A Discourse Analysis Of Judge Evaluations In Fox Real Show So You Think You Can Dance

Based on Verschueren’s Adaptation Theory, this paper analyzes the evaluative discourses made by the judges in an American television real show, So You Think You can Dance, on Fox Television. This study applies corpus analysis method and qualitative analysis method, and use Antconc3.2.4for data collection and analysis.The data shows that the judges make evaluative linguistic choices at the vocabulary, syntax discourse and strategy level to adapt to the evaluative context in light of its physical, social, and mental dimensions. Positive evaluation strategies include intensification of feelings, exaggeration, and elaboration of strengths. Major negative evaluation strategies are understatement of weakness, urging correction, shifting target, and turning to other speech acts. Evaluative linguistic choices are made to adapt to:(1) time, space, and objects of the physical world;(2) the TV show scene, social values, and the construction and maintenance of social relations;(3) the feelings, desires and intentions of the judges, contestants and audiences.This study has the following usage:(1) to provide references of proper evaluative language use strategies for the realization of communication purposes (2) to help English as a foreign language learners understand how to interpret English in a special context;(3) to enrich the literature of discourse analysis by lending this piece of analysis as approval for the Adaptation Theory.Suggestions to deepen the study are given from the following angles:more appropriate discourse could be collected to analyze the linguistic choices made at the level of language, codes, style, phonetic structure, morphemes, words, clauses, propositions and principles of discourse building, etc. Physical factors like position, body posture, facial expression, physical property and health state should also be analysis factors. Evaluative discourses facing a virtue public, for example teachers’evaluation on students, are, encouraged to be analyzed basing on the Adaptation Theory. More quantitative analysis should be done to discover new features of evaluation.