Opinion (Speech) Event

Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, University of Applied Sciences in Konin, Poland
barbara.lewandowska-tomaszczyk@konin.edu.pl

Opinion (Speech) Event, proposed as a term by Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk et al., is a dynamic happening or occurrence, according to Gerard and Orive, centred around the formation and expression of a subjective judgement or belief about a Target (Opinion Object). It assumes the presence of an Author, i.e., opinion holder, who expresses his/her (positive or negative) judgement/evaluation of a Target to an Addressee. The Addressee may play either the role of an opinion receiver or an opinion Target, or else function in both the interactional roles. The term speech event is neutral as to the communicative medium – it can refer either to spoken or written communication. For Burnstein and Vinokur, this type of event assumes the presence of both a Target and an Addressee, as well as a transfer medium, together with a persuasive force present in the opinionated expression act. Effects of such an event are either positive (opinion support by the Addressee) or negative (rejection), embodied in the Addressee’s raising emotionality and potential for evaluative judgement of the Target. Thus, Brown and Levinson find opinions are meant to possess a persuasive effect on the Addressee and exert a change: both pragmatically in terms of the face maintenance or else face threat or loss with the relevant Target, and emotionally, via their positive or negative affective (sentiment) value, both on the Addressee and on the associated Target.

Keywords: judgement, opinionated expression act, persuasive effect

Related Entries: Judgement (1), Judgement (2), Persuasion, Opinion Expression

References:
Brown, P., & S. C. Lvinson (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge University Press.
Burnstein, E., & Vinokur, A. (1975).What a person thinks upon learning he has chosen differently from others: Nice evidence for the persuasive-arguments explanation of choice shifts. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 11(5),412 – 426.
Gerard, H., & Orive, R. (1987). The dynamics of opinion formation. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 20, pp. 171-202). Elsevier.
Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, B., Liebeskind, Ch., Bączkowska,A., Ruzaite, J., Dylgjeri, A.Kazazi, L., & Lombart, E. (2023). Opinion events: types and opinion markers in English social media discourse. Lodz Papers in Pragmatics, (447-481). https://doi.org/10.1515/lpp-2023-0022