VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES LƯU THỊ KIM NHUNG A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF ENGLIS
Trang 1VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
LƯU THỊ KIM NHUNG
A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
OF ENGLISH MEDIA TEXTS ON CLIMATE CHANGE
A thesis submitted to the University of Languages and International Studies
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Field: English Linguistics Code: 62 22 15 01
Hanoi, 2016
Trang 2VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
LƯU THỊ KIM NHUNG
A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
OF ENGLISH MEDIA TEXTS ON CLIMATE CHANGE
A thesis submitted to the University of Languages and International Studies
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Field: English Linguistics Code: 62 22 15 01
Supervisors: Ha Cam Tam, Ph.D
Tran Xuan Diep, Asso Prof Ph.D
Hanoi, 2016
Trang 3for climate change were discursively constructed in The Independent and The New
York Times’ coverage of the Conferences of the Parties to the UNFCCC between
2004 and 2013 The method of analysis was a qualitative critical discourse analysis with the support of corpus techniques
The findings from the study showed that although the altering but consistent ideologies were struggling with each other, they were all important Three main ideologies were decoded in response to the research questions First, both unity and conflict existed in the power relation between the developed and developing countries at the global climate conferences, with the heavier weight on the conflict Second, the developed countries seemed reluctant and indifferent towards their responsibility for climate change Third, the developing countries were required to take responsibility for climate change due to their rapid growth but they still demanded aid from the developed countries Consequently, no consensus could be reached on a common framework for climate change, and the lengthy process of global climate conferences yielded nothing but confusion and delayed action
The linguistic features of lexical choice, lexical relation, metaphor, passivization, nominalization and modality were found ideologically invested in the newspapers‟ portrayal of the power relation and ideologies Also, the ideologies and the language features that conveyed these ideologies were influenced by the two media outlets‟ political commitments, news values, news agenda, and the socio-economic and historical background that embedded the discourse All in all, the media bolstered the asymmetrical power nexus and the ideologies about the responsibilities for climate change in the interest of the developed nations
Trang 4I do really appreciate their astute advice, kind encouragement and insightful feedback on my work
I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to Professor Nguyen Hoa, Professor Hoang Van Van, Associate Professor Le Hung Tien, Professor Nguyen Quang, who, in one way or another, have inspired me into the field of linguistics in general and critical discourse analysis in particular; to Doctor Huynh Anh Tuan, Associate Professor Ngo Huu Hoang, Associate Professor Nguyen Van Do, and numerous other lecturers at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their immensely helpful guidance and support during
my study
I would also like to thank the Faculty of Postgraduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, and all its staff members for their constant supply of information and advice on stages of my study; my fellow graduate students who have built such a pleasant community to be part of
I am really grateful to my colleagues at Faculty of English in particular, at Hanoi National University of Education in general, for supporting me throughout my study
My final but definitely not least thanks go to my beloved big family for their unconditional support all along the way I am particularly indebted to my late father for his absolute confidence in my learning capacity and my devoted mother for guiding me into this field of study since my very early years in life A special thank goes to my husband for showing his continuing concern during my studies and beyond Ultimately, a most loving thank to my son and daughter for their always being proud of their mom, and for always being there to remind me of the real significance in life
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ONTENTS
Declaration iAbstract iAcknowledgements ii
List of Tables and Figures Error! Bookmark not defined List of Abbreviations Error! Bookmark not defined.
CONTENTS iii
INTRODUCTION CLXXII
1 Rationale for the study CLXXII
2 Aim and objectives of the study CLXXIV
3 Research questions CLXXV
4 Significance of the study CLXXV
5 Contextual background CLXXVISocial context CLXXVI
Discursive practices Error! Bookmark not defined.
6 Methodological considerations Error! Bookmark not defined.
7 Scope of the study Error! Bookmark not defined.
8 Structure of the thesis Error! Bookmark not defined.
CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW Error! Bookmark not defined.
1.1 Critical Discourse Analysis Error! Bookmark not defined 1.1.1 Basic notions in CDA Error! Bookmark not defined 1.1.2 Major tenets in CDA Error! Bookmark not defined 1.1.3 CDA as a Conceptual Framework and Methodology Error! Bookmark not
defined.
1.1.4 Critiques of CDA Error! Bookmark not defined 1.2 Corpus techniques in CDA Error! Bookmark not defined 1.3 Previous research on climate change discourse Error! Bookmark not defined.
1.3.1 Content analysis of media discourse on global warming and/or climate change
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1.3.2 Discourse analysis of media discourse on global warming and/or climate
change Error! Bookmark not defined 1.3.3 CDA of media discourse on global warming and/or climate change Error!
