A multimodal discourse analysis of toyota print advertisements

Employing the framework of Kress and Van Leeuwen 2006 and Halliday‟s functional grammar 2014, the study has reached some main findings: 1 all the three meta-functions play their roles in

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

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ĐINH THỊ VÂN ANH

A MULTIMODAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF TOYOTA PRINT

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(Phân tích diễn ngôn đa phương tiện đối với quảng cáo in của công ty

Toyota)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Linguistics

Code: 8220201.02

HANOI – 2018

Vietnam national university Hanoi University of languages and international studies

Faculty of Post-graduate studies

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ĐINH THỊ VÂN ANH

A MULTIMODAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF TOYOTA PRINT

DECLARATION

I do hereby declare that this thesis, entitled “A multimodal discourse

analysis of Toyota print advertisement” is a bona fide study done by me

under the supervision of Dr Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, University of Languages and International Studies during the academic year 2017-2018, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Master Program in English Linguistics (applied orientation) in University of Languages and International Studies

This research has not been undertaken or submitted elsewhere in connection with any other academic course

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to express my whole-hearted gratitude

to my supervisor, Dr Nguyen Thi Thu Ha for her guidance and continuous help throughout the completion journey of this thesis The momentous support given by Dr Thu Ha is indescribable and her persistent patience is of

a top-notch appreciation that will be always remembered

Also, I would like to thank to my parents for their never-ending encouragement and extra-ordinary guidance They instantaneously helped through my hard times I am mightily thankful their sincere support and precious effort shown from the beginning up till the completion of this research

Last but not least, a special thank is dedicated to my best friends for their moral support To them I say: “we meet to part, but more importantly we part

to meet.”

ABSTRACT

This study is positioned within the multimodal discourse analysis domain, which attempts to reveal the relationship between multimodal discourse and the underlying social meanings, especially the message of environment protection and the link between human and nature The research aims to find out the answer to how visual and verbal elements are incorporated in Toyota‟s print advertisements to convey the message of environment protection apart from drawing the attention of the viewer to the main product Employing the framework of Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006) and Halliday‟s functional grammar (2014), the study has reached some main findings: (1) all the three meta-functions play their roles in representing the message of nature preservation in the five print advertisements, (2) the compositional meta-function seems to be most productive in conveying the message of nature protection, (3) the verbal elements and visual elements are synonymous to demonstrate the message and the brand image of Toyota and (4) the visual elements seem to be more powerful in conveying the message

of nature protection in these advertisements

LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND IMAGES

Table 1 Mood in clause (Halliday, 2014, p78)

Table 2 Mood and Theme relations in clause (Halliday, 2014, p78)

Figure 1 Main types of visual representational structure (Kress and Van

Leeuwen, 2006)

Figure 2 Procedure of the study

Image 1 Min emissions

Image 2 The planet‟s favorite hybrid

Image 3 Go green Go Prius

Image 4 Aim: zero emissions

Image 5 Myth

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND IMAGES iv

PART 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale of the study 1

1.2 Objectives of the study 3

1.3 Scope of the study 3

1.4 Methods of the study 4

1.5 Significance of the study 4

1.6 Organization of the thesis 4

PART 2 DEVELOPMENT 6

CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW 6

1.1 Discourse Analysis 6

1.2 Multimodal Discourse Analysis 8

1.3 Advertisements and Multimodal Discourse Analysis in advertisements 10 1.4 Kress and Van Leeuwen‟s grammar of visual design framework 11

1.5 Halliday‟s functional grammar 18

CHAPTER II: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 21

2.1 Data of the study and some contextual background 21

2.2 Research procedure 22

CHAPTER III: DATA ANALYSIS, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION…25

