Problem solution pattern in english online brief news on vietnam=cách đặt vấn đề và cách giải quyết vấn đề trong các tin vắn trực tuyến tiếng anh về việt nam

Problem- solution pattern in English economical online brief news on Vietnam .... Problem- solution pattern in English social online brief news on Vietnam .... Being interested in proble

Vinh University

Department of foreign languages

Nguyen thi Diem

Problem- solution pattern in English online brief

Acknowledgements

The thesis could not be completed without the great support from my lecturers, my family and my friends

First of all, I would like to express my deepest and special gratitude to

my supervisor, Dr, Ngo Dinh Phuong for his readiness at all time to discuss the problems and to give me precious advice, valuable materials and enormous corrections, without which the thesis would have never been completed

I should also would like to acknowledge my great gratitude to Mrs Vu Thi Viet Huong(M.A) for giving me great encouragement in the period of doing the thesis

My sincere thanks are due to all my lecturers from Department of Foreign Languages, Vinh University for their valuable lectures which help me

to orient the topic

Finally, I wish to thank my family and friends for their timely support and encouragement they gave me while I was doing this thesis

Nguyen Thi Diem

Vinh, 2008

table of contents

Page

Acknowledgements i

Table of contents ii

List of tables v

Part A: introduction 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 Scope of the study and research questions 2

3.1 Scope of the study 2

3.2 Research questions 2

4 Methods of the study 3

4.1 Data sources 3

4.2 Procedures 3

5 Design of the study 3

Part B: Development 5

Chapter 1: theoretical background 5

1.1 Discourse and discourse analysis 5

1.1.1 Definition of discourse 5

1.1.2 Discourse analysis 5

1.2 Discourse context 6

1.2.1 Context 6

1.2.2 Context vs co- text 7

1.3 Coherence vs cohesion 7

1.3.1 Cohesive devices 8

1.4 Register 9

1.4.1 What is register? 9

1.4.2 The parameters of register 9

1.4.2.1 Field 9

1.4.2.2 Mode 9

1.4.2.3 Tenor 10

1.5 Textual patterns 10

1.5.1 Problem- solution pattern 10

1.5.2 Lexical signaling 12

Chapter 2 An analysis of problem- solution pattern manifested in each kind of news 13

2.1 Structure of online brief news 13

2.2 Problem- solution pattern in English economical online brief news on Vietnam 14

2.2.1 Headline 14

2.2.2 Lead 15

2.2.3 Body 16

2.3 Problem- solution pattern in English social online brief news on Vietnam 22

2.3.1 Headline 23

2.3.2 Lead 24

2.3.3 Body 25

Chapter 3: some applications of problem- solution pattern in English teaching and learning 30

3.1 Application of problem- solution pattern in the teaching of speaking skill 31

3.2 Application of problem- solution pattern in the teaching of writing skill 32

3.2.1 Class activities 32

3.2.2 Outside class activities 33

3.3 Some suggested activities for the English teaching and learning of the problem- solution pattern 33

3.3.1 Activity 1 33

3.3.2 Activity 2 33

3.3.3 Activity 3 34

Part c: Conclusion 36

1 Summary of the major findings 36

2 Suggestions for further study 38

References

Appendix

List of tables

Page

Table 1.1: Types of context 6

Table 1.2: Cohesion and coherence 8

Table 2.1: Signaling vocabulary in the headline 15

Table 2.2: The presence of vocabulary in leads surveyed 16

Table2.3: Statistics of bodies of selected news 16

Table 2.4: The presentation of pattern and signaling vocabulary in news selected 19

Table 2.5: The proportion of signaling vocabulary indicating problem 20

Table 2.6: Proportion of signaling vocabulary indicating solution 21

Table2.7: Presence of signaling vocabulary in the headlines 23

Table 2.8: The presence of vocabulary in leads surveyed 24

Table2.9: Statistics of bodies of selected news 25

Table 2.10: The presentation of pattern and signaling vocabulary in news selected 25

Table 2.11: The proportion of signaling vocabulary indicating problem- solution pattern 28

