Analyzing personal pronouns and modality in TED talks on food system sustainability

Abstract

This study investigates how TED speakers linguistically frame humans’ role in fostering sustainable food systems and environmental stewardship. This research explores Positive Discourse Analysis (PDA) based on a self-built corpus of ten TED Talk transcripts (19,151 tokens) selected through keyword filtering (“food,” “sustainability,” “climate change”) and temporal constraints (2019 to 2023). The analysis focuses on the strategic use of the pronoun “we” and modality to interpret collective responsibility and optimism in relation to humans and the environment in the topic of foods. Results reveal that TED speakers adopt inclusive and future-oriented language that reflects PDA principles of optimism and solidarity, using “we” and modality to promote shared commitment and constructive engagement. Further explorations in employing TED Talks as spoken corpora and PDA in ecological discourse research are encouraged.