Modality in Critical Discourse Analysis: President Zardari’s Perspective on Terrorism in Pakistan

Abstract

This research paper investigates the modality driven ideological standpoint of president of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari through the lenses of critical discourse analysis. His interaction with media during his visit to United states of America in 2008, is the sample for critical examination. This study investigates the news story appearing in Daily Dawn to assess the role of modality that reflected his personal and political stance and ideology. His statement covering a variety of topics is chosen as a discourse for analysis that this is the main objective of this study and its achievement depends on examining the functional and pragmatic approaches to discourse. The functional dimension is concerned with functional linguistics: viz linguistic structures related to social structures. While the pragmatic dimension emphasises on the inclusion of reader for interpretation. This study based on the functional-pragmatic lines to discourse analysis resolves the reader interpretation as it creates space for systematic variance in the process of interpretation through modality as a pragmatic route for the reader’s role in the discourse analysis. This study argues that a functional and pragmatic approach to the study of discourse is central to the essence of this research paper. The primary goal of this research study is showing a systematic, functional and practical examination of modality for critical analysis of ideology and stance of Zardari within the text.