Part A: introduction

1 Rationale

It is obviously that in our daily life, people always have needs of communication However, many people fail to interpret speaker‟s messages Nowadays, presses in general and online press, in specific have become more and more popular means of communication A lot of people search webs to find information and one of their favorite places is online brief news Online brief news is said to be a useful and typical demonstration of text patterns It

is where the authors often convey as sufficient information as possible within the limit of news and it is also a place where certain features of language are clearly manifested

Text patterns play important roles in organizing a discourse In English discourses, such patterns as problem- solution pattern, general- specific pattern, claim- counter claim pattern, advantage- disadvantage pattern are most usually used in organizing a discourse Among them, the former is the most widely used According to Grimes (cited in Hoey 2001:27): “both plot

of fairy tales and the writings of scientists are built on a response pattern The first part gives a problem and the second its solution” The role of problem- solution pattern in creating coherence in discourse is clearly realized

Vietnam has become an official member of the World Trade Organization and a non- permanent member of the United Nations Security Council The country has made considerable progress in the world integration

as well as economic growth Vietnam has become an attractive investment destination for foreigners Every day, news on Vietnam is posted on internet with different styles

Being interested in problem solution pattern with a hope to help foreign language learners to have a wide range knowledge of English words and writing organization, and as being Vietnamese, we concern with Vietnamese affairs very much, especially news about Vietnam presented by foreign news

agencies, we decide to choose the topic “Problem- solution pattern in English online brief news on Vietnam” as the theme of the study

2 Aims of the study

The study is carried out with the following purposes:

- To emphasize the important roles of problem- solution pattern in creating cohesion in text

- To analyze economical and social news on Vietnam to see how problem- solution pattern manifested in each kind of news

- To help learners of foreign languages improve their ways of organizing a text

- To suggest some practical applications of problem- solution pattern in English teaching and learning

3 Scope of the study and research questions

3.1 Scope of the study

The study will focus on discovering how problem- solution pattern manifested in English online brief news

Online brief news is a large scale, in the limited scope of the study, only English online brief news on Vietnam, more specific; two types of news- economical and social news are our main focus

The data for analysis is taken from online brief news on internet via the

website: http://esllearning@vnn.vn, in which several sources are presented

such as Reuters, AP, AFP, etc As the title of the study, we will focus to clarify how problem- solution pattern manifested in each kind of news

3.2 Research questions

The study will focus on dealing with the following questions:

- What is problem- solution pattern?

- How is problem- solution pattern manifested in English online brief news

The data for analysis is taken from internet from the website:

http://esllearning@vnn.vn from September to December, 2007

4.2 Procedures

The study is carried out basing on the following procedures:

1 The data- English online brief news- are collected

2 General textual analysis and descriptions are made in terms of textual patterns

3 Findings are organized and reported

The materials collected are analyzed mainly focusing on problem- solution pattern

5 Design of the study

The study comprises of three main parts:

CHAPTER 1: Theoretical background

This part will review theoretical background of the study including theory of discourse analysis, coherence and cohesion in text, register and problem- solution pattern

CHAPTER 2: An analysis of problem- solution pattern manifested in English

online brief news on Vietnam

This chapter is the main focus of the study We will focus on analyzing two types of news: economical and social news to see how problem- solution pattern is manifested in each type of news The statistics of the data analysis are also stated

CHAPTER 3: Some applications of problem- solution pattern in English

teaching and learning

Some implications for English teaching and learning are the main focus

Part B: Development

Chapter 1: theoretical background

1.1 Discourse and discourse analysis

1.1.1 Definition of discourse

Since discourse analysis is seen as a branch of linguistics, the term

“discourse” has been defined in different ways

In 1995, David Nunan states that: Discourse can be defined as a stretch

of language consisting of several sentences which are perceived as being related in some ways While Crystal (1992:25) suggests: Discourse is a

“continuous stretch of (especially spoken) language larger than a sentence, often constituting a cohesive unit, such as a segment, argument, joke or narrative”

The study supports the definition of Cook (1989:156) who sees

discourse as a “stretch of language perceived to be meaningful, unified and purposive”

