an approach developed over the past decade for analyzing the language of evaluation, the linguistic realization of attitudes, judgments and emotion and the ways in which these evaluations are negotiated interpersonally. The underlying linguistic theory is explained and justified, and the application of this flexible tool, which has been applied to a wide variety of text and discourse analysis issues, including classroom interaction, academic English, literary stylistics, language of the law and of health professionals, political rhetoric and casual conversation, is demonstrated throughout by sample text analyses drawn from a range of registers, genres and fields.

James R. Martin is Professor of Lingustics at the University of Sydney.

Peter R.R. White is a Lecturer in English Language at the University of Birmingham.