A Comparative Study Of Lexical Cohesion In English News Reports And Editorials Based On Hoey's Model

News English is a functional register with strong generality, including a range of sub-varieties according to different classification criteria. Among these sub-varieties, news reports and editorials have received extensive attention due to their popularity. Many studies have been conducted from the perspective of traditional stylistics or their ideological function. These efforts have definitely deepened people's understanding of news English. Nevertheless, up till now comparative studies between these two news sub-varieties are rare, let alone from the angle of discourse cohesion.As one of the most important mechanisms to achieve textual coherence, lexical cohesion has aroused increasing attention from linguistics both at home and abroad. Halliday & Hasan (1976), Hoey (1991), Liao Qiuzhong (1992), Hu Zhuanglin (1994), Zhu Yongsheng (2001) and other scholars have explored this topic from various perspectives. Among them, Hoey's lexical cohesion theory has shown its advantages in both feasibility and explanatory power. According to Hoey, lexical cohesion is the most important cohesive device and plays a decisive role in the establishment of various semantic relations in text. Hoey reclassifies lexical cohesion relations into nine categories and establishes repetition matrix to illustrate the complex non-linear relationship among cohesive links quantitatively. Though Hoey's model has become the focus of attention in the field of discourse analysis, few attempts have been made to apply his theory to sample text analysis, especially to cross-genre comparative study.Equipped with Hoey's lexical cohesion theory (1991), together with some Halliday and Hasan's viewpoints, the current thesis explores the applicability of Hoey's model in English news reports and editorials by sample text analysis. A quantitative research is then carried out to examine the similarities and differences of lexical cohesive pattern between English news reports and editorials, and to probe into some possible interpretations underlying these phenomena. The results obtained from the present research suggest that Hoey's pattern works well in English news reports and editorials, whereas differences do exist with regard of use frequency and distribution pattern of different cohesive devices.By adopting Hoey's lexical cohesion theory to investigate and compare two important English news sub-varieties, the present study aims at expanding the application range of Hoey's model, presenting a more comprehensive and exact picture of news English and improving the understanding of stylistic differences of English news sub-varieties. It is also hoped that this study can shed some lights on English news reading, writing and other practice for English learners.