VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ PHƯƠNG THẢO GENDER ISSUE IN ENGLISH NEWSPAPER DISCOURSE – CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS VẤN ĐỀ GIỚI TRONG DIỄN NGÔN BÁO CHÍ TIẾNG ANH – PHÂN TÍCH DIỄN NGÔN PHÊ PHÁN M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201.01 HANOI - 2017 i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ PHƯƠNG THẢO GENDER ISSUES IN ENGLISH NEWSPAPER DISCOURSE – CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS VẤN ĐỀ GIỚI TRONG DIỄN NGÔN BÁO CHÍ TIẾNG ANH – PHÂN TÍCH DIỄN NGÔN PHÊ PHÁN M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201. Hà Cẩm Tâm HANOI - 2017 ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I hereby declare that the thesis, entitled “Gender issues in English newspaper discourse – Critical Discourse Analysis” has been carried out in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Art at the University of Languages and International Studies.
This work is original and all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. Hanoi – 2017 Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS During the period of completing the Master thesis, the author has received the support of a great number of people. First and foremost, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Ha Cam Tam, my supervisor, who has generously given me insightful guidance and valuable feedback during the process of carrying out the thesis, without which this thesis would be far from completed.
I would also like to give my sincere gratitude to all of the lecturers at ULIS –VNU, Hanoi for their scholarly knowledge and enthusiasm in their lectures. My profound thanks are also to all my friends and classmates in the cohort 23, who have always stayed by my side, given me constructive comments and perked me up every time I need. Last but not least, my heartfelt thanks go to my family for their immeasurable support and continual encouragement. The Master thesis could not have been fulfilled without them.
ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT This study is an attempt to investigate the manifestation of gender issue in online media coverage from October 1, 2014 to October 5, 2014. For this study, the researcher focuses on analyzing some linguistic features – the way men and women are reported in newspaper and how noun phrases are used to decode them in an effort to delineate the difference in the representations of men and women. With the purpose of discerning the underlying ideologies of the reporters, Caldas-Coulthard‗s framework (1995) and the power and access theory given by Van Dijk (1995) were used to analyze the articles. The research approach is based on critical discourse analysis in combination with methods of quantitative and qualitative content analysis.
The findings reveal that there was under-representation and inequality mainly towards women in English online newspaper. Women had fewer chances to raise their voices and the ones who can be considered as a news sources belonged to powerless categories. Moreover, women are often named as new actors with more frequency of first name, family relationship and shorter jobs titles. It is suggested that gender equality is still a controversial issue in English newspaper discourse.
iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Numbers of women and men in the power group. 27 Table 2: Nominal groups attributed to women. 35 Table 3: Nominal groups attributed to men. 35 Figure 1: Representation of the power groups.
25 Figure 2: Representation of women in different groups. 28 Figure 3: Representation of men in different groups. 30 Figure 4: Representation of women and men in political positions. 32 Figure 5: Representation of women and men in positions of high officials.
32 Figure 6: Representation of women and men in professionals positions. 32 Figure 7: Representation of women and men in positions of ordinary people32 Figure 8: Representation of female and male news sources. 34 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES.
iv PART A: INTRODUCTION. Rationale of the research. Scope of the research. Aim and objective of the research.
Significant of the research. Organization of the research. 6 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW. An overview of CDA.
The definitions of CDA. Principles of CDA. Van Dijk‘s socio-cognitive approach. Fairclough‘s systemic functional grammar approach.
Fairclough‘s three-dimension framework of CDA. Feminist critical discourse analysis. Error! Bookmark not defined. Carmen Rosa Calsdas-Coulthard.
Error! Bookmark not defined. Overview of related studies. 15 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY AND ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES. 17 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Power and access. Naming new actors. Data analysis procedure. 22 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS.
Power and Access. Naming New Actors. A summary of the findings. Limitation and recommendation for further studies.
I Appendix 1: List of articles from The Guardian, The Independent and The Telegraph. I Appendix 2: Categories of men and women whose voices are reported. V Appendix 3: Women and men when naming new actors. VIII Appendix 4: A sample of an article .XII vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1.
Rationale of the research Recently, the concern of linguistics in discourse is shifting from the structure of language to language in use, which means the emphasis is now on how texts can be understood in social processes. Language, therefore, is no longer seen as merely reflecting our reality but as central to creating reality. As a matter of fact, our words are never neutral because they carry the power that reflects the interests of those who speak or write them (Fiske, 1994; Fowler et. Media form an important part of social and cultural life.
