A critical discourse analysis of chinese and vietnamese online media coverage of the east sea dispute

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN ĐẶNG MAI LINH

A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF CHINESE AND VIETNAMESE
ONLINE MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE EAST SEA DISPUTE
Phân tích diễn ngôn phê phán trên các bài báo điện tử của Việt Nam và
Trung Quốc đưa tin về tranh chấp trên biển Đông

M.A. MINOR PROGRAM THESIS

Field: English Linguistics
Code: 60220201

HANOI, 2017


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN ĐẶNG MAI LINH

A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF CHINESE AND VIETNAMESE
ONLINE MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE EAST SEA DISPUTE
Phân tích diễn ngôn phê phán trên các bài báo điện tử của Việt Nam và
Trung Quốc đưa tin về tranh chấp trên biển Đông

M.A. MINOR PROGRAM THESIS

Field: English Linguistics
Code: 60220201
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Hoàng Văn Vân

HANOI, 2017


DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP
I hereby declare that the thesis entitled “A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
OF CHINESE AND VIETNAMESE ONLINE MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE
EAST SEA DISPUTE” is the result of my own study. It was conducted with
scientific guidance of Prof. Dr. Hoàng Văn Vân.
The data and conclusions of the study presented in the thesis have never been
published in any form.

Post-graduate student

Nguyễn Đặng Mai Linh

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This thesis would not be fulfilled without the help of many people, and I would like
to show my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has taught me, inspired me,
challenged me, and supported me throughout the realization of this thesis.
I would like to express my deep gratitude towards my supervisor, Prof. Dr. Hoàng
Văn Vân, for his constant and invaluable assistance without which my study would
be far from finished.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all my lecturers and
staffs at the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, the University of Languages and
International Studies, Vietnam National University of Hanoi whose support and
consideration have enabled me to pursue the course.
Last but not least, my sincere thanks go to my beloved family and my close friends
for their love, encouragement, and support while I was conducting this research.

Hanoi, April 2017

Nguyễn Đặng Mai Linh

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ABSTRACT
This study is a critical discourse analysis of Chinese and Vietnamese online media
coverage of the East Sea dispute from May 1, 2014 to July 16, 2014. A critical
discourse analysis was made to delineate the contrasting representations of China
and Vietnam. With the purpose of discerning the underlying ideologies of the
reporters, Fairclough‟s CDA framework and Halliday‟s systemic-functional theory
were used to analyze the news reports. The study just focused on some linguistic
features of the text. In terms of lexical choice, only overwording was analyzed.
Then with respect to grammatical analysis, transitivity was scrutinized. The
researcher made an attempt to illustrate the relationship between language, ideology
and political stance. The findings showed that the underlying ideologies hidden in
the news discourse revolved around “us” and “them” side. The online media
coverage of both China and Vietnam intended to present the positive selfrepresentation while disparaging the other-representation. In other words, their own
country was depicted in favorable light as a rational, peace-loving, law-abiding
country. Meanwhile, the opponent was portrayed as an aggressor who acted brashly,
illegally in the law-based community.

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
Abbreviation

Meaning

A

Actor

Att

Attribute

C

China

Car

Carrier

E

Existent

G

Goal

Id

Identified

In

Initiator

Ir

Identifier

O

Other parties

P

Phenomenon

Pb

Behavioral process

Pm

Material process

Pmen

Mental process

Pr

Relational process

Pv

Verbal process

Px

Existential process

S

Sayer

Sen

Senser

T

Target

V

Vietnam

Ver

Verbiage

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Interpretation stage ................................................................................. 10
Figure 2: Explanation stage .................................................................................... 11
Figure 3: The distribution of processes in Vietnamese news and Chinese news... 19
Figure 4: The distribution of Actors in the material processes .............................. 21
Figure 5: The distribution of Goals in the material processes ............................... 23
Figure 6: The distribution of Sayers in the verbal processes ................................. 25
Figure 7: The distribution of the relational processes ............................................ 28

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1:The main themes in Vietnamese online news coverage ..............................33
Table 2:The main themes in Chinese online news coverage ...................................33
Table 3: The frequency of inter-related words to sovereignty in Vietnamese online
news coverage ...........................................................................................................35
Table 4: The frequency of inter-related words to sovereignty in Chinese online news
coverage ....................................................................................................................35