1.1.2 Discourse analysis

Discourse analysis is a new branch of linguistics, which grew out of the work in different disciplines in the 1960s and early 1970s, including linguistics semiotics (the study of signs and symbols in language) psychology, anthropology and sociology

With any discourses, people need to analyze to understand its messages All linguists from the phonetician through the grammarian to the discourse analyst are concerned with identifying regularities and patterns in language However, the ultimate aim of this analytical work is both to show and to interpret the relationship between these regularities, the meanings and purposes expressed through discourses

In short, discourse analysis is the involvement of language in use It means it studies the relationship between language and the contexts in which

it is used

1.2 Discourse contexts

1.2.1 Context

It is undeniable that context plays an important role in interpreting a

discourse According to Hymes, quoted in Brown and Yule (1983), “A context can support a rang of meaning” When receiving a message, we need to pay

attention to many factors to analyze it Sometimes, with the same messages, but readers can understand in different ways due to different situations David Nunan (1995:7) suggests a concept and a classification of context as follow:

context refers to the situation giving rise to the discourse and within which the discourse is embedded There are different types of context as shown in

the figure below:

context Linguistic context Non- linguistic (experiential

context)

The language that surrounds or

accompanies the pieces of discourse

under analysis

Elements within which the discourse takes place include types of communicative event, the topic, the purpose of the event, the setting, physical aspects of the situation

Table 1.1: Types of context

The linguistic context is the language that surrounds or accompanies the pieces of discourse under analysis while the non- linguistic or experiential context within which the discourse takes place include the type of communicative event (for example, joke, story, lecture, greeting, conversation); the topic, the purpose of the event; the setting including location, time of day, season of year and physical aspects of the situation (for example, size of room, arrangement of furniture); the participants and the relationship between them and the background knowledge and assumptions underlying the communicative event

1.2.2 Context vs co- text

Context and co-text are two terms that need to be made distinction

According to David Nunan (1995), context is considered the linguistic element and co- text the non- linguistic one While Brown and Yule (1983) suggests that “any sentence other than the first in a fragment of discourse will have the whole of its interpretation forcibly constrained by the proceeding text” and “the words occur in discourse are constrained by their co- text”

In a nutshell, both context and co- text are important in discourse interpretation but they are different The context involves non- linguistic elements while the co- text refers to linguistic ones

1.3 Coherence vs cohesion

The two words “coherence” and “cohesion” have the same Latin prefix

“co” It means “together”, “with” or “cohere” They are two terms which are closely related to each other However, their meanings are different Halliday

and Hasan (1976:4) hold that “cohesion occurs where the interpretation of some elements in discourse is dependent on that of another The one presupposes the other, in the sense that it can not be effectively decoded except by recourse to it”

Obviously, cohesion in texts is formed by cohesive devices It has great influences on the interpretation of a discourse Therefore, it can be called

“formal links between elements (within or beyond sentence boundaries) that makes a text cohesive

By contrast, coherence is something different It is not what is indicated

on a text but what the readers interpret it As Diep Quang Ban (2004:52)

insists that “coherence is the extent to which discourse is perceived to hang together rather than a set of unrelated sentences or utterances” (quoted in

Dang Huu Phuoc 2006 – B.A thesis)

Coherence, therefore, can be considered the feeling that the text hangs together and that it makes sense

To sum up, cohesion in texts does not guarantee coherence; it only serves as signals, guides or clues to coherence And sometimes, coherence could be realized without any recourse to cohesion The differences between coherence and cohesion could be summarized in the following table:

- is in the text

- grammatical/ lexical links

- clues/ signals/ guides to coherence

- is in the reader/ listener‟s mind

- the feeling that the text makes sense

- the reader has to create coherence

Table 1.2: Cohesion and coherence

- Cohesive devices:

Cohesive devices are visibly occurred in a discourse and are factors that make a discourse cohesive There are two types of cohesive devices: grammatical and lexical cohesive devices There are several ways dividing cohesive devices In the scope of this paper, we adopt the division by Halliday and Hasan (1976) as the graph below:

