Linguistic Strategies in a Discourse of True Crime Stories on Thai Twitter

Abstract

This article examines linguistic strategies in the narrative discourse of true crime stories on Thai Twitter from three user accounts, totaling 100 stories, following the principles of discourse pragmatic analysis. The study found a total of 12 linguistic strategies, namely: 1) adopting cohesions, 2) providing details, 3) using casual style and intimate style, 4) using numerical labels, 5) employing modalities, 6) expressing the narrator’s emotions regarding investigative stories, 7) using intertextualities, 8) utilizing emojis, 9) incorporating presuppositions, 10) using metaphorically wordings, 11) employing rhetorical questions, and 12) self-posing questions and answering them. Those aforementioned linguistic strategies contribute to achieving six communication objectives: 1) capturing the readers’ attention, 2) establishing a rapport with the readers to evoke empathy, 3) painting a vivid picture for the readers to immerse themselves in the situation, 4) ensuring continuous reader engagement and following of the narrative, 5) expressing the narrator’s emotions towards the investigative storytelling, and 6) facilitating easy and swift comprehension for readers to follow the story effortlessly. The linguistic strategies used in storytelling that are suitable for distribution channels help make the story interesting and achieve objectives. Not only do they respond to the audience’s interest, but they can also serve as warnings to create awareness of potential dangers.