Table 5: The frequency of inter-related words to China‟s legal operation in Chinese
online news coverage.................................................................................................37
Table 6: The frequency of inter-related words to Vietnam‟s disruptive activities in
Chinese online news coverage ..................................................................................38
Table 7: The frequency of inter-related words to China‟s illegal operation and
disruptive activities in Vietnamese online news coverage........................................39
Table 8: The frequency of inter-related words to Vietnam‟s legal operation and
defense in Vietnamese online news coverage ...........................................................40
Table 9: The frequency of inter-related words expressing viewpoints on Vietnam‟s
activities in Chinese online news coverage ...............................................................40
Table 10: The frequency of inter-related words expressing viewpoints on China‟s
activities in Vietnamese online news coverage.........................................................41
Table 11: The frequency of inter-related words to China‟s peaceful measures and
strategies in Chinese online news coverage ..............................................................42
Table 12: The frequency of inter-related words to Vietnam‟s peaceful measures and
strategies in Vietnamese online news coverage ........................................................42
Table 13: The frequency of inter-related words to international law and act in
Chinese online news coverage ..................................................................................43
Table 14: The frequency of inter-related words to international law and act in
Vietnamese online news coverage ............................................................................44

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP ........................................................................ i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. iii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................... iv
LIST OF FIGURES.....................................................................................................v

LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................... vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................... vii
PART A: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................1
1.

Rationale of the research ...............................................................................1

2.

Scope of the research .....................................................................................2

3.

Aim and objectives of the research ...............................................................2

4.

Significance of the research ...........................................................................3

5.

Research methodology ..................................................................................3

6.

Design of the research ...................................................................................4

PART B: DEVELOPMENT .......................................................................................5
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................5
1.1. An overview of CDA .....................................................................................5

1.1.1.

The definitions of CDA .......................................................................5

1.1.2.

Principles of CDA ...............................................................................6

1.1.3.

CDA‟s approaches ...............................................................................7

1.2. Fairclough‟s three-dimension framework of CDA........................................9
1.3. Halliday‟s systemic functional approach and CDA ....................................11
1.4. Transitivity...................................................................................................12
1.5. Overview of related studies .........................................................................14

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CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY AND ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES .............17
2.1. The background to the event .......................................................................17
2.2. Data collection .............................................................................................17
2.3. Research method..........................................................................................19
2.4. Data analysis procedure ...............................................................................19
CHAPTER 3: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF ONLINE NEWS
ABOUT THE EAST SEA DISPUTE .......................................................................20
3.1. Transitivity analysis .....................................................................................20
3.1.1.

Material process ................................................................................22

3.1.2.

Verbal process ...................................................................................25

3.1.3.

Relational process ..............................................................................29

3.2. Overwording ................................................................................................33
PART C: CONCLUSION..........................................................................................45
1.

A summary of the findings ...........................................................................45

2.

Limitation and recommendation for further studies ....................................48

REFERENCES ..........................................................................................................49
APPENDICES............................................................................................................. I
APPENDIX 1: THE 10-QUESTIONS MODEL OF THE DESCRIPTION
STAGE (FAIRCLOUGH, 2001:92-93) .................................................................. I
APPENDIX 2: CHINESE NEWS REPORTS ......................................................... II
APPENDIX 3: VIETNAMESE NEWS REPORTS .............................................. IX
APPENDIX 4: EXTRACTED TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS OF CHINESE
ONLINE NEWS REPORTS ............................................................................ XVII
APPENDIX 5: EXTRACTED TRANSITIVITY ANALYSIS OF VIETNAMESE
ONLINE NEWS REPORTS ........................................................................ XXVIII

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PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the research
In modern times, with the rapid development of technology, the mass media,
especially online news are playing an increasingly important role in information
providing. Considered as one of the primary sources of information, news discourse
is generally believed to be objective, impartial, unambiguous and faithful in
reporting events. However, there are at times different versions of the same event
are presented in a wide array of news sources, leaving room for doubt about the
value-free and unbiased information journalists provide for news readers. Is there
existing manipulative power towards media? Does news show slanted views
towards the events? The answers can be found in the light of critical discourse
analysis in which according to Fowler (1991), language of the press is never neutral,
and news reports are laden with values and ideologies. That is the power of media
when it can influence people‟s cognition and form people‟s attitudes and
ideologies. It is presented clearly when there are at times of political tension and
conflict. The language use is manipulated by political orientation. Media then are
exploited drastically by each side to correct their image, persuade people, and gain
their support against their opponents (Nhung, 2012). Accordingly, in order to
understand the true nature of news reports, namely the social and power
relationship, the hidden ideologies, and the way they present people and issues, it is
necessary to employ CDA.
The relationship between Vietnam and China is considered one of the most
complicated, tense and conflict-prone, in spite of the geographical link as well as
the relational intimacy. Efforts have been continuously exerted to maintain
cooperative environment between the two antagonist “friends”; the connectedness,
however, at times has been interrupted by political tension towards the overlapping

