A Comparative Study of TED Talks in American English and Japanese: How Speakers Engage Their Audience in Public Speaking

Abstract

Focusing on structural and linguistic features, this study examines how American and Japanese speakers convey their ideas in public speaking. While many studies dealing with written language have been conducted, apart from studies of political discourse, there are few studies of how spoken language is used in public speaking. In this study, “TED Talks” delivered by American and Japanese speakers were analyzed to look at how speakers engage their audience. First, the study examined 1) how speakers construct episodes within their talks, and 2) how they employ expressions. The results revealed that American speakers tend to convey information with high certainty. They lead their audience to the goal and tend to present as “leaders”. On the other hand, Japanese speakers were seen to share the process of constructing their talk with the audience and use linguistic features to resonate with the audience. They tend to be “partners” with the audience in their talk.