VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -------***-------- ĐINH THỊ VÂN ANH A MULTIMODAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF TOYOTA PRINT ADVERTISEMENT (Phân tích diễn ngôn đa phương tiện đối với quảng cáo in của công ty Toyota) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201.02 HANOI – 2018 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Vietnam national university Hanoi University of languages and international studies Faculty of Post-graduate studies -------*****-------- ĐINH THỊ VÂN ANH A MULTIMODAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF TOYOTA PRINT ADVERTISEMENT (Phân tích diễn ngôn đa phương tiện đối với quảng cáo in của công ty Toyota) M. Minor Programme Thesis Field : English Linguistics Code : 8220201. NGUYỄN THỊ THU HÀ HANOI – 2018 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 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. i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 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.” ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.advertisements 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 iii (LUAN.advertisements TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. 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. The planet‟s favorite hybrid Image 3. Go Prius Image 4.
Aim: zero emissions Image 5. Myth iv (LUAN.advertisements TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.advertisements TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND IMAGES. Rationale of the study.
Objectives of the study. Scope of the study. Methods of the study. Significance of the study.
Organization of the thesis. 6 CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW. Multimodal Discourse Analysis. Advertisements and Multimodal Discourse Analysis in advertisements 10 1.
Kress and Van Leeuwen‟s grammar of visual design framework. Halliday‟s functional grammar. 18 CHAPTER II: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. Data of the study and some contextual background .advertisements TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.advertisements CHAPTER III: DATA ANALYSIS, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION…25 3.
Findings and discussions. 37 CHAPTER IV: CONCLUSION. Summary of the study. Limitations of the study.
Suggestions for further study .advertisements TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. 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.
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 (LUAN.advertisements 1 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.advertisements 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, (LUAN.advertisements 2 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.advertisements 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. 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. 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.advertisements 3 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.
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. 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.
Organization of the thesis This study is divided into 3 parts: Part I: Introduction (LUAN.advertisements 4 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.advertisements 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. Findings and Discussion This section represents the results of the study and a discussion of how to clarify the data analysis.
Conclusion The last part provides a brief summary of the study, several limitations as well as suggestions of further research on the same topic.advertisements 5 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter is devoted to the theoretical background and literature review of the study.