claims of sovereignty in the sea. The seemingly intractable nature of dispute over

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the sovereignty in the South China Sea (or the East Sea as it is called in Vietnam –
the name the author used later in the study) in recent years has attracted
considerable attention among politicians, journalists and scholars. For over one
year, the tension has been covered on the media. As a Vietnamese, this issue has
aroused my concerns. Moreover, few attempts have so far been made in analyzing
language use in online news coverage related to this topic of two directly involved
countries. Therefore, I attempted to conduct a study involving the East Sea dispute
on Chinese and Vietnamese online media coverage in English language under the
light of critical discourse analysis to explore how ideologies of the media
institutions construct their representation of reality to their readers.

2. Scope of the research
In this study, I would give spotlight on the online news reports on the East Sea
dispute from May 1, 2014 to July 16, 2014. I am well aware that the wider the range
of data achieved, the more reliable the study result will be. Nevertheless, due to the
constraint of time and the limited length of a minor thesis, in this study, not all
Chinese and Vietnamese news reports were probed, but just twelve from the Global
Times, Xinhua Agency News of China and the Vietnamplus, Vietnamnet of Vietnam.
As this is a pure linguistic study, the author is not, by any means or in any way,
expressing her own political point of view. The study, therefore, does not support
any political parties or aim at changing anyone‟s political stance. It is for academic
purpose only.

3. Aim and objectives of the research
The study primarily aims to analyze Chinese and Vietnamese online media

coverage of the East Sea dispute under the light of critical discourse analysis.
To achieve this aim, the following objectives are set:
 to investigate the manner in which the conflict and main participants are
approached and represented in the media discourse.

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 to explore the journalists‟ underlying ideologies via analyzing the
grammatical and lexical features of the news reports, from which revealing a
close relationship between ideologies and media language for political
purposes.
In order to realize these objectives, the study is intended to answer the following
questions:
 What are the underlying ideologies of each side with respect to the issue of
the dispute?
 How are such ideologies encoded in the discourse of the news agencies?
These questions are based on several assumptions. First, the news reports are
influenced by certain values of the producers, including both the journalists and the
media institutions. Second, all news agencies can reflect different viewpoints on the
disputed issue as well as the parties involved. Third, and as a result, their ideologies
can be different.

4. Significance of the research
This study is expected to provide theoretical and practical benefits. In relation to
theoretical benefit, the findings of this study are expected to enrich the knowledge
about critical discourse analysis. In relation to practical benefits, the study and its
findings are hopefully useful for the researchers and readers on building critical
awareness towards the news which is seen in daily life.

5. Research methodology
To carry out this study, the following procedures and techniques involving both
qualitative and quantitative research method will be employed.
Approach
CDA as an approach will be applied in the text analysis to uncover hidden
ideologies. The three stages of CDA given by Norman Fairclough (2001) will be
used with Halliday‟s Systemic-functional grammar.

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Data collection
This paper takes twelve authentic news reports written in English from both China‟s
and Vietnam‟s new agencies, among which five are from China‟s top three
authoritative media – the Global Times and Xinhua Agency News, and another seven
are collected from Vietnam‟s top authoritative and influential media – the
Vietnamplus, Vietnamnet. The news reports in the research are selected in a range of
time from May 1, 2014 to July 16, 2014.
For further description of the research method, see chapter 2.

