A Study Of The News Reports On Solar Panels Dumping Case From A CDA Perspective

Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) emerged as a form of discourse and textanalysis which recognized the role of language in constructing or constituting socialentities and power relations in1970s. It mainly examines how underlying ideologies areembedded in linguistic structures such as vocabulary and syntax. Different kinds ofspoken and written texts can be the research subject of Critical Discourse Analysis. Andamong them, news reports in newspapers have attracted many researchers’ attentionbecause of their own characteristics.From a CDA perspective, the present thesis studies ten news reports on solarpanels dumping case from two newspapers, China Daily and New York Times. Underthe theoretical framework of Fairclough’s three-dimensional model which divides theanalysis into three stages: description, explanation and interpretation, news reports areanalyzed by specific analytical tools derived from Halliday’s systemic functionalgrammar (SFG) and Martin’s Appraisal Systems Theory (AST). Tools in the presentresearch include classification, transformation, modality, judgment, transitivity, newssources and reporting modes.After a detailed analysis of the ten news reports from the two newspapers withthe help of the above analytical tools, many similarities and differences in linguisticforms between the two newspapers are found. All these similarities and differences arenot accidental at all. On the contrary, reporters choose the words and expressionsdeliberately according to their own opinions and under the influence of their ownideologies. On one hand, they want to defend the interest of their countries; on the other,they also have to fulfill the responsibility as a professional reporter. What ultimatelyleads to these similarities and differences of linguistic forms and ideologies areinstitutional, situational and cultural contexts.Overall, this thesis intends to help the readers evoke, strengthen and utilize theircritical language awareness when they read news reports, especially economic ones.