3.1 Data analysis 25

3.2 Findings and discussions 37

CHAPTER IV: CONCLUSION 43

4.1 Summary of the study 43

4.2 Limitations of the study 44

4.3 Suggestions for further study 44

References 46

Appendices 48

Appendix I 48

Appendix II 49

Appendix III 50

Appendix IV 51

Appendix V 52

PART 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study

Discourses are produced for a variety of purposes and classified into many types and forms such as digital or print As a matter of fact, the emergence and the fast increase in the popularity of multimodal discourse have downplayed the once leading role of traditional discourse of sole linguistic mode In almost all aspects of life, multimodal discourse, i.e the discourse that makes use of a few modes of communication such as color picture, sound, movement, and language, has become more appealing and more informative, especially in the arena of mass media One clear example of multimodal media genre is advertisement, which has received considerable attention from discourse analysts, who have been attempting to explain how different modes of communication can be combined to function in a discourse

To name just a few, Af Lars Sorensen‟s research into professionals in films, television and photography business (2011) which aimed to find the visual communicative strategies and how the modes as well as the strategies were employed to persuade a professional audience A multimodal discourse analysis of advertisements of Hong Kong charity organizations by Ma Mei Lin Linda (2005) was conducted on three levels: micro, meso and macro to find out the language status of Chinese and English in charity advertisements

in present-day Hongkong Moreover, another study applying multimodal approach is Chunyu Hu and Mengxi Luo‟s research on Tmall‟s double eleven advertisement (2016) which illustrated how visual components serve as a huge attraction to the viewers and effectively justify the composition behavior

by appealing to the cultural and social state In addition, the multimodal discourse analysis in Indonesian print advertisements (2013) was conducted

by Yusnita Febrianti, which aimed to look at how the multimodality of the

semiotic resources in several Indonesian print advertisements expresses meaning of the visual elements and vice versa Furthermore, Maria Bortoluzzi also carried out a study on corporate identity in Total‟s 2005 advertising campaign in 2010 in order to analyze how the interplay between visual and verbal modes of communication constructs complex layers of meaning to enhance the advert‟s main claim

To follow this trend of research into the multimodal discourse of advertisements, the current study focuses on how visual and linguistic resources can be used, independently or in combination, to construct a theme

or a message in print advertisements In particular, this study will look at the advertisements of Prius from Toyota and the overall theme of environment protection

Print advertisements as one of the media genres, plays a vital role in draining attention and shaping attitudes, especially in the aspect of environmental protection In recent years, sustainability and environment protection have become one of the most important factors in conducting a successful business, which creates the green image of the company in more depth From 1883 since the first modern automobile was invented, human only has strived to expand the car industry in order to meet the higher demand of people However, car industry is considered as one of the most air polluting industries That is why car manufacturers are trying to create more and more awareness about its influence on the Nature Therefore, almost all of car manufacturers have to adapt to those important factors and aim for sustainability The image of nature and environment protection can be found

in print advertisements of many large companies such as Toyota or Ford However, the series of Prius from Toyota is considered as one of the most successful campaign for a hybrid car This company used various ways of media including print advertisements to promote the campaign That is why,

the advertisements are chosen as the data of this study, aiming to find out how different modes of communications (here, visual and linguistic) can be used and combined to convey the message of environment protection and sustainability

1.2 Objectives of the study

This study aims to explore how the systemic choice of visual elements together with the linguistic features in the discourse can represent the message

of the advertising campaign Specifically, it is implemented to investigate how the multimodal discursive means are used, independently or in combination, in car print advertisements to construct the message of environment preservation

In order to fulfill this purpose, the study will answer the following question:

- How are the visual and linguistic elements used to convey the

message of environment protection in advertisements of Toyota Hybrid car?

