A Comparative Analysis Of Positive Discourse Of English And Chinese Environmental Public Service Advertisements From The Perspective Of Attitude System

As part of social welfare,environmental public service advertisements(PSAs)aim to persuade and educate the public,raise their awareness of environmental protection and promote ecological civilization.Previous studies have mainly investigated environmental PSAs from the perspectives of psychology and multimodal metaphors.Few studies,however,have explored environmental PSAs from the perspective of positive discourse analysis combined with appraisal theory.The present study,therefore,is intended to investigate the distribution of attitudinal resources and positive discourse characteristics of English and Chinese environmental PSAs based on appraisal theory.In this study,300 English and Chinese environmental PSAs are selected respectively as the research corpus,and the attitude system is used as the theoretical basis.With the help of the corpus annotation and analysis software UAM Corpus tool and Chi-square calculator,quantitative and qualitative analyses are combined to discuss and analyze the overall distribution characteristics of attitudinal resources in English and Chinese environmental PSAs,the specific differences and similarities in the two corpora and the positive meanings embodied in attitudinal resources.This thesis has the following findings.Firstly,in terms of the overall distribution characteristics,the most frequently used resource in English environmental PSAs is appreciation,while the most used resource in Chinese environmental PSAs is judgment.At the same time,the least used in the two corpora is affect resources.Secondly,there are similarities and differences in the distribution of attitudinal resources in English and Chinese environmental PSAs.The similarities are: in terms of affect resources,the least used resources in the two corpora are dis/satisfaction resources,indicating that the environment can meet our necessary needs only if we protect it better;in terms of judgment resources,capacity resources are the most frequent in the two corpora,which is due to the hope that positive judgment of readers’ competence will strengthen their confidence in taking positive action for the environment;in terms of appreciation resources,valuation resources take up the largest proportion in the two corpora,indicating that they both highlight the importance and social value of environmental protection.The differences are: regarding affect resources,English environmental PSAs accounts for the largest proportion of in/security resources,indicating the severity of environmental problems,as a way to illustrate the urgency of environmental action;in contrast,Chinese environmental PSAs use the most dis/inclination resources to express a strong desire to call on readers to actively protect the environment;as for judgement resources,Chinese environmental PSAs tend to use more propriety resources than English environmental PSAs,focusing more on ethics and morality as binding standards to persuade readers to take the initiative to protect the environment;as for appreciation resources,Chinese environmental PSAs tend to use more reaction resources than English environmental PSAs,focusing more on the appeal to readers and their emotional responses.Finally,based on the attitude system,the positive meanings embodied in English and Chinese environmental PSAs is summarized from the perspective of positivity and constructiveness.It is found that positive discourse meaning helps establish a harmonious and beautiful discourse atmosphere,conveys the positive meaning of social development,and ultimately promotes the establishment of a healthy and environmental social vogue.Based on the above findings,this thesis enriches the application and research of positive discourse analysis in the field of environmental PSAs and helps some PSA organizations realize the importance of proper use of attitudinal resources in the creation of PSAs.However,this thesis only explores attitude system in English and Chinese environmental PSAs,but does not discuss engagement system and graduation system.Therefore,it is inevitable that some errors are made in the analysis.Further studies are expected to do in the future.