A Study On The Stylistic Features Of English News Headlines Of China Daily Based On Foregrounding Theory

As the eye of a news report,a headline is the important part of a piece of news.Foregrounding can provide a theoretical basis for the interpretation of literary and non-literary texts,while the majority of scholars investigate the stylistic features of English news headlines in the framework of rhetoric.However,this thesis studies the relationship between language form and meaning from the perspective of foregrounding theory,aiming to systematically summarize the rules of stylistic features of English news headlines.This thesis takes English news headlines of China Daily in 2016 as the data,combining qualitative analysis with frequency counting.From qualitative deviation and quantitative deviance,the author investigates the stylistic features and functions of English news headlines at graphological,phonological,lexical,syntactical and semantic levels.Therefore,the author attempts to answer the following three questions: 1.What is the distribution of stylistic features of English news headlines? 2.In what ways are stylistic features used from the perspective of foregrounding theory in English news headlines? 3.What are the functions of stylistic features in English news headlines based on foregrounding theory?After research,the author has found that the distribution of stylistic features of English news headlines is basically consistent with the rules generalized by previous researchers in terms of graphology,lexicology and syntax.However,the thesis has the following new findings: 1.When reporting hard news such as politics and economy athome and abroad,English news headlines use less qualitative deviation devices;semantic deviated devices such as figures of speech that express emotion and attitude are cautiously used.Editors attempt to convey the informative and expressive function of news headlines.2.Qualitative deviation is used more frequently to report soft news such as culture,entertainment,editorials,and news reviews.Editors tend to make use of figures of speech to attract readers,which makes headlines more attractive.3.At syntactical level,English news headlines apply rhetorical questions and imperative sentences.Therefore,the attractive function of headlines is realized through the interaction between readers and headline contents.Through the analysis of stylistic features of English news headlines,this study hopes to systematically summarize the linguistic features of English news headlines,which makes readers better understand and appreciate English news headlines.At the same time,editors obtain a more systematic reference for writing and translation of English news headlines.