A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Prayuth Government’s Foreign Policy

Critical discourse analysis theory believes that discourse is not only a symbolic system for conveying information,but also an important power to help discourse subjects construct political ideas and identity relationships.The transformation of the Prayut government from the military government in 2014 to the elected prime minister in the2019 general election,prayuth’s transformation not only requires the active actions of the government,but also relies on the power of discourse to build identity and political ideas,so as to change the ideology of the audience and win their support.Based on Fairclough’s theory,combined with Halliday’s theory of functional linguistics,ussd Ant Conc3.5.8 software,selected the foreign policy part of the government work report during the Prayut government period from 2014 to 2020 as a corpus source.From the textual dimension and discourse reflection function dimension,this paper analyzes its discourse strategy,construction process,and its constructed identity and foreign policy orientation.In the textual dimension,specific analysis is mainly made from the level of vocabulary,grammar and discourse: In terms of vocabulary,the Prayut government i n t e n d s t o h i g h l i g h t t h e g o v e r n m e n t ’ s p o s i t i v e i m a g e t h r o u g h " e x c e s s i v e lexicalization",included develop the economy,actively establish partnership with neighboring countries and ASEAN member states,enhance the image of Thailand’s constructive role in ASEAN and even in the international arena,and build an effective,objective and reliable government image,which affecting the ideology and concept of the audience.In terms of the voice system,Prayuth government used passive sentences to arouse the audience’s attention to the best practice after the government actively acted,build the image of the Prayut government’s actionable and effective actions,and strengthen the audience’s ideology.In terms of modalities,medium value modal verbs >low value modal verbs > high value modal verbs,This strategy not only released the government authority to the audience,but also narrowed the distance between the audience and the government.At the same time,it expressed its willingness to take responsibility and further won the support of the audience.At the level of discourse,Prayuth government adopted three thematic promotion modes of parallel,decentralized and chain,which made it easier for the audience to grasp the focus that prayuth government wanted to express.In addition,in terms of macro structure,Prayuth government shows that it pays more attention to strengthening good relations with other countries,international cooperation in the field of security,development of domestic economy,and strengthening economic cooperation with neighboring countries.Based on the research conclusion of text dimension,this paper analyzes and summarizes the identity construction and foreign policy orientation of Prayuth government from the reflection function of discourse:In terms of government identity construction,the prayuth government wants to promote government identity and reshape government image;in terms of foreign policy orientation,the Prayuth government is committed to maintaining regional stability and promoting economic cooperation;advocating ASEAN unity and emphasizing Thailand’s role;emphasizing their role on the world stage.However,whether in the construction of government identity or the orientation of foreign policy,the Prayuth’s government is always based on the view of national interests,safeguarding its own interests and seeking the realization of interests.