A Functional Analysis Of Modality Orientations In English News Reports

Systemic-functional grammar was proposed by M.A.K. Halliday and it was completed gradually by other scholars. With the rapid development of the theory of systemic-functional grammar, this subject has been applied in many fields, especially in text analysis.Modality has long been a hot topic of research for logicians, philosophers and linguists. However, previous modality studies are restricted in the study of modal auxiliaries, and the analysis of news report is quite superficial to some extent. News report takes a great part in news text and the features of news report are the most representative. Therefore, this dissertation aims at analyzing the reporters'orientation reflected by linguistic modal expressions in English news reports. Quantitative analysis is the main research method; the statistics are not only scientific but also instructional in helping readers to improve their understanding of news reports.This dissertation comprises five chapters: the first chapter gives a general description of Halliday's systemic-functional grammar, proposes three research questions and states the significance of the study. The three research questions are: 1). How each modal orientation is realized in the English news reports? 2). Which modal expressions are used most frequently to express the reporters'orientation? 3). Which kind of orientation is conveyed most frequently in English news reports? The second chapter focuses on the part of literature review, introducing modality theory from the historical perspective and some retrospective research on news report, especially those applying the functional grammar.The third chapter is the theoretical framework of the research; the writer expatriates on the modal linguistic expressions and modal orientation in detail. The fourth chapter analyzes ten samples selected randomly from some authoritative newspapers, such as New York Times, Times, Washington Post. By calculating the number and frequency of the modal expressions, the proportion of reporters'orientation can be envisaged; furthermore, we could have an understanding of the writing style of the news reporters in expressing their orientation. We reach the conclusion that English news reporters prefer implicit subjective orientation, and finite modal operators and modal adjuncts are used most frequently compared with other modal expressions.The fifth chapter draws conclusions, pointing out the implications, limitations and offering suggestions for future research.