Cohesion

Grammatical cohesion Lexical cohesion

Reference Substitution Ellipsis Conjunction Reiteration Collocation

1.4 Register

1.4.1 What is register?

The concept of register or functional style is defined in different ways

Halliday and Hasan (1976:22) define register as “the linguistic features which are typically associated with a configuration of situational features with particular values of the field, mode and tenor constitute a register” While according to Galperin (1977) “A functional style of language is a system of interrelated language means which serves a definite aim in communication” (Cited in Hoang Dinh Thuy Duong- B.A thesis)

In short, register is linguistic varieties that are linked to occupations professions or topics which are closely tied to lexical selection Therefore, it

is necessary to consider audiences when producing any discourse

1.4.2 The parameters of register

There are three parameters of register; they are field, mode and tenor

1.4.2.1 Field

Field of a discourse is the purpose and the subject matter of the

discourse In short, it answers the question “what is happening?”, or “what is the text about?” And according to Halliday: “field is the total event which the text is functioning, together with the purposive activity of the speaker or writer, it, thus, includes the subject matter as one element in it”

1.4.2.2 Mode

Mode of discourse refers to the channels or ways by which a discourse

is conducted Mode answers for the question “what role is language

playing?” The mode of a text can be associated with the realization of textual

meanings; these textual meanings are realized through the theme/ rhyme systems of the grammar

1.4.2.3 Tenor

Tenor of discourse is about the interpersonal relations between

participants It refers to “who is taking part?”, “how are they related to each other?”.The tenor of a text can be associated with the realization of

interpersonal meanings which are realized through the modality systems of the grammar

1.5 Textual patterns

One matter for the readers of any discourse is that sometimes, they fail

to interpret its messages properly although they know all its words and structures It means that they can not make the text coherent Therefore, text

patterns need to be identified McCarthy (1991:161) holds that “finding patterns in texts is a matter of interpretation by the reader, making use of clues and signals provided by the author” Also McCarthy (1991); Holland

and Johnson (2000) state three main patterns in a text: problem- solution pattern, general- specific pattern and claim- counter claim pattern In which the problem- solution pattern is the most usually used in text organization

1.5.1 Problem- solution pattern

The problem- solution pattern begins with the description of a situation that contains a problem The problem requires a response, which is followed

by a description of its result, with an evaluation of the response or result at the

end According to Hoey (2001:27), “any genre of text, such as the plot of fairytales or the writings of scientists, includes the problem- solution pattern”

This pattern is typically used in persuasive writing The problem is stated and accompanied by some potential solutions In addition, in problem- solution pattern, the key element that marks the completion of the pattern is a positive evaluation of at least one of the possible solutions

Hoey (2001:140) states that problem- solution pattern arises as a result

of the writer answering a predictable series of questions which reflect the relationship between the sentences of the text The order in which these questions are answered is, however, not fixed” Such questions would be of the type: “what problem arose you?”, “what did you do about this?” which would be the key questions, and “what was the result? Another of the main

characteristics of this pattern is that it is lexically signaled In Hoey‟s words

“Text can be defined as the visible evidence of a reasonably self- contains purposeful interaction between one or more writers and one or more readers” This interaction can be seen as series of hypothetical questions the

reader makes to the writer and that the latter answers, or should answer, both locally (at sentence level) and globally (at discourse level) and that may be prefixed and, therefore, known both to the reader and writer

Problem- solution pattern is the most common one which is characterized by the following elements: an optional previous situation, which provides a context for the pattern; the problem or aspect of a situation requiring a response; the response to the problem and a positive result or an evaluation

The problem- solution pattern is displayed in a four part structure Situation – Problem – Solution – Evaluation as the diagram below:

I was on sentry Situation

I saw the enemy approaching Problem

I opened fire Solution (to the problem)

The enemy retreated Evaluation (of the solution)

(Coulthard 1992: 8)

1.5.2 Lexical signaling

A number of vocabulary items characteristically cluster around the elements of larger patterns in texts The lexical signals and specific vocabulary provided by the author are very important for the reader to recognize the pattern The frequency of these signals varies across genres and depends on the presupposed knowledge of the reader