Their importance stems not only from their ability to produce a large number of language and at the same time, speak to mass audiences through the press, the radio and the television broadcasting and the Internet, but also from their ability to present news, which is perceived as the center of media content (Bell, 1991:1) Since the production of media language is so large and approached by many, the language of media has been studied by many researchers with a focus on particular types of media. From a general point of view, analyses of media language are carried out within varieties of disciplines, ranging from linguistics and discourse to semiotics, sociology and communication studies (Bell, 1991:5). Those researchers concern themselves with particular issues such as the media‘s influence on language in wider language society, the reflection of wider society and culture in media language, and the effect of media language on attitudes and opinions in society (how it is used for presenting people and issues) (Bell, 1991:4) 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com In the case of this particular research, the analysis of media language is restricted only to newspaper language. Adopting a gender perspective, the provided research reveals a way of using language for making gender differences.
Scope of the research In this study‘s scope, gender issue is analyzed via the number of the women and men‘s voices that were reported and the use of noun phrases to introduce both genders in chosen thirty pieces of news. Caldas-Coulthard‗s framework is applied to discover the power relations and access to news discourse between two genders and if there is an under- representation toward the women or not. Then, next section, will explore the use of noun phases listed. In this study, I would give spotlight on the online news reports from October 1, 2014 to October 5, 2014.
I am well aware that the wider the range of data achieved, the more reliable the study result will be. Nevertheless, due to the constraint of time and the limited length of a minor thesis, in this study, not many news reports were probed, but just thirty from The Guardian, The Independence and The Telegraph. As this is a pure linguistic study, the author is not, by any means or in any way, expressing her own political point of view. Aim and objective of the research The study primarily aims to analyze gender issues under the light of critical discourse analysis.
To achieve this aim, the following objectives were set: 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com to investigate the manner in which men and women are approached and represented in the media discourse. to explore the journalists‘ underlying ideologies via analyzing the lexical features of the news reports, from which revealing a close relationship between ideologies and media language. In order to realize these objectives, the study is intended to answer the following questions: How differently were men and women reported in the discourse of the news agencies? How is gender issue conveyed in term of using of noun phrases to name the actors in newspaper? 4. Significant of the research This study is expected to provide theoretical and practical benefits.
In relation to theoretical benefit, the findings of this study are expected to enrich the knowledge about critical discourse analysis. In relation to practical benefits, the study and its findings are hopefully useful for the researchers and readers on building critical awareness towards the news which is seen in daily life. Research methodology Approach The methodological approach is built entirely on the foundation of discourse analysis. The research method involves a quantitative and qualitative content analysis.
Within this area of investigation, Caldas-Coulthard‗s framework (1995) will be combined the power and access theory given by Van Dijk (1995). 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Data collection This paper takes thirty authentic news reports written in English from British news agencies, among which ten are from The Guardian, and another ten are collected from The Independent and the last ten‘s origin is from The Telegraph. The average length of these articles is from 700 to 1000 words. The articles in the research are selected in a range of time from October 1, 2014 to October 5, 2014.
For further description of the research method, see chapter 2. Organization of the research The study consists of three parts. They are: Part A – Introduction – presents the rationale, scope, aim and objectives, significance, general methodology, and design of the study. Part B – Development – constitutes the main part and consists of three chapters.
Chapter 1: Literature review First, this chapter gives an overview of CDA – its definitions, principles and approaches. Then Van Dijk‘s socio-cognitive approach, Fairclough‘s three- dimensional framework and some of feminism critical discourse analysts are concerned in this chapter. Finally, the overview of related studies is also presented in the chapter. Chapter 2: Methodology and analytical procedures In this chapter, the methodology and data analysis procedures are mentioned.
Chapter 3: 4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com This sector gives the findings and discussions of the study. Part C – Conclusion – summarizes the main findings of the study, draws the common and different features in terms of power relations and naming. Then suggestions for further research are offered. 5 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter discusses linguistic theories consisting of critical discourse analysis (CDA) and feminist critical discourse analysis.
The researcher mentions the approaches of CDA that are Van Dijk‘s socio-cognitive approach and Fairclough‘s systemic functional grammar approach. Furthermore, this chapter provides the previous related studies from research experts.