A Critical Discourse Analysis of “Discrimination Starts Before and Lasts Our Entire Lives” Speech by Charlotte Helene Fien: Discrimination Through Termination

Inggita Pramesti Ayuningtyas, Maria Regina Anna Hadi Kusumawardani

Abstract


Down syndrome people are often underestimated by society. It is because of their disability to do difficult things and their physical appearances. This common opinion has been broken by Charlotte Helene Fien, a representative of Down Syndrome people at the United Nations. This issue results in a social wrong which is covered by the society’s justification. This social wrong is indirectly depicted in Charlotte’s speech. The aim of this research is to uncover the social wrong that evolves in our society. The method used in this research is four stages by Roy Bhaskar (1986). SFG is utilized in this research to give linguistic evidence in interpreting the speech.  The results show that social wrong found in the speech is termination of Down Syndrome babies. It is hard to be found because society is a lack of awareness about life values and it is considered as normal and true. However, this social wrong is still needed in the society because it gives benefits for parents and improves society’s standard of living. In order to stop this social wrong, society has to change their opinion, take real actions, and make policies to protect people with Down Syndrome.


Keywords


Charlotte, Down Syndrome, social wrong, Systemic Functional Grammar

Full Text:

PDF

References


Agnieszka, S., Ślęzak, R., Pesz, K., Gil, J., & Sąsiadek, M. M. (2007). Prenatal Diagnosis - Principles of Diagnostic Procedures and Genetic Counseling. Folia Histochemica Et Cytobiologica, 45(1), 11-16. Retrieved on September 18, 2021 from https://core.ac.uk.

Anantakul, O. K. (2017). Prenatal screening for down syndrome. Songklanagarind Medical Journal, 35(2), 95-99. doi: 10.31584/smj.2017.35.2.691.

Asim, A., Kumar, A., Muthuswamy, S., Jain, S., & Agarwal, S. (2015). Down syndrome: an insight of the disease. Journal of Biomedical Science, 22(41), 1-9. doi: 10.1186/s12929-015-0138-y.

Bittles, A. H., Bower, C., Hussain, R., & Glasson, E. J. (2006). The four Ages of Down Syndrome. European Journal of Public Health, 17(2), 221–225. doi: doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckl103.

Butt, D., Fahey, R., Spinks, S., & Yallop, C. (1995). Using Functional Grammar: An Explorer's Guide. Sydney: National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research Macquarie University.

Chen, W. (2018). A critical discourse analysis of Donald Trump's inaugural speech from the perspective of systemic functional grammar. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 8(8), 966–972. doi: https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0808.07.

Cheng, M. S. (2012). Colin Powell's Speech to the UN: A Discourse Analytic Study of Reconstituted "Ethos". Rhetoric Society Quarterly, 42(5), 424-449. Retrieved on September 16, 2021 from https://www.jstor.org/stable/41722451.

De Graaf, G., et al. (2014). People living with down syndrome in the USA: births and population. Retrieved on December 8, 2020 from https://assets.cdn.down-syndrome.org/files/reports/research/births-prevalence/usa/down-syndrome-population-usa-factsheet.pdf.

Dominic-Gabriel, I. & Roxana-Cristina, D. (2018). Prenatal Diagnosis of Down Syndrome. Retrieved on September 17, 2021 from http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.71064.

Dyck, E. (2014). History of eugenics revisited. Bulletin canadien d'histoire de la médecine = Canadian bulletin of medical history, 31(1), 7-16. doi: 10.3138/cbmh.31.1.7.

Garland-Thomson, R. “Building a World with Disability in It.” In Culture – Theory – Disability: Encounters between Disability Studies and Cultural Studies, edited by Anne Waldschmidt, Hanjo Berressem, and Moritz Ingwersen, 51–62. Transcript Verlag, 2017. Retrieved on September 18, 2021 from http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1xxs3r.8.

Güvercin, C. H. & Arda, B. (2008). Eugenics Concept: From Plato to Present. Human Reproduction & Genetic Ethics, 14(2), 20-26. doi: 10.1558/hrge.v14i2.20.

Huggard, D. Doherty, D. G., & Molloy, E. J. (2020). Immune Dysregulation in Children with Down Syndrome. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 8(73). 1-10. doi: 10.3389/fped.2020.00073.

Halliday, M. (1994). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold Publisher.

Holtz, G. (2014). Generating social practices. Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, 17(1), 1-11. Retrieved on December 8, 2020 from https://econpapers.repec.org/RePEc:jas:jasssj:2013-32-2.

Kara, N. I. (2020). Screening Syndromes Out: Updating the International "Genocide" Vernacular for a Changing Technological Age. North Carolina Journal of International Law, 45(1), 162-194. Retrieved on September 17, 2021 from https://scholarship.law.unc.edu.

Lou, S. et al. (2018). Termination of pregnancy following a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome: A qualitative study of the decision‐making process of pregnant couples. Retrieved from https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/aogs.13386.

Marcus, R. (2018). I would’ve aborted a fetus with Down syndrome. Women need that right. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/i-wouldve-aborted-a-fetus-with-down-syndrome-women-need-that-right/2018/03/09/3aaac364-23d6-11e8-94da-ebf9d112159c_story.html.

Saccomano, D. (2014). How close is close reading?. Texas Journal of Literacy Education, 2(2), 140-147. Retrieved on December 8, 2020 from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1110947.pdf.

Sinaga, M. P. (2018). The Ideology of Women Empowerment in Malala Yousafzai’s Speeches: A Critical Discourse Analysis. Yogyakarta: Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Stephen, J. F. (2018). I am a man. See me as a human being, not a birth defect. Retrieved from https://speakola.com/ideas/john-franklin-stephens-united-nations-2018?rq=stephen.

The United Nations. (1951). Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/genocide.shtml

Underwood, E. (2014). Can down syndrome be treated? Science, 343(6174), 964–967. doi: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.343.6174.964.

Wajuihian, S. O. (2016). Down syndrome: An Overview. African Vision and Eye Health, 75(1), 1-6. doi: http:// dx.doi.org/10.4102/aveh. v75i1.346.

Zotzmann, K., & O'Regan, J. P. (2016). Critical Discourse Analysis and Identity. In S. Preece (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Language and Identity (pp. 113—127). New York, NY: Routledge.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.24071/ijels.v7i2.3694

Article Metrics

Abstract view : 1768 times
PDF view: 750 times

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


    

 

IJELS Journal Sinta 4 Certificate (S4 = Level 4)

We would like to inform you that Indonesian Journal of English Language Studies (IJELS) has been nationally accredited Sinta 4 by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia based on the decree  No. Surat Keputusan 152/E/KPT/2023. Validity for 5 years: Vol 7 No 2, 2021 till Vol 12 No 1, 2026

 

 

 

IJELS e-ISSN 2715-0895; IJELS p-ISSN 2442-790X

Indonesian Journal of English Language Studies (IJELS) is published twice a year, namely in March and September, by the English Language Studies (ELS) of the Graduate Program of Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.