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CHAPTER 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.1 Research questions Error! Bookmark not defined 2.2 The study corpora Error! Bookmark not defined 2.2.1 The sources Error! Bookmark not defined 2.2.2 Corpus compilation Error! Bookmark not defined 2.3 Analytical framework Error! Bookmark not defined 2.3.1 Corpus tools used in this study Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.3.2 Fairclough‟s Dialectical-Relational analytical framework adopted in this study
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CHAPTER 3 POWER RELATION Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.1 Newsworthiness of the COPs in The Independent and The New York Times
Error! Bookmark not defined 3.2 The contextual background Error! Bookmark not defined 3.3 The unity discourse Error! Bookmark not defined 3.4 The conflict discourse Error! Bookmark not defined 3.4.1 The conflict between the developed and developing countries Error!
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3.4.2 The conflict among the developed, developing, and small countries Error!
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CHAPTER 4 THE DEVELOPED COUNTRIES’ RESPONSIBILITY FOR CLIMATE CHANGE Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.1 The developed countries‟ responsibility for climate change Error! Bookmark
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4.2 The developed countries‟ responsibility for climate change is a possibility, not a
reality Error! Bookmark not defined 4.3 The developed countries‟ attitudes towards their responsibility Error!
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Trang 75.2 The developing countries‟ attitudes towards their responsibility Error!
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5.3 The developing countries‟ demands Error! Bookmark not defined.
CONCLUSION Error! Bookmark not defined.
1 Recapitulation Error! Bookmark not defined.
2 Implications Error! Bookmark not defined 2.1 Theoretical implications Error! Bookmark not defined 2.2 Methodological implications Error! Bookmark not defined 2.3 Practical implications Error! Bookmark not defined 2.3.1 For the media Error! Bookmark not defined 2.3.2 For education Error! Bookmark not defined.
3 Limitations Error! Bookmark not defined.
4 Suggestions for further research Error! Bookmark not defined.
REFERENCES CLXXVII APPENDIX CLXXII
Trang 8CLXXII
INTRODUCTION
1 Rationale for the study
This research work originated in our interest in the climate change issues and the applicability of critical discourse analysis in exploring the manipulative power exercised through media discourse on climate change
Climate change has been considered one of the most crucial challenges that faces every nation of the world today (see Betsill and Bulkeley, 2004; de Blij, 2005; Dow and Downing, 2007; Hoffman and Woody, 2008; Held, Theros and Fane-Hervey, 2011; Singer, 2011; Filho and Manolas, 2012; Klein, 2014; Dunlap and Brulle, 2015; to name but a few) It has adversely affected the lives of all people, regardless of their socio-economic status As a globally comprehensive response to climate change, the annual United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change‟s (UNFCCC) Conferences of the Parties (COPs) – the biggest
international climate conferences - have been going on for over twenty years now Every year, assurances are said and expectations are raised but only partial solutions are produced and little is achieved in terms of concrete tangible outcomes As the world is becoming ever more polarized between the developed and the developing countries, the rich and the poor countries, even among the rich developed countries themselves and among the developing countries themselves, more and more parties with conflicting interests and benefits are joining the negotiation table at the climate conferences Particularly, when the issues of responsibility distribution and economic contribution have become more apparent on the agenda of the conferences, such conflicting interests and benefits have contributed to the increased complexity and complication of the contested global debates about climate change issues Certainly, such a pivotal issue in such a lengthy process involving so many governments and people must definitely resort to particular
Trang 9CLXXIII
linguistic and discursive means in the media to justify the different parties‟ interests, attitudes and behaviors in ways that they appear fair on the one hand and avoid or delay taking action for their own benefits on the other hand The situation inspires
us to conduct this research to uncover how media language has been manipulated to convey the power relation between the developed and developing countries as well
as their responsibilities for climate change
As the climate change debate has become such a globally sophisticated arena, multiple voices are getting heard Among them, linguists have delved into the analyses of rhetorical devices, discourse strategies, metaphors, framing, and other
aspects of text and talk on climate change Typical examples include Arnal et al
(2014), Boykoff and Boykoff (2004, 2007), Carvalho (2005, 2007), Doulton and Brown (2009), Ereaut and Segnit (2006), Grundmann and Krishnamurthy (2010), Moser and Dilling (2004, 2007), Nerlich and Koteyko (2009, 2011), Painter (2011),
Thaker and Leiserowitz (2014), Tillinghast and McCann (2013), Ukonu et al