The problem- solution pattern is characteristically lexical signaled either by means of inscribed signals (e.g solution) or inscribed evaluations functioning as signals (e.g unfortunately) or by means of evoking signals (e.g had no money) One or more of these signals serves as trigger for the pattern, in that it makes the pattern visible to the reader (Hoey 2001:140)

Among the most common signals of the pattern, Hoey mentions the

expression “do something about X” Following is typical words often

occurring in the environments of the elements of problem- solution pattern

Problem: Concern, difficulty, dilemma, drawback, hamper, hinder,

hindrance, obstacles, problem, snag, etc

Response: Change, combat, come up with, develop, find, measure,

respond, response

Solution: Answer, consequence, effect, outcome, result, solution,

resolve, solve

Evaluation: Effective, ineffective, manage, overcome, succeed,

unsuccessful, successful, variable, work, etc

Chapter 2 An analysis of problem- solution pattern

manifested in each kind of news

2.1 Structure of online brief news

Online brief news is a type of news that is widely used nowadays It often indicates the facts without the writer‟s opinion about it Typical news is structured into three main parts: the headline, the lead and the body In the headline, the main idea of the news is usually presented The lead is the opening paragraph and usually contains the main idea but in more details And the body- the rest of the news - describes the news in full details This structure is often applied in online brief news Let us give an example to illustrate for the structure:

(1) Headline: Vietnam car sales rocket 83 percent in first nine months

Lead: Vietnamese car sales have rocketed 83 percent in the first nine

months of the year, manufacturers said on Saturday

Body: Sales have shot up to 49,240 vehicles against 26,934 in the same

period last year, the Vietnamese Automobile Manufacturers‟ Association (VAMA) said Passenger car sales between January and September were reported at 10,882 vehicles, a rise of 145 percent The figures were compiled from 16 of VAMA‟s 18 members Data were not available for the other two members The biggest rise belonged to Japan‟s Honda which sold 2,729 locally assembled vehicles, up 858 percent from last year‟s 285 Next in the list was Vidamco, a joint venture between South Korean GM Daewoo and a Vietnamese company with a 305 percent rise in sales In September alone, VAMA members sold 7,683 units, up by 99 percent against the same month

of 2006

(AFP, October 6, 2007)

2.2 Problem- solution pattern in English economical online brief news on Vietnam

Economical news is the news that refers to any economical aspects We decide to analyze this type of news because it plays an important part in our daily life We would like to look through it to see how it is organized and how problem- solution pattern is manifested in it

2.2.1 Headline

The headline is a very important part of each news It often contains the main idea of the whole news When considering any news to read, the reader often pays much attention to its headline Therefore, the headline is organized

in an attractive way to attract the reader‟s attention If the headline is the reader‟s interest, they may decide to read the rest of the news Usually, the headline is written in full form like (1) and (2) below:

(2)Vietnam approves plans to sell shares in Vietcombank in Oct

(Dow Jones, September, 30, 2007)

(3)Vietnam car sales rocket 83 percent in first nine months

(AFP, October, 6, 2007)

In this thesis graduation, we analyze news- in- brief to see a particular aspect of discourse analysis- the problem- solution pattern As mentioned above, the problem- solution pattern starts off with a problem that needs to be solved However, off all 15 headlines of this kind taken into analysis, only 9 ones reveal a situation, accounts for 60% If the headline is studied in separate with the rest of the whole news, no signal of problem- solution pattern can be found In fact, we have studied these headlines in the linkage and in a particular setting of news

Our survey also shows that, there is no solution or evaluation that can

be found in the headline And the situation is indicated mainly via single

words Of all 129 words in the analyzed headlines, signaling vocabulary is 14, taking 10, 9% in which the proportion of nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs are as below:

(4) Headline: Vietnam trade deficit tops 7.6 billion US dollars-

estimate

Lead: Vietnam estimated Friday its trade deficit topped 7.6 billion US

dollars in the first nine months of the year, raising fears of a record year end figure, an official said

