Critical Discourse Analysis of Les Brown's Motivational Speech

Proposal in Linguistics

Contents
1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Significance of the study...................................................................................................................3
1.2 Research Objectives..........................................................................................................................4
1.3 Research Questions............................................................................................................................4
2. Review of Literature..............................................................................................................................5
2.1 Conceptual Background.....................................................................................................................5
2.2 Previous Studies................................................................................................................................6
3. Methodology..........................................................................................................................................7
3.1 Data Collection..................................................................................................................................7
3.2 Data analysis......................................................................................................................................8
4. Contributions & Expected Results.......................................................................................................9
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................10

1. INTRODUCTION
Critical Discourse Analysis is an approach which is used to assess the meaning of what is
meant when a particular language is used to explain and describe something. It helps in critically
examining the various issues of related texts (Arias-Cepeda and Rojas, 2017). The main purpose
of this research is to analyze Les Brown’s speech by using Fairclough’s 3D model. It is a
motivational speech wherein he speaks about how no one should ever give up on their dreams
and should constantly try until they achieve it. “There are moments when you are going to doubt
yourself, there are rough times that are going to come but they have not come to stay, they have
come to pass.”
Les Brown, during his motivational speech about the importance of dreams and how one
should never underestimate himself talks about all the rough times he’d been through. He says
that “If life knocks you down, try and land on your back. Because if you look up, you can get
up.” The sentence holds a lot of meaning because when a person comes across a situation or a
failure, he/she always thinks that they will not be able to achieve their dream. And by doing so,
they let go of many opportunities that would have led them to their dream. So, when such
situations come, a person should always try landing on their back because that how they can get
up again and start trying and analyzing where did things go wrong.
He also makes the audience repeat “It’s not over until I win”, which is a great gesture to
pump and enhance their overall motivation levels. This research involves the use of Fairclough’s
3D model that was proposed in the year 1962. It helps in analyzing or assessing a particular
speech, text or communication in order to get a better understanding of them (Coulthard, Johnson
and Wright, 2016). Respective model can be used at any time and this can also play an important
role. It should be understood that how one person speaks or share his thoughts can be a factor to
change the point of view of another person. Thus, the way in which an individual frames his/her
sentences plays a crucial role in how the perspective of another person is affected.
1.1 Significance of the study
This is an important study because the critical disclosure analysis of Brown’s speech has
been done using Fairclough’s 3D model. The model comprises of three processes that are
interrelated with each other. It will be beneficial for people for all age groups, mainly youngsters