1.3 Scope of the study

This study sought to investigate five print advertisements of Toyota for Prius,

a hybrid car series, aimed at the US consumers The study will scrutinize the visual and linguistic aspects of the advertisements as apparent on the advertisements It, however, does not aim to investigate the producers‟ viewpoints or the customers‟ perception of the advertisement Such interests are often out of the scope of a discourse analysis project

The data analysis will also focus on how the message of nature protection and sustainability is conveyed visually and linguistically Other messages, if any, will not be mentioned in this study

1.4 Methods of the study

This study is carried out based on a multimodal discourse analysis approach which is discussed in detail in the next parts This is a qualitative analysis of advertisement discourse, in which the frame work of Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006) will be used for visual analysis and that of Halliday on functional

grammar (2014) will be used for verbal examination

In particular, for the framework of Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006), this study will analyze the data basing on three meta-functions: representational meta-function, interpersonal meta-function and compositional meta-function to find out how visual elements are used to convey the message In addition, for verbal elements, the framework of Halliday‟s functional grammar is applied with Mood and Theme structure In this study, the author will choose relevant and outstanding verbal elements to analyze

The researcher will manually analyze the advertisements one by one separately using the frameworks mentioned, and then group the prominent patterns to come up with findings

1.5 Significance of the study

Theoretically, the study contributes to the contemporary understanding of a visual grammar framework and how multimodal discursive strategies are used

to convey meaning, in advertisement discourse in particular

Practically, the study provides a chance to discover how the nature‟s images are represented via print advertisements and to raise people‟s awareness about the environmental issues

1.6 Organization of the thesis

This study is divided into 3 parts:

Part I: Introduction

This part consists of the rationale, objectives of the study, research questions, methods, scope and significance of the study as well as the organization of the research

Part II: Development

Chapter I: Theoretical background and Literature review

This chapter illustrates key approaches and frameworks used to analyzed data and related researches of the study

Chapter II: Research Methodology

This section reveals a detailed way to implement the study with the application of different approaches

Chapter III Findings and Discussion

This section represents the results of the study and a discussion of how to clarify the data analysis

Part III Conclusion

The last part provides a brief summary of the study, several limitations as well

as suggestions of further research on the same topic

PART 2 DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER I THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter is devoted to the theoretical background and literature review of the study It describes the theoretical background of discourse analysis, multimodal discourse analysis, advertisements and multimodal discourse analysis in advertisements Moreover, the backbone frameworks used in this study are also dealt with: Kress and Van Leeuwen (2016) and Halliday‟s functional grammar (2014)

1.1 Discourse Analysis (DA)

Discourse analysis is a general term that stands for several various approaches

to analyze written or spoken language This definition is general, but it gives a common idea of fields where discourse analysis can be used According to Brown and Yule (1983), discourse analysis means the analysis of language in use The analysis is not limited to the analysis of individual linguistics forms and it functions in human affairs but it investigates the relationship of the language and the context it takes place It includes both transactional and interactional view to understand the function of language in expression of

„context‟ and the function the language serving in presenting social relations and personal attitudes

“The analysis of discourse is, necessarily, the analysis of language in use As such, it cannot be restricted to the description of linguistic forms independent

of the purposes of functions which those forms are designed to serve in human affairs.” (Brown& Yule, 1983, p.1)

Since the contexts of situation where discourse is found can overwhelming vary, it is useful to refer to Halliday and Hasan‟s (1985 in Butt 2000) show that when discussing text, we are discussing “language that is functional in its

context” (Halliday and Hasan, 1985, p.3) However, it is essential to note that spoken and written language use can be understood more thoroughly if we take into account the fact that both forms very often are used with other modalities The channel of meaning making resource is shaped socially and understood culturally such as writing, image, layout, music, gestures, speech, moving image and sound track which are common modes in representation and communication (Kress, 2006, p.54) The functional use of language as discourse using more than one modality is termed as multimodal discourse In written texts, the multimodality feature is presented with several modes consisting of visual images, design elements and other semiotic resources (Jewitt and Kress, 2003)

In addition, discourse analysis also has an interest in concepts like communication patterns in public institutions, media discourse such as advertisement, television broadcast, etc The ideological attitudes, power and status can be conveyed with the constitution of individual and group identity

