1. Language and Power

2. Two main types of power:
Instrumental power - the power to actually do something to someone or make them do something (e.g. law, education, medicine)
Influential power - the power to persuade and influence (e.g. politics, media, advertising)

3. Language and Power
Here are some of the stylistic features worth looking out for in texts featuring power. For revision purposes, it would be worth:
Looking back over the texts we have looked at and identifying examples of these.
Considering, for each one, whether it is a feature of instrumental power or influential power or both.

4. Stylistic Features
formality - a high level of formality signals distance and can be experienced as intimidating
use of jargon - can be intimidating/excluding; you can’t argue with something you don’t understand
complex/‘difficult’ lexis or grammar - ditto
modals to express certainty, such as will - can convey authority
imperatives
conditionals
definitions - e.g. you qualify as a student for council tax purposes if you study for more than 21 hours per week (otherwise you’re not a student - even if you think you are!)
hidden assumptions - things you have to agree with in order for the text to make sense
metaphorical terms which are not explained/demystified, e.g. ‘a strong economy’ - this implies something good and invites agreement, not questioning
passives - to evade responsibility and prevent argument, e.g. ‘Bicycles chained to these railing will be removed’ (By whom?)
loaded/emotive lexis
rhetorical techniques (e.g. lists of 3, parallelism, metaphor, repetition)
direct address
accent and dialect - Standard English has more authority and prestige in most situations

5. In conversation:
Conversational dominance - through interruption, comparatively lengthy utterances, topic management
Control of other participants’ contributions - telling them when to speak, or what to speak about
Evaluating other participants’ contributions, e.g. approving/praising
Mode of address (e.g. title of Christian name)
Use of questions, statements, etc.
Acknowledgement (or not) of other participants’ contributions
Plus: all the language features listed above, that apply to written texts