A Critical Analysis Of News Reports On Iraq Issues In China Daily And New York Times

Language use is never a transparent communication medium. On the one hand, it is determined by ideology of the speaker or writer. On the other hand, it reflects and influences the ideology. That is to say, the relationship between language use and ideology is dialectical. This view is proved in present study through comparative analysis of the news reports on Iraq issues in New York Times and China Daily. Guided by Fairclough's three-dimensional model and Halliday's Systematic Functional Grammar, the present study is conducted in the following stepwise procedure: description, interpretation and explanation. Through quality and quantity study, we finally draw the conclusion that there exist two different ideologies between Chinese reporter and American reporter, and the relationship between the two ideologies is dialectical.Generally speaking, the present study is divided into five parts:In chapter one, we introduce some basic concepts of CDA. These basic concepts include the definitions of language and ideology and the development of CDA. Then we introduce the layout of the present study.In chapter two, we briefly review the previous study on the critical analysis of news reports. In this chapter, views of Fowler, Kress, Van Dijk, Fairclough and Xinbin are well introduced. And in the last part of this chapter, I introduce the enlightenment I have got from the previous study.In chapter three, the theory of Fairclough's three-dimensional model and Halliday's Systemic Functional Grammar are thoroughly introduced. According to Fairclough, the critical discourse analysis should fellow three stages: description, interpretation and explanation. Some analytical tools such as transitivity, modality, reporting modes which are based on the Halliday's Functional Grammar are briefly introduced.In chapter four, the practical analysis is conducted. The present study is conducted in the following stepwise procedure: description, interpretation and explanation. In the first stage, the linguistic features are analyzed in terms of transitivity and modality which are drawn on Halliday's Systematic Functional Grammar. In interpretation stage, the processes of the production of the selected news reports are interpreted. In explanation stage, the ideologies hidden in language uses are uncovered. And the relationship between language and ideology is expanded. Hence, it is necessary for English learners to cultivate the critical awareness in the process of learning English.In chapter five, the conclusion is drawn. We also mention the limitations of present study. These limitations include that the present analytical tools are far not enough and that I can not avoid the subjectivity. Finally, we suggest that readers should cultivate the critical awareness in reading to avoid being controlled by ideologies, beliefs and values hidden in reading materials.