a cognitive linguistic study of non-verbal persuasive strategies in selected iraqi and malaysian tourism brochures

the study is a part of an ma thesis; it investigates the role of non-verbal language in raising the sense of persuasion among tourists in general. the study is comparative in nature and seeks to enhance people and designers‟ knowledge about image reading and the sense of persuasiveness among tourists. to meet the objective of the study, the researchers adapted a number of non-verbal techniques suggested by the following scholars: dimbleby and burton (1998); jweitt and oyama (2001; as cited in leeuwen and jewitt, 2004); beasley and danesi (2002); and wang and gut (2011). data sampling is limited to four recreational panels, two iraqi and two malaysian. conclusions have revealed that various shots of different angles need to be taken for each resort to sound more realistic and persuasive. moreover, different content techniques need to be invested to evoke the associative and conceptual image in the mind of tourists to ultimately push them to come, explore and visit.