INDONESIAN EDITORIALS RECOMMENDATIONS ON ERADICATING CORRUPTION: ASSESSING THEIR PERSUASIVE POWER

Abstract

This research explored overt linguistic expressions of persuasion in editorial texts, the distinctive feature of which is principally argumentative-persuasive. It was specifically aimed at assessing how persuasive their recommendations were. The data comprised nine recommendations of Indonesian editorial texts issued in the mid of December 2006 by nine different daily publishers. The topic addressed was the issue of eradicating corruptive practices. The data search, using read marker technique, was done on the synthetic basis of Bibers framework and Alwis categorization of Indonesian modality.

The findings show that in the recommendatory parts, various expressions such as conditional sentences and various types of modal expressions (intentional, deontic, epistemic, dynamic) were used as means of forwarding persuasive points. Among modal expressions, those expressing necessity were found to be the most commonly used. The type, variety, and stylistic configuration of the expressions counted in determining how strong the sting, or persuasion, was. In addition to the presence of such overt linguistic expressions, persuasion was augmented by some supporting means such as repetition and verb-passive voicing. Repetition of persuasive expressions, such as modals, intensified the persuasiveness, and was in part concerned with style. Meanwhile, the choice of
verb-passive voicing following modals was, in part, concerned with editorial writers strategy to be action-oriented in forwarding the points of persuasion to the persuadee.

Kata Kunci: Indonesian editorials, Recommendation, Overt linguistic expressions of persuasion