Exploring the Covid-19 Evaluative Discourse in Research-focused Commentary Blogs. Appraisal Resources for Engagement Meanings

This study investigates how bloggers discuss the public health emergency amid the global COVID-19 pandemic and use the options made available by evaluative language to realize interpersonal stance-making meanings on public-facing blog platforms. Using a representative corpus of Covid-19 blog posts, I examine the Covid-19 evaluative discourse through the APPRAISAL system and its subcomponent of engagement suggested in Martin and White's (2005) social semiotic framework. Findings show variation in the frequency and function of engagement resources, exemplifying how blog writers construe evaluations for their own or other value positions and recognise the presence of their readers in the texts. These findings are contextualized within the wider rhetoric of Covid-19 public discourse effected by the bog genre, which is informed by multidisciplinary views and perspectives on the public health emergency as required for effective public communication in crisis management.