A transitivity analysis of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump's third presidential debate

Abstract

This paper investigates the language of the last of the three American presidential debates between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump before the 2016 general election. To explore and interpret the process-choices within verbal groups from the perspective of systemic functional grammar, it used a transitivity toolkit. This paper aims to identify the underlying stimuli and smart strategies from the frequency of transitivity choices. The meaning of these choices was investigated through ideational meta-functions which reflect the experiences of text producers using a mixed method approach. The comparative textual analysis of the sample text found that Donald Trump used fifty-one percent whereas Hillary Clinton used forty-nine percent of the processes in the debate. The predominant use of mental, behavioral, relational and existential process types by Hillary Clinton revealed her cognitive, sentimental, sensitive, attributive and existential approach. The frequent use of material and verbal process types by Donald Trump reflected his explicit and tangible outlook on the key issues facing the American state. The results also illustrate that the varying frequency of transitivity choices by both political rivals chiefly aimed at winning the support of the public in the polls.

Keywords: American Presidential debates; Systemic functional grammar; Transitivity choices; Underlying Stimuli and Smart Strategies.