Motivational speech: Specifics of the speech genre functioning

Abstract

The study aims to describe the speech genre of “motivational speech” in English-speaking motivational discourse. The relevance and scientific novelty of the research are determined by the need to construct the definition of motivational discourse, to clarify its discursive intention and strategy, and to study and describe its genre specificity. The article distinguishes between the concepts of motivation and impact and their respective discourses based on the addressee type (particularlyaddressable, targeting a specific communication partner, and generally addressable, oriented towards an abstract addressee), as well as based on the subject types that depend on the individual’s chosen “achievement motivation” strategy – either striving for success or avoiding failure. The analysis of motivational speeches demonstrated their thematic heterogeneity and varying degrees of formalization, ranging from rigid and soft formalization genres to free genres. The study identified eight main types of motivational speeches differentiated according to their basic intention and addressee concept, and determined their compositional structure. Furthermore, the research established characteristic features of this genre, such as the incorporation of storytelling, humor, different types of evidential information, emotive lexis and syntax, as well as the use of the so called “inclusive language”.