In these interests, visual elements are gradually gaining the attention with the research of Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006), Jewitt (2009) or Machin (2007)

In the research in 1992, Fairclough realized the value of visual factors is important to extend the notion of discourse to find out other symbolic fields such as images and texts which are the combination of words and images like

in advertising Then, Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006) have recognized the importance of the visual elements of images such as colors, composition or typography in linguistic structures and what meaning does it want to convey

In recent years, this semiotic mode has received a lot of concerns from other researchers

1.2 Multimodal discourse analysis

Systemic functional linguistics, which has initially been developed by Halliday since the 1960s is considered as a semantic theory of language

Systematic functional linguistics views language in a tri-strata system where language works context-dependently as a whole unit in making meaning with the notion of register such as field, tenor and mode which represent language functions Halliday created the register analysis theory, which recognized the importance of the social dimension of meaning He focused on the fact that the social process produces the language Therefore, to understand the meaning in a fixed context, not only the sentences but also the discourse needs to be looked at (Halliday, 1996, p89) In addition, Halliday also introduced a tri-functional conceptualization of meaning Subsequently, these three functions formed up the language resources of register analysis, which were also applied to the visual mode by Kress and Van Leeuwen later And the mixture of different modes and channels in the field of communication has results in the phenomenon, called Multimodality Moreover, language is also viewed as emerging from situational contexts and different situations give a way for the use of different features of language (Delin, 2000, p3) The emerging of multimodal semiotic resources as common communication mode has inspired linguists to explore a framework to analyze multimodal discourse Nowadays, in modern communication, language users have more ways or modes to communicate or to convey their messages More and more scholars have paid attention to the influence of visual components on the concepts of discourse with their dimension and have made the concept of multimodality broader such as Barthes (1977), Kress and Van Leuween (1996), Machin (2007), O‟Halloran (2007), etc Barthes (1977) recognized the importance of images in deciphering the meaning According to him, “the meaning of images is always related to, and, in a sense, dependent on verbal text.” (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2006, p18) He also distinguished between two types of text-image relation The first one is that the verbal text extends the meaning of the image (relay) And another thing is that the verbal text elaborates the image (anchorage) (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2006, p18)

As defined by Stockl (2004, p.9), multimodality is “communicative artifacts

and processes, which combine various sign systems (modes) and whose production and reception calls upon the communicators to semantically and formally interrelate all sign repertoires presents.” In addition, multimodal

discourse approach adopts the viewpoint that diverse semiotic modes such as language, images, music, sound, animation, etc are combined to multiply the meaning in multimodal texts or communicative situations It also considers how multimodal texts are designed and how semiotics tools such as color, framing, focus and positioning of elements contribute to the making of the meaning in the texts Moreover, it can be used wisely in many fields ranging from place to place like from classroom teaching environment, working environment to theatres, architecture and so on The fact is that in modern life, advertising discourse is also another good priority of the application of multimodal discourse approach Even though many researchers have carried out a variety of study on advertising discourse based on linguistic features such as rhetoric, cohesion, coherence, etc the practical application of multimodality to the analysis of print advertisement still remains to be further tapped One of the most important features of advertising discourse is people-orientation which focuses on the interaction with people by using images, pictures, color, movement, sound as well as music

advertisement

Advertisements function to inform, persuade, remind, influence and perhaps change opinions, emotions and attitudes (Cook, 2001) Moreover, advertising

is a persuasive tool used by designers in marketing It is also a powerful tool

to influence the mind, to improve profit margins and to present trends in modern society This study chose print advertisements as the data of the study since they are considered effective information conveyance tool As stated by

Delin (2000), language used in advertisements can make the viewer to believe

in a “common sense” assumption that one particular belief is preferable by people on general and that belief in this preferable value is entirely cultural

