A Contrastive Analysis Of Attitudinal Resources In English And Chinese Cosmetics Instructions

Appraisal Theory is a functional model of interpersonal meaning. Attitude system, as the core of Appraisal Theory, consists of three subsystems: affect, judgement and appreciation. Based on the contributions of previous studies, this thesis conducts analysis of attitudinal resources in English and Chinese cosmetics instructions within the framework of attitude system with an aim to discover the distributions of attitudinal resources and how attitudinal resources are employed to achieve the interpersonal meaning. The research results can bring enlightenment to the construction and translation of cosmetics instructions.In this thesis, 60 English and Chinese cosmetics instructions (30 in English and 30 in Chinese) are chosen to analyze the distributions and preferences of the subsystems of attitude. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are adopted in this study. The software—UAM CorpusTool is employed to make the statistical analysis of attitudinal resources and further reasonable explanations are given based on the generic features of cosmetics instructions.Some research findings have been achieved in this thesis. 1) Abundant attitudinal resources are employed to achieve persuasive purposes in both ECI and CCI. The distributions of attitudinal subsystems are not well-proportioned. Among these three subsystems, appreciation resources are foregrounded rather than affect and judgement in both ECI and CCI. 2) Within the subcategory of appreciation resources, reaction far outnumbers valuation and composition in both ECI and CCI with a view to stimulating consumers'purchasing desire in terms of evaluation of products'quality and impression. Moreover, in both ECI and CCI positive appreciation resources are given additional load, which tend to be expressed in an explicit way. Negative appreciation resources are often presented in an implicit way. 3) The writers of English and Chinese cosmetics instructions employ more security values than satisfaction and happiness. Meanwhile, all affect resources are non-authorial in ECI and CCI to make the product information more objective and credible. 4) Within the subsystems of judgement, social esteem resources are used more frequently than social sanction in both ECI and CCI. 5) As for the distribution of three subsystems of attitude, ECIs use more appreciation resources than CCIs, while CCIs employ more affect and judgement resources. From this point of view, ECIs tend to use objective strategies to evaluate the product for attracting consumers.