Exploring Recurrent Rhetorical Patterns in Digital Motivational Discourse: A Comparative Swalesian Move Analysis of TEDx Narratives
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24256/ideas.v14i2.12255Keywords:
Swales' Genre Analysis, Adapted CARS Model, Motivational Narrative, TEDx Talks, English Language EducationAbstract
Abstract
This study explores recurring rhetorical patterns and linguistic features in digital motivational narratives on the TEDx platform. Focusing on Syakira Putri's talk, Manifesting Goals: Visualizing Your Future Success, as a central focal text, the investigation uses a qualitative comparative genre-analysis design alongside two comparison talks sharing the same theme of goal visualization and manifestation, delivered by D. Ivan Young and Madeline Wood. Drawing on John Swales' genre analysis framework, the study explores the applicability of Swalesian move analysis to spoken digital motivational discourse by adapting the Create a Research Space (CARS) model into a provisional three-move framework: Establishing Engagement, Establishing the Narrative Niche, and Occupying the Niche. Transcripts of the three talks (totaling 4,850 words across 112 coded segments) were analyzed using a instrument validated by three expert reviewers (kappa coefficient of 0.84 indicated high inter-coder agreement). Across the three talks examined, all three moves occurred consistently, suggesting a potentially recurrent rhetorical pattern that should be tested in a larger corpus. At the step level, structural realizations demonstrate speaker-specific flexibility: Syakira Putri establishes her niche through a personal-crisis narrative, whereas the comparison speakers rely on conceptual counter-claims against established models. Linguistically, crisis narratives rely on narrative past tense, temporal connectors, and affective lexis, while counter-claims favor generalizing present tense, negation, and contrastive markers; all speakers shift toward second-person imperatives during the directive call to action. The findings provide practical insights for English Language Teaching (ELT) and public-speaking pedagogy, while highlighting the need for caution when extending move-analysis frameworks to small-corpus digital spoken discourse.
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