6. Design of the research
The study consists of three parts. They are:
Part A – Introduction – presents the rationale, scope, aim and objectives,
significance, general methodology, and design of the study.
Part B – Development – constitutes the main part and consists of three chapters.
Chapter 1: Literature review
First, this chapter gives an overview of CDA – its definitions, principles and
approaches. Then Fairclough‟s three-dimensional framework, Halliday‟s Systemicfunctional theory, especially transitivity are concerned in this chapter. Finally, the
overview of related studies is also presented in the chapter.
Chapter 2: Methodology and analytical procedures

This chapter presents the background to the dispute. After that, the methodology
and data analysis procedures are mentioned.
Chapter 3: A critical discourse analysis of online news about the East Sea dispute
The CDA procedure addressed by Fairclough and Halliday‟s Systemic-functional
theory are used to analyze the news reports to find out the connection between
ideologies and language use.
Part C – Conclusion – summarizes the main findings of the study, draws the
common and different features in terms of transitivity and overwording utilized in
online media coverage of both sides. Then suggestions for further research are
offered.

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1.

An overview of CDA

Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), stemming out from Critical Linguistics (CL),
emerged in the 1970s by a group of linguists including Fowler et al. (1979) and Kress
and Hodge (1979). It was, after that, further developed in the early 1990s by Norman
Fairclough (1989), Ruth Wodak (1989), and Van Dijk (1998). Since then it has
become one of the most influential branches of discourse analysis, marking a turning
point in linguistic research from the purely formal to the functional aspect of
language.
1.1.1. The definitions of CDA
According to Fairclough (2001), discourse, written or spoken, is not merely created
by linguistic structures and orders. As language is a social semiotic, it is, on one

hand, affected systematically by social circumstances, reflecting social structures,
and social practices (Titscher et. al, 2000; Fairclough, 2001; Weiss and Wodak,
2003; Wodak and Weiss, 2004, Jørgensen and Phillips, 2002). On the other hand, it
also affects reversely the society to shape, retain, or change social relationships
(Titscher et. al, 2000; Fairclough, 2001, Wodak and Meyer, 2001; Jäger and Maier,
2009). Therefore, CDA, seen as an approach to language analysis, identifies the
correlation between linguistic production and social variables, or more specific, the
link of power, struggles over power on the composition of discourse. Put
differently, by means of CDA, the traces of ideologies pertaining to power relations
can be exposed in discourse.
By CDA I mean discourse analysis which aims to systematically explore often
opaque relationships of causality and determination between (a) discursive
practices, events and texts, and (b) wider social and cultural structures, relations,
and processes; to investigate how such practices, events and texts arise out of and
are ideologically shaped by relations of power and struggles over power; and to
explore how the opacity of these relationships between discourse and society is
itself a factor securing power and hegemony. (Fairclough, 2001: 132-3)

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Sharing the same idea with Fairclough but specifying in more details the term
power relations in Fairclough‟s definition, Van Dijk, Wodak and Meyer defined
CDA as a type of discourse analysis studying how social power abuse, dominance,
discrimination and inequality are “expressed, signaled, constituted” (Wodak and
Meyer, 2001:2) as well as resisted in discourse in the social and political context
(Van Dijk: 2001:352). CDA is, as Van Dijk (2008:72) compared, “an important
diagnostic tool for the assessment of social and political dominance”.
From these points of view, it can be stated that CDA is an approach to language
analysis encompassing the interdependence of language, power and ideology. With

thorough description, explanation and critique, CDA aims to defamiliarize the
“naturalized” language used in the discourse, then reveal the power or struggles
over power as well as ideologies hidden.
1.1.2. Principles of CDA
Although the pioneers in CDA such as Fairclough, Wodak, and Van Dijk
contributed different methods for CDA, they all shared the same viewpoints of
CDA‟s principles.
 CDA‟s primary interest is to address social problems. It does not rely solely
on any particular discipline or discourse theory but a multidisciplinary
approach and methodology to reveal such problems.
 Power relations are discursive. That is CDA explains how social relations of
power are exercised and negotiated in and through discourse.
 Discourse constitutes society and culture. It means that the language use in
discourse can contribute to reproducing and transforming social structures
and practice, including relations of power.
 Discourse is ideological because linguistic features and structures are not
arbitrary but purposeful in a particular social context. By means of discourse,
power relations are produced, exercised, and reproduced.
 Discourse is historical in the sense that texts attain their meanings by existing
in specific social, cultural and ideological contexts, time and space.

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 A socio-cognitive approach is needed to understand how relations between
texts and society are mediated.
 Discourse analysis is interpretive and explanatory.
 Discourse is a form of social action.
1.1.3. CDA’s approaches
1.1.3.1.

