| This study is part of a research project into the linguistic mechanisms used in persuasive discourse within the context of the business world. The dissertation begins with an analysis of lexical cohesion (Halliday and Hasan 1976, 1985) applied to eight Chairmen's Statements extracted from their corresponding Annual Business Reports published by eight British companies quoted on the London Stock Exchange. The results of the analysis show that in all the analysed texts, without exception, there are a series of lexical cohesive items which carry positive connotations within the context of business, and which participate in all types of cohesive lexical ties. On the basis of these results, we advance the hypothesis that these 'positive items' are particular to this type of genre and could form independent cohesive chains. This is partly supported by the contextual approach to semantics used in this work to prove that, because of the context of situation which all these lexical items share, they can be grouped around common semes, and that these semes are, in turn, central to the information being conveyed by the general meaning of the texts. |
