VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES LÊ THỊ THÙY A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE LEXICAL MEANS OF MODALITY EMPLOYED IN CULTURE AND SPORT EDITORIALS OF COMMENDATION ON THE USATODAY.COM AND THE VIETNAMNEWS.VN FROM 2012 TO 2015 NGHIÊN CỨU SO SÁNH NHỮNG PHƢƠNG TIỆN TỪ VỰNG CỦA TÍNH TÌNH THÁI TRONG CÁC BÀI XÃ LUẬN KHEN NGỢI VỀ LĨNH VỰC VĂN HÓA VÀ THỂ THAO TRÊN BÁO USATODAY.COM VÀ VIETNAMNEWS.VN TỪ NĂM 2012 ĐẾN 2015 M. Minor Thesis Field: English linguistics Code: 60220201 HANOI – 2016 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES LÊ THỊ THÙY A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE LEXICAL MEANS OF MODALITY EMPLOYED IN CULTURE AND SPORT EDITORIALS OF COMMENDATION ON THE USATODAY.COM AND THE VIETNAMNEWS.VN FROM 2012 TO 2015 NGHIÊN CỨU SO SÁNH NHỮNG PHƢƠNG TIỆN TỪ VỰNG CỦA TÍNH TÌNH THÁI TRONG CÁC BÀI XÃ LUẬN KHEN NGỢI VỀ LĨNH VỰC VĂN HÓA VÀ THỂ THAO TRÊN BÁO USATODAY.COM VÀ VIETNAMNEWS.VN TỪ NĂM 2012 ĐẾN 2015 M. Minor Thesis Field: English linguistics Code: 60220201 Supervisor: Tô Thị Thu Hƣơng, Ph.D HANOI – 2016 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com DECLARATION I certify that the work contained in this thesis is the result of my own research, and this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or institution. Hanoi, October 2016 Signature Lê Thị Thùy i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the following people who have offered support and encouragement in all their different ways throughout this study.
I am indeed thankful to my supervisor, Dr. Tô Thị Thu Hương, whose sympathetic guidance has been the source of inspiration and knowledge for my research. I am also grateful to other teachers of the Department of Post-Graduate Studies for their encouragement and valuable advice. My great thanks are also given to my family and my friends who have encouraged me a lot during the process of my study.
ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ABSTRACT The thesis analyzed the selected editorials of commendation on cultural and sporty fields chosen from the American English newspaper, the usatoday.com, and the Vietnamese English newspaper, the vietnamnews.vn, to identify the lexical means of modality employed in the two newspapers. The study aimed at analyzing how similar and different in tendencies of using modality as well as the functions of modality employed in commendation editorials in the two newspapers. The data showed that modality was realized in the two newspapers through modal auxiliary verbs, ‗knowledge‘ verbs, certain reporting verbs, modal adjectives and adverbs, and some modal nouns. From the findings, the research also provided some suggestions in teaching and learning English.
iii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENS DECLARATION. iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.vi LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES.vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. Aim and purposes of Research .5 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. Definition of modality.
Types of modality. Linguistic manifestations of modality. Editorials and classification of newspaper editorials. Definition of editorials.
Classification of newspaper editorials. Editorials of commendation. 15 iv TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY. Types of Research.
Data Analysis Instruments. Data Analysis Procedure. 20 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Modal adjectives and adverbs.
Limitations of the study .XIII v TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.XXXIV vi TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS UT: the usatoday.com VN: the vietnamnews.vn vii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Table 1. Modality through modal auxiliaries in UT & VN Table 2. Number of quoted direct speech & indirect speech in two newspapers Table 3. Comparative and superlative forms of evaluative adjectives and adverbs viii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION The chapter explained the reasons of choosing the research topic, clarified the aim and purposes, raised the research questions, and provided the organization of the study as well.
Justification In this modern society, there are numerous mass media that bring the wide world into each home. Social media are possibly divided into 2 types: spoken and written. The former is always represented by television and radio. Then, the latter is represented by newspapers, magazines and especially news websites.
Thanks to the development of high technology, human beings do not have to spend much time in front of television or radio without moving out their homes. They also do not need to go to news agency to buy newspapers or magazines every morning. By only one click, all the needed information appears on the screen even though they are sitting in a café or in a restaurant. Moreover, with the help of a smart phone, people these days update news more quickly than ever before.
Each minute passes, an event can be received hundreds of comments. So, there is no doubt that news websites play an important role in modern life. They become a means for the writers and readers to share society‘s values and express their opinions and attitudes about the social issues. That is the reason for choosing news websites as objects to analyze.
