SEMANTIC ANALYSIS OF CONTEXTUAL MEANING IN THE TEDX TALK "WHY I LIVE A ZERO WASTE LIFE" BY LAUREN SINGER: A STUDY OF MEANING IN ENVIRONMENTAL DISCOURSE
Keywords:
semantic analysis, contextual meaning, environmental discourse, TED x talk, ecolinguisticsAbstract
This study examines the contextual meanings embedded in Lauren Singer's TEDx talk entitled "Why I Live a Zero Waste Life." Drawing on Leech's (1974) framework of semantic meaning types particularly conceptual, connotative, affective, and thematic meaning this research investigates how language functions as a tool of environmental persuasion and ideological positioning. The primary data source is the full transcript of the talk, which was analyzed using a qualitative descriptive approach. The analysis identifies 28 data points across four dominant types of contextual meaning. Findings reveal that affective meaning is the most frequentlyemployed type, followed by connotative meaning, thematic meaning, and conceptual meaning. The study argues that Singer's linguistic choices do not merely describe a lifestyle, but actively construct an environmental identity and appeal to the audience's moral consciousness. This study contributes to the growing body of research on ecolinguistics and environmental discourse analysis in the context of digital public speaking.
References
Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and social change. Polity Press.
Kusumawardani, R. (2020). Lexical choices in climate-themed TED talks: A critical discourse analysis. Journal of Language and Communication, 7(1), 45–61.
Leech, G. (1974). Semantics: The study of meaning. Penguin Books.
Moirand, S. (2014). Discourse and language in TED talks: Expertise, authority, and accessibility. Language in Society, 43(2), 211–234.
Pratiwi, D. A., & Sari, R. P. (2021). Contextual meaning in environmental campaign slogans: A semantic analysis. Lingua, 16(2), 88–103.
Scotto di Carlo, G. (2014). The role of proximity in online popularizations: The case of TED talks. Discourse, Context & Media, 4–5, 34–43.
Singer, L. (2015). Why I live a zero waste life [Video]. TEDx Talks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF72px2R3Hg
Stibbe, A. (2015). Ecolinguistics: Language, ecology and the stories we live by. Routledge.
Wahyuni, S. (2019). Affective meaning in Greta Thunberg's public speeches: A semantic analysis. ELTALL: English Language Teaching, Applied Linguistics and Literature, 1(1), 1–14.
