Modern trends in the development of a language game in English (according to the englishlanguage press)

Feopentova Svetlana V.

The article presents the results of the study of the language layer of the English-language press for the actualization of the language game from the point of view of its communicative task. The purpose of the article is to establish modern trends in the creation and use of such technique as a language game in the English-language press. Tasks: to establish a working definition of the concept of a language game; systematize the types of language games; to highlight the models of the language game on the basis of practical material; to define the communicative task of the language game in the English-language press. Hypothesis: the events of the last year (the coronavirus pandemic and related circumstances), being a significant factor that influenced the activities of states in general, and the lives of individuals, in particular, having received large-scale coverage in the media, provoked an active discussion in the press, including in English. It seems that such a colossal event requires journalists to use special methods of linguistic influence on the audience, one of which is a language game. Methods: method of systematization and generalization, sampling of examples, linguo-stylistic analysis. The material of the research was newspaper articles headings containing the language game. The headlines selected for the study were obtained by the method of continuous sampling from electronic versions of English-language (The Independent, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Times, The Sun, The American Conservative) newspapers and magazines of various thematic focus for 2019-2020. Results: the article presents the results of the analysis of the use of the language game in the English-language press in terms of the implementation of the communicative task of journalists, in particular in the aspect of manipulative influence and imparting imagery to the presented material. Language game is one of the most widespread techniques used in journalism. The popularity of this technique in headlines is due to its formal and evaluative nature.

Keywords:language game, style-forming technique, word formation, word-formation activity, coronavirus pandemic, manipulative influence, English-language press.