Discourse analysis: A reference approach to investigating a good speech script

The purpose of this study was to investigate a good speech script by examining the types and functions of references in Joe Biden’s victory speech using Hasan and Halliday’s theory. The use of references is crucial for avoiding misunderstandings and effectively conveying information from sentences. This study used content analysis as a descriptive-qualitative method. The data used in this study consisted of Joe Biden’s speech script as president of the United States of America. According to Halliday and Hasan’s theory, there are three types of references: personal, demonstrative and comparative. Anaphora and cataphora are the two types of reference functions. The researchers followed Creswell’s concept in collecting and analyzing the data. Identification of the references used in Joe Biden's victory speech, classification of the references' types, data analysis (marking each reference that appears in the video), classification of terms that contain reference words in the video, assignment of codes to each reference category (personal, demonstrative and reference) and finally an explanation of the purposes of the references used in Joe Biden's victory speech were all aspects of the process. The results revealed that the speech script contained 395 instances of references including 236 instances (60%) of personal pronouns, 152 instances (38.5%) of demonstrative references, 7 instances (1.5%) of comparative references and 198 instances of reference functions with 128 instances (64.5%) being anaphora and 70 instances (35.5%) being cataphora. It is intended that this research will serve as a guide for others to use while speaking in order to reduce misunderstandings and improve the effectiveness of information.