Moreover, Goldman in Reading Ads Socially suggests that “Advertisements

are social texts which are motivated by market shares.” (Goldman, 1992) It

means that advertisements are a type of discourse which is motivated by economic activity Goldman also states that advertisements are also a part of our social lives in which human inevitably participates by decoding images and messages in advertising In trying to understand the meanings within advertisements, the viewers read and interpret all of the semiotic resources involved In the study of Williamson (1987, p.12), it is stated that

“advertisements are message systems designed to organize perceptions and create structures of meaning.” Almost all of semiotic analysis focuses on the

meaning of the images and signs Therefore, advertisers use visual and linguistics meaning to persuade their viewers and constructs the meaning of images and signs values associating with constructing the identities and message

Specifically, in relation to print advertisements in car industry about using environmental discourses and other semiotic resources, Julia Corbett

considers environmental communication as “the various ways we

communicate about the natural world.” (Corbett, 2006) Moreover, this

particular factor of communication focuses on the relationship between human and the nature In Corbett‟s research, four types of advertisements are also provided, which employ environment in different ways like nature-as-backdrop, green product attribute, green image and environmental advocacy (Corbett, 2006) These types reveal the various uses of nature in the production of advertising materials, especially in print advertising and also the relationship between the company and the Nature They are also

considered as a selling tool, a device to draw the attention of the viewers Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006) believes that the images as well as the signs choose part of existing attitudes or messages to portray or to convey in a way that the viewers become recipient of their interpretation of social reality With

a point of view to finding out what is actually used to convey the message behind a multimodal discourse, particularly, advertising discourse, especially

in print advertisements has been carried out

1.4 Kress and Van Leeuwen’s grammar of visual design framework

When a multimodal discourse analysis is complemented, there are five questions which should be answered, according to Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006):

1 What meaning is being made in the text?

2 How is meaning being made in the text?

3 What resources have been drawn on to make the meaning in the text?

4 In what social environment is the meaning being made?

5 Whose interest and agency are at work the making of the meaning?

At this point, it is worth noting that the current research is designed to stay focus on 4 questions from question 2 to question 5 because the answer for question 1 has been clear from the researched context, which is the message

of natural protection and the harmony among nature, human and machine through 5 print advertisements Originated from Halliday‟s systemic functional grammar theory, Kress and Van Leeuwen created another social

semiotics approach to the visual mode In their joint work, “Reading Images –

The grammar of visual design” the two theorists adapted Halliday‟s three

functions: ideational function, interpersonal function and textual function to

decode the meaning in visual data They explain that: “ we have taken Michael

Halliday’s social semiotic approach to language as a model, as a source for thinking about general social and semiotic processes, … His model with its three

functions is a starting point for our account of images ” (Kress and Van

Leeuwen 2006, p20)

Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006) also assume that image, color, music, typography and other visual modes are the same with language They can concurrently fulfill and realize the three wide communicative meta-functions

In their viewpoint, there are many ideational choices available for visual making in visual communication They also think that image and other visual modes have the ability to form texts, complexes of signs which internally cohere with each other and externally with the context in and for which they were produced Besides a particular relation between the producer, the viewer and the represented object is illustrated by image and other visual modes Based on Halliday‟s theory, Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006) use a slightly different term when they discuss the meaning of image in visual communication While the textual social semiotics has the ideational, interpersonal and textual function, the visual social semiotics approach has representational meta-function, interactional meta-function and compositional meta-function

sign-The representational meta-function deals with the way of images represent the relations between represented participants in the picture It includes two processes which are narrative representation and conceptual representation The narrative process illustrates unfolding actions and events or processes of change by analyzing social actions and interactions within and outside the visual frame (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2006, p.40) In addition, narrative representation can be further categorized in to action process including uni-transactional, bi-transactional process and non-transactional, reaction process consisting of transactional and non-transactional process, speech and mental process, which referred to six processes in Halliday‟s transitivity system In terms of action process, uni-transactional process reveals a vector formed by a

depicted element connects two participants In addition, bi-transactional process is a vector, formed by a depicted element, connects two interactors Non-transactional process is a vector, formed by a depicted element, emanates from a participant, the Actor, but it does not point at any other participants In reaction process, transactional process is an eyeline vector connecting two participants On the other hand, non-transactional process is also an eyeline vector emanating from a participant, the reactor, but it does not point at another participant However, the conceptual representation describes participants such as people, places and things in terms of visually constructed hierarchies or social groups in advertisements Conceptual representation is divided into three groups including classification process, analytical process and symbolic process