(Thomson Financial, September, 8, 2007) Who: an official

What: its trade deficit toped 7.6 billion US dollars in the first nine

months of the year

When: Friday

Where: Vietnam

This lead not only restates the situation but also a problem through

signaling vocabulary: raising fears; these two words tell us that trade deficit

would lead to a problem- that is a record year-end figure The table below indicates signaling vocabulary occurring in the analyzed leads:

Obviously, the body is the longest part in a news story If the headline

is a short sentence and the lead is often a sentence that restates the headline in more details, the body is where the news is informed in full details For this reason, it is where textual patterns are manifested clearly especially problem- solution pattern The table below shows the average length of the news taken into analysis in terms of number of sentences and paragraphs

Table2.3: Statistics of bodies of selected news

As the fact that the body accounts for the largest part in the news, therefore, problem- solution pattern is manifested the clearest in this part The problem- solution pattern can be indicated through the pattern (situation- problem- solution- evaluation) or through signaling vocabulary Let us examine one piece of news to illustrate the pattern

(5) S’pore imports of Vietnam foodstuffs jump as it becomes top global

supplier

Problem- solution pattern analysis of the selected news:

Hoey (2001:26) says problem- solution pattern is signaled by the means

of questions He suggests that written passages are implicitly designed to answer spoken questions We adopt the way to analyze of Couthard as in the example mentioned above to analyze its structure:

Situation (1)Vietnam is the top food products supplier in the world

(seafood, rice, pepper, coffee) Problem (16)Poor quality of products

(15)Uneven quality of goods (20)Exporting countries scrutinize goods for contamination Solution (to

the problem)

(13, 18)Improve goods quality (21)Invest heavy in post- harvest technology Evaluation (of

the solution)

(21)Food product quality will be upgraded

There is a given situation Vietnam has emerged as a leading supplier

of food products – from seafood to pepper and coffee- to the world, including Singapore However, the whole situation is not completely clear in this sentence In (2), (3), (4), the information about Vietnam food products is stated Singapore‟s imports of Vietnamese products increased considerably in comparison with two years ago The reader can see in the viewpoint (5), (6), (7) and (8) the additional information to support the situation – Vietnam is the world‟s top exporter of pepper, No.2 exporter of seafood and rice Recently, it emerged as the world‟s second largest coffee exporter after Brazil At this point, the reader is most likely provoked to ask the question: “what seems to

be the problem?”

What is the problem?

From the word „booming‟, „issue‟, „uneven quality‟ indicated the

situation in which we see a problem is that Vietnamese food products has not reached its higher position for its poor quality

What aspect of the situation required a response?

From point (13) to (18), the reader sees how the situation is; Vietnam is the world‟s top exporter, and our product quality has been improved steadily;

it is not as good as that of other countries like Thailand or Brazil

What was the solution? What was the result?

In point (21), the reader sees (suggestions on how to improve goods quality) possible solution to the problem It is to improve our food product quality To do that, we need to invest heavily in the post- harvest technology

If we can do that, our food product quality will be upgraded And it means that we solve the problem of uneven and poor quality of products In the last point, the reader can also see an evaluation of the solution although it is not indicated explicitly

Signaling Vocabulary:

Vocabulary identifies the topic and the structure of a discourse

McCarthy mentions that when text is read, the reader can “match the words with the segments” and that the reader “can account of what the problem- solution pattern is” (McCarthy 1991:75)

In the following table, specific vocabularies and phrases are shown in how they occur in the news and in what part of the problem- solution pattern they fit into:

Situation Leading supplier of food products, the next time,

quadruple, triple

Problem Booming, quality control, issue, uneven quality, poor

quality Solution (to the

Rutherford mentions about the given – new principle in which he

explains that all texts have “beginning and endings” (Rutherford 1987:68)

The start of the problem- solution pattern with the word „emerged‟ is the beginning of the situation and it is further informed with the phrase “leading supplier of food products” From the word “booming”, “uneven quality”,

“issue”, we see a problem; and from the word “invest heavily”, “post- harvest technology”, we see the solution for the problem And the word “upgrade” reveals an evaluation for the solution In the right column of the table above, there are no completed sentences but just words and phrases that relates to the segments of the problem- solution pattern

Our survey shows that the problem- solution pattern is mostly indicated through signaling vocabulary The table below informs the vocabulary that is used in all analyzed news:

