A Comparative Study of Sino-US News Reports on Trade War_英语论文

摘要

本研究从批评语篇分析视角对中美两国关于贸易战的新闻报道进行对比分析。文章选取了三十篇来自《中国日报》和《华盛顿邮报》的报导，以韩礼德的系统功能语言学和费尔克劳夫的三维分析模式作为理论基础进行研究，并试图回答以下问题：一、从韩礼德的系统功能语言学来看，《中国日报》和《华盛顿邮报》在对贸易战的报道上体现出哪些不同？二、从费尔克劳夫的三维分析模式来看，有哪些原因导致《中国日报》和《华盛顿邮报》对贸易战的报道出现不同？本研究采取定性和定量研究相结合的方式以及演绎的方法，研究发现不同的新闻媒体报导的新闻语篇蕴含着不同的态度和意识形态，由此引导观众对新闻事件产生不同的看法。新闻记者通过选择不同的词汇，采用不同情态值的情态动词，使用不同的转述方式和选取不同的转述性动词来影响读者对事件的理解。在美方的新闻报导中能看到低效、软弱的中国政府形象而在中方的报导则看到激进、冲动的美国政府形象。与美国政府表现出来的消极态度不同，中国对中美关系的发展抱有乐观的态度，即使有很多不确定因素的存在。中美新闻语篇中出现的这些不同大体上可以归结为官方的控制、复杂的国际关系和中美文化差异的影响。

关键词：批评语篇分析  中美贸易战  三维分析模式  系统功能语言学

Abstract

The thesis conducts a comparative study of Sino-US News reports on trade war from the perspective of Critical Discourse Analysis (henceforth CDA). Thirty pieces of news reports are collected from China Daily and Washington Post and are examined on the basis of Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar (henceforth SFG) and Fairclough’s three-dimensional model. Through the analysis, the thesis aims to answer the following questions: (1) What are the differences in reporting the trade war in China Daily and Washington Post on the basis of Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar? (2) What are the causes for the differences in the news reports on trade war in China Daily and Washington Post from the perspective of Fairclough’s three-dimensional model? Adopting a combination of quantitative and qualitative approach as well as a deductive research method, the study finds that different attitudes and ideologies are embodied in the news discourse of different news agencies, which will direct readers’ perceptions on the news. The journalists choose different words and different values of modal verbs and adopt various speech modes and reporting verbs to influence readers’ understanding. In American news discourse, an inefficient and timorous image of Chinese officials is portrayed while in Chinese reports, an aggressive and irrational image of the US government is presented. Compared with the negation of the US government, China is more positive in the future development of the Sino-US relations despite the uncertainty. The reasons behind these differences are mainly due to the control of the authority, the complex international relations and the cultural differences.

Key words: Critical Discourse Analysis  the Sino-US Trade War  Three-Dimensional Model  Systemic Functional Grammar

Contents

Chapter One  Introduction 1

1.1  Background of the Research 1

1.2  Significance of the Research 2

1.3  Methodology 3

1.4  Organization of This Thesis 3

Chapter Two  Literature Review 5

2.1  Previous Studies on CDA 5

2.1.1 CDA Studies Abroad 5

2.1.2 CDA Studies at Home 6

2.2  Previous CDA Studies on News Discourse 7

2.2.1 Previous CDA Studies on News Discourse Aboard 7

2.2.2 Previous CDA Studies on News Discourse at Home 8

Chapter Three  Theoretical Framework 9

3.1  Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar 9

3.1.1 Ideational Function 9

3.1.2 Interpersonal Function 10

3.1.3 Textual Function 11

3.2  Fairclough’s Three-Dimensional Model 12

Chapter Four  A Comparative Study of Sino-US News Reports on Trade War from the Perspective of Critical Discourse Analysis 14

4.1  Sources of Data 14

4.2  Comparative Study Based on Systemic Functional Grammar 14

4.2.1 Analysis Based on Ideational Function 15

4.2.2 Analysis Based on Interpersonal Function 22

4.2.3 Analysis Based on Textual Function 25

4.3  Comparative Study Based on Three-Dimensional Model 29

4.3.1 The Dimension of Text 29

4.3.2 The Dimension of Discursive Practice 30

4.3.3 The Dimension of Social Practice 32

Chapter Five  Conclusion 34

5.1  Findings of the Research 34

5.2  Limitations and Suggestions for Future Study 35

Bibliography

List of Tables

Acknowledgments