Editorial is considered a part of news website contents where the editorial writers and readers provide their personal comments on the happening events. To convey these private assessments into the news, modality could be an effective 1 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com means because of its nature.138) claimed that ―modality is a cover term for devices which allow the speaker or writer to express varying degrees of commitment to, or belief in, a proposition‖. It is possibly said that with this type of mass media, modality is vigorously expressed. Because of that reason, modality in newspaper editorials have attracted many attentions recently.
Biber (1998), Westin and Geisler (2002) and Morley (2004) were the huge names in the area. Those researches provided sufficient guidance for the language users to employ modality in their texts. Furthermore, those also became the foundation for the next researchers who would conduct research in exploring and assessing the phenomenon of what happens in newspapers or social media. It was obvious that most of the researches on this subject were conducted in foreign countries or they focused on criticism editorials only although editorials were divided into different sub-genres.
The researchers looked for the use of modality in editorials of criticism because of its popularity amongst all the types. Moreover, this also was a potential area in using modality since this type of editorials aims at criticizing policies and decisions that are considered as controversial by the newspaper staffs. In spite of the fact that the editorials of commendation which commend people and organizations for something done well are not as common as the others, it should be put in consideration because our ancestors ever taught that ‗criticism is easy, and art is difficult‘. It seems effortless for us to criticize someone for what they made, but to crown someone from the bottom of our heart is not as easy as we suppose.
Moreover, praise plays an important role in motivating and engaging people in their work. The more respected and appreciated people feel, the more motivated they are. They will do better than those who think their efforts go unnoticed. They are more 2 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com engaged in their work because they know they are making a real difference.
An interesting aspect about praise is the chemical reaction it causes in us.Arias- Carrion and Poppel (2007) showed that when we heard something we liked, a burst of dopamine was released in our brains. Dopamine was a neurotransmitter, and it was associated with feelings of joy, pride, satisfaction, and well-being, giving a positive impact on the individual. In culture and sport areas, there are many people who are ready to devote their lives for the development of their own country in particular and the development of human beings in general, so they deserve to be praised. An appropriate compliments will be the best present to encourage people to get better results in their works.
Mark Twain ever said ― I can live for two months on a good compliments‖. However, giving praise publicly and regularly might be frowned upon in some cultures. It means that there are different ways to commend someone and each of newspapers has their own ways to express their opinions and feelings. The thesis compared two editorials: an American English and a Vietnamese English with the purpose of demonstrating what English linguistic categories of modality the writers used in complimenting athletes and celebrities in culture and sport areas because many individuals got achievements in those fields.
Moreover, the study was done with the aim of comparing the similarities and differences in employing lexical expressions of modality in the two newspapers. The results of the research could be a guide in teaching and learning English reading, writing and translation generally and in journalism particularly. Aim and purposes of Research The study aimed at finding out the similarities and differences in employing lexical means of modality in two newspapers so that the results of the research 3 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com could be a guide in teaching and learning English reading, writing and translation generally and in journalism particularly. Based on the above 2 research questions, the purposes of the research were: 1.
to clarify kinds of lexical carriers of modality employed in cultural and sport editorials of commendation in the two newspapers. to analyze how similar and different in tendencies of using modality as well as the functions of modality employed in commendation editorials in the two newspapers. Research questions There were two research questions to guide this thesis: 1. What are the lexical means of modality commonly employed in culture and sport editorials of commendation in the two online newspapers, the American English newspaper, the usatoday.com, and the Vietnamese English newspaper, the vietnamnews.
What are the similarities and differences in the use of lexical means of modality in these editorials of the two newspapers? 1. Significance The significance of the study was to explain the similarities and differences in employing lexical modal categories in two editorial newspapers, an American English newspaper and a Vietnamese English newspaper, in complimenting the athletes and celebrities. The achieved results could be applied in teaching and learning English. 4 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.
Thesis Outline This thesis consisted of five following chapters: Chapter 1: Introduction The introduction chapter consisted of Justification, Aim and Purposes, Research questions, and Thesis outline. Chapter 2: Literature Review The review of literature explained some theories which were related to the topic as a guide to write this thesis. It included Definition of modality, Types of modality, Lexical means of modality, Definition and Classification of newspaper editorials, and Previous studies. Chapter 3: Methodology This chapter consisted of Types of research, Data sources, Data analysis instruments and Data analysis procedure.
Chapter 4: Findings and discussion The findings and discussion chapter provided the results of the analysis of the collected data to answer the 2 research questions and discussion of the findings. Chapter 5: Conclusion In this chapter, the writer provided the conclusion of the research as well as some teaching and learning implications based on what had been found. 5 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter provided an overview of theoretical background that guided the researcher during conducting the thesis. Definition of modality Modality has been seen as one of the most complicated areas both in English and in other languages.
It is considered a semantic category. By means of modal expressions, the speaker can evaluate a particular situation in terms of possibility, probability, permission, volition, obligation and necessity.