Master minor programme thesis English linguistics: A study of interruptions in 2008 U.S presidential debates

The study aims at making a conversation analysis of interruptions in the three rounds of the 2008 U.S. presidential debates, and then giving some theoretical and pedagogical implications for utilizing interruptions in debates as well as other challenging and competitive speech exchanges.
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Master minor programme thesis English linguistics: A study of interruptions in 2008 U.S presidential debates VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOIUNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  PHẠM THỊ HIỂN A STUDY OF INTERRUPTIONS IN 2008 US PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ NGẮT LỜITRONG CÁC CUỘC TRANH LUẬN TỔNG THỐNG MỸ NĂM 2008) MA MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60220201 Hanoi – 2016 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOIUNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  PHẠM THỊ HIỂN A STUDY OF INTERRUPTIONS IN 2008 US PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ NGẮT LỜITRONG CÁC CUỘC TRANH LUẬN TỔNG THỐNG MỸ NĂM 2008) MA MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kiều Thị Thu Hương Hanoi – 2016 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of this study would not have been possible without theassistance of special and wonderful people. First of all, I would like to acknowledge my indebtedness and gratitude toAssoc. Prof. Dr. Kieu Thi Thu Huong, for her unfailing encouragement, constantsupport and supervision during all stages of the study. Her enthusiastic assistance,guidance, support, and wisdom greatly contributed to the fulfillment of my thesis. Iwould also like to thank my supervisor for her patience in reading and editing mydrafts. It must have been an unenjoyable experience. My sincere thanks go to all lecturers at the Faculty of Post-Graduate StudiesULIS – VNU for their profound knowledge and outstanding teaching during mystudy here. My heartfelt gratitude is also to Dr. Huynh Anh Tuan, the Head of theFaculty and all the staff members who have been of great help to me and all othergraduate students. Last but not least, I would like to give my deepest gratitude to my parents,my husband, my daughter, and my colleagues for their moral support andencouragement throughout my training course. i DECLARATION I certify that this thesis is the result of my own research and has not beensubmitted to any institution or university for assessment purposes before. Inaddition, I acknowledge that all sources used and cited in the study are in thereference section. Hanoi, November 2016 Signature Pham Thi Hien ii ABSTRACT This paper investigates interruptions in the three rounds of the 2008 U.S.presidential debates between Barack Obama and John McCain to explore patterns ofinterruptions employed by each candidate, and the ways the two nominees utilizeinterruptions to achieve their goals in the debates. By employing a syntactic-driventypology and a content analysis, the study provides an in-depth look at thephenomenon of interruption, which is often seen to be negative and should beavoided in debates as well as in social interactions. It is observed that interruptionplays a significant role in the success or failure of each candidate. Of the twocandidates, Obama proves himself the more flexible and smarter user of interruptionto defeat his political enemy, Mc Cain. iii TABLE OF CONTENTSDECLARATION ....................................................................................................iiABSTRACT ...........................................................................................................iiiABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS .......................................................... viLIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS ..................................................................... viiPART A: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 1 1. Rationale for the study ..................................................................................... 1 2. Aims and objectives of the study ..................................................................... 2 3. Research questions .......................................................................................... 2 4. Scope of the study............................................................................................ 2 5. Methods of the study ............ ...