Alla A. Ishchuk
PhD (Philosophy), Associate Professor
at the Department of Germanic Languages and Intercultural Communication
Dragomanov Ukrainian State University,
Kyiv, Ukraine
e-mail: allaishchuck@hotmail.com
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7825-4295
Scopus ID: 57410936700
ResearcherID: AAG-6178-2021
Olena M. Ishchuk
Associate Professor at the Department of General Studies
Ukrainian-American Concordia University,
Kyiv, Ukraine
e-mail: lesyaishchuk@uacu.edu.ua
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4952-2080
ResearcherID: ABG-5147-2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24195/2616-5317-2026-42.11
SUMMARY
This study investigates how axiological vocabulary – lexical items encoding values and evaluative judgments – functions as a marker of public discourse in English. Drawing on four texts representing two genres (political speeches and opinion journalism) and two national contexts (the United States and the United Kingdom), the analysis identifies and categorises value-laden lexical items, examines their semantic and pragmatic functions, and compares patterns of usage across texts. The dataset comprises B. Obama's Selma anniversary address (2015), B. Johnson's COVID-19 broadcast (2020), a Guardian opinion article by J. Okundaye on intolerance in Britain (2026), and a Hill essay by H. Zeiger on civic values in the United States (2026). Using critical discourse analysis and the appraisal framework, the study conducts lexical-semantic, thematic, and pragmatic-functional analyses. The findings show that axiological vocabulary clusters into coherent thematic fields shaped by genre, rhetorical purpose, and communicative situation. Four axiological modes are identified – affirming, balancing, critiquing, and reconciling – each corresponding to a different rhetorical orientation toward values. Evaluative language in public discourse is shown to function not merely descriptively but as a dynamic tool for constructing and negotiating moral and ideological meaning. The study contributes to English philology, discourse analysis, and media literacy by demonstrating how evaluative language adapts across genres and national contexts, offering a framework for comparative analysis of public discourse.
Keywords: axiological vocabulary, evaluative language, public discourse, critical discourse analysis, appraisal framework, political speeches, opinion journalism.
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