Phân tích giá trị cảm xúc của những lời bình luận bởi giám khảo trong Thần tượng âm nhạc Mĩ theo Thuyết đánh giá

 TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC SƯ PHẠM TP HỒ CHÍ MINH 
TẠP CHÍ KHOA HỌC 
HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION 
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE 
ISSN: 
1859-3100 
KHOA HỌC XÃ HỘI VÀ NHÂN VĂN 
Tập 15, Số 5 (2018): 190-200 
SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES 
Vol. 15, No. 5 (2018): 190-200 
 Email: tapchikhoahoc@hcmue.edu.vn; Website:  
190 
AN AFFECT VALUE ANALYSIS OF COMMENTS GIVEN BY JUDGES 
IN AMERICAN IDOL IN THE LIGHT OF APPRAISAL THEORY 
Nguyen Thanh Tri
*
Quy Nhon University 
Received: 08/4/2018; Revised: 02/5/2018; Accepted: 24/5/2018 
ABSTRACT 
The paper focused on investigating the language of Affect in comments given by judges in 
American Idol in the view of Appraisal Theory by Martin and White (2005). The paper is 
theoretically based on Appraisal, specifically Affect and its subtypes namely Un/Happiness, Dis/ 
Inclination, In/ Security, Dis/ Satisfaction. In addition, it is about the data and methods applied. 
The findings reveal that all sub-types of Affect used in the language of judges in American Idol and 
they had the differences in the values realized Affect. 
Keywords: Appraisal Theory, affect, comments, American Idol. 
TÓM TẮT 
Phân tích giá trị cảm xúc của những lời bình luận bởi giám khảo 
 trong Thần tượng âm nhạc Mĩ theo Thuyết đánh giá 
Bài báo tập trung nghiên cứu ngôn ngữ cảm xúc trong những lời bình luận của những giám 
khảo trong thần tượng âm nhạc Mĩ theo Thuyết đánh giá của Martin và White năm 2005. Bài báo 
dựa trên lí thuyết của Thuyết đánh giá, cụ thể là giá trị cảm xúc và các tiểu loại như 
Un/Happiness, Dis/ Inclination, In/ Security, Dis/ Satisfaction. Thêm vào đó, bài báo trình bày dữ 
liệu và phương pháp nghiên cứu được áp dụng. Kết quả nghiên cứu cho thấy tất cả các tiểu loại 
của giá trị cảm xúc đều được sử dụng trong ngôn ngữ của giám khảo tại Thần tượng âm nhạc Mĩ 
và có nhiều điểm khác trong việc nhận ra giá trị cảm xúc. 
Từ khóa: Thuyết đánh giá, cảm xúc, bình luận, Thần tượng âm nhạc Mĩ. 
1. Introduction 
American Idol, a reality television singing competition, was aired in America on 
June 11, 2002 and quickly became the most popular entertainment series with viewers in 
the hundreds for launching the career of many artists as bona fide stars. The conversation 
interaction between judges and contestants provides a key platform for analyzing 
communication through a commentary lens. In judges’ comments on contestants’ 
performance, the judges use linguistics resources to interact, to evaluate the contestants or 
comments after their performances. Whereas, Appraisal theory, which is linguistically 
considered as a further development of the Halliday’s framework on Functional Grammar 
*
 Email: kiengo93@gmail.com 
TẠP CHÍ KHOA HỌC - Trường ĐHSP TPHCM Nguyen Thanh Tri 
191 
to understand more comprehensively the sophisticated means through which we express 
our personal viewpoints and respond to the viewpoints of others, has shown to be a useful 
tool for analysis. In addition, in Vietnam, the study of comments given by judges in 
American Idol has not received much concern from researchers. Only Phan [15] conducted 
her study to analyze the Appraisal of mood adjuncts expressing assurance and concession 
in discourse of American Idol and Vietnam Idol. Besides, Tran [17] drew on cross-cultural 
similarities and differences in giving comments on contestants’ performance by judges in 
Vietnam Idol and American Idol. It might, therefore, be considered as a potential 
framework to carry out this research. This paper aims at examining Affect values in the 
language of judges in the game show American Idol. 
2. Theoretical framework of Appraisal Theory 
Appraisal Theory is a framework for the exploration of speakers’, writers’ style in 
their positive or negative assessment of people, places, things, happenings and states of 
affairs. Appraisal itself is regionalized as three interacting domains namely Attitude, 
Engagement and Graduation. Attitude is concerned with our feelings, including emotional 
reactions, judgments of behavior and evaluation of things. Engagement deals with sourcing 
attitudes and the play of voices around opinions in discourse. Graduation attends to 
grading phenomena whereby feelings are amplified and categories blurred. Attitude is 
itself divided into three regions of feeling, Affect, Judgement and Appreciation. 
Judgement: the evaluation of human behaviour with respect to social norm (e.g. 
right, wrong, ethical, responsible, etc). 
Appreciation: the evaluation of objects and products (rather than human behavior) by 
reference to aesthetic principles and other systems of social values (e.g. beautiful, 
unattractive, yummy, simple, lovely, dramatic, etc.). 