(2013), Wang (2009), Ward (2008), Wodak and Meyer (2012) who have all commented on the significance of the language used in communicating climate change issues Despite such a body of literature, however, to our best knowledge, virtually no study has focused on the linguistic realizations of the ideologies about the developed and developing countries‟ responsibilities for climate change which are discursively constructed in the media so as to interpret and explain these countries‟ attitudes, behaviours and actions at the global climate debate In consideration of the increasingly changing power relations among countries in the world, we believe it is significant to conduct a systematic and critical (discourse) analysis employing linguistic tools with a fairly large sample of media language focusing on the developed and developing countries at the global climate conferences In so doing, it is expected that the media‟s use of language and the ideologies about these dichotomous countries‟ responsibilities for climate change will be deciphered through the lens of the discursive and social practices that embed the language in the media
Trang 10CLXXIV
2 Aim and objectives of the study
According to the prominent CDA scholars, such as Billig, Chilton, Fairclough, van Dijk, van Leeuwen, and Wodak, one of the most significant purposes of CDA is
to decode the ideology embedded in language use Considering discourse a form of social practice, critical discourse analysts attempt to uncover the reciprocal influences of language and social structure (see Fairclough, 1989, 2015; van Dijk, 1993) Also, CDA aims “to unmask ideologically permeated and often obscured structures of power, political control and dominance as well as strategies of discriminatory inclusion and exclusion in language use” (Wodak, de Cillia, Reisigl and Liebhart, 1999: 8) It could, hence, be deducted that ideology and power relations are of great importance in CDA research
On account of the issues stated in the rationale for this study and in line with the main purpose and aim of CDA, this study was set out to uncover the ideologically contested power relation(s) between the developed and developing countries at the global climate conferences as well as the ideologies about these countries‟ responsibilities for climate change, which are manifested in the English media discourse on climate change under study In particular, we will analyze how the developed-developing countries‟ power relation and the ideologies about these countries‟ responsibilities for climate change are constructed via the language in
The Independent and The New York Times’ newspapers Therefore, the objectives of
the study are:
- to analyze the linguistic features in the English media discourse on climate change under study and uncover the power relation(s) between the developed and developing countries at the global climate conferences; and
- to analyze the linguistic features in the discourse and decode the ideologies about the developed and developing countries‟ responsibilities for climate change conveyed via the discourse; and
- to interpret and explain the power relation(s) between the developed and developing countries and the ideologies about these countries‟ responsibilities
Trang 111 What kind of power relation between the developed and developing countries
is constructed in the English media discourse under study? How is this relation linguistically manifested via the discourse?
2 What are the ideologies about the developed and developing countries‟ responsibilities for climate change? How are these ideologies linguistically manifested via the English media discourse under study?
4 Significance of the study
From a practical perspective, this research work is expected to contribute to an enhanced understanding of a global concern about the international climate conferences during the period 2004 – 2013 and the newspapers‟ ideologies about the developed and developing countries‟ responsibilities for climate change More importantly, it is hoped that, as a critical analysis of media discourse, the research will help the newspapers‟ readers see the manipulative power of the media so as to become critical in their reading of the news
From a methodological point of view, this study seeks to not only contribute to
an enhanced understanding of how to apply and extend the methodology of CDA, but also to offer insights into the benefits of using corpus techniques to support CDA
From a pedagogical perspective, the findings of the study can be used as a reference for schools and other educational institutions in establishing their educational programs about climate change and critical reading It is also important
Trang 12Social context
Climate change officially emerged on the world‟s agenda at the Earth Summit
in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, which agreed on the importance of the problem and created a framework, the UNFCCC, for international action, although it left actual policy recommendations mostly for the future Being the most prominent spokesperson on the state of climate change(1), the UNFCCC aims at preventing humans‟ dangerous interventions into climate In 1995, there were international talks in order to urge the whole world to respond to climate change In 1997, the UNFCCC met in Kyoto (Japan) and approved of the Kyoto Protocol But it was not until 2005 that the protocol came into effect Under this protocol, industrialized countries are encouraged to reduce their greenhouse gases emissions to 5% below
1990 levels to keep the global temperature within 2°C above pre-industrial levels Although the Kyoto protocol has been widely criticized as a weak and indecisive agreement, it is the strongest international legal framework that the world‟s countries have so far been able to agree upon For the time being, however, there are quite different attitudes towards the protocol On the one hand, the rich industrialized countries in the European Union, including Britain, were pioneers and have achieved certain success in reducing greenhouse gases emissions On the other hand, such countries as the United States, Canada and Australia have been really
1
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, http://www.ipcc.ch/