Figure 1 Main types of visual representational structure (Kress and Van

Leeuwen, 2006)

In addition, the visual semiotic approach also has interactional meta-function

or interpersonal meta-function defining the relationship between the represented subjects (human or not) and the viewer (Kress and Van Leeuwen,

2006, p.41) By this function, the position of the viewer such as social distance or attitude in regards to the picture is clarified In order to codify the interpersonal meaning, the gaze of the represented participant, the size of

frame and the vertical camera angle are analyzed About the gaze of the image, if the subject directly looks at the viewer, an imaginary contact is established between the represented participant and the viewer, which is called a demand picture However, it the subject looks away from the viewers

to another object in the picture, the viewer‟s role will be an invisible onlooker, which is called an offer picture The choice of demand or offer types of gaze demonstrates certain communicative purposes that can be analyzed in particular context In addition, the size of frame also reflects the social distance of the represented participant and the viewer, including a close-up, a medium shot or a long shot These things can illustrate a close or detached relationship between the subject and the viewer One more thing is the camera angle which can signify a symbolic power relation between the subject and the viewer With a high camera angle, the viewer is meant to have power over the one being represented, while with a low camera angle, the subject is depicted as exercising power over the viewer Lastly, with at eye level camera angle, the point of view is one of equality and there is no power difference involved (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2006, p50) Moreover, Kress and Van Leeuwen also provide several modality markers which enable to figure out how social reality is constructed in the image

The third meta-function in the work of Kress and Van Leeuwen is the compositional meta-function which illustrates the structure and cohesion between both verbal and visual modes in the frame (Kress and Van Leeuwen,

2006, p.41) According to Kress and Van Leeuwen, visual images possess cohesiveness which connects different components of the visual to one another and to external elements in the context The relationship or connection is analyzed by focusing on the information value, salience and framing Salience is how certain elements might be made to stand out and to have the viewers‟ attention drawn to them In term of information value, it is

how elements are placed that makes them relate to each other and to the viewer The last one is framing, which is used to connect, relate, group or separate elements in the image In this research, salience, information value and framing are analyzed to find out the compositional meta-function in five print advertisements

Additionally, Kress and Van Leeuwen also analyzed the color‟s features in visual social semiotics approach Beginning with the ideational meta-function, color can be seen clearly as a way to denote people, places and things Take the color of a flag as an example, a flag‟s color denotes countries or unique identities of groups or communities Moreover, color is also used to reveal interpersonal meta-function It allows people to realize the act or meaning to each other According to Lilian Verner-Bonds, author of Color Healing,

“Colors are very powerful and can be reduce or raise stress levels Bright reds are energizing and are good for offices in the banking of entertainment fields Green is useful if there is discord or disharmony as it is soothing Blue

is rated as the best color for promoting calm and pastel orange is goof for gently encouraging activity” In addition, color also has textual meta-function

at the text level Color can be used to create coherence in the text such as textbooks, film reviews, etc The coordination of color rather than the repetition of single color can be also utilized to enhance textual cohesion It can be seen clearly that color fulfils the three meta-functions simultaneously

and equally As Kress and Van Leeuwen stated in their study, “Color does

what people do with it, in making a sign and in remaking the sign in its reception.” (Kress and Van Leeuwen, Reading Images, 230-231)

It is also stated in the study of Kress and Van Leeuwen that any specific instance of color can be defined as a combination of specific values which is value, saturation, purity, modulation, differentiation and hue

- Hue ranges from the warmth or red to the coldness of blue

- Brightness: truth as opposed to darkness

- Saturation: exuberance as opposed to tenderness and subtlety

- Purity: modernism and certainty

- Modulation: are there different shades as in real colors?