Van Dijk’s socio-cognitive approach

Van Dijk‟s approach to CDA is a socio-cognitive approach. It is concerned with the
relationship between discourse, cognition and society.
Discourse is not simply an isolated textual or dialogic structure rather it is a
complex communicative event that also embodies a social context, featuring
participants (and their properties) as well as production and reception processes.
(Van Dijk, 1998:2)

He emphasized the role of social cognition in connecting the discourse structures
and social structures, from which social representations, attitudes, and ideologies of
social actors are exposed. According to Van Dijk, social cognition, or “mental
representations and processes of group members”, controls how people act, speak or
write or how they understand the social practices of others (Van Dijk 1995:2).
Therefore, he developed a socio-cognitive framework consisting of three parts:
social analysis, cognitive analysis, and discourse analysis.
Van Dijk stated that one of the focal issues when analyzing discourse is to identify
how the mental representations “are often articulated along Us versus Them
dimensions”. He assumed that generally speakers of one group tend to represent
themselves or their own group in positive terms. Whereas the other groups are
depicted in negative terms (Van Dijk, 1995:2-22). From the assumption, he
proposed a framework to clarify such an ideological dichotomy in discourse as the
following:
1. Examining the context of the discourse: historical, political or social
background of a conflict and its main participants
2. Analyzing groups, power relations, and conflicts involved

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3. Identifying positive and negative opinions about Us versus Them
4. Making explicit the presupposed and the implied
5. Examining all formal structures: lexical choice and syntactic structure, in a
way that helps to (de)emphasize polarized group opinions. (Van Dijk, 1998:
61-63)
1.1.3.2.

Fairclough’s systemic functional grammar approach

As noted in Jørgensen and Phillips (2002), with Systemic Functional Grammar,
Fairclough‟s approach viewed language in a dialectic relationship with society. That
is, it “both reproduces and changes knowledge, identities and social relations
including power relations, and at the same time is also shaped by other social
practices and structures” (Jørgensen and Phillips, 2002: 65). In other words, it is
socially constitutive and socially shaped (Fairclough and Wodak, 1997:258).
According to Fairclough (2003), the dialectic relation is realized through three
aspects: social events (texts), social practices (orders of discourse) and social
structures. Consequently, his framework comprises three parts, that is analysis of
text, analysis of discursive practice and analysis of sociocultural practice.
1. Text analysis is concerned with linguistic analysis pertaining to four criteria:
vocabulary, grammar, semantics and cohesion-organization above the
sentence level (Fairclough, 2003). Halliday‟s Systemic functional linguistics
is exploited for detailed textual analysis.
2. As Fairclough (2003) defined, “discursive practices” involves the production
and consumption of texts. Thus, the second analysis – analysis of discursive
practice – is an analysis of how texts are produced, received and interpreted.
In other words, this stage of analysis depends on background information the
participants have, which affects the text production and consumption
process.

3. The sociocultural analysis is concerned with economy, politics and culture of
a communicative event (Fairclough, 2003).
(The detailed framework with three stages will be discussed later in Part 1.2).

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As can be seen, though the three-dimension framework of Fairclough is quite
similar to Van Dijk‟s three dimensions of ideology analysis, Van Dijk considered
social cognition mediates between discourse and society while for Fairclough text
production and consumption mediate between discourse and the social structures
(Wodak and Meyer, 2001).
Proposing a three-dimension framework with a step-by-step analysis and a list of
detailed, concrete suggested questions for textual analysis, Fairclough‟s framework
would help analysts, especially the novice analyze more easily. Accordingly, the
researcher chose Fairclough‟s framework for her thesis.
1.2.

Fairclough’s three-dimension framework of CDA

a. Description
The first stage concerns with the formal properties of the text and focuses on three
aspects: vocabulary, grammar and textual structure (Fairclough, 2001:21).
Fairclough points out that the choice of vocabulary, grammar and textual structures
to make up the formal features of a text is determined by three values: (1)
Experiential value – an indication of how the text producer experiences the natural
and social world, using his/her personal knowledge and beliefs; (2) Relational value
– the aspect of a text that manifests social relations. (3) Expressive value – an
evaluation of an aspect of reality or social identities (Al Ghazali, 2007: 4).
According to Fairclough (2001: 92-93), the text‟s formal properties are realized via

ten main questions with a number of sub-questions. These detailed questions assist
the analysts in exposing the discourse producer‟s ideologies embedded in the form
of naturalized language use. (See Appendix 1)
b. Interpretation
This stage involves the relationship between text and interaction. At this stage, a
text is seen not only as the end product of the production process but also as a
resource in the interpretation process. The features of text and context (situational

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and intertextual context) serve as cues for being interpreted on the basis of a
background of common-sense assumptions (MR – Member Resources).

Figure 1: Interpretation stage (Fairclough, 2001:119)
Interpretative

Resources

Interpreting

procedure (MR)

As shown in Figure 1, there are six major elements of MR, in which a distinction
should be made between MR for interpreting the situational context (the external
cues such as physical situation, properties of participants, what has previously been
said), and for intertextual context (Fairclough, 2001). While the former involves
knowledge of social orders, the latter needs knowledge of interactional history.

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To sum up, in the interpretative stage, those factors relating to how people produce
and interpret the discourse (textual features, context and background assumptions of
MR) are taken into consideration for interpreting the discourse.

c. Explanation
This last stage concerns with the “relationship between interaction and social
context with the social determination of the processes of production and
interpretation of their social effect” (Fairclough, 2001:21-22). These social
determinations and effects are mediated by MR: that is social structures shape MR
while MR in turn shapes discourses; and discourses sustain or change MR, which in
turn sustains or changes structures.
At this stage, usually the underlying ideological perspectives are exposed.
Figure 2: Explanation stage (Fairclough, 2001:119)

1.3.

Halliday’s systemic functional approach and CDA

Systemic functional grammar (SFG) is an approach to language in which language
use, instead of being the arbitrary selection, seems to be purposeful in a particular
social context. By means of systemic functional approach, formal features of a text
are analyzed to discover the producer‟s purposes in employing a particular linguistic
choice, from which the ideologies and the social structures as well as struggles
hidden in the discourse might be unravelled. This is actually what critical discourse
analysts do and, therefore, that is the reason why this approach is normally applied
in doing a CDA.

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In Systemic functional linguistics, language is structured to perform three
metafunctions:


Ideational metafunction: serves to express both people‟s experience of the
outside world and their inner world of consciousness. Halliday and
Matthiessen (2013) categorized ideational metafunction into experiential and
logical metafunction, of which the former deals with representing
experiences, our perceptions of the natural world (Thompson, 2004:39;
Halliday and Matthiessen, 2013:30). It deals with the question “What is
going on?” and is realized through transitivity system that construes the
world of experience into six process types.

 Interpersonal metafunction: is about the social world in which the
relationship between speakers and hearers is focused. It is concerned with
clauses as exchange. Speakers can use language expressions to convey their
comments, attitudes, evaluations and to set up, maintain or change social
relationship of interlocutors. Helping to find the answer for the question
“How do we use language to exchange?”, it is realized mainly through mood
and modality.
 The textual metafunction: is about the verbal world, especially the flow of
information in a text. It involves the creation of a text, or more specifically, it
deals with creating relevance between parts of what is being said and between
the text and context. When people are talking about their experience of the
world or interacting with other people, they should make the conveyed
message into a coherent whole. The question “How is the content of the text
organized?” via Theme/Rheme system can help recognize the thematic
structure.

1.4.

Transitivity

Transitivity, in essence, construes the world of experience into a finite set of process
types. It is a part of the ideational function of clause. The “processes” (related to
physical or not, state or relation) are the product of our conception of the world or
our viewpoints that are transferred through language (Halliday, 1970 cited in Zhang,

12


2014). Thus, the selection of “processes” in a text can be ideologically significant.
Transitivity is employed to help identify what social, cultural, ideological and
political factors determine the selection of process types in a particular discourse
(Fairclough, 2001; Mayr, 2008:18-20). In other words, transitivity is seen as a
useful analytic means helping unravel the writer‟s underlying meanings and
motivations behind particular linguistic realizations.
The system of transitivity consists of different process types (actions taking place),
participants (those involved in the action) and circumstances (details about time,
place, cause, or the manner with which the process is performed). The type of
participants a clause can have is determined by the process type; therefore
transitivity is strongly focused on the verbal groups in the clauses (Thompson,
2004:89).
In Halliday‟s Introduction to Functional Grammar (2013), Halliday and Matthiessen
introduced six process types, each of which consists of three elements, namely the
process itself, the participants involved in the process, and the circumstances, if any.
The process is typically realized by a verbal group; the participants are realized by
nominal groups; and the circumstance by an adverbial group or prepositional
phrase.

 Material process: concerns actions, events taking place in the domain of
„outer experience‟. In other words, as a process of doing things, it expresses
notion that some entity „does‟ something. This process is usually physical
and tangible action. Two essential participants usually appear in material
process are the Actor (the doer of the process), and the Goal (the person or
entity affected by the process).
 Mental process: indicates the flow of events taking place in the “inner
world”. Technically speaking, it is a kind of activity in people‟s mind. This
process includes the sense of perception (see, hear, etc.), affection (like, hate,
etc.), and cognition (think, know, understand, etc.). Mental process has two
participants: the Senser (the conscious being) and the Phenomenon
(thing/person that is felt, thought, or seen by the Senser).

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 Verbal process: is the process of saying. Besides the verbal process itself, the
elements that might appear in a verbal clause are the Sayer (entity that
produces the utterance), the Receiver (the addressee), the Verbiage (the
content of what is said), and the Target (the entity that is targeted by a
process of verbal judgment).


Relational process: is the process of „being‟, „having‟ and „being at‟. There are
three types of relational clauses, namely intensive, circumstantial, and
possessive. Each of these can be cross-classified as either attributive or
identifying. In attributive intensive mode, a quality (an Attribute) is ascribed to
an entity (the Carrier). In identifying intensive mode, an identity (an Identifier)
is ascribed to an entity (the Identified). The possessive mode establishes a
relation between a Possessor and the Possessed (things belonging to

Possessor).

 Behavioral process: is the process of physiological and psychological
behavior. The obligatory participant is Behaver (a conscious entity that
behaves).
 Existential process: is the process of existing, indicating that something or
some natural force exists.
1.5.

Overview of related studies

The confrontation between Vietnam and China in the waters has been one of the most
controversial and much cover-newsworthy. Nevertheless, so far CDA studies on the
news delivering the East Sea dispute have received little critical exploration by
critical discourse analysts, especially when the subjects of the study are Vietnamese
and Chinese news in English. Accordingly, the researcher decided to conduct this
study to investigate the ideologies of journalists of both sides when reporting the
event.
However, in terms of studies utilizing CDA approach to investigate the ideologies
of the media institutions when reporting an issue involving their own countries or
their allies, they share the same features, that is their positive self-image while
negative other-representation.

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He and Zhou (2015), probed into the lexical choice of six pieces of news reporting
three safety accidents in China in China Daily and the Washing Post. The study
found that the two newspapers represented the same event differently, which
reflected the differences in their ideological standpoints and national interests. To

be more specific, China Daily chose derogatory terms to portray the accident
causers, the terrorists, but adopted commentary words to describe the government
actions. On the contrary, the Washington Post’s reporters utilized neutral terms to
portray the accident causers, and derogatory words to describe the government
actions.
Taiwo and Ota (2015) analyzed news reports on the Bakassi Peninsula conflicts in
Nigeria and Cameroon print media. The findings showed that newspapers from each
country seemed to present their positive images while claiming themselves as
victims of the other side. Specifically, Nigerian news vividly portrayed the violation
of human rights and injustice of Cameroon security forces. In contrast, Cameroon
newspapers delineated their security forces as responsive and capable of handling
the conflict.
Zhang (2014) examined the political news reports on Iraq war in the New York
Times, utilizing Fairclough‟s three-dimension framework and Halliday‟s functional
grammar, to expose different ideologies hidden. Results revealed that the reporters
built a positive image of the Bush administration as a friendly country and a
liberator while the Iraqi community led by a tyrant leader – Saddam Hussein was
portrayed negatively, labelled as an enemy.
Yang (2012) conducted an analysis on the New York Times and China Daily‟s news
coverage to reveal the portrayal of the Chinese government. The study suggested
that the two newspapers, though shared some similarities, each depicted the Chinese
government differently. While the New York Times tended to apply an “antiChinese government frame”, a “pro-government frame” is preferable in the China
Daily.
Chen (2008), utilizing Fairclough‟s framework and Halliday‟s three metafunctions,
analyzed the news reports on Sino-Japan conflicts in the New York Times. He

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