From the table above, we can see that of all the 15 news of this kind

taken into analysis, there is no news that is written without vocabulary but

with pattern From this point, it is easy to realize the important role of

signaling vocabulary in organizing a text, especially with problem- solution

pattern Only through some key words, the reader can see the problem

In our survey, in terms of signaling vocabulary, we pay much attention

to parts of speech that contribute to indicating pattern in text The table below

shows the proportion of parts of speech which are most widely used to

indicate problem in the news surveyed in terms of nouns, verbs, adjectives

Table 2.5: The proportion of signaling vocabulary indicating problem

As seen in the table above, of all 65 occurrences of vocabulary, nouns

account for the largest proportion with 25 occurrences ( 38.5%) , verbs ranked

the second with 21 occurrences ( 32.3%), and adverbs hold the least

proportion with only 5 occurrences ( 7.7%)

Also shown in our survey is that, to reveal a problem, the following

words are mostly used:

Problem, concern, lack, inflation, difficult, dangerous, issue, increase,

face, uncertain, etc

Let us give an extract to illustrate for this fact:

(6) Vietnam faces port capacity shortfall

INFRASTRUCTURE bottlenecks, including a lack of highway access

to a new port complex at Cai Mep, could threaten Vietnam‟s export base,

according to a leading manufacturer, writes Keith Wallis

Jeff Ross, director of global ocean transportation for sport wear maker

Nike, said infrastructure construction on ports, roads, and railways as lagging

behind the growth in container volumes He estimated there would be a

shortfall in port capacity of 220,000 teu in southern Vietnam this year This is seen as a key concern especially as ports in Hochiminh city handle about 72%

of the country‟s container traffic, while Haiphong, near Hanoi, and handle

around 22% “Our concern is even as they build the port there is no

infrastructure”

Creaking road and bridge links in the city dash; the Dongnai Bridge

could also collapse at anytime according to officials‟ dash; are also a concern

(Lloyd‟s list September, 19, 2007)

In the body of this text, there are a lot of vocabularies (the underlined and italic words) that support the problem of a shortfall in port capacity It links information leading to the problem in text and makes the text coherent From these words, we can see that the key problem is infrastructure for port capacity In which, several examples of infrastructure are given They are all inefficient or downgraded- from railway to road and bridge In this piece of news, there are some typical words that relate to the problem- solution pattern

such as concern or problem

We also analyze the solution part to see how signaling vocabulary is used in this part The result is summarized in the following table:

In bodies Nouns Verbs Adjectives Adverbs Occurrences

Table 2.6: Proportion of signaling vocabulary indicating solution

As shown in the table, verbs hold the largest proportion with 17 occurrences (63%), while adjectives take the least with only one occurrence (3.7%) By contrast with problem part, signaling vocabulary seems to occur

less in this part This is explainable for the fact that the body takes the longest part in the news in which the problem is gradually stated At the end, possible solutions are given to resolve the problem It means to do something to solve the problem Therefore, verb is the most suitable adoption to solve a problem Let‟s examine the following example to see this:

(7) ADB lends Vietnam nearly $1 bln for power plant

…Vietnam needs to diversify its energy resources to support its ambitious development plans EVN has said it needs to invest an average $3

billion to $4 billion annually in new electricity generation capacity to meet the demand

(Reuters September 21, 2007) The underlined and italic verbs (diversify and invest) in the example

above give the solution to the problem of building power plants in Vietnam For the space reason and the purpose of this part, only solutions for the problem are presented

2.3 Problem- solution pattern in English social online brief news on Vietnam

In this graduation thesis, we divide the news selected into two types – economical and social news to study the problem- solution pattern manifested

in these two types of news and to see how it is different in these two types of news

This part deals with the problem- solution pattern in social news Social news is the news stories that relate to social affairs that happen in Vietnam since September to December in 2007 Also 15 news stories are taken into analysis

2.3.1 Headline

Like in economical news, the headline of social news is also the part that concludes the main idea of the news story It is often a sentence that is written in a short form like (8) or in a full form as shown in (9) below: