| Since the introduction of SFL into China,many researchers have paid close attentions to it.In recent years,the analysis of news discourse is mostly from the perspective of Critical Discourse Analysis,but less in the eyes of thematic structure and thematic progression patterns.In addition,since President Xi Jinping put forward the “Belt and Road”,it has been strongly concerned by the world and has been warmly received by many countries.This has become especially popular since the Leaders’ Round Table of the 2nd “Belt and Road” Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing.Therefore,the thesis chooses the relevant English reports of main media in China and the U.S.as the corpus to analyze the Theme and thematic progression patterns.The thesis not only analyzes the dominant Themes and patterns in two corpora,but also attempts to explore the communicative purpose and ideology behind them according to their similarities and differences.In this thesis,qualitative and quantitative methods are applied in parallel.The thesis analyzes thematic structure and thematic progression patterns of the “Belt and Road” in newspapers of two countries from the view of SFL.From the prime media in China(China Daily)and the U.S.(The New York Times,The Washington Post)from January to December2019,60 news reports about the “Belt and Road” are picked for statistics.The data are then fed into SPSS for analysis to observe whether there are significant differences between Themes and patterns of two countries.By analyzing thematic structures of the two corpora,the following findings can be drawn.In the aspect of complexity,the use rate of simple Theme is higher than that of multiple Theme and clausal Theme.And in multiple Theme,the proportion of textual Theme+ topical Themes is larger in two corpora.In the respect of markedness,the use rate of the unmarked Theme is higher than marked Theme.Besides,the enhanced thematic structure and passive structure don’t account for a large proportion in two corpora.These similarities have a lot to do with the genre and objectivity of news.From the angle of mood,there are many interrogative sentences in American newspapers.The U.S.newspapers apply more marked Themes and enhanced thematic structures than China Daily,but the application of them has certain discourse functions.The U.S.newspapers are skilled in using time or place components as marked Themes,placing pro-Americans or institutions on the Rheme position and using their words to promote their intentions and attitudes.Moreover,American newspapers put the negative remarks on China in enhanced Themes or sub-enhanced Themes.These remarks have seriously damaged the interests of China and other countries around the world.They can also reflect the ambition of the U.S.to dominate the world and suppress China’s development,because China’s development speed is beyond its imagination.The following findings can be drawn by analyzing thematic progression patterns of the two corpora.In two corpora,the concentrated pattern,the linear pattern and the parallel pattern are used more frequently,while the latter three patterns(the crossing pattern,the derived pattern,and the spring pattern)are used less frequently.What’s more,Chinese newspapers use more parallel patterns while American newspapers apply more spring patterns.These differences might be connected with the differences in thinking between the U.S.and China.Anyway,the ideological differences between China and the U.S.are the differences in interests eventually.The “Belt and Road” is a initiative for China to promote domestic development and advance mutual advancement of all countries in the world.The United States has used every means to obstruct the implementation of this initiative,and has tried to propose a plan to replace it.All this shows that the real purpose of the U.S.is not to oppose “the Belt and Road”initiative,but to try to hinder China’s advancement. |
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