- Differentiation: is there a full range of colors or monochrome?

The first and foremost scale relates to the range from the light to darkness in regards to tones Saturation reveals the level of saturation in color, whether it

is high or low, which could signify an intense emotion or a neutralized feeling High saturation may be positive, exuberant, adventurous but also vulgar or garish Low saturation might be subtle and tender, but also cold and repressed or brooding and moody Moreover, in terms of purity, it illustrates the scale from maximum purity to maximum hybridity which shows modernism and certainty Terms like “purity” and “hybridity” suggest something of the meaning potential of this aspect of color The “pure” bright red, blue, green and yellow of the color scheme have become key signifiers of the ideologies of modernity While a color scheme of pale has become a key signifier of the ideologies of post modernism Next feature is modulation which explores flat or highly modulated colors such as basic and simplified colors or colors with various tints and shades The affordances of modulation are various and strong value-laden Flat color might be perceived as simple and bold in positive sense or as basic and simplified Modulated color may be perceived as subtle and doing justice to the rich texture of the real color or as overly fussy and detailed Moreover, modulation also relates to the issue of modality In addition, the differentiation is also analyzed to find out the amount of mixture of colors in the palette The last feature is hue which is the scale from blue to red It shows the meaning of these two particular colors (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2006, pp 355-357)

In addition, it is probably acknowledged that culture also plays an important role in interpreting the visual For instance, when we travel from one place of the world to another one, we immediately recognize the existence of other cultures There is no need to have conversation with local people not even

read information about a place “Culture is what we can see, and what we can

see is also image.” (Blerina Berberi, 2003) Therefore, people find it possible

to understand culture by looking at images and vice versa The connection between visual elements and culture is not deniable So, images as texts and language can be said to embody the cultural system Moreover, images can be defined as cultural products The study of images should guide us to the understanding of culture That is why it should be agreeable that the interpretation of visual images can sometimes be culture-specific That means

a visual cue may signify different meanings in different cultures Take, for example, colors Black may mean sadness in some cultures but it may well mean formality in another cultural context The analyst of visual images should, hence, highlight any observation of culture specific instances In the visual analysis of this study, however, all the visual interpretation seems to be universal, rather than culture-specific

In short, the three meta-functions along with the color features, suggested by Kress and Van Leeuwen, will be a backbone of the visual analysis of the Toyota‟s advertisements

1.5 Halliday’s functional grammar

This research also employed a part of the system of Functional grammar of Halliday (2014) to analyze some verbal elements appearing in five print advertisements It contains Transitivity, Mood and Theme According to Halliday, in this system, the meaningful grammatical unit is clause It will express what is happening, what is being done, what the feelings is and so on However, in this study, the author just analyzes the Mood and Theme to

recognize the choice of verbal elements within the context In term of Mood, which is usually used to illustrate the interpersonal function Mood often reveals what role the speaker selects in the context of the speech and what role he assigns to the reader or the listener

Declarative The PPA won that competition

Exclamative How excellent the winner is!

Interrogative: Wh- Who won that competition?

Interrogative: Yes-No Did the PPA win that competition?

Imperative: You Take part in that competition, right now!

Imperative: You and me Why don’t we participate in that competition?