Affect: the characterization of phenomena by reference to emotion (e.g. shining with 
joy, nasty, sad, happy). 
Specifically, Affect is concerned with registering positive and negative feelings: do 
we feel happy or sad, confident or anxious, i ... ood. 
(AVALON YOUNG TOP 8) 
In two examples above, in expressing feeling of trust, the judges might use the words 
such as believe, comfortable In particular, in (1) the performance of the contestant was 
not deeply impressed to the judge. The contestant always keeps in his comfort zone 
without attracting the audiences, which makes the judge Harry Connick, Jr believe Alvalon 
Yong to be able to come out and do. So Harry Connick Jr expresses his feeling of trust by 
saying “I really, really believed that was what you needed to do right now”. In (2), it is 
seem that the adjective “comfortable” was used to evaluate the emotion of the contestant 
when performing. The emoter in (1) is “I” so it is Authorial Affect while the emoter in (2) 
is “you”so it is called Non-Authorial Affect. 
b. Negative InSecurity Affect 
Let’s look at the following examples below: 
(3)Keith Urban: When I was 16 I did a show in Australia. A singing tv show, just like 
this. And I was terrified and trying to reign the nervesin is so hard to do and it effects, the 
first thing it does it effects pitch and breathing and everything. And I sensed a lot of that 
going on tonight. So all I can say is, your tone is gorgeous, don't worry about all that stuff 
[Affect- Insecurity- Non-authorial- Negative] you've got plenty of time to work on all that. 
(LEE JEAN TOP 6) 
In (3) the judge Keith Urban realized that the young contestant performed a song 
with a little anxious, which had an effect on performance of Lee Jean. Thus, Keith Urban 
encourages him in making good this point in the next performance. The emoter is Lee Jean 
so we call it Non-Authorial Affect. 
(4) Jennifer Lopez: Listen, You have so much going for you. You know, you have 
amazing style, a great personality, you have a beautiful voice you have so much going for 
you. And I like this performance for you. Is it gonna be enough? I'm not sure because I feel 
like there has to be a little more composure when it comes to the "do or die" moments and I 
just felt maybe it was a tiny bit shake. [Affect- Insecurity- Non-authorial- Negative] 
(LEE JEAN TOP 6) 
TẠP CHÍ KHOA HỌC - Trường ĐHSP TPHCM Tập 15, Số 5 (2018): 190-200 
196 
We can see from this example that it is in emotional state of disquiet meaning with 
the word “shake”, which the judge Jennifer Lopez coveys emotion of contestant through 
performance so that audiences and viewers exactly recognize the contestant Lee Jean in the 
show top 6 of American Idol and the emoter is the contestant who doesn’t involve the 
judges so it is Non-Authorial Affect. 
5.1.3. Dis/Satisfaction 
a. Positive Satisfaction Affect 
Look at the examples in comments given by American judges below: 
(5) Harry Connick, Jr: It’s hard to do what you did. When she sang the first eight 
bars, she was saying everything pretty much on the beat. And she held notes out for a very 
long time. And she’s a very gifted vocalist and she’s able to do that. I thought it was lovely. 
Let me just say that. I was captivated. [Affect - Satisfaction- Authorial- Positive]. It looked 
like you guys were falling in love in front of my eyes. But I just wanted to make a suggestion. 
I’ve heard you take risks before. I don’t think you have to sing so on the beat. I think you can 
accommodate those words to your creativity which I’ve seen you do before. But all in all, I 
thought it was really sweet man. 
(ADAM LASHER AND HALEY REINHART- TOP 24) 
(6) Harry Connick Jr: I agree, Mckenzie and the thing that was really cool for me 
[Affect- Satisfaction- Authorial- Positive] was it almost seemed like you've come completely 
"full circle” because that performance was very similar to the feeling that we had. 
(MCKENZIE BOURG TOP 3) 
In American Idol, the judges express their feeling of interest by using the possible 
terms such as interested, captivated, cool In the example (5), the judge Harry Connick, Jr 
expressed his feeling of interest by saying “I was captivated” after a successful 
performance with a beautiful song performed by honoured guest and candidate. Similarly, 
in (6), Harry Connick, Jr also expressed emotional state of interest after seeing a good 
performance of the contestant. 
b. Negative Dissatisfaction Affect 
Let’s see some examples: 
(7) Keith Urban: I agree with them. It’s and I this is like, one of the I love this 
song. And I’m sure you guys do too. And it’s not meant to be a duet. So I get it. It was just- it 
just kind of. I don’t know. It was I got a little scared. It didn’t pull me in, Shelbie [Affect - 
Dissatisfaction - Authorial- Negative]. And I agree with Jen. I kind of lost of you a little bit 
[Affect- Dissatisfaction - Authorial- Negative]. But nothing about the performance pulled 
me in[Affect- Dissatisfaction – Authorial - Negative]. I kept waiting to come in. And it was 
kind of doing this to me the whole time. 
(SHELBIE Z AND CONSTANTINE) 
TẠP CHÍ KHOA HỌC - Trường ĐHSP TPHCM Nguyen Thanh Tri 
197 
(8) Keith Urban: I liked it, and I don't differ that much from what Jenny said, too. It 
felt a little bit Piece-meal to me [Affect - Dissatisfaction- Authorial- Negative]. Sometimes 
you were smiling, sometimes you weren't Sometimes you were moving, sometimes you 
weren't. And to me, it's all, about the lyrics. Thank you. 
(MANNY TORRES TOP 24) 
We can see from this example (7) the judge found that the performance of Shelbie 
was not fascinated, the judge Keith Urban therefore expressed his feeling of displeasure by 
saying “It didn’t pull me in, Shelbie. And I agree with Jen. I kind of lost of you a little bit. 
But nothing about the performance pulled me in”. In (8) the judge Keith Urban also 
evaluated the performance of Manny Torres disconnected to him. This brings the negative 
meaning and expresses the emotional state of displeasure. 
5.1.4. Dis/Inclination 
a. Positive Inclination Affect 
Look at these examples: 
(9) Harry Connick, Jr: So I knew that you had it in you. I had a problem with the way 
you sang ‘My Funny Valentine” last week. Because I hoped [Affect - Inclination- 
Authorial- Positive] that you would have sung. It like you sang this. And in my opinion, that 
was a flaw less lyric delivery. 
(JENN BLOSIL TOP 14) 
(10) Jennifer Lopez: Hey, Tristan. Listen, I felt like towards the. That really kind of 
picked up steam. The beginning looked to me like you were really thinking a lot. The end felt 
like you were feeling, and that’s when it got good. And I think you need to concentrate on 
doing that. [Affect - Inclination – Non - Authorial - Positive]. 
(TRISTAN MCINTOSH- TOP 24) 
In (9) the judge made his desire by using the verb “hoped” to say things he wanted 
the candidate to do as the previous round because the performance of Jenn Blosil had a 
problem with a flaw less lyric delivery. It is extremely easy to know that the emotion gives 
us the positive meaning and it describes the emotion of the judge- Harry Connick, Jr so it is 
Authorial Affect. In (10) the contestant didn’t make the emotional connection between the 
beginning and the end of the song. Thus the judges wanted the contestant to concentrate on 
doing that. Like the example (9), the judge showed his desire of being good connection by 
using the “need” and the emoter is “you”, so we call it Non-Authorial Affect. 
b. Negative Inclination Affect 
Here are some instances about this type of Affect: 
(11) Keith Urban: I agree with them. It’s and I this is like, one of the I love this 
song. And I’m sure you guys do too. And it’s not meant to be a duet. So I get it. It was just- it 
just kind of. I don’t know. It was I got a little scared [Affect- Disclination- Authorial- 
Negative]. It didn’t pull me in, Shelbie. And I agree with Jen. I kind of lost of you a little bit. 
But nothing about the performance pulled me in. I kept waiting to come in. And it was kind 
of doing this to me the whole time. 
(SHELBIE Z AND CONSTANTINE) 
TẠP CHÍ KHOA HỌC - Trường ĐHSP TPHCM Tập 15, Số 5 (2018): 190-200 
198 
(12) Keith Urban: When I was 16 I did a show in Australia. A singing TV show, just 
like this. And I was terrified [Affect - Disclination - Authorial- Negative] and trying to 
reign the nerves in is so hard to do and it effects, the first thing it does it effects pitch and 
breathing and everything and I sensed a lot of that going on tonight. 
(LEE JEAN TOP 6) 
In (11) “scared” expressed the meaning of the judge’s fear toward a duet 
performance of honored guest and contestant. In this sentence, the emotion gives us the 
negative meaning and it describes the emotional state of the judge Keith Urban so it is 
Authorial Affect. Like the instance (11), the emotion in (12) also brings us the negative 
meaning and it is in the emotional state of being scared. In particular, the judge Keith 
Urban expressed his feeling of scared in a sing TV show when he first performed on the 
stage. 
6. Conclusion, limitation and suggestion for futher research 
In general, Affect values in comments given by judges in American Idol were 
analyzed in the view of mainly Appraisal Theory of Martin and White (2005). Relating to 
Appraisal, Affect is evaluated and categorized into four major sub-types based on its 
meaning including Un/Happiness, In/Security, Dis/ Satisfaction and Dis/ Inclination all of 
which are used in comments by American judges. Of the four sub-types, the Un/Happiness 
Affect appears in comments the highest frequently and Dis/ Satisfaction has the least 
frequency. 
Although the study has produced significant findings with respect to comments given 
by judges in American Idol in terms of Affect in the light of Appraisal Theory, an 
important issue that requires further explication has been identified. That is, the study is 
limited to the contrastive analysis between English and Vietnamese. It is suggested that 
further research in relation to Affect value should be conducted to have an overall picture 
of investigating into emotion in judges’ language in American Idol and Vietnam Idol 
which merit further studies. 
 Conflict of Interest: Author have no conflict of interest to declare. 
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CÁC SỐ TẠP CHÍ KHOA HỌC SẮP TỚI: 
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