Characterizing Multi-Participant TV Debate as an Argumentative Activity Type: A Pragma-Dialectical Analysis of the Argumentative Discourse in Siyaset Meydanı

Abstract

This dissertation sets out to characterize multi-participant TV debate (MPTD) as an argumentative activity type by introducing the genre of communication and the institutional context of the activity type which constrain argumentative moves made in this activity type. This research draws on insights from argumentation theory and takes pragma-dialectical approach to argumentation (van Eemeren Grootendorst, 1982; 1984; 1992; 2004; van Eemeren Houtlosser, 2002, 2003, 2004; van Eemeren, 2010) as a theoretical and methodological framework in analyzing argumentation in this context. The approach takes the ideal model of critical discussion as a point of reference in the analysis of argumentation and brings a descriptive and normative standard for acceptable argumentation. The study uses the data of Siyaset Meydanı as an instance of MPTD, and draws examples from two episodes, namely Budget of the Citizens and Turkey s Vision , to exemplify the characterization made in the study. It is