Table 1: Mood in clause (Halliday, 2014, p78)

The declarative mood occurs when a speaker makes a declaration or claim It can be as simple as “The PPA won that competition.” This mood is often linked to the creation of an assertive tone, which could demonstrate self-confidence or even a self-centered nature The second mood is exclamative, which describe a strong emotion It occurs in a compliment or comments Another mood is interrogative mood Questions are always examples of the interrogative mood and vice versa For instances, “Who won the competition?” or “Did the PPA win that competition?” This mood can create

an atmosphere of uncertainty and demonstrate a lack of confidence from the speakers‟ perspective However, this mood can be viewed as speakers‟ attempt to undermine their peers by challenging them or “putting them on the spot.” The last mood is imperative It is used to express a desire, wish, demand, offer or request Depending on the context, imperative mood can show an authoritarian tone or a frantic atmosphere, particularly if imperative sentences are in abundance or not followed by a response

Theme is considered as the point of departure of the message, which places and orients the clause within its context According to Halliday (2014, p64), basing on the theme or the topic of the clause, the message is also developed, which is really important Theme reveals the message from the speaker‟s or the writer‟s viewpoints Halliday divided theme into two types: unmarked theme and marked theme Unmarked theme normally illustrates what usually starts a clause, while marked theme demonstrates what is less common like prepositional phrase or adverbial group (Halliday, 2014, p74) In this study, theme and mood will be discussed in order to find out the way to choose verbal elements which is suitable and synonymous to the visual elements

Declarative The PPA won that competition (unmarked

theme) Exclamative How excellent the winner is! (Marked theme)

Interrogative: Wh- Who won that competition? (Unmarked

theme) Interrogative: Yes-No Did the PPA win that competition? (Unmarked

theme) Imperative: You Take part in that competition, right now!

(Unmarked theme) Imperative: You and me Why don’t we participate in that competition?

Table 2: Mood and Theme relations in clause (Halliday, 2014, p78)

CHAPTER II RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2.1 Data of the study and some contextual background

The thesis is mainly qualitative-oriented with print advertisements for Prius from Toyota company chosen as the studied case They were issued in order

to aim at the US market, where the Prius became the leading selling vehicle Moreover, when the U.S tries to make an effort to minimize the use and waste

of energy, fuel, hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius has dominated the market over the SUV‟s who once adored every Americans Therefore, advertising designers for car companies have to try to catch the eye and

pockets of many Americans who prefer the “gas sipper” over the “gas

guzzler” (Kotler & Armstrong, Principles of Marketing, 2010) These

advertisements are chosen from the website named: adsoftheworld.com

These advertisements are both printed and electronic advertisements Such a

choice is made out of the ensuing reasons In the first place, Toyota is one of the largest brands in car industry all over the world Moreover, Toyota is also

a dedicated car company in regards to sustainability, innovation and preserving the environment In Toyota website, the vision of the company is

represented as “Toyota will lead the way to the future of mobility, enriching

lives around the world with the safest and most responsible ways of moving people Through our commitment to quality, constant innovation and respect for the planet, we aim to exceed expectations and be rewarded with a smile

We will meet our challenging goals by engaging the talent and passion of people, who believe there is always a better way.” However, it has had a big

trouble when its hybrid model Prius was released and had problem with this model‟s brakes As a consequence, this issue had a huge influence on both credibility and the brand‟s image Nevertheless, Toyota managed to overcome difficulties by launching a new project to promote for Toyota Prius which is

hybrid car series A large amount of print advertisements, billboards, TC commercials, etc has been released Above all, the print advertisements among a number of other Toyota Prius advertisements have proved to be well-known as one of the most successful and classical case ever since they were produced in 2010 Soon later, Toyota has become the most successful car company in the world, having the largest area of car manufacturing In this study, the author chose 5 famous print advertisements from Toyota campaign to promote Prius in the U.S market

2.2 Research procedure

As the title of the study indicates, it is the multimodal discourse analysis of print advertisement from Toyota company For a comprehensive view of the concept of nature which is used in all five advertisements, it is essential to reveal how semiotic modes are used in those advertisements Hence, this study focuses mainly on three meta-functions by Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006) for visual analysis and Halliday‟s functional grammar (2014) for verbal examination In order to carry on the study, the following steps are implemented: