| National image has an important role in influencing the cohesion and sense of belonging of its people.It can also influence the evaluation of other countries and nationalities for the government,people,spirit and material products of a country.Nowadays,the news coverage of the government portal website is an important window for constructing a good national image.Vietnam is one of the five countries most affected by climate change worldwide.For Vietnam,the response to and governance of climate change is an important issue that the Vietnamese government must both organize its people to face together and actively maintain communication with the international community.This study will take the Discourse-Historical Approach as the theoretical framework,the corpus software Ant Conc4.2.0 as the tool,and the climate change related news coverage as research objects,in order to conduct discourse analysis of the news coverage of climate change.It mainly focuses on the national image constructed by Vietnam,corresponding discursive strategies and sociopolitical and historical background,aiming to have a deeper understanding of Vietnam.This paper adopts Wodak’s Discourse-Historical Approach as the theoretical framework,selects 214 pieces of news coverage on climate change on Vietnam Government News Network from 2008 to 2022 as the materials to build a small corpus.Through a corpus-based quantitative and qualitative research method,this paper will analyze from three aspects: content,discursive strategies,and sociopolitical and historical background.The main findings of this study are as follows:In the aspect of discourse content,these climate change related news coverage mainly contained three prominent topics: internal government action,international government action and emphasis on seriousness of climate change.Through these contents,this paper finds that Vietnam’s national image constructed is mainly positive.The national image constructed by Vietnam mainly has the following characteristics: In terms of politics,it is a national image concerning with people’s livelihood and acting proactively,keeping responsible,pragmatic,fair and open,and with firm implementation and steady development in internal affairs,while having good-neighborliness and face difficulties together,assuming obligations and making efforts unremittingly,and actively participating in and vigorously promoting global communication and cooperation in foreign affairs.In terms of society,it is a national image with strong social cohesion,good social security and stability,and high morale of the people.In terms of culture,it is a national image advancing constantly in scientific and technological and adhering to sustainable and innovative development.In terms of economy and ecology,Vietnam has constructed a national image of weak economic strength and severe climate problems.In the aspect of discursive strategies,the five main discourse strategies in Wodak’s historical discourse analysis theory are widely used.“Nomination” is mainly used to construct an “in-group” relationship between the Vietnamese government and the people,or between Vietnam and other countries or organizations.“Predication” is mainly used to highlight the value of Vietnam’s international aid in the process of climate governance,the value of its own efforts,and the prospect of good results in climate governance.Three“topoi” of “Argumentation”,“usefulness/advantage”,“danger/threat” and“responsibility”,were used.The use of “Perspectivization” is reflected in the speeches of government officials and experts.“Intensification/Mitigation” is reflected in the use of different modal verbs.In the aspect of sociopolitical and historical background,grim situation of climate change,dilemma of global climate governance cooperation and the local conditions of Vietnam as a developing country in urgent need of development are the three fundamental factors that have prompted Vietnam to construct a good national image under the condition of presenting the objective facts as much as possible. |
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