The Language of Evaluation Appraisal in English

subjective presence of writers/speakers in texts as they adopt stances

towards both the material they present and those with whom they com

municate. It is concerned with how writers/speakers approve and disap

prove, enthuse and abhor, applaud and criticise, and with how they

position their readers/listeners to do likewise. It is concerned with the

construction by texts of communities of shared feelings and values, and

with the linguistic mechanisms for the sharing of emotions, tastes and

normative assessments. It is concerned with how writers/speakers con

strue for themselves particular authorial identities or personae, with how

they align or disalign themselves with actual or potential respondents,

and with how they construct for their texts an intended or ideal audience.