A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Modal Expression In Washington Post Reports On Chinese Smog

Critical Discourse Analysis uses Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar as an analytical tool,which explores the relationship among language,ideology and power,revealing how texts originate from social structure and power relations,and how they serve them.As an important feature of discourse,modal expression has always been the focus of researchers’ attention.However,not many researches on modal expression have been done with reference to critical discourse analysis.Based on this,this thesis chooses eight news reports on Chinese smog from Washington Post(2013-2017)as data to study modal expression in these reports,from the perspective of critical discourse analysis.The research adopts qualitative and quantitative research methods and analyzes modal expression from five aspects,modal operator,modal adjunct,modal full verb,nominal modal expression and projecting clause,which aims to solve the following three questions: 1.What are the types of modal expression in Washington Post reports on Chinese smog ? 2.What ideologies are reflected in the modal expression in Washington Post reports on Chinese smog? 3.What social functions does modal expression in Washington Post reports on Chinese smog contain?The findings of the research indicate that: 1.By analyzing the various types of modal expressions in Washington Post reports on Chinese smog,it can be found that there are five types of modal expressions in Washington Post,namely modal operators,modal adjuncts,modal full verbs,nominal modal expressions and projecting clauses.2.Through studying the modal expressions in Washington Post reports on Chinese smog,it can be found that these modal expressions reflect different ideologies,mainly including cultural hegemony,subjective bias,western discourse power and western values.3.Through researching the sample news reports in Washington Post reports on Chinese smog,it can be found that different modal expressions in these news reflect different social functions,that is,exaggerating Chinese social problems,propagating American ideology and power,misleading readers’ judgement towards news reports.Chinese smog problem was a typical environmental issue,which became the focus of attention among western media.There are many ironic and biased reports in western media coverage articles highlighting the negative aspects of China.This study analyzes the modality expression in the news discourse from the perspective of critical discourse analysis,which is helpful to enrich the application of critical discourse analysis in modality research.Meanwhile,the way of exploring the ideology of news discourse by studying the modal expression is useful for readers to grasp the true intention of the news discourse more clearly from the superficial language structure.Besides,it also helps to improve